On the one hand, M. de Puttkamer, Minister of the Interior, unable to
refute the evidence brought forward by the socialist deputy, Bebel, had
then been compelled to confess that the socialist agitators Haupt and
Schneider were his agents in Switzerland. On the other hand, at the
inquiry into the proceedings of these socialists, there was the
evidence furnished by letters seized on Schmidt and Friedmann,
associates of Haupt and Schneider, that Schmidt had been commissioned
by M. Krueger of the Berlin Police to commit a crime. In one of the
seized letters, the following words were actually used by Krueger: "The
next attempt upon the life of the Emperor Alexander must be prepared at
Geneva. Write to me; I await your reports." [7]
Whenever the alleged liberalism of William II finds its expression in
anything else but speeches, it is easy to take its measure. He has
just shown once more what it really amounts to, in the Treaty of
Establishment with Switzerland, wherein restrictions are placed upon
the issue of good moral character certificates by German parishes to
their parishioners. These will no longer be available to enable a
German to take up his residence in Switzerland. Henceforward it will
be the business of the German Legation to pick and choose those whom it
considers eligible to reside in Switzerland, either to practise a
profession or to conduct an export business there. It will be for
Germany to decide whether or not her subjects are dangerous abroad.
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