CKNTRE
23
CENTRE
claimed 80 in 1869; 79 in 1875; 68 (83) in 1881; 79
in 1887; 74 in 1893; 84 in 1889; 102 in 1905; 98 in
1907; and 87 in 1912.
(b) WiJRTEMBERG. — The Centre Party of Wiirtem- berg was founded on 11 July, 1894, to contest the diet elections of 1895. In 1895 and 1900 the Centre secured 20 deputies; in 1906 they numbered 25 deputies (out of a total of 92 deputies). Before 1894 the Catholic deputies had been allied either with the regular "National Party" or with the so-called "Left". An alliance of all the deputies who defended the rights and hberties of the Catholic Church was less necessary during the seventies and eighties in VViirtemberg than in other German states, since Wiirteniberg was spared a KuUurkampf, thanks to the good sense of the Government and the benevo- lence of the Protestant king. It was only in the last decades that denominational differences began to play a more prominent part in public life. The first leader of the Wurtemberg Centre and of the Catholics of Vi^Urtemberg was Rudolf Probst (1817-99), Direc- tor of the Life Insurance Bank; the most prominent leaders of the present day (1912) are Adolf Grober, Provincial Court Director, Johann von Kiene, Presi- dent of the Senate in the High Court of Appeal, and the brothers Alfred and Viktor Rembold (both bar- risters). The Centre of the German Reichstag received one deputy from Wiirtemberg in 1871; since 1880 it ha,s received always four deputies as members.
(c) Baden. — .\ fierce war betwen State and Church broke out in Baden in the early sixties. Although two-thirds of the population of Baden were Catholics, the Diet of Baden contained no champions of Catholic rights, partly owing to the unjust state of the fran- chise and partly because the majority of the Catholics, influenced by the anti-Roman theologian Ignaz von Wessenberg, inclined towards Liberal ideas and a national Church. The anti-religious attitude of the Government and of the Liberal Party, however, gradually awakened the Catholic conscience. In 1867 the "Catholic Popular Party" was formed, its first, and for some time its only, representative being the merchant Jacob Lindau (1833-98). In 1869, however, four Catholic deputies were elected. Although originally the Catholic Popular Party favoured union with Austria, it expressed in 1870-71 its entire adhesion to the treaties which laid the foundation of the German P^mpire. The deputies elected in Baden on the programme of the Catholic Popular Party for the German Reichstag joined the German Centre Party as early as 1871. In the seventies, while the Kultiirkampf raged in Baden, the Party defended with great boldness, and not without some success, in the Diet of Baden the rights of the Church. In 1881, when the party had twenty-three mandates, it adopted a new constitution, and recog- nized in their entirety the principles of the Centre Party of the German Reichstag as its own. In the middle of the eighties a serious crisis within the party was occasioned by the question whether the policy of the party was to be friendly to the Govern- ment or strictly defensive of Catholic interests. The number of deputies of the Catholic Popular Party fell from 23 to 9. In 1888 the party was reorganized under thenameof the Badi/sche Zcntrumiipartei (Centre Party of Baden). To terminate the swamping of the pohtical life of Baden by the anti-religious policy of the National Liberals was declared to be its most important ta,sk. Since then the party has been al- most unceasingly gaining ground, and has performed notable services in furthering the welfare of the coun- try and in defending the rights of the Church. It is bitterly opposed by the Liberals and Social Demo- crats, who have been united in the Grosshlock (Great Block) since 1905. Of the 73 members of the Cham- ber the party claimed 28 in 1905 and 26 in 1909. The reorganizer and able leader of the Centre of Baden is
Theodor Wacker, pastor of Zahringen. He is assisted
by Konstantin Fehrenbach, a barrister, and Johann
Zehnter, President of the Nalimud Court.
(d) ALSACE-LoRnAiNE. — The Ceiiire Party of .M- sace-Lorraine was formed in 1906 from the "Catholic National Party", which had in turn been formed in 1903 from the "Elsasser" and the "Lothringer" (the "Alsatians" and the "Lorrainians"). Although the Centre of Alsace-Lorraine joined the Centre in the Reichstag, various causes prevented a complete under- standing being arrived at, especially because the Centre Party in the Reichstag was opposed to the particularistic and separationist ideals of a portion of the Centre of Alsace-Lorraine. The leader of the separationist division is Abbe \Yetterl6. As the Centre in the Reichstag accepted the new Constitution for Alsace-Lorraine in a form unacceptable to the Centre of these states, all relations between the two bodies were broken off. Since 1912, however, attempts have been made to re-establish unity. The chairman of the Centre of Alsace-Lorraine is Karl Hauss, editor-in-chief of the "Elsasser Boten" (a daily paper). In the Diet of Alsace-Lorraine the Party had 27 deputies in 1911 (out of a total of 60); in the German Reichstag it numbered 7 out of the 397 mem- bers in 1912.
(e) Hesse. — A Catholic Popular Party was formed in the Grand Duchy of Hesse as early as the forties. Shortly after the formation of the Centre in the Reichstag, this party also took the name "Centre". While the KuUurkampf raged in Hesse during the seventies, the party energetically championed the interests of the oppressed Catholics. In 1911 the party claimed 9 deputies out of a total of 50. Its leader is . the counsel. Dr. Schmitt-Mainz. The Grand Duchy sends 9 deputies to the German Reich- stag, but none of these belongs- to the Centre Party.
(f) Oldenburg. — Until 1910 there was no organ- ized Centre Party in the Grand Duchy of Oldenburg. The Catholics, who constitute about one-fifth of the population of Oldenburg, live to the south in the dis- trict known as the MUnsterland, which until 1803 was under the rule of the Prince-Bishop of Mtinster. Since the introduction of the Constitution this Cath- olic section has chosen representatives of its own religion — at first 6, but later, with the increase of the population, 8. From the beginning these representatives have stood for the principles of the Centre in the German Reichstag, and championed the Christian outlook in public life. The Catholic deputies have performed a specially useful service in recent years by their firm advocacy of a movement to introduce new school laws, based on a Christian and denominational foundation, for the three divi- sions of Oldenburg. Until recently party politics did not play any prominent part in the Diet of Olden- burg, as such tactics did not appeal to even the non- Catholic deputies. Since about 1870 the Govern- ment has showed a benevolent attitude towards the Catholic ecclesiastical authorities, and the Kulttir- kampf obtained no footing in Oldenburg. The need of a definite partj' organization first arose when the Social Democrats captured some seats in the diet, and the direct franchise wa-s introduced in 1909. The organization of the Centre was therefore adopted in 191(), and on this programme 9 deputies (out of a total of 45) were elected in 1911. The able leader of the Catholic deputies of Oldenburg and of the Centre is Dr. Franz Driver, counsel to the ad- ministrative high court. The grand duchy sends three deputies to the Reichstag; one of these, elected by the Catholic south, has been from the first a mem- ber of the Centre in the Reichstag.
(g) Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach. — .Among the twenty- three deput ies elected to the Diet of this grand duchy the Centre has one deputy, elected by the Catholic section of the Oberland in Eisenach.
