English Translation

49-1a Our German Empire went through a similar process about a hundred years ago. It was at that time just as divided into many parts, larger and smaller, as is the case with Europe today. This small-state factory was tolerable as long as the technical aids, especially the means of transport, had not yet been developed so far that the transition from one small country to another would have taken too short a time. However, the invention of steam power made the old state impossible. For if it took about twenty-four hours to get from one small country to another, then it took only three or four hours after the iron-rail had been established for this way. So if one had to travel twenty-four hours before the invention of steam = force, until one came to a new customs barrier, then one needed first five, then three, then two, finally half an hour, so that this condition became a nonsense for the most federalist fanatic. There were forces in the realm at that time too, trying to overcome this state by negotiating. These forces have been refuted by the historical development, in a way that is more common to note.