A Story of Prince Bismarck.

Manawatu Herald, 12 June 1894, Page 3

A Story of Prince Bismarck.

The Deutsche Revue publishes the following episode characteristic of Prince Bismarck : — " After he had accepted the Ministry of Commerce, the Prince was struck by the insignificance of many matters he had to decide. If, ior instance, anybody had been caught illicitly hawking goods and had been sentenced to a fine, but had to be pardoned on the score of poverty, it was necessary, for the remission of the fine to obtain the consent of his Ministers — the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Commerce. Bismarck has taken special note ot a case of this 'find. A pedlar had been sentenced to a fine of 20 marks (about a sovereign), and the Under- Secretary of State reported to the new Minister of Commerce that he was a poor devil and had to maintain a wife and a child, and would sink into still deeper misery if the fine was converted into imprisonment. He, therefore, begged Bismarck to sign an immediate report, advising the King to pardon the pedlar. The* Prince emphatically refused to do so, for, said he, if the King had to be advised to use his right of pardon in all such cases, justice •would become a dead letter. The pedlar had simply not to pay the fine, and must escape imprisonment in order to save himself and his family from absolute rain. The Under-Secretary of State then referred to the traditional practice, and appealed to the heart of his chief, who answered : 'All right, I'll give the poor devil the twenty marks out of my own pocket, but you shall not have my signature for the thing.' "