bidding French subjects to enter Alsace-Lorraine without passports countersigned by
the German Embassy in Paris, and the Embassy now refuses to issue them without twelve days' delay, the excuse being that they must be forwarded to Strasburg for examination. As nearly the whole business of the State is with France, this restriction is a serious annoy- ance, and the journalists of Paris threatened reprisals. Prince Bismarck, however, explains, in his official organ, that he does not care for the threat, that the French make tranquillity impossible in Alsace-Lorraine by their threats of reconquering the provinces, that German lives are not safe in France, and that if the French also demand passports, so much the better, as the restriction of intercourse between the countries will diminish official friction. We discuss these singular complaints elsewhere, but as yet no reasonable explanation has been offered of their object.
