The debate was opened by Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg, whose speech
was the occasion of a violent demonstration from the Members on the extreme Left. The Chancellor began by making a theoretic defence of Prussian Conservatism, which involved a remarkable tribute to England and the political instincts of her people. "An election campaign had just been fought out in England with unprecedented passionateness. The weapons had been at least as sharp as those employed in Germany. But in England a century of political education and culture prevented people from transferring political or religious differences to the personal and social sphere. They in Germany were in every direction less advanced." He went on to say that the party system was an impossibility, both in the Empire and in Prussia, and any Government which lent itself to the purposes of a party would be preparing the doom of the State. "Prussia could not let herself be towed into the waters of Parliamentary government while the power of the Monarchy remained unbroken."
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