On this decision being announced to the Emperor, his Majesty,
in a very curt telegram, declared that as the legal situation has not been cleared up, he could not recognise such a Regency, and "will not allow the military to take the oath." The Diet will not give way, insists that Lippe-Detmold is mistress of its own affairs, and appeals to the Federal Council, which is composed of reigning Princes, to select an impartial tribunal whose decision as to the right of succession on the death of the lunatic Prince shall be final. As the interference of the Emperor threatens every Prince in Germany, the action of the Federal Council will be most important to the Empire, while all Germans are complaining that as the refusal to recognise is a political act, the Emperor's telegram ought to have been countersigned by Count von Billow. We shall hear more of this quarrel, as it must be settled before the death of the lunatic who in theory is the reigning Sovereign, and as it incidentally involves the right of any reigning German Prince to marry whom he will.
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