CONFLICT BETWEEN LIBERALISM. AND REACTION IN GERMANY.

Evening Star, Issue 3117, 14 February 1873, Page 3

CONFLICT BETWEEN LIBERALISM. AND REACTION IN GERMANY.

Just now the attention of the civi'ised world is drawn to the exciting contest which is being waged by the party of Liberal Reform on one side, and the party of 'eaction on the other. The latter has two branches—the landed-aristocracy and the Ecclesiastical •Hierarchy. Both of them have for ages held an almost absolute sway in Germany, in deroSation to the rights of the people, with this ifference, that while the landlords formerly exercised their almost abso'ute power with the consent of tho Crown, the Church made use of its jurisdiction even in matters appertaining to the civil government, such as popular education —independent of all civil authority. But the new era of popular emancipation has dawned at last, and the civil power, as well as th* people do now assert their just rights. Both the aristocracy and the Wierj»jrc|*y Jiaye hepn required, hy the liberal Gp r in < ■ orm;my, tb confine their jurisr diction to matters strictly within the limits of their sphere, and relinquish prerogatives which conflict with the rights of the people. That these two haughty powers would quietly submit to such injunction and conform to the new order of things, could not be expected. So the fight began as soon as the demand was made.

Gallant Prussia took the lead, undaunted, wnpng the Gerraap States, ip the \yay of re? aiid popular epfranchisefriept. It has Wag e 4 th 6 first battlp with the ppppdng forces, and has come put of it yictprious. It is a political phenomenon, almost above be’ief, that an absolute monarchy, as Prussia has been for u long time, should espouse the cause of the people ard fear leasly fight for their rights at this epoch, when her King has attained the apex of absolute power and honor as Emperor of Germany. Yet it js a fact that, jpst at this time. King William has renounced claims which belonged to the Crown, and has restored fa a great measure to the people their lost power. Under his rule and the illustrious Premiership of Prnce Bismarck, Prussia -has made a progress in the enfranchisement of the people that would do honor to a Republic. This proves howfahe and unjust are the charges we hear almost constantly by Reactionists and ultrajrffpptane journals bi absolhtipit and despotism m Prussia at the bidding of Bismarck and JjSnfperor WfUiam. If the restoration of just pights to the people bp oppression, persecution* and tyranny, than these two illustrious men are indeed oppressors and tyrants, But such denunciations' coming from such a source, there is reason to believe, will not disturb their equanimity. They have the gratifying assurance that, with the exception pf the ultramontanes and feudalists, or here£*«r u landlords, they are warmly supported by the people and hailed as liberators by all Germany. Romoye conclusive evidence can Le adduced in proof of this fact than the intd >se feeling which exists both inside and outside of the popular branch of the Prussian Parliament against both the above-mentioned enemies of popular rights. When, on the 20th jjf last Novpmbep, Herr Maltinphrode, a friend of the Church Party, made a motion to jesemd a resolution, excluding members of Ecclesiastical orders as teachers from Public Schools, fhe motion was rejected by a vote of 242 to 81. Could a vote show more emphatically the determination of the people to recover the rights which belong to them ? ‘ But the opposition by both the Crown and the people to the so called hereditary rights of the landed aristocracy, which are nothing hut relics of the feudal system of mediaeval ages, has been made still more apparent by the passage of the famous County Reform Bill, as- proposed by the Government. By that Bill the rights of the landed aristocrats are curtailed, and the people, particularly the peasantry, are granted greater power in the county assemblies and in the election pf - their chief executive officers, thus putting an end to the almost absolute despotism and tyrannical newer hitherto exercued by the landlords over the poorer classes. When this Bill was introduced in the Upper House of ;the Diet, on the 31st of last Octow Minister of the Interior, Count Eulenburg, as a Government measure, it was rejected by the Peers, by the emphatic vote of 140 yeas against 18 nays. So large a vote i“.°. p ? 08^ 10n the measure induced the Minister to tender hia resignation, but the King declined to accept it. and as Emperor William is a valiant warrior, he sent back ppjlnt Eplenjmrg to the Chamber of Peers With the declaration that the defeated measure was not only a Ministerial but a Crown project, and the vote of the Chamber was a declaration of war, not so much against the Ministry as against the Crown,, which the King was ready to accept. The press and the people warmly applauded the fearless coarse of the King. The Provincial Corresponds declared that —Upon the passage of this measure of legis lative authority, the power of the Crown and government is stftkEd,” Popular indign*.

tion against the House of Peers reached a high pitch. A pamphlet written by Karl Blind was scattered broadcast in the streets of Berlin, entitled “ Away with the House of I’eera,” without hindra; ce from the civil authorities. The King, true to his word, first prorogued by decree, the Diet; next declared at the opening of the new session that “he was firmly resolved to carry out fully the intention of the Government to improve the local addministratinn of the kingdom aud to avail himself of all the constitutional means at his disposal to effect that object. ” Finally, he increased the number of Peers from 90 to 115, and in this manner, after the County Reform bill had passed again the Lower House, was adopted in the House of Peers on the 9th January by a vote of 116 against 91. The .Reactionists will, of course, denounce this act of King William as despotic and tyrannical, though they cannot deny that is constitutional, and that the same course of action has been followed by other monarchs before, even in Prussia. But if to deprive insolent landlords of their arbitrary powers, and enfranchise the people, be called despotism and tyranny, every civilized and intelligent person will admit that such is the kind of despotism and tyranny the people want, and the great complaint now is that they have not enough of it.