The resignation of Count Poaadowsky, for ten years German Imperial
Secretary of State for the Interior, was announced on Monday. Count Posadowsky, who was also a Prussian Minister of State and acted as the Imperial Chancellor's representative in the Reichstag, began political life as a Junker and Agrarian, but of late years bad commanded the respect of the Liberals and Social Democrats, not only by his great ability and industry, but by his practical sympathy with social reform. He had, however, alienated the Pr1122i3.11 landowners by refusing to go their lengths in framing the tariff. He is further alleged to have been strongly opposed to the Dissolution in December last, to have given Prince Billow but lukewarm support in the campaign, and to have Main- tained relations with the Centre after the elections. In view of these facts, and of the recent consultation of the Chancellor and the Kaiser, Count Posadowsky's retirement is naturally interpreted as a triumph for Prince Billow, a concession to the Prussian Agrarians, and a rebuff to the Left wing . of Prince Billow's Liberal-Conservative bloc. This view is sup. ported by the further fact that he has been succeeded by Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg, the Prussian Minister of the Interior, and by the appointment as Prussian Minister of Education of Dr. bile, whose orthodoxy is guaranteed by the reactionary Kreaz Zeitung.
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