TERRIBLE CRIME OF LESE MAJESTE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8172, 4 July 1906, Page 7

TERRIBLE CRIME OF LESE MAJESTE.

EXTRAORDINARY SENTENCE FOR INDISCREET GERMANS.

In all monarchical oountriea it is an axiom accepted by everybody, thai the person and oharacter of the ruling Sovereign are sacred and even though the idea may rest upon nothing more tangible than custom or an unwritten law, it is observed in most countries in a loyal spirit. Especially is this the case in England, where there could probably not be found a newspaper, however scurrilous, tbat would speak disrespectfully of King Edward; and one might walk about in the publio places and listen in vain for aa expression of oontempt or opprobrium uttered against any member of the Royal family. In Germany, on the other hand, where the laws regarding "lese majeste' are so strict, scarcely a week passes without the conviction of some unfortunate person who has dared to INFRINGE ONE OF TOE SCORE of clauses in the law, and suffers accordingly. "Lasa majeste," succinctly defined, is tbe crime of uttering an insult to the ruling monaroh of the country. In the German' Statute Book no fewer than 125 paragraphs are devoted to expound the Jaw, and 900 books of reference for the information of lawyers have been published on the intricate subjeot. Tbe law is ao worded as to bring within its scope any remark which oan by the exercise of great ingenuity be twisted into something reflecting, be it ever so remotely, ON THE CHAKAOTER or person of the Sovereign, and it makes it a criminal offence. The clauseH have been so loosely worded that the widest possible interpretation may be placed on any remark which falls under suspicion. "Lese majeste" oan be oommitted by words or J by aotionp, in private conversation is no less than in publio speeches, and in personal and confidential letters to friends or relations, as well as in newspaper articles or books. If two persons are carrying on a conversation alone in a private room, and one of them should make a remark DISRESPECTFUL TO THE KAISER, the 'other may denounce him to the police, and he would bB convicted and sentenced to imprisonment. It will, easily be understood that under this law, and with the excessive zeal of the German police official, the authorities find plenty of work to do in the direction of securing convictions, for this offence. The latest case occurred recently, when a Berlin butcher was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for having spoken disrespectfully of the Kaiser three years ago. Not long ago the editor of a German newspaper received a sentence of three months for remarking in his journal that the Kaiser reoeived £2,000 dally for appending his signature to a few State documents. The law of "lese majeste" is no respecter of persons; schoolboys or old women are equally visited with the full penalties. An old woman of 73, living at Dresden, was sentenced to six months' imprisonment for remarking that the fate of King Alexander of Servia ought to befall King George of Saxony; and a baker's boy of 15 in Silesia bad three weeks' imprisonment for insulting the majesty of the Kaiser. If the culprit is a soldier his punishment for "lese, majeste' is excessively severe. a private was drummed, out of the army and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment for saying to a comrade that the Kaiter might have slowed down tbe train in which he was travelling in order to see the salute of the soldiers who were lining tbe route. Last year an innkeeper of Liohtenberg was senten-jed to three months' imprsonment for a somewhat'curious form of "lese majeste." It waa alleged against him that in his conversation with his customers be USED THE GERMAN LANGUAGE in an unworthy fashion, aftd was not over nice in his expressions when talking to a police official. He was a , Conservative, a member of a patriotio rifle olub, and had served in the army, but these proofs of his unquestionable loyalty did not save him from dire punishment. One of the most extraordinary prosecutions was that passed against a governess who was convioted of "lese majeste" for having written her name in the visitors' bonk of a hotel immediately beneath the signatures of the King of Saxony and two Princesses. Newspaper editors are frequent viotims of the law In this direction. Two of them were once sentenced to four months' and nine months imprisonment respectively and to heavy fines for publishing an article which was held to suggest in some obscure way that the Kaiser was afraid of his uwn subjects, and a third was convicted for having publisfied a telegram from a correspondent reporting the death of an alleged stepbrother of the Kaiser. On another occasion, wben a newspaper published an incorrect version of a speech made by the Kaiser to his recruits, all the persons responsible for the reporting and publishing of the speech were .prosecuted for "lese majeste." A German marine, while in Kiel, on leave, had an argument with a comrade in a restaurant, and made use of an expression which was held to have been insulting to tbe Kaiser. He waa let off with eight months' imprisonment in consideration of the fact that he was not quite sober at tbe time. A foreigner visiting Germany may fall within tbe scope of this absurd law, though he cannot, of coarse, be imprisoned for its Infraction. Two Amerioan ladies were, however, arrested and expelled from the county for talking (in English) ]d a manner not flattering to the Emperor William. Perhaps g THE MOST ABSURD CASE of all waa one that did not end in a oonviotioDn; even German official' dom was not proof against the humoar of the situation. When the' health.of the Kaiser was being drunk atJfeßtlvitiea in honour of hia-birth-day at Soharley In Silesia, a schoolboy in the orowd was observed to smile. The public prosecutor immediately get on foot an action for

"lese majeste," but the schoolboy miraculously escaped thn consequences of bis awful deed. Tbere is au old story concerning "lese majeste" which h worth repeating. A man waa arrested for remarking in a restaurant that "the Kaiser is a fool." He was promptly hailed before the magistrate, when be p-otested that he was not referring to the Kaiser Wilholno, but to the Emperor Francis Joseph. "Ob, that tale will not do," retorted tbe magistrate. "There id only one Kaiser to whom you could have referred!" Tbe story does not state how many years imprisonment the magistrate awarded.