Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 21.djvu/381

Rh PRUSSIAN SAXONY,] SAXONY 359 most widely known. The conservatory of music at Leipsic enjoys a world-wide reputation ; not less the art-collections at Dresden. Constitution. Saxony is a constitutional monarchy and a member of the German empire, with four votes in the federal council and twenty-three in the reichstag. The constitution rests on a law promulgated on 4th September 1831, and subsequently amended. The crown is hereditary in the Albertine Saxon line, with reversion to the Ernestine lino, of which the duke of Saxe- Weimar is now the head. The king enjoys a civil list of 2,940,000 marks or 147,000, while the apanages of the crown, including the payments to the other members of the royal house, amount to 1 5,670 more. The legislature (Standeversammlung)is bicameral, the constitution of the co-ordinate chambers being finally settled by a law of 1868 amending the enactment of 1831. The first chamber consists of the adult princes of the blood, five hereditary members from among the nobility, representatives of the Lutheran and Roman Catholic Churches, a representative of Leipsic university, twelve representatives of proprietors with landed property of an annual value of at least 150, elected for life, and ten representa- tives of the same class nominated for life by the crown, the chief magistrates of the eight principal towns, and five other life members, chosen without any restrictions by the king. The second chamber consists of thirty-five members from the towns and forty-five from the country, elected for six years. All male citizens twenty-five years old and upwards who pay one thaler (3s.) per annum in taxes have the suffrage ; and all above thirty years of age who pay 10 thalers in annual taxes are eligible as members of the diet. The chambers must be convened at least once every two years ; and extraordinary meetings take place at every change of ruler and on other special occasions. One-third of the members of the second chamber retire at the end of every period of two years. With the exception of the hereditary and some of the ex-officio members of the first chamber, the members of the diet are entitled to an allowance (12s.) for their daily expenses, as well as their travelling expenses. The executive consists of a responsible min- istry (Gesammtministerium), with the six departments of justice, finance, home affairs, war, public worship and education, and foreign affairs. The minister of the royal household does not belong to the cabinet. The constitution also provides for the formation of a kind of privy council (Staatsrath), consisting of the cabinet ministers and other members appointed by the king. For administrative purposes Saxony is divided into four Kreishauptmannschaften or governmental departments, subdivided into fifteen Amtshauptmannschaften and one hundred and sixteen Aemter. The cities of Dresden and Leipsic form departments by themselves. The supreme court of law for both civil and criminal cases is the Oberlandes-Gericht at Dresden, subordinate to which are seven other courts in the other principal towns and one hundred and five inferior tribunals. The German imperial code was adopted by Saxony in 1879. Leipsic is the seat of the imperial supreme court. Finance. The Saxon financial period embraces a space of two years. For 1884-5 the " ordinary " budget showed an income of 3,496,000, balanced by the expenditure, which included a reserve fund of 29,400. The chief sources of income were taxes (1,377,293, including 899,975 of direct taxes), state-railways (1,357,890), and the public forests and domains (359,171). Lotteries brought in 232,270, and. the royal porcelain manu- facture 17,500. The chief expenditure was on the interest (1,135,681) and sinking fund (410,000) of the national debt. The " extraordinary " budget, applying exclusively to public works, showed an income and expenditure tallying at 882,800. The national debt, incurred almost wholly in making and buying railways, amounted on 1st January 1885 to 32,670,300, mostly paying interest at the rate of 4 per cent. Army. The Saxon army is modelled on that of Prussia. It forms the 12th army corps in the imperial German army, and con- sists of the 23rd and 24th divisions, with headquarters at Dresden and Leipsic respectively. On its peace-footing the Saxon contingent includes 20,500 infantry, 4180 cavalry, and 3000 artillery ; in war it has 75,800 infantry, 6680 cavalry, and 8050 artillery. The statistical information in the above article has been derived chiefly from the Kafendar und statistisches Jahrbuch fur das Konigreich Sachsen (Dresden, 1875-86) and the Zeitschrift des Koniglichen Sachsischen statistischen Bureau (Dresden, 1855-85). The StaaUhandbuch fiir das Konigreich Sachsen is an annual official register. Engelhardt's Vaterlandskunde fiir Schule vnd ffaus im Konigreich Sachsen (Dresden, 3d ed. by Flathe, 1877) contains a comprehensive account of the country and its resources; and Daniel's ffandbuch der Geographic (Leipsic, 1881) clearly summarizes the principal points. The standard history of Saxony is Bottiger's Gescfiichte des Kurstaats vnd Konigreichs Sachsens (3 vols., Gotha, 3d ed., edited and continued by Flathe, 1867-73). Brandes's Qrundriss der Sachsischen GescMchte (Leipsic, 1860) is a succinct but somewhat dry sum- mary. Other leading works on the subjects are Gretschel, Geschichte des Sachsischen Stoats und Volts (3 vols., Leipsic, 2d ed., continued by Buluu, 1862-63) ; Meynert, Geschichte des Sachsischen Volts (2 vols., Leipsic, 1833-35) ; Heinrich, Sachsische Geschichte (2 vols., Leipsic, 1810-12); and Weisse, Geschichte der Kursdchsischen Slaattn (7 vols., Leipsic, 1S02-1-). The publication of the Codex Diplomatics Saxonise Regix was begun in 1864 under the care of Gersdorf, and has been continued under Posse and Emerisch. Posse has also published Die Afarkgrafen von Afeissfn und das ffaus Wetlin bis zu Konrad dem Grossen (Leipsic, 1881) ; and Emerisch is the editor of the Neue Archie fiir Sachsische Geschichte (Leipsic, 6 vols.), which contains full information as to works on the history of the country. Weber's older Archiv fiir die Sachsische' Geschichte appeared in 1864 sq. ; and a still older periodical publication on the subject is Von Brann's Monatlicher Ausziig aus der Geschichte des Kur- vnd Fiirstlicfien Houses Sachsens (6 vols., Langensnlza, 1778-81). See also Tutschmann's Atlas zur Geschichte der Sachsischen Lander (Grimma, 1852). (F. MU.) SAXONY, PRUSSIAN (Germ. Provinz Sachsen), one of See the central provinces of the kingdom of Prussia, consists Plate mainly of what was formerly the northern part of the kingdom of Saxony (ceded to Prussia in 1815), but also comprises the duchy of Magdeburg, the Altmark, and other districts, the connexion of which with Prussia is of earlier date. The area of the province is 9750 square miles. On the W. it is bounded by Hesse-Nassau, Hanover, and Brunswick, on the N. by Hanover and Brandenburg, on the E. by Brandenburg and Silesia, and on the S. by the kingdom of Saxony and the small Thuringian states. It is, however, very irregular in form, entirely surrounding parts of Brunswick and the Thuringian states, and itself possessing several "exclaves," while the northern portion of the province is almost entirely severed from the southern by the duchy of Anhalt. The major part of the province is flat and belongs to the great North- German plain, but the western and south-western districts are hilly, including parts of the Harz (with the Brockeu, 3417 feet) and the Thuringian Forest. About nine- tenths of Prussian Saxony belongs to the system of the Elbe, the chief feeders of which within the province are the Saale and the Mulde, but a small district on the west drains into the Weser. The saltwater lakes between Halle and Eisleben are the only lakes of the kind in Prussia. Saxony is on the whole the most fertile province of Prussia, and excels all the others in its produce of wheat and beetroot sugar (as well as in salt, brown coal, and copper), but the nature of its soil is very unequal, The best crop-producing districts lie near the base of the Harz Mountains, such as the " Magdeburger Borde " and the " Goldene Aue," and rich pasture lands occur in the river valleys, but the sandy plains of the Altmark, in the north part of the province, yield but a scanty return for the husbandman's toil. Of the total area of the province 61 per cent, is occupied by arable land, 13 per cent, by meadows and pastures, and 20 '5 per cent, by forests. Wheat and rye are raised in such abundance as to allow of a considerable export, while the other grain crops meet the local demand. The beetroot for sugar is grown chiefly in the district to the north of the Harz, as far as the Ohre, and on the banks of the Saale ; and the amount of sugar produced (upwards of 400,000 tons in 1883-84) is nearly as much as that of all the rest of Prussia together. Flax, hops, and seeds for oil are also cultivated to some extent, and large quantities of excellent fruit are grown at the foot of the Harz and in the valleys of the Unstrut and the Saale. The market-gardening of Erfurt is well-known throughout Germany. Wine, of indifferent quality, is produced in the vicinity of Naumburg. Saxony is comparatively poor in timber, though there are some fine forests in the Harz and other hilly districts. Cattle- rearing is carried on with success in the river valleys, and more goats are met with here than in any other part of Prussia. The live-stock census for 1883 gave the following figures : horses, 182,485; cattle, 624,973; sheep, 1,390,915; pigs, 719,627; goats, 261,225. (Compare the tables under PRUSSIA, vol. xx. p. 14.) The principal underground wealth of Prussian Saxony consists of its salt and its brown coal, of both of which it possesses larger stores than any other part of the German empire. The rock-salt mines and brine springs (the chief of which are at Stassfurt, Schbnebeck, Halle, &c.) produced in 1883-4 no less than 256,000 tons of salt, while the annual output of brown coal amounts to about 8 million tons, or more than the entire yield of the rest of Germany. Prussian Saxony also possesses three-fourths of the wealth of Germany in copper, the yield in 1883 amounting to 445, 000 tons of ore and 11,000 tons of the pure metal. The copper mines are found chiefly in the Harz district. The other mineral resources include silver (one-third of the total German yield), pit-coal, pyrites, alum, plaster of Paris, sulphur, alabaster, and several varieties of good building-stone. Numerous mineral springs occur in the Harz. In addition to the production of sugar already noted, the most important industries are the manufactures of cloth, leather, iron and steel wares (chiefly at Suhl and Sb'mmerda), spirits (Nord-