clusively German-assembled in Germany during the year. The International Congress was opened at Stuttgart on August 18, and Herr Singer, one of the Socialist members of the Reichstag for Berlin, was elected its President. One thousand delegates assembled from all parts of the world; among the most prominent of them were the German Socialist, Herr Bebel, the English Labour member, Mr. Ramsay Macdonald, the French Socialist leader, M. Jaurès, Dr. Adler of the Viennese Reichsrath, and representatives from Italy, Belgium, the United States, India and Japan. Herr Bebel opened the proceedings with a speech in which he pointed out that although, owing to the unparalleled campaign waged against the German Socialists. by the Government and the bourgeoisie, their numbers had been reduced in the present Reichstag, they were stronger than ever, and would welcome a renewal of the struggle at the first opportunity. The number of politically organised members of the party had since increased by 38 per cent., and the party contributions during the past quarter had amounted to 8,500l. The trade unions, which had a membership of 700,000 in 1900, now had a roll of 1,800,000. He afterwards moved a resolution of protest against the spirit of militarism and imperialism, which he described as being made to subserve capitalist interests by the provocation of international conflicts. It was the duty of Social Democracy to draw attention to the motives which created and accentuated differences between nations, and to refuse all supplies for the increase of armaments. If war threatened, the working classes were bound to do their utmost to prevent an outbreak of hostilities, and, if these preliminary efforts failed, to spare no pains to end the campaign as soon as possible. He vehemently opposed, however, a motion by the French antimilitarist, M. Hervé, declaring that soldiers should desert and even revolt in case of war, saying that one of the greatest dangers to peace was the anti-militarist propaganda "which was being closely watched in German military circles." Another eminent German Socialist, Herr von Vollmar, in a speech which was heartily cheered, declared that love of humanity would never prevent his party from being good Germans, and dismissed as foolish the idea of putting an end to war by a general strike. On Colonial policy a violent debate took place, in the course of which Mr. Quelch, one of the English delegates, described the Hague Conference as "a thieves' supper"; in consequence, the Würtemberg Government ordered his expulsion from the country. A resolution was ultimately adopted denouncing capitalist Colonial policy as inevitably leading to slavery, forced labour, the extermination of the natives, and the exhaustion of the natural riches of the countries colonised, and as increasing the danger of international complications; declaring that Colonial expenses must be borne by those who profited by the spoliation of the Colonies; and, finally, that it was the duty of the Socialist members of Parliament to oppose the

régime of serfdom now prevailing in the Colonies, to exact reforms in the condition of the natives, and to work by every means for the education of subject races to independence. Another resolution affirmed the necessity for co-operation of the Social Democracy with trade unions, and Herr Bebel's antimilitarist motion was also passed, with a rider to the effect that all standing armies should be abolished, but that the entire male population should be armed, that Socialist members of Parliaments should vote against war Budgets and in favour of treaties of arbitration, and that Socialist workers should rise and demonstrate when the slightest danger of war occurs. As regards immigration it was resolved that laws should be introduced not against aliens, but against those at home who employed them on conditions that tended to lower the standard of living. The day's work should be shortened and a minimum wage enforced; sweating and home work should be abolished. Further resolutions protested against the persecution of the Jews in Roumania, sympathised with the revolutionists in Russia, condemned the action of the French and Spanish troops in Morocco, and advocated adult suffrage both for men and women.

The German Socialist Congress met at Essen on September 15, and confined itself to a discussion of the policy and prospects of the German Socialist party, most of the other questions dealt with at previous congresses having been exhaustively treated by the Stuttgart Congress. After listening to a long speech from Herr Bebel in explanation of the defeat of the Socialists at the general election, and declaring that notwithstanding this temporary check the future belonged to the Social Democracy, the Congress decided to abstain from recommending any change in the political tactics of the party. Very violent language against the party was used at the German Catholic Congress which met at Würzburg on August 25. A deputy of the Centre said that Social Democracy was "an invention of the devil," and the fight against it must be continued relentlessly. The annual resolution praying for the restoration of the Pope's temporal power was omitted on this occasion, and no Papal delegates were present, in order, it was supposed, to give the Congress a purely "national" character.

The question of the Brunswick succession (ANNUAL REGISTER, 1906, p. 290) was settled in the early part of the year. On February 28 the Federal Council rejected an application made by the Brunswick Diet on January 17 to admit the youngest son of the Duke of Cumberland to the succession, and Duke John Albrecht of Mecklenburg-Schwerin was unanimously elected by the Diet on May 28 to fill the office of Regent of the Duchy of Brunswick. The new Regent assumed the functions of his office on June 5.

On January 11 Herr Dernburg, Director of the Colonial department of the German Foreign Office, made a notable speech on German trade and industry at the annual meeting

of the German Chamber of Commerce. He urged that the expansion of German industry and population made colonies a necessity, not only for the German people, but for the maintenance of the empire as a great Power. In the middle of the eighteenth century there were only 9,000,000 of English-speaking people against 20,000,000 of German-speaking people; now there were 120,000,000 of the former against only 60,000,000 of the latter, owing to the fact that England had large Colonies in which foreign immigrants were assimilated and became British subjects. Referring to the statement made by a German patriot a hundred years ago that if Germany had then been united "not Clive but a Hamburg councillor would command on the Ganges," Herr Dernburg remarked that what had then been prevented by the divisions of the German States was now being threatened by the division of German class interests and parties. German industry depended more than ever on foreign countries for raw materials and food supplies and was being beaten by foreign rivals. Electric works in Brazil had passed from German into American hands, and German trade with China was decreasing while that of America had risen sixfold and that of Japan fivefold. Meanwhile Germany's need for imports had in no wise decreased, and a counterpoise could only be found in the development of her Colonial possessions. The import into Germany in 1905 of products raised in German Coloniesnamely, cotton, copper, rubber, petroleum, rice, oil-producing fruits, and hemp, amounted to over a milliard of marks (50,000,000l.). The Colonies already afforded a market for German goods. The value of the exports to African protectorates alone amounted to 63,000,000 marks (3,150,000l.), whereas her exports to China, one of the best foreign markets for German trade, amounted to only 53,000,000 marks (2,650,000l.). Germany's share of the whole trade with her Colonies (excluding Kiao-chao) rose from 52 per cent. to 64 per cent. between 1903 and 1905, while England's share had decreased from 11 per cent. to 6 per cent. As to the trade prospects of the German Colonies, Herr Dernburg said that West Africa was suited for growing American cotton, and East Africa for growing Egyptian cotton. The Greek cotton-growers in Egypt, whose crops had decreased as the result of the Assuan dam, were looking about in East Africa for fresh cotton fields. The price of land for cotton planting in East Africa compared most favourably with prices in Egypt and Texas, and Professor Warburg estimated that after the introduction of cultivation by the plough, the output of the German African Protectorates would amount to 2,500,000 bales. Copper was already being taken out of the Otavi mines in German South-West Africa, while syndicates were exploring other mines in the Protectorate. The southern portion of German South-West Africa, according to Professor Hahn, of Cape Town University, was just as suitable for wool and mohair as Cape Colony. In con

clusion Herr Dernburg maintained that the Colonies assured the increasing population of Germany, which was compelled to turn to industry owing to the want of land, of great and increasing orders and therefore work. The Colonies could supply cheap raw materials, and German manufacturers and workmen would thus be assured of influence upon prices running counter to monopolistic tendencies in foreign countries as embodied in hostile tariffs or private combinations. The development of the Colonies would protect and strengthen Germany's trade balance, since it would not be necessary to send gold abroad for the purchase of raw materials. Colonies were a powerful strategic weapon in cases where it was necessary to make treaties and arrangements with other countries for the guarantee of reciprocal trade in raw materials and finished products.

In a subsequent speech in the German Reichstag during the debate on the Supplementary Estimates for German South-West Africa, rejected by the House on December 13, 1906 (ANNUAL REGISTER, 1906, p. 300), Herr Dernburg expressed a hope that now the Hottentots had surrendered, normal conditions would soon be restored, but added that "at present they were far from that desirable result; . . . the pacification of the Hereros and the defence of the northern districts against the Ovambos would still necessitate the presence of a considerable number of troops." Referring to the proposed railway from Kubub to Keetmanshoop, he said that the Government had agreed to obtain the necessary funds for the construction of the line by loan, as suggested by the Budget Committee, and he illustrated the remunerative character of Colonial railway enterprise by informing the House that the Customs revenues of German East Africa for the year 1906 would exceed the Estimates by 1,000,000 marks (50,0007.). This satisfactory return he ascribed solely to the fact that Great Britain had rendered the Victoria Nyanza district accessible by means of the Uganda Railway, with the result that the German Customs, which up till that time had yielded a bare revenue of 100,000 marks (5,000l.) a year, now yielded 66,000 marks (3,300l.) a month. The Supplementary Estimates were then passed against the votes of the Centre, the Poles and the Socialists, whose leader, Herr Bebel, condemned the expenditure upon South-West Africa as an unwarranted waste of public money and quoted a statement made by General Leutwein, ex-Governor of the Colony, to the effect that the number of troops to be maintained in the Colony was excessive, adding that the Colony was only capable of maintaining 200,000 settlers and that the whole of Africa attracted only 57 out of every 28,000 German emigrants. Another Socialist member, Herr Ledebur, objected to the maintenance of so large a force in South-West Africa on the ground that the pan-Germans represented it as a menace to Cape Colony, and therefore a useful means of putting pressure upon England. The pacification of the Colony, however, pro

ceeded but slowly. On March 3, Simon Kopper, an important Hottentot leader, surrendered to a detachment of German troops with machine guns, and on September 21 the chief Morenga (the "Hottentot de Wet") was killed on British territory with several of his followers in an engagement with a detachment of Cape Police under the command of Major Elliott, but a series of punitive and raiding expeditions still had to be undertaken in order to effect the complete disarmament of the natives, and troops were also required to guard the 16,000 native prisoners of war who remained in the hands of the Germans. According to official statistics, the German casualties in the three and a half years' campaign in SouthWest Africa amounted to 2,348 officers and men, of whom 62 officers and 614 men were killed in action or died accidentally, and 26 officers and 663 men died of disease.

The vote for the conversion of the Colonial department of the Foreign Office into a separate Imperial Office under a Secretary of State and the establishment of a Colonial headquarters staff under a Major-General attached to the Colonial Office, which had been rejected in the previous year (ANNUAL REGISTER, 1906, p. 297), was passed on May 3, and Herr Dernburg, who was appointed to this post on May 10, announced that he would pay a personal visit to German East and SouthWest Africa in order to see what reforms could be effected. He added that he thought Colonial affairs should be conducted more on business lines, and that the bureaucratic character of the department would be modified as far as practicable; but he denied that German officials were either arrogant or conceited, though he admitted that "a reprehensible caste feeling had grown up in the Colonies, the conception of a gentleman in England being different from the German ideal."

On May 24, the Congress of the German Colonial Society passed a resolution recommending that the authorities in German East Africa "should issue regulations and adopt measures with a view to the better protection of small German traders and settlers against Indian merchants." It was stated by several speakers at the Congress that natives of India who made the Colony the scene of their operations were exempted from the strict supervision to which German traders were subjected, and that they took advantage of this exemption in order to exploit and oppress Arabs and natives with whom they had established financial relations. Reference was made to the regulations with regard to immigrants from India which had been enacted in the British South African Colonies, and similar measures were proposed for German East Africa. The Indian traders were also accused of having aided and abetted the recent insurrection. The governing board of the society, however, pointed out that though the Indian immigrants had in some cases been extortionate and been guilty of fraudulent practices, they had nevertheless been an indispensable factor in the