The King of Prussia closed the German Parliament on Thursday,
in a speech which in German is probably eloquent, though in English it reads heavily. Its point is the rapid progress made by the Confederation Parliament towards unity of judicial procedure. Already all decisions of all tribunals are effective in all the States, the commercial code is uniform, and a single criminal code has been established "by mutual sacrifices." This code was in danger, Parliament having voted the abolition of the punishment of death, which the Governments refused to surrender. It seemed at first that delay was inevitable, but a Deputy, Herr Planck, proposed that the punishment should be abolished only in those States in which it had ceased to be used. Count von Bismarck saw his opportunity, hurried up from Varzin, and in a speech of remarkable power, even for him, showed that to concede this was to surrender the object of all Germans alike, legislative unity. The Parliament boiled with excitement, the death penalty was restored by 127 to 119, and the code was passed. En passant, the King mentioned that the military organization of the Confederacy was at last complete, and of "an importance in harmony with the just demands of the German nation." Air, " Our freeborn German Rhine."
