17 APRIL 1880, Page 2

Prince Bismarck has withdrawn his resignation. The Stamp Duty, which

was rejected, has been accepted, and the States represented in the Federal Council have promised not to" do so any more." The Constitution is, therefore, not to be remodelled. The incident has been explained in a great many different ways ; but, according to the most probable account, the Chancellor found that the Federal Council was degenerating into a, free Assembly, in which members used their intelligence and voted according to argument and conviction, without fully involving their respective States. Even Prussian members, says one official journal in a tone of horror, were acting independently. Prince Bismarck was determined to stop that, and in future, whenever the "Presidential State" proposes anything, the members of the Council will vote in person, and not by proxy, and with the fullest understanding that their Governments are responsible. As their Governments do not want quarrels with Prussia, that means that they will follow her lead.