Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XXX, Issue 8697, 4 January 1907, Page 2

Rangitikei Advocate. FRIDAY, JANUARY 1, 1907. SECOND EDITION. EDITORIAL NOTES

The political condition of Germany ig at presont a particularly interesting one, and offers features of strong

resemblance to that of England before the passing of the Reform Bill in 1382. The power is not in the hands of the people but in the 1 hands of the Junkers or country gentry, who exert an altogether disproportionate influence on the conduct of affairs. We thus find existing a strong re-actionary government in face of a people who are splendidly educated and quite capable of taking an intelligent part in politics. During the last half century Germany has become a great manufacturingcountry instead of being a purely agricultural one, and the character and aspirations of her people have in consequence entirely changed during that period. Instead of being contented to be little better than serfs on the estates of the landlords who employed them, the artisans of to-day are desirous of having a share in the government of the country, for which they are as fully fitted as the citizens of Britain or America. Even the agricultural laborers who are less intelligent than the workmen in the towns return from their service in the army imbued with liberal ideas, which they have acquired from their better educated fellows with whom they have been brought into contact while serving their time in barracks. Yet, though this development has taken place in the opinions of the largo mass of the population of the country, the Junkers who are all powerful at court and in the army have made no similar progress and still hold the ideas which wore not out of place when Germany was practically under the feudal system. This ciato of affairs largely accounts for the great growth in the Socialistic party in the Reichstag. In Britain where public discussion is quite free and all classes are represented in the House of Commons, socialism has little influence, but in Germany the re-aciion against the dominant party has led to the formation of a very strong and increasing number of electors who hold socialistic views. In 1317 Prince Hohcnlche recorded his opinion that “ just as a man reaches a stage when he insists on shaping his own destiny, so in the history of every nation there comes a moment when the best intentions of government arc ignored, the most zealous discharge of its duties by a tutelary bureaucracy is condemned, because the Government ■ and the bureaucracy will not recognise that the nation has attained to its majority. In Germany we have now reached that stage.” “Writing 50 years later the German Chancellor, as he then was, tells us how strong the contrast still was between the xii.fcer'dism of the South and the unbending spirit of conservatism among liia .Prussian Junkers. At the present time the Press are agitating for more liberty, and in the long run it would seem that victory cannot be with the forces of reaction. Concessions will have to be made sooner or later to the just and reasonable wishes of the nation ; and the longer they are deferred tbe larger in the end they are likely to be.

, The, .disadvantages of being a i millionaire £-ps really more serious than would appear jit first sight. The capacity to satisfy every desire which, money can gratify as goon as it arises is really a great handicap in the enjoyment of life. The man who has acquired wealth has generally also the habit of work, but his female relations are often not intelligent enough or sufficiently educated to find rational employment for their time. A woman who would bo perfectly happy if let loose at a clearing sale with five pounds in her pocket to j spend, is hopelessly at a loss when 1 unlimited money is at her disposed. Honed Yi'B need not bo surprised when' we learn that at a recent banquet given by a lady in Chicago the guests brought, with them p'rize pJgs and other animals, who sat at tshle and were fed with asparagus tips aild Brussels sprouts served with“euitable sauce. The stern moralist might produce a strong indictment of such a scene, but the whole matter is so childish and ridiculous that it would be difficult to maintain the required seriousness of demeanour while making the correct copybook remarks on the situation. People who prefer to dine with pigs at table deserve sympathy rather than condemnation. They must find it so difficult to enjoy themselves -when they have to resort to such methods of raising a laugh that it is really hard to blame the Chicago hostess for trying to bring a Jittle brightness into the lives of her millionaire friends.