The social democrats entered into the contest for election of members to the Constituent Assembly of the North German Confederation. In one of the districts their candidate ran against Bismarck and a leading liberal, and received about one fourth of the votes cast for the three candidates. As no one received a majority, a new election was ordered, and Bismarck was elected by the aid of the social democrats, who always prefer conservatives to liberals. As Bismarck was elected in another district, it was necessary to vote for a third time in this place, when the social democrat ran against the celebrated liberal, Dr. Gneist, Professor of Constitutional Law in the University of Berlin, and one of the leading jurists in Germany. The votes were about evenly divided, but the social democrat was defeated by a small majority. The social democrats elected two representatives, however, and in the fall of the same year (1867) they sent eight members to the Parliament of the North German Confederation. Since the organization of the German Empire the social democratic votes for members of the Imperial Parliament (Reichstag) have numbered as follows: 1871, 123,975; 1874, 351,952; 1877, 493,288; 1878, 437,158. The entire number of votes cast in 1877 was 5,401,021. We see, then, that the social democratic voters numbered over one eleventh of all the voters in that year. When it is remembered that there are nine or ten political parties represented in the Reichstag, it must be acknowledged that the elections revealed a large relative strength of the social democratic party. Its votes have, however, been so scattered that it has not had its proportionate number of representatives in Parliament. The social democratic members of the Reichstag numbered two in 1871, nine in 1874, twelve in 1877, and nine in 1878. The total number of members of the Reichstag is about four hundred. It is thus seen that the social democratic party advanced in strength, as far as that is measured by votes, until 1878, when the decrease was only slight. Two attempts were made on the life of the Emperor William in that year, and the social democrats had to bear a good share of the blame. There was a considerable popular indignation manifested; private employers, as well as government, discharged laborers who entertained social democratic principles; and in the elections following the police put every obstacle in the way of the party. In the Reichstag the celebrated socialistic law was passed, which gave government exceptional and despotic powers to proceed against social democracy. The severity of the government appears to have done more harm than good. In spite of what can be fairly designated as persecution, in the elections which took place in October, 1881, the social democrats secured thirteen seats, the largest number they have ever yet gained.[192] This is, indeed, significant when it is remembered that the exceptional law (_Ausnahmegesetz_) allows severe measures