The German Chancellor, Prince Hohenlohe, made a speech on Wednesday
in the Reichstag which will not facilitate alliance between Germany and France. There is a clause in the constitution of Alsace-Lorraine which enables the Stadt- holder in certain contingencies to act as a "Dictator," and German Liberals think it time it should be erased. Herr Winterer brought forward a resolution to that effect, but Prince Hohenlohe was most decided in his refusal. The clause, he said, had never been used, but it must remain, though no doubt it implied a continuous state of siege. There was an anti-German minority, especially among the clergy; "our neighbours are excitable," "our relations with the French Government are as good as they can possibly be, but we must be prepared for all eventualities. We acquired Alsace-Lorraine not by a plebiscite, but by force of arms, and we mean to retain the land we have regained possession of," a sentence which suggests a very recent inter- view with the Emperor. The Chancellor only speaks the truth, but was it necessary, or even politic, to be quite so brutally direct ? In any case, his words can hardly be pleasant reading to those Frenchmen who have been dreaming that if William II. could only be recouped out of the spoils of England they might regain their provinces without fighting Germany. South Africa, for example, is richer than Elsass-Lothringen. All those dreams vanish before the blood and iron of the Chancellor's speech.
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