The Prussian Parliament was opened on Monday by a message
from the throne, in which the King mentioned that the relations of Germany to foreign Powers were "on all sides good;" and promised many domestic reforms, such as the lightening of the Income-tax on small incomes, the increase of minor salaries, and a transfer of some national resources to the Communes. The remaining private railways are also to be bought up,—a policy, we may remark, about also to be pur- sued in Holland. The most noteworthy sentences, however, referred to strikes. The words are a little obscure, but are understood on the spot to mean that the Government had favoured the Imperial legislation in favour of insurance against old age and accident, and had in so doing shown its sympathy with the poor, but that it intended to take the fullest precautions against strikes leading to disturbances of order. The weak place of its social policy seems to be that the workmen want more freedom, and that the Emperor is willing to grant them everything else.
Previous page
