no means an unimportant, field for legislation was opened to the Federal Council and the Reichstag by their being permitted to legislate in matters respecting the Press and right of meeting. From the above it will be observed that some encroachment on the prerogatives of the head of the past Confederation was made by the Federal Council. CHAP. VI. 1871. The Reichstag, or Parliament, now consists, with Reichstag. the fifteen Alsace-Lorraine deputies, of 397 members, of whom Prussia returns 235, Bavaria 48, Saxony 23, Würtemberg 17, Baden 14, Hesse 9, and the other States in a smaller proportion. The elections are conducted according to the Electoral Law of May 31, 1869, which has been mentioned elsewhere. The summoning, proroguing, and dissolving of Parliament, the mode of conducting the business, the formation of Committees and their functions, the elections of the President and other officers, and the manner of voting are all governed by precisely the same regulations as existed in the Reichstag of the North German Confederation. A similar rule to that which was introduced into the Federal Council-that votes on subjects which did not affect the whole Empire were given only by those members who were concerned in those questions-was applied also in the Parliament. A change was made in the rules respecting petitions, as the Parliament now has the right of forwarding the petitions which are addressed to them, to the Federal Council. Thus every subject of the Empire, if his representatives think fit, can СНАР. 1871. Office of the Im come into direct communication with the Federal Council. The office of the Imperial Chancellor has now to deal with the following subjects: 1. All the affairs Chancellor. of the Empire are centred in it which do not come perial Posts and telegraphs. within the province of the Foreign Office. 2. It prepares the subjects which have to be laid before the Federal Council. 3. Questions of commercial policy. 4. The posts and telegraphs of the former North German Confederation and of Baden and Hesse. Those of Bavaria and Würtemberg remain at present under the administration of their own Governments. Article LII. of the Constitution lays down that 'the legislation respecting the immunities of the posts and telegraphs, respecting the legal relations of both these depart, ments to the public, and respecting the postage, is in the hands of the central power. But the regulations and the tariff rules for the internal postal and telegraphic communication in Bavaria and Würtemberg are laid down by these countries themselves.' 'The regulations for the postal and telegraphic communication with the exterior are also under the central power, with the exception of those affecting the immediate communication of Bavaria and Würtemberg with the non-German States bordering on them, which are settled by Article 49 of the Postal Treaty of November 23, 1867.' These two countries, therefore, enjoy the revenues accruing from their posts and telegraphs, but they have no share in the revenues which the Imperial Treasury derives from these sources. In the treaty with Bavaria it was agreed that, in postal and telegraphic treaties with non-German States, representatives from the neighbouring German States should be present for the protection of the particular interests of their countries; and that each separate State should be allowed to conclude treaties of the above-mentioned character in so far as they only affected communication on the boundary (Grenzverkehr). : The office of the Imperial Chancellor had also to deal with 5. The superintendence of the Imperial Debt; with Customs and taxes, and the Finances. The Imperial Debt consists of loans contracted for the increase of the navy, for coast defence, for the mobilisation of the army, and for the expenses incurred in the Franco-German War. The Chancellor has the superintendence of it, and it is administered by a Committee of seven members, three of whom are chosen by the Federal Council, and three by the Parliament. 6. Those matters which were within the province of the head of the former Customs Union. By the entry of the South German States into the North German Confederation, and the formation of the Empire, the Customs Union, with its Council and Parliament, was of course rendered unnecessary; and its functions were transferred to the Federal Council and the Parliament of the Empire. The Customs Union Law of July 1, 1869, the Customs Tariff of October 1, 1870, and the Customs Penal Law continued to remain in CHAP. VI. 1871. CHAP. VI. 1871. Military affairs. Railways. force. These laws were introduced into AlsaceLorraine. Bavaria, Würtemberg, and Baden, however, retained the right of taxing their home-manufactured brandy and beer. 7. The administration of Alsace-Lorraine. The military and naval affairs of the Empire, with the exception of Bavaria, are administered by the Prussian War Office, and by the Prussian Admiralty, although these Ministries are not officially recognized as Imperial authorities, This abnormal condition of things is somewhat modified by the Committee of the Federal Council for the Army and Fortresses, which forms a kind of Imperial War Ministry. Würtemberg had to adopt the Prussian organization, but preserved the privilege of clothing her army on her own pattern, and of retaining the laws for the religious service in her army, and her military penal code. Her contingent forms one separate army corps, but is under the command of the German Emperor. Bavaria has to contribute the same quota as the other States to the Imperial Military chest; but this quota is kept apart, and the mode of expending it is left entirely to her. Her army is under the King of Bavaria during peace time, but on the mobilization of the Imperial troops on a war footing, the Emperor takes the command. She has to assimilate the organization, arming, &c., of her army to the system of the Imperial troops. The administration of the railways is, as formerly, in the hands of the central power, as far as regards VI. 1871. purposes of land defence and general commu- CHAP. nication; in fact, if a railway is considered necessary for these purposes it can be made without the consent of the State through whose territory it passes. Bavaria maintains the administration of her railways, excepting that she must make lines which are considered necessary for strategical purposes. The laws which concerned the right of settlement in a State and marriage, were among those of the North German Confederation which were not introduced into Bavaria. With the exceptions and alterations above mentioned, the Constitution of the North German Confederation was accepted by the South German States. In the present Constitution, the Emperor has been shorn of a few prerogatives, and the power of the Federal Council has been slightly increased; while Prussia has succeeded in retaining in this Council the same, if not a greater influence, than she formerly possessed. The exceptional positions which in some matters Bavaria and, in a lesser degree, Würtemberg enjoy, will probably not be long maintained. The form of the Constitution is peculiar-an Emperor who combines some of the attributes of an absolute, with those of a constitutional sovereign, ruling over States more or less independent, and who is hemmed in and renderel powerless in many respects, while in others he has unlimited scope; |