Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/991

 AHEA AND POPULATION

fi85

burgomaster, chosen annually in secret ballot, preside over the meetings of the Senate. No burgomaster can be in office longer than two years ; and no member ol" the Senate is allowed to hold any other public office whatever. The House of Burgesses consists of 160 members, 80 of whom are elected in secret ballot by the votes of all tax-paying citizens. Of the remaining 80 members, 40 are chosen, also by ballot, by the owners of house-property in the city, while the other 40 are chosen, also by ballot, by the members of various guilds, corporations, and courts of justice. All the members of the House of Burgesses are chosen for six years, in such a manner that every three years new elections take place for one-half the number. The House of Burgesses is represented, in permanence, by a Biirger-Ausschuss, or Committee of the House, consisting of 20 deputies, of whom no more than live are allowed to be members of the legal profession. It is the special duty of the Committee to watch the pro- ceedings of the Senate and the general execution of the articles of the Constitution, including the laws voted by the House of Burgesses. In all matters of legislation, except taxation, the Senate has a veto ; and, in case of a constitutional conflict, recourse is had to an assembly of arbitrators, chosen in equal parts from the Senate and the House of Burgesses ; also to the Supreme Court of Judicature of the Empire (Reichsgericht) at Leipzig.

The jurisdiction of the Free Port was, on January 1, 1882, restricted to the city and port by the inclusion of the Lower Elbe in the Zollverein, and on October 15, 1888, the whole of the city, except the actual port and the warehouses connected \\ath it (population 1,585 in 1895), was incorporated in the Zollverein. The alterations in the port necessitated by this step have involved an expenditure of six millions sterling, to which the Imperial Government contributes two millions.

Area and Population.

The State embraces a territory of 158 English square miles, with a pojm- lation on December 1, 1880, of 453,869 ; December 1, 1885, of 518,620 ; on December 1, 1890, 622,530 ; and on December 2, 1895, 681,632. Included in the census returns were three battalions of soldiers, forming the garrison of-Ham- l»urg. The State consists of two divisions, the population of each of which was as follows on December 2, 1895 : — City of Hamburg, 625,552 ; Landgebiet (4 Landherrenschafteu), 56,080. From 1871 to 1875 the population of the State increased at the rate of 3-41 ; 1875-80 at 3-10; in 1880-85 at 2-66 ; in 1885-90 at 3*64 ; and in 1890-95, atl'81 per cent, yearly. A large stream of emigi'ation, chiefly to America, flows through Hamburg. Of the population in 1895, 332,570 were males and 349,062 females, i.e. 104*9 females per 100 males. There were 14,509 foreigners — 3,595 Austrians, 2,099 Swedish and Norwe- gians, 2,424 Danes, 1,520 British, 3,240 other Europeans, 1,631 non-Euro- peans, and 288 unclassified — resident in Hamburg in 1895.

The following table ^shows the number of emigrants viS, Hamburg foi (ive years : —

Year

Prom

Hamburg

itself

Othey Germans

Foreigners

Total

Bound for the United States

For other Destinations

1893 1894 1895 1896 1897

2,194 1,580 1,421 1,4/2 1,281

28,316 14,717 12,576 10,852 7,521

28,362 22,530 41,100 40,424 26,247

58,872 38,827 55,097 52,748 35,049

46,933 32,001 47,042 43,820 25,075

11,939 6,826 8,055 8,928 9,974