Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

According to a table published in 1869 by the Zeitschrift of the bureau of statistics, there were, in the primary schools: 12.8 per cent.; in 1825, 13.5 per cent.; in 1828, 14.6 per cent.; in 1831, 15.2 per cent. of the male population. It remained the same in 1861; in 1864 we find 16.9 per cent. For the year 1872, Brachelli estimated the number of primary schools at 34,700, and that of scholars at 3,650,000. In 1870 there were in Prussia seventy-six normal schools, fifty-six of which were Protestant and twenty Catholic. Since 1860, eleven normal schools belonging to the former religion, and five belonging to the latter, have been established. - Secondary instruction is represented by schools of different natures and different degrees. The 204 gymnasiums (lyceums) were attended in the winter of 1870-71 by 52,657 pupils, not including the 5,835 pupils of the preparatory schools, which makes one pupil in 468 inhabitants (the elementary classes not included). The thirty-three progymnasiums (colleges) had 3,443 pupils, besides 335 pupils of elementary classes. The seventy-six realschulen (schools of exact sciences) of the first rank had 20,026 and 2,620 pupils; those of the second rank had 2,950 and 1,002 pupils; the higher city schools, fiftynine in number, final examination in which entitled the pupil to enter the military service a year earlier than provided by law, were attended by 7,093 pupils, not including 1,818 pupils in the elementary classes; the twenty which did not enjoy this right had 1,317, and seventy-four pupils. The total number of pupils receiving secondary instruction was 89,275 (the elementary classes included); that is, one pupil in 276 inhabitants. These numbers indicate those who remained till the close, but, in reality, the attendance was 99,102 and 15,584; that is, 114,686 pupils, one in 215 inhabitants. Superior instruction belongs to

the universities of Berlin, Königsberg, Greifswald, Breslau, Halle, Bonn, Göttingen, Kiel, and Marburg. Münster may be added, although three faculties only are represented there. Paderborn and Braunsberg have faculties of Catholic theology (besides those which are annexed to many universities). Berlin, Königsberg and Düsseldorf have academies of the fine arts, and there are, in addition, agricultural academies, military and naval schools, and other institutions which it would be tedious to enumerate. The universitieshad, in 1873, about 8,000 matriculated students, and 1,600 to 1,800 young men who are simply authorized to follow the courses. In 1873 these universities had 404 professors in ordinary (incumbents), 166 extraordinary professors, and 241 privat-docenten (free professors); 50 masters taught the languages, etc. The surveillance of the state. over education is exercised by the minister of public instruction, and the different authorities dependent upon him. Such are the provincial colleges (committees), the district governments (prefects), and the school inspectors. The inspection is generally exercised by the priest or pastor. In consequence of the strife between the state and the church (chiefly, but not entirely, the Catholic church), by the law of March 11, 1872, which accentuates the right of the state to the surveillance of instruction, laymen have been appointed, but they still constitute the minority. In execution of the same law, a royal ordinance of April 18, 1873, made the opening of schools or boarding schools depend upon an administrative authorization. It is not probable that this authorization will be granted to religious congregations. (See ministerial decree of June 15, 1872.) - The number of professors, students, etc., at the Prussian universities, during 1882-3, was as follows:

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small]

The division had to be made amicably; and in
those cases where there was a disagreement, the
peasants, having the hereditary usufruct of an ag-
ricultural property, gave up a third to the lord,
while the peasants who cultivated on other condi-
tions gave up a half. These provisions could be
fulfilled either by actually giving up a half or
third of the land, or by preserving that portion,
and paying an annual rent in corn or in silver.
Special agents were appointed to put these ar-
rangements into execution according to the views
of the government (“consolidation of property").
The effects of this agrarian law were then com-
pleted by a series of measures, which bore their
fruits. We will cite but one proof among many.
In 1858 there were 762,157 agriculturists working
their own properties, against 33,218 farmers, mé-
tayers and stewards. To this number must be
added 421,544 heads of families, who carried on
agriculture as an accessory industry. The area
of the kingdom is divided as follows, among the
different branches of cultivation: arable lands
and gardens, 50.1 per cent.; meadows and pas-
tures, 18.3; forests, 23.1; total, 91.5 per cent.;
lands not cultivated, 8.5 per cent. The terri-
tory prior to 1866 (102,000,000 hectares) was di-
vided into 1,099,333 properties, of less than five
morgens (in all, 2,227,812 morgens); 617,420 prop-
erties, of five to thirty morgens (8,428,751 mor-
gens); 391,596, of 30 to 300 morgens (35,918,017 |
morgens); 15,079, of 300 to 600 morgens (6,048,222
morgens); 18,302, of more than 600 morgens
(41,117,312 morgens in all). The morgen is equal
to .8897 acres. The produce of the land does
not appear to be so high as might be supposed
from the advanced state of agricultural processes.
The average yield of wheat is estimated at 9
scheffels per morgen; of rye, at 8.60; of barley, at
10.75; of oats, at 13.25; of buckwheat, at 7.17; of
pease, at 6.50; and of colza, at 8.60. The average
production is 19 million hectolitres of wheat, 69 of
rye, 12 of barley, 55 of oats, and 176 of potatoes.
- The Rhenish province is superior in fertility to
all the others. It produces the greatest quantity
of wine; out of 500,000 to 600,000 eimers, 450,000
to 550,000 are produced in the Rhenish province.
On the other hand, this province is much less rich
in live stock; the provinces of Prussia, Pomerania
and Posen are the richest in cattle. According
to the census of 1873, there were in Prussia
2,274,053 horses, 926 mules, 8,751 asses, 8,600,672
horned cattle, 19,589,624 wool-bearing animals,
4,272,901 hogs, and 1,474,586 goats. Prussia is
rich in mines. The total value of production was
estimated at 59,312,950 thalers in 1867 (the new
provinces included); at 62,221,708 thalers in 1868,
and at 66,473,517 in 1869. By the aid of 110,168
workmen, 480,690,512 quintals (50 kilogrammes)
of coal were extracted in 1869; also 119,551,211
quintals of anthracite (by 14,912 workmen), and
considerable quantities of minerals (57,911,389
quintals), of stones, and other mineral materials.
The total number of miners was 188,606, having
to support 331,476 women and children. In 1869,

[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]
[ocr errors]

|

[ocr errors]

four kilogrammes of gold and 1,633 kilogrammes of silver were extracted. In 1871 Prussia produced 23,874,263 quintals of unwrought cast iron, 5,689,944 quintals of merchandise in cast iron, 1,840,159 quintals of sheet iron, 157,443 quintals of tin, 1,091,042 quintals of iron wire, 3,664,064 quintals of steel, and a proportionate quantity of bar iron. The importation of unwrought iron, amounted, in the same year, to 11,849,410 quintals, and that of wrought iron to 5,664,747 quintals; the exportation amounted to 4,137,844 quin| tals of unwrought iron, and to 6,357,001 quintals of wrought iron. - The production of zinc amounted to more than 1,200,000 quintals of unwrought zinc, to 350,000 quintals of carbonate of zinc, and 350,000 quintals of sheet zinc; that of lead to 365,000 quintals; that of copper to 50,000 quintals. Nickel, arsenic and some other metals in less extent are also found. The textile industries are quite important, especially in the western part of the kingdom. There were in 1861, 651,145 spindles of carded wool, 47,153 spindles of combed wool, 398,071 spindles of cotton, 106,508 spindles of flax. The number of looms was in all 190,715, of which 30,392 were for tissues of silk and half silk, 76,993 for tissues of cotton, 42,667 for tissues of flax, 31,880 for tissues of wool or half wool, 2,315 for hosiery, 4,244 for ribbons, and the rest for various things. In these figures are not included 276,266 looms which are in operation only during the intervals between other labors, and principally for domestic wants. These figures (which were the most recent in 1873) have much increased since; and if we take into account the annexations, they may be considered as having doubled. Among other important industries we will cite the 254 sugar manufactories, which transform into sugar twenty-five metric quintals of beet root (1873), producing about 8 per cent. of brown sugar; the 8.638 distilleries, which used (1872) 5,800,000 scheffels (55 litres) of grain, and more than thirty-one million scheffels of potatoes; the 8,326 breweries, great and small, which produce beer, a part of which is exported. It is proper also to mention the tanneries, paper factories, bushel making, and other like industries.— Transportation by land in 1873 was facilitated by 13,680 kilometres of railway, and by an excellent. net work of highways and roads; the rivers and canals are also numerous and well kept. - The commerce of Prussia embraces, for exportation, agricultural products (cercals, brandy, wool, etc.), minerals, tissues, and some other merchandise;. for importation, above all, colonial commodities, cotton and other materials and objects of luxury. Besides, almost all raw or manufactured products. figure upon the tables of commerce. It is not possible, however, to give the amount of exports and imports, nor the total value of the commerce of Prussia, because its territory is confounded with that of the Zollverein. (See this word.) We can only know what has entered by the frontiers or the bureaus of Prussia. The institution of the Zollverein has been eminently useful to Prussian

-commerce, as well as to German commerce in general, and a part of its progress is due to it. This progress, very perceptible already, can only increase by the suppression of the last vestiges of the guilds (Zünfte), by the multiplication of associations of credit, and the advancement of chemistry and mechanics. (Compare GERMAN EMPIRE.)*

MAURICE BLOCK AND DE STE.

The following table shows the quantities and value of coal and of lignite (Braunkohle), the quantities in 1,000 tons, and the values in 1,000 mark, in the various provinces of Prussia during the year 1880:

[blocks in formation]

Quantities Value,

in 1,000 in 1,000
tons. mark.

1,695.2

Posen..

28.7

Silesia.

12,656.8

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

4,118 106 1,469 23,289 4

[blocks in formation]

67,816

Hesse-Nassau

100 2

919

[blocks in formation]

167.4 128.2 9,874.9

830 350 30,166

PUBLIC DEBTS. (See DEBTS, NATIONAL, STATE AND LOCAL.)

PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES. The United States has always been favorably situated as regards land, one of the three important factors in production. There has ever been open to the settler an almost unlimited quantity of rich and uncultivated soil, on which he may locate, and take such part as the law allows at a cost which makes it rather a gift than a purchase. The economic effects of this are too evident to require any extended notice. It has permitted an unexampled growth of population without that pressure upon the productive capacity of the soil for the necessary food which is so marked in older countries; it has offered to the inhabitants of the more densely settled countries of Europe an opportunity to improve their condition by emigration, little or no capital other than what is necessary to reach the land being required; it has in this way attracted the labor, skill, and accumulated experience from those countries, and thus applied them to developing the internal resources of this nation, permitting an advance in industry and commerce commensurate with the extension of agriculture; it has, in a measure, regulated the wages of labor, maintaining them at a higher level than they would otherwise have attained, not only by furnishing an abundance of cheap food, but by offering to the workingman an opportunity of increas50 ing his returns should his wages in industry fall below what he might obtain from cultivating the land; it has made the United States the cheapest market for food products, and has brought the European nations to its doors for their supplies; 11,994 and, finally, it has made us a nation of landowners, and thus not only a strong nation, able to assimilate the vast number of immigrants which annually come to its shores, by giving them a direct interest in the stability and maintenance of its institutions, but also a nation in which a marked distinction of classes is impossible, one man being as good as another, and all possessing equal rights. The laws which govern the transfer and disposition of property have also tended to produce this

[blocks in formation]

Not included in the tabular statements given above are zinc and tin ores, salines, and other mineral produce. Gold and silver ores are likewise found in Prussia, the quantities amounting to 206,000 tons, and the value to 3,812,000 mark, in 1880. The total mining produce of the kingdom amounted to 577,304,000 tons, and the value to 314,936,000 mark, or £15,746,800, in the year 1880.- The production of the most important mineral, coal, in Prussia, after vastly increasing for about thirty years, from 1840 to 1871, reached its limit at the latter date, when there came to be an apparent exhaustion of the fields. But the years 1875 and 1876 again showed a large increase in production. The following statement gives, after official returns, the quantities of coal, exclusive of lignite (Braunkohle), raised in the kingdom during the period from 1838 to 1880 :

[blocks in formation]
[ocr errors]

In

result, and "free trade in land" is almost absolute. This, for the most part, results in placing the land in the hands of those who intend to cultivate and develop its productiveness, and thus insures a rich return from it. From the very beginning, there has been an abundance of cheap and fertile land. The original thirteen states contained 341,752 square miles, or 218,721,280 acres, but the claims recognized in the definitive treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1783 increased the extent of territory to 830,000 square miles, or 531,200,000 acres. Since that time the national domain has been more than quadrupled. 1803, 1,182,752 square miles, or 756,961,280 acres, were purchased from France, and in 1819 a further tract of 59,268 square miles, or 37,931,520 acres, was purchased from Spain. The annexation of Texas, in 1845, brought 274,356 square miles, or 175,587,840 acres, and in 1850 a purchase from Mexico added about 522,568 square miles, or 334,443,520 acres. In 1850 lands to the extent of 101,767 square miles, or 65,130,880 acres, were bought from Texas; in 1853, 45,535 square miles, or 29,142,400 acres, from Mexico; and in 1867, 577,390 square miles, or 369,529,600 acres, from Russia. Since 1803 the total area of territory, purchased and annexed, is 2,763,636 square miles, or 1,768,727,040 acres. As many of these various transfers contained matters in doubt or in litigation, the results do not exactly agree with the details. The greater portion of this land was unoccupied save by Indian tribes, who subsisted chiefly by hunting and fishing, and therefore had left almost untouched the natural fertility of the soil and the rich mineral deposits beneath it. The original settlers who came to these shores took possession by right of discovery, and claimed exclusive title and possession for the governments they represented, a claim which was, according to the ideas then prevailing, good as against all other individuals or governments. But the Indian tribes, which were at the time settled upon the territory, also claimed exclusive possession and occupancy as sovereign and absolute proprietors. This possession was in a measure recognized. “It was deemed a right exclusively belonging to the government in its sovereign capacity to extinguish the Indian title, and to perfect its own dominion over the soil, and dispose of it according to its own good pleasure. This principle, in the view of the Europeans, created a peculiar relation between themselves and the aboriginal inhabitants. The latter were admitted to possess a present right of occupancy, or use in the soil, which was subordinate to the ultimate dominion of the discoverer. They were admitted to be the rightful occupants of the soil, with a legal as well as just claim to retain possession of it, and to use it according to their own discretion. In a certain sense they were permitted to exercise rights of sovereignty over it. They might sell or transfer it to the sovereign who discovered it, but they were denied the authority to dispose of it to any other persons; and until such

*

*

a sale or transfer, they were generally permitted to occupy as sovereigns de facto. But notwith standing this occupancy, the European discoverers claimed and exercised the right to grant the soil, while yet in possession of the natives, subject, however, to their right of occupancy and the title so granted was universally admitted to convey a sufficient title in the soil to the grantees. in perfect dominion.' (1 Story Comment., p. 8.) This principle was adopted by the United States, and its exclusive right to extinguish the Indian title, by purchase or conquest, has never been judicially questioned (Kent); and further, no lands already occupied by Indians have been thrown open to purchase or settlement until the title of the tribes has been duly extinguished. The ultimate title to the land resided in the sovereign; and when the colonies revolted, this title became vested in the states. The constitution of New York (1846) recognized this principle: “The people of this state, in their right of sovereignty, are deemed to possess the original and ultimate property in and to all lands within the jurisdiction of the state," and the exercise of the right of eminent domain is based upon it. With lands already settled, and subject to private ownership, the states also came into the possession of unoccu pied territory, as yet public property, which had been in very general terms granted to individuals. or to associations by royal charters. This public land was ceded by the states to the federal gov ernment, and formed the nucleus of the public domain. While the national domain contains about 4,000,000 square miles, the public domain which has been acquired by the government of the United States, to be disposed of under and by the authority of the national government, has amounted to 2,894,235 square miles, or nearly three-fourths, of the total area of the country. — The title to this, land became vested in the United States, whether it was obtained by purchase, cession or annexation. The federal constitution provides, that, Congress shall have power to dispose of, and make all needful rules and regulations respecting, the territory or other property belonging to the United States; and nothing in this constitution shall be so construed as to prejudice any claims. of the United States, or of any particular state. (Art. IV., § 2.) But is this absolute? Would con gress have the power to dispose of the public land in any way that may appear good at the time? In the short sketch of the history of legislation pertaining to the public lands, it will be seen that almost every conceivable method of disposing of them has been adopted, but the United States has never assumed the position of landlord (save as respects mineral lands, an experiment which ended so disastrously to the interests of the government as to be speedily abandoned). It has rather been a trustee, to whose care the management of this. important trust was given. The deed of cession entered into between New York and the United States expressly provided that the ceded lands and territory were to be held "to and for the only use,

[ocr errors]

[ocr errors]

|

[ocr errors]

results of previous labor. At first the pubiic lands
were regarded as a source of revenue. It is now
no longer," said the Federalist in 1788, a point
of speculation and hope, that the western territory
is a mine of vast wealth to the United States; and
although it is not of such a nature as to extricate
them from their present distresses, or for some
time to come to yield any regular supplies for the
public expenses, yet it must hereafter be able,
under proper management, both to effect a gradual
discharge of the domestic debt, and to furnish for
a certain period liberal tributes to the federal
treasury." But in time the conservative policy
adopted in the first years of the republic was
gradually broken down, and the lands ceased to
be an object of revenue, and began to be disposed
of, chiefly with a view to settlement and cultiva-
tion. Originally selling only in townships, congress
has disposed of the soil in smaller and smaller
portions, until at length it sells in parcels of no
more than forty acres. Large grants have been
made without compensation to states, corporations
and individuals, for all manner of reasons, many
of which were of a very questionable character;
donations which could not but open the door to
abuses, and tempt dishonesty, jobbery and log-
rolling to secure them. The liberal policy of dis-
posing of the lands has been shamefully abused,
and the public lands have ever formed a point of
attack from those who profit by the meanest and
most corruptible characteristics of the legislator.
- In spite of fraud, the land policy has resulted
in making this nation what it is, as its greatness
depends upon the products of the soil. There is
still an abundance of rich land easy of access and
open to the first comer, and the wave of immi-
gration which floods the country proves to how
great an extent the privilege is appreciated. Cen-
sus after census gives evidence of the immense
development of the resources of the country; and
were it not for a restrictive commercial policy, no
nation on the face of the earth could attain the
wealth and power that this nation is capable of
securing, and no country could afford a better
field for enterprise. As it is, this is so now to a
great extent, but it is capable of almost indefinite
extension. The country is still comparatively
sparsely settled, and there is no necessity of offer-
ing any special inducements to settlers. The area
of settlement, population, and average density of
settlement, or number of persons to a square mile,
at each decade, are shown in the following table:

and benefit of such of the states as are, or shall
become, parties to the articles of confederation.'
The cession of Virginia was made on the condi-
tion that the lands shall be considered a common
fund for the use and benefit of such of the United
States as shall become members of the confedera-
tion, * * and shall be faithfully and bona fide
disposed of for that purpose, and for no other
use or purpose whatever." As regards the pur-
chased lands, they followed the same rule, as they
had been paid for out of the national treasury,
whose only source of income was from general
taxes levied upon the people of the states. The
United States was bound to hold and administer
these lands as a common fund, and for the use
and benefit of all the states, and for no other use
or purpose whatever. To waste or misapply this
fund, or to divert it from the common benefit for
which it was conveyed, would be a violation of the
trust. The public land is held and disposed of
in the expectation that new states will be created.
The federal constitution recites that "new states
may be admitted by the congress into this Union;
but no new state shall be formed or erected within
the jurisdiction of any other state, nor any state
be formed by the junction of two or more states,
or parts of states, without the consent of the legis-
latures of the states concerned as well as of the
congress." In the articles of confederation the
eventual establishment of new states within the
limits of the Union appears to have been wholly
overlooked, although the possible admission of
Canada was provided for. Under the constitution |
the power of congress is absolute, save for the
above restrictions. "The power to expand the
territory of the United States by the admission of
new states is plainly given; and in the construc-
tion of this power by all the departments of the
government, it has been held to authorize the ac-
quisition of territory not fit for admission at the
time, but to be admitted as soon as its population
and situation would entitle it to admission. It is
acquired to become a state, and not to be held as a
colony, and governed by congress with absolute
authority; and as the propriety of admitting a
new state is committed to the sound discretion of
congress, the power to acquire territory for that
purpose, to be held by the United States until it is
in a suitable condition to become a state upon an
equal footing with the other states, must rest upon
the same discretion. It is a question for the po-
litical department of the government, and not the
judicial; and whatever the political department of
the government shall recognize as within the limits
of the United States, the judicial department is
also bound to recognize and to administer in it
the laws of the United States, so far as they apply." 1790.
(Supreme Court U. S., in Dred Scott vs. Sand-
ford, 19 How., 393.) But land is not valuable
without capital and labor to make it productive; 1840
though it is one of the important instruments of
production, it is not profitable when left to itself.
It must be improved and its fertility developed in
certain lines by the application of labor or the

|

YEARS.

1800

[merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

1810

[blocks in formation]

1820

[blocks in formation]

1830

[blocks in formation]

20.3

[blocks in formation]

1850

979,249

28,191,876

23.7

1860

1,194,754

[blocks in formation]

1870

1,272,239

38,558,871

20.3

1880

1,569,570

50,155,783

32.0

[ocr errors]
« ZurückWeiter »