Village books

Practically the only elective officers
who have any power are members of the Reichstag and the Prussian
Legislature, and there, as I have shown, the power is very small.
Mayors and City Councillors are elected in Prussia, but have
little power; and are elected by the vicious system of circle
voting.
Time and again during the course of the Great War when I made
some complaint or request affecting the interests of one of the
various nations I represented, I was met in the Foreign Office
by the statement, "We can do nothing with the military. Please
read Bismarck's memoirs and you will see what difficulty he had
with the military." Undoubtedly, owing to the fact that the
Chancellor seldom took strong ground, the influence which both
the army and navy claimed in dictating the policy of the Empire
was greatly increased.
Roughly speaking there are three great political divisions or
parties in the German Reichstag. To the right of the presiding
officer sit the Conservatives. Most of these are members from the
Prussian Junker or squire class.


Pages:
29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53