GERMANY.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8344, 29 January 1907, Page 5

GERMANY.

THE ELECTIONS. Received January 28, 8.26 a.m. BERLIN, January 27. The final results have been reached in the German elections for 237 seats. Following is the state of parties:- - Conservatives 41 Imperialists 10 Poles 18 Centre 89 National Liberals ... 20 Socialists ... ... 29 Radical People's Party 6 Other smaller groups ... 24 Total 237 Second ballots will be required in 160 cases, including 29 Conservatives, 31 Centre, 58 National Liberals, 27 Radical People's Party, and 92 Socialists. Very heavy polls were recorded. The Centre maintained its ground, while the Socialists lost 19 seats to Conservatives, Liberals and Radicals. It is probable that Prince von Bulow will have a working majority of Conservatives and Liberals on national issues, 1 and of Conservatives and Clericals on religious and economic matters. The defeat of the Socialists is attributed to their own over-confi-dence. Whether the party will be completely wrecked depends upon the attitude of the Centre at the second ballots.

Received January 28, 9.58 p.m. BERLIN, January 28. The Conservatives at present have won seven seats and lost two; the Free Conservatives and the Centre have each won two seats and lost four; National Liberals, won nine seats and lost nine; Radicals, won four seats and lost two; Socialists, won one seat; Mulhausen, lost twenty seats; Guelphs, lost 3 seats. The second ballots will take place on February sth. ' The Socialists lost severely in the urban constituencies, including Konegsberg, Bteslaw East and West, and Mamedeburg. They lost six seats in Saxony and two in Wurtermburg. It is expected that even after the second ballots they will not return more than 45 to 50 members altogether. The Kaiser's victory at the polls was immediately followed by the startling announcement of the early completion of the alterations to five shipyards rendering them capable of building 25,000 ton battleships. Count Dernberg states that Prince von Bulow will be able to snap his fingers in the Centre's face. (At the general election of 1903 the members returned were classified as under: —Centre or Clerical, 100; Conservatives, 73; National Liberals, 50; Social Democrats, 82; Radical Left, 26; Poles, 16; Anti-Semites, 9; Moderate Radicals, 9; smaller parties —such as South German People's Party, Guelphs, > Danes, and Agrarians 3 2; total, 397. The' features of the 1903 election was the great success of the Social Democrats, who made opposition to the tariff policy of the Government and advocacy of direct taxation in the form of income and property taxes the leading planks of their platform. The Argarians, though many .were members of the Conservative and Centreparties, were members of the Agrarian League. The Government relied on the Conservatives, Centre, and National Liberals for their majority, and therefore commanded originally about 223 votes without counting the smaller parties.)

THE KAISER'S BIRTHDAY. Received January 28, 8.26 a.m. ROME, January 27. ; The Pope ordered aTe Deum to be sung in the Austrian Church at Rome, to-day, in the presence of Cardinal Merry del Val, Papal Secretary of State, in celebration of the Kaiser's birthday. This is an unprecedented honour to a Protestant. (Emperor William on Sunday reached his forty-eighth birthday, having been born at Berlin on January 27 th, 1859),