BISMARCK'S MEMOIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 5, 7 January 1899, Page 1 (Supplement)

BISMARCK'S MEMOIRS.

j (From Our -London Correspondent,^ ! LONDON, November 21. ! The Bismarck autobiography is to be published on the 29th, and" I hear | from the correspondent of the 'Ago* I that Mr David Syme has given orders i for copious extracts to be "made therej from and wired to his journal from Albany. This would seem to imply I that special Bismarck worshippers j reside in Victoria. The book excites | small expectation either here or j abroad, the general idea being that I Dr. Busch's frank and voluminous Boswellian memoirs have skimmed tb'o cream of the iron chancellor's diaries. The 'Daily News' of to-day gives some extracts from, a Berlin newspaper issued by the firm publishing the German edition. The correspondent does not consider them at ail promising. He says:-—'One would have believed that for advertising purposes, at least, some of the most interesting chapters would have been chosen, but if the extracts published to-day really come under this head, the work I am afraid, will cause disappointment, and justify the criticisms of the French reviewer, quoted by you, who lately claimed to have been able to peruse the proof-sheets of the i'rench edition. It appears in fact, from these extracts, that Dr. Busch's prophecy, made though it may have been from motives' of professional jealousy, that Prince Bismarck's memoirs would not furnish much that was new, will be confirmed. The way in which Dr. Busch gathered the material for his book was doubtless very objectionable from the point of view of political decency, but his compilation was indisputably. interesting, and in it he appears to have skimmed off the cream of the subjeeti. Prince Bismarck certainly knew a great deal of the utmost political importance which Ec did not confide to Dr. Busch, or to any other mortal except his son Herbert. It is, however, very doubtful whether he made a note of it. It may be that the third volume will contain the sensational disclosures which the world expects, and that this is the reason; why its publication has been postponed indefinitely. Sensational political revelations of the kind are, however, here in the habit of disappearing into the Secret Archives without see-' ing the light of day at all. .It remains to be seen whether the promised third volume of Bismarck's me:moirs will meet with the sjjmefate. One chapter published ta-day deals with the. events of the year 1848. It_ : I tells how Bismarck, a young squire,, hastened from Sehonhausen to Berlin, on hearing that the revolution had. broken out. He went to tell'the authorities in the capital that the peasantry had remained loyal and faithful to the King, and that their assistance might be reckoned upon. Further ex-, tracts contain letters* exchanged be-, tween the late King Ludwig of Bavaria and Prince Bismarcic from 1870 :to: 1878. The first letter deals with the. negotiations about the proclamation, of King William as German-.'Emperor,* The contents, though; not*'tfteJ exact' wording, of these letters have beei_.: l-tiown for a long time.'' Atferst Kingl"" Lud wig swished; - lop --' an _ai?£si%-sißj___%.*--by which the Imperial dignity w^b to alternate between the^flohenzel-; lerns and the Wittelsbachs. When he saw the absurdity of suck a demand: he; declared himself willing to offer, Kihg William the Imperial crown on. condition that Bavaria should retain., all her own rights unrestricted, and ". that no centralising policy r.hould be. pursued. At present juncture wheti; so much is being said about an alleged, revival of the antagonism between North and South Germany as a consequence of the alleged centralising tendencies at Berlin, this correspondence is interesting and instructive. In his letter to the King on 24th December, 1870, the Prince writes that it is also his opinion that the fullest maintenace of the rights of the: individual Federal States affords the best: guarantee for the existence of the Empire. Again, in a letter dated 1874, he says: . - The constitution of the Empire rests on a federative basis, established by the Federal Treaties, and cannot be violated without a breach of treaty. In this the Constitution of the Empire differs from that of the individual States. The rights of your Majesty, form an indissoluble part of the Constitution of the Empire, and therefore rests on the same safe lawful, basis as all the institutions of the Empire. Germany has at present in the institution of her Federal Council, and Bavaria in her estimable and jxidicious representation on the Federal Council, a strong guarantee against all degeneration or extravagant centralising tendencies. Your Majesty may also have full confidence in the guaranteed Constitutional rights^ - even when I have no longer the honour of serving the State as CKaneeird*. On the 2nd of June, 1576, on the eve of the Russo-Turkish war, Prince Bismarck, in a letter to the King,deals with the. Question anfT Germany's attitude towards it. His remarks, at the present moment, when." the Emperor is returning from his Eastern journey, which, in the opinion of many people, has pushed Germany too far forward into Eastern affairs,. are of double interest. He says: Amongst all the European Powers Germany will always remain in the most; favourable position to. keep, longer than the others, out of the disturbances arising out of the Eastern Question. On the sth .Tuly he writes affain: An understanding between "Russia and England will always to riossible as long as Russia does not strive for the possession of Constantinople. More difficult in the long run will be mediation between the Austrian and Russian interests. It would bg. a great embarrassment for Germany had she to choose between these two s<v very friendly neighbours, for I do not doubt that 1 am acting according to the wish of your Majesty anti all the German princes. I maintain, th* principle that Germany slivuld allow herself to become mixed uj» b_ sucli a war only fur the defence o. really vital German Interests. A war, however,, between Russia and one «-f th_> Western Powers, or bota, might develop w'thout making Germany a fellow suEc-wrr. But the case would b.» much mor» difficult should ..-ustria and Russia fall out.