THE GERMAN ELECTIONS,

Otago Witness, Issue 2761, 13 February 1907, Page 19

THE GERMAN ELECTIONS,

THE STATE OF PARTIES. BERLIN, February 4. Many German Radicals dread the prospect of the Clericals and Conservatives dominating the Reichstag. Prince yon Bulow's supporters polled on the first ballot 4,925,500 votes, against 5,896,000 polled by the Clericals, the Poles, and the Social Democrats. The increase in the Social Democrats' poll, compared -with 1903, is a quarter of a million. , Numerically they are the largest party. February 5. The German National Liberals yesterday lost four seats* and gained two; the Centre party lost one seat and gained -four; the Land-owners' Union and the •Socialists each gained one seat; the Conservatives lo6fe one. • Owing to the extreme hostility between the Centre and National Liberal parties in Bavaria, principally as regards the con- . Sessional, the Centre instructed ifs followers to vote for the Social Democrats .in the second ballots in order to defeat [the National Liberals. This aroused the Archbishops of Bamberg and Munich, who vigorously opposed these tactics owing to the avowed attitude of the Socialists on religious and monarchical questions. February 6. Herr Raempf, the .Radical candidate for the First Division of Berlin, polled 8053 votes, and Herr Arons, the Socialist candidate, 4618. Herr Arons on the second ballot in 1903 polled 6233. A Socialist defeated the National Liberal candidate at Strasburg, but the National Liberal candidate ousted the Socialist at Dresden. The Socialists lost Frankfort-on-Maine to the Radicals. The Centre supported the latter. A great procession was held in Berlin at midnight. Prince yon Bulow, the Imperial Chancellor, delivered a speech acclaiming the reawakened German spirit, and expressing full confidence in the future. He called for three cheers for German patriotism and loyalty. Tremendous enthusiasm was shown. The procession went to the Castle. The Socialists yesterday lost 15 seats " *nd gained four. They have lost altogether 13 out of 20 seats in Saxony. - The National Liberals yesterday gained 11 seats and lost four. General Liebert, president of the Imperial Anti-Socialist * Democratic Union (the addressee of Prince yon Bulow's letter cabled on January 3), ousted the Socialist candidate at Borna. The crowd at midnight enthusiastically cheered the Kaiser and the Empress at their palace. The Kaiser, in the course of a speech, declared that if all classes and creeds stood united Germany would be able to ride down all her enemies. He hoped that the victory was a just one, not a momentary, transient, patriotic impulse, but the expression of a firmly-rooted determination to persist in the course they had ' adopted. The speech was received with great applause. The Gepnan Centre party has replied to the Archbishops of Bamberg and Munich (who objected to the Centre assisting the Socialists at the second ballots) that now, as during the 1887 elections, the most reverent submission would be shown in ecclesiastical matters, but in political affairs the party claimed an unrestricted freedom of decision. February 9. " A Bavarian newspaper has published , correspondence showing the activity of the . German Navy League at the recent elections. Prince yon Bulow, the Imperial Chancellor, contributed £1500 towards the funds raised by the league, the money being utilised in circulating leaflets against Jhe Centre party. February 10. The Kaiser has given orders for the expulsion of all aliens, chiefly Russian students, who assisted the Socialist candidates at the recent elections. (February 11. Prince yon Billow's or^an denies that

the Navy League used Government funds for election purposes. Many newspapers are indignant that the- league, which is professedly nonpolitical, should interfere in me elections so flagrantly. LONDON, February 6. Reuter's Agency at Berlin reports that the final composition of the Reichstag will be as follows : —

The Socialists lost 36 seats. Though new parties have lately made their appearance in German polities, and the grouping is somewhat different from that adopted in the above cablegrams, the following table giving the results of the three previous elections will be useful for purposes of comparison: —

The "Smaller Parlies" include South German People's Party, Guelphs, Danes, and Agrarians. The strength of votes in the four chief parties in 1687, 1893, and 1903 was, approximately, as follows: — 1887. 1898. 1903. Social Democrats 763.000 2,107.000 3,010 800 Centre .. .. 1.518 000 1,455.000 1,873,300 Conservatives .. 1,147,000 859,000 950,000 National Liberals .. 1,678,000 971,000 1,318.000 At the election, which has just concluded, the votes polled at the first ballot by the Social Democrats was 250,000 more than in 1903, and numerically they are the largest 'party. In his letter to General Liebert, referred to in tlie above cable. Prince yon Bulow stated that social democracy constituted a leal danger RoLespierro, the leveller, was inevitably followed by Bonaparte's eword, which freed France. No one in Germany desired a personal regime, and still less did the great majority desire a party regime. Every defeat inflicted on the social democracy would be a warning to the Socialists to moderate their blind arrogance. The reference to Bonaparte's eword was interpreted to mean that Uie Kaiser would -resort to a military coup d'etat if the Socialists were victorious at the elections.

jentre Party Conservatives Rational Liberals Social Democrats Radical People's Party jerman Imperialists Poles Economic Federation Radical Union . . Independents Agricultural Union . 3erman People's Party Alsatians jerman. Reform Party juelph. Dane ... . . ... 105 ... 59 ... 55 ... 43 ... 28 ... 21 ... 20 ... 15 ... 11 ... 10 8 7 7 6 1 1 Tokl ... 397

Centre Conservatives National Liberals Social Democrats Radical Left Poles ... Anti-Semites Moderate Radicals Smaller Parties 1893. 1893. ... 96 103 ... 98 74 ... 53 48 ... 44 56 ... 24 30 ... 19 14 ... 17 12 ... 14 13 ... 32 47 1903 100 73 50 82 26 6 9 9 32