Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/177

 CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT. 141

Chamber it is sufficient to be of age. The president of both Houses is appointed by the king ; for the Upper House without restriction of person, and for the lower, from among three members elected by the deputies. The debates of the second Chamber are public, and have to be printed and distributed among the various consti- tuencies. Whenever Parliament is not sitting, it is represented by a committee of twelve persons, consisting of the presidents of both Chambers, two members of the Upper, and eight of the Lower House. A special court of justice, called the Staats-Gerichtshof, is appointed guardian of the constitution and rights and privileges of the Houses of Parliament. It is composed of a president and twelve members, six of which, together with the president, are nominated by the king, while the other six are elected by the combined Chambers.

The executive of the kingdom consists of five ministerial depart- ments, presided over by the king, or a member of the royal family nominated by his majesty. The departments are : —

1. The Ministry of Justice. — Herr von Mittnacht, appointed Sept. 27, 1868.

2. The Ministry of the Interior. — Herr von Scheurlen, appointed March 24, 1870.

3. The Ministry of Education and of Ecclesiastical Affairs. — Dr. von Gessler, appointed May 3, 1870.

4. The Ministry of Finance. — Herr von Benner, appointed Oct. 6, 1864.

5. The Ministry of War. — Lieutenant- General von Suckow, appointed March 24, 1870.

At the side of the Ministry stands a Privy Council, which the sovereign has the right to consult on all occasions.

Church and Education.

The last census of Wiirtemberg, of Dec. 3, 1867, states the reli- gious creed of the inhabitants as follows : — Evangelical Protestants, 1.220,199 ; Roman Catholics, 543,601 ; Dissenters of various denominations, 3,017 ; and Jews, 11,662. It will be seen that the Protestants form 68 per cent, of the population, and the Roman Catholics 30 per cent. The ' Evangelical Protestant ' Church of Wiirtemberg was formed in 1823, by a union of the Lutherans and the Calvinists, or Reformers. The administration of the Protestant Church is in the hands of six general superinten- dents, at Ulm, Ludwigsburg, Reutlingen, Hall, Heilbronn, and Tubingen. In the king is vested, according to the constitution, the supreme direction as well as the guardianship — obersthoheitliche