Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/766

 five duchies, Brunswick, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Saxe-Altenburg, and Anhalt; seven principalities, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Lippe-Detmold, Schaumburg-Lippe, Waldeck, Reuss senior, and Reuss junior; three free cities, Lübeck, Bremen, and Hamburg; and the imperial territory of Alsace-Lorraine. The constitution of the German empire bears date April 16, 1871. At the head of the empire is the king of Prussia, who has the title of “German Emperor.” The emperor represents the empire internationally, declares war, concludes peace, and enters into alliance and treaties with foreign powers. For a declaration of war the consent of the federal council is required, unless an attack has been made upon German territory. The emperor is the commander-in-chief of the imperial army and navy. He convokes, opens, adjourns, and closes the federal council and the Reichstag, but the former must be convoked whenever two thirds of its members demand it. The emperor promulgates the laws and superintends their execution. The legislative functions are vested in the federal council (Bundesrath) and the Reichstag. The members of the former are appointed by the governments of the states. It consisted in 1873 of 58 members: 17 for Prussia, 6 for Bavaria, 4 for Würtemberg, 4 for Saxony, 3 for Baden, 3 for Hesse, 2 for Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 2 for Brunswick, and 1 for each of the others except Alsace-Lorraine. It has, according to the constitution, eight standing committees: 1, for the army and fortresses; 2, for the navy; 3, for tariff, excise, and taxes; 4, for trade and commerce; 5, for railways, posts, and telegraphs; 6, for civil and criminal law; 7, for financial accounts; 8, for foreign affairs. Since the annexation of Alsace-Lorraine, a 9th committee for that territory has been added. The committee for foreign affairs consists of the representatives of Bavaria, Saxony, and Würtemberg, and those of two other states who are annually elected by the federal council, under the presidency of Bavaria. The emperor appoints the committees for the army and navy, except one member in the committee for the army, who is appointed by Bavaria; all the other committees are elected by the federal council. The Reichstag is elected by universal direct suffrage and by ballot, at the average rate of one deputy for every 100,000 inhabitants. It consisted in 1873 of 382 members: 236 for Prussia, 48 for Bavaria, 23 for Saxony, 17 for Würtemberg, 14 for Baden, 9 for Hesse, 6 for Mecklenburg-Schwerin, 3 each for Oldenburg, Saxe-Weimar, Brunswick, and Hamburg, 2 each for Saxe-Meiningen, Anhalt, and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, and 1 for each of the other states. The legislative period is three years. The Reichstag can be dissolved by a resolution of the federal council with the consent of the emperor. In case of a dissolution, the new election must take place within 60 days, and the convocation of the new Reichstag within 90 days. The Reichstag cannot be adjourned without its own consent for a period exceeding 30 days, and not oftener than once during one session. It elects its president, vice presidents, and secretaries. Its members receive no pay or indemnity, are during the exercise of their functions free from responsibility, and enjoy the usual constitutional immunity. For an imperial law (Reichsgesetz) the agreement of the majority of the federal council and the Reichstag is requisite and sufficient. Such sections of the imperial constitution as provide for the rights of particular states can only be changed with the consent of the state concerned. States which fail to fulfil their federal duties can be coerced by means of an “execution,” which is ordered by the federal council and carried out by the emperor. Disputes between states are decided by the federal council. The revenue and expenditures of the empire must annually be estimated and presented in the imperial budget. The expenditures of the empire are first met by the surplus of previous years, and by the income arising from customs, from the common branches of excise, and from the administration of postal affairs and telegraphs. If these revenues are insufficient, the balance is raised, as long as no imperial taxes are imposed, by contributions from the several states. The distribution is made by the imperial chancellor, who has annually to give an account of it to the federal council and the Reichstag. In the budget for 1873, the ordinary expenditures were estimated at $79,560,000, and the extraordinary at $5,900,000. The direct revenue was estimated at $70,000,000, leaving a balance of about $15,000,000 to be distributed among the states. The public debt on April 8, 1873, amounted to only $1,224,000, which was soon to be paid off—The military system of the empire is the same which has for many years been in operation in Prussia. Every German capable of bearing arms must serve for three years in the standing army, for four years in the reserve, and for five years in the landwehr. No substitution is allowed. The emperor is the commander of the entire German army in time of war, and, with the exception of the Bavarian troops, also in time of peace. All the German troops are bound to obey unconditionally the orders of the emperor; the Bavarian troops have this duty only in time of war. The emperor appoints (except in the Bavarian army) all the higher officers, orders the erection of fortresses in any part of the empire (in Bavaria and Würtemberg with certain reservations), and in case of threatened disturbance of order can declare any country or district in a state of siege. The army of the empire is made up of the following contingents: 1, the army of Prussia, with which, in virtue of special military conventions, the troops of Oldenburg, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Lippe, Schaumburg-Lippe, Waldeck, Lübeck, Bremen, and Hamburg have been incorporated; 2, the contingents of Baden,