laws. The year 1848 abolished it, but it was reestablished by royal ordinance, July 4, 1854. We must also speak of the "secret cabinet" (das geheime Cabinet), of which mention is often made in the journals. Before 1808 this cabinet had an influence which annulled that of the ministers. In 1810, under Chancellor Hardenberg, the powers of the cabinet were diminished; after 1822 the cabinet recovered all its influence, which the constitution of 1850 lessened, but did not succeed in destroying completely. At bottom it is only a secretaryship of the king, a committee of secretaries, whose members are functionaries of a high rank, and who prepare the work for the king. Administration. The ministers, as we have said, are at the head of the administration; their number is at present nine: of justice, war, the navy, finances, of foreign affairs, the interior, worship and instruction, commerce and industry (including public works), and agriculture. There is, besides, a minister of the king's household, but he does not form a part of the council of ministers, or rather, | he is not a political minister, or, as they say in Prussia, a "minister of state." Various services are directly subordinate to the ministry of state (council of ministers), such as the official journal, the archives, printing, various others, and notably the commission of examination for future functionaries. To be a functionary it is necessary to have studied three years at the university, to have passed a period of instruction and preparation for the public service, and to undergo a new exam-sous-préfet. However, it would be more exact to ination, called the state examination, before the commission. The candidate then obtains the title of assessor, which confers the right of being employed and compensated, but some time elapses before a place with the title of councilor can be had. The functionaries of lower grade and simple employés are likewise obliged to pass an examination, but naturally the requirements here are not so great. As to the internal organization of the public services, some are organized into bureaus, that is, they have a chief, a sole functionary, and employés; but most of these services have councils or committees, in which the president often has a great preponderance, but in which each councilor has his powers (decernat) clearly defined. At the head of each of the eleven provinces (Prussia, Brandenburg, Posen, Pomerania, Silesia, Saxony, Westphalia, the Rhine, Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, Hesse-Nassau) is placed a superior president (Oberpräsident) as an organ of the government, and whose powers are rather political than administrative. In case of urgency he can take any step which the circumstances demand; but ordinarily he has to do chiefly with the relations with the provincial estates, of which we shall speak further on, the affairs which concern many governments (district governments, departments, called sometimes, but wrongly, regencies), the surveillance of the provincial author ities depending on the various ministries; he is, besides, first president of the government which administers the district (Bezirk) in which he re sides. Each province is divided into several governmental districts (Regierungs-Bezirk); for the six of Hanover, the name of Landrosties has been preserved; their total number is thirty-five or thirty-six, if Berlin is counted as a government district. The Hohenzollern country stands apart. These governments, which correspond to the French prefectures, are composed of a certain number of functionaries, each charged with a service for which he is responsible; these functionaries form a council (often divided into two or three parts), which meets several times a week; its decisions are signed by the president of the council and the directors of the divisions. The three divisions are: 1, interior (police, communal affairs); 2, worship and instruction; 3, finances. These are collective administrations (German: Collegial). The powers of the governments differ little from those of the French prefectures. It should be remarked, however, that the council of schools, which forms a part of the government (Regierung) and renders useless the academy inspector, the council of construction, and others, fulfills the duties of certain functionaries of the French departments, such as engineer-in-chief, director of direct taxes, and those of the chiefs of division and of the bureau of prefectures. — The circle (kreis) corresponds to the French arrondissement, and the representative of the administration is called the Landrath (literally, country councilor) corresponding to the French call him the mayor of the arrondissement, for he is appointed by the king from a list of candidates presented by the estates of the circle (conseil d'arrondissement); he must be a landed proprietor; he represents the circle vis-a-vis of the government, and the government vis-a-vis of the circle. He is, however, paid from the funds of the state. - The bailiffs of the cantons should also be considered as having part in the administration, because they are appointed by the superior president, and have administrative powers; the burgomasters, or mayors, who are appointed by the king, upon the presentation of the municipal council, should perhaps be ranked here also; but practice is not always conformable to the rigorous classifications of abstract science. We shall now describe the organs of self-government in Prussia, remarking that the most important of these is the Landtag (the parliament), of which we have already treated above. And first of the provincial organs, of those of the circles and communes. Self-government. The organs of self-government in Prussia are: 1, the provincial estates; 2, the communal diets (Communal-Landtag); 3, the districts; 4, the cantons, or bailiwicks; 5, the communes. The administrative organization has not the character of symmetry and unity that it has in France; it preserves the traditional peculiarities of the provinces and localities, so that it is difficult to give an exposition of it in broad outline. - The provincial estates were created by the law of June 5, 1823. In each of the eight provinces then existing, a diet was established, made up of | of representatives. The vote of the representathe lords on whom the king had conferred an individual (viril) vote, of the deputies of the great landed proprietors or of the possessors of equestrian property, of the deputies of the cities, and of the deputies of the country. The number of members varies in the different provinces; but everywhere the cities and the country have the majority. The provincial diets meet every two years; they sit in the chief town of their respective provinces. The government submits to them such laws of general interest as it deems proper, and most of the laws of local interest. The diet elects its president, who bears the title of Marschall, and the government is represented by a commissioner | | tives of the country is divided by the deputies of the cities, who are almost everywhere smaller in number. The arrondissement diets or councils have extensive powers; they administer the arrondissement, which is charged with the powers or prestations incumbent, in France, in part upon the department and in part upon the commune, and which are too numerous to be enumerated here. Of course, a certain number of the decisions of the district council must be confirmed by the superior authority. Below, and in certain respects it must be said in, the arrondissement, is the canton, or bailiwick (Amtsbezirk). The bailiwick has existed for a long time in the provinces of Hanover and Westphalia (and, if we are not mistaken, in Nassau). It was established, in 1873, in the provinces of Brandenburg, Prussia, Pomerania, Silesia, Saxony and Posen. A royal ordinance of 1867 (Sept. 22) had continued the provosts who existed in Schleswig-Holstein. The bailiffs, provosts or heads of the canton are a sort of cantonal mayor, presented by the diet of the district, and appointed by the president of the province. They are paid from the funds of the bailiwick, and their powers have to do with the police, which is exercised in the name of the king, with the maintenance of means of communication, and, in general, with the execution of the laws and of the administrative regulations. They are aided by a council, in which each commune is represented.-As to its municipal organization, Prussian legislation distinguishes between the cities and communes which constitute an arrondissement themselves, cities which form part of an arrondissement, and the rural communes; moreover, the municipal laws differ according to the province. There are nine legislative groups, and in each group a distinction is made between the city municipalities and the rural municipalities: 1, the six provinces of the east; 2, a certain part of Pomerania; 3, Westphalia; 4, the Rhenish province; 5, Schleswig-Holstein; 6, Hanover; 7, Hesse; 8, Nassau; 9, Frankfort. Perhaps there are also peculiarities in the old landgraviate of Hesse, in the Bavarian communes annexed in 1866, Prussia professing a greater regard for tradition than for uniformity. We may add, that, everywhere, the autonomy of the cities is greater than that of the rural communes. -The adminis These powers were extended after 1866, in consequence of the annexations which took place at that time. The old electorate of Hesse was put in possession of the treasury of the exelector, whose revenues amounted to 300,000 thalers; the diet of the province of Hanover received in 1868 a grant of 500,000 thalers a year, and the old duchy of Nassau an income of 142,000 thalers and a capital of 46,380 thalers, provided by the funds formerly belonging to Nassau; finally, the law of April 30, 1873, gave to the old provinces, as well as to Schleswig-Holstein and to the city of Frankfort, a grant provided for in the budget of the state, amounting altogether to the sum of two millions. Various acts have extended the powers of the provincial diet, which has the right to acquire and to manage all provincial property; it is specially charged with public assistance in so far as it is incumbent upon the state (asylums for the insane, for deaf mutes, subsidies to poor communes, etc.); it superintends the construction and maintenance of highways and roads, and can, if needs be, levy additional taxes for this purpose. It is the organ of the province. The "communal diets" are representative assemblies for territories less than a province; in this only do they differ from the provincial estates. Thus Hesse, Nassau and Frankfort together form a province, but each of these territories has its communal diet (the word communal is not synonymous here with munici pal, but means of common interest). Brandenburg is divided into several Landschaften; it is detached from other provinces. This division of territory is based on historical souvenirs. The pivot of the system of self-government is the arrondisse-tration of cities is regulated in the six eastern ment. The Landrath (sub-prefect), who represents the government, and who is charged with the administration proper, presides over the council, or better, the diet of the arrondissement. This diet is composed of at least twenty-five members, but most frequently of thirty; the number depends on the number of the population. Election takes place by estates or orders, that is, the cities, the large landed proprietors and the rural communes, constitute so many electoral colleges (Wahlverbände), and each college appoints its representatives. The great landed proprietors and the rural communes elect each the same number provinces, not including the government of Stralsund (Pomerania), by the organic law (Städte-Ordnung) of May 30, 1853; in Stralsund by the law of May 31, 1853; in Westphalia, by the organic law of March 19, 1856; in the Rhenish province, by the organic law of May 15, 1856. These laws apply only to the cities of more than 2,500 inhabitants. They have some principles in common, and notably the following: the city commune forms a corporation, which freely administers its own affairs by the organ of an executive committee called the town magistracy, assisted by a city or municipal council (Stadtverordneten-Versamm viduals, 78; with from 100 to 500, 4; with from 500 to 1,000, 186. The rest of the communes and landed estates have more than 1,000 inhabitants.— The rural communes are administered by a head called the schulze (mayor), assisted by two deputies or aldermen; they are elected by the inhabitants of the commune, and confirmed by the Landrath on the recommendation of the bailiff. The schulze may have a salary allowed him from the municipal funds. He administers the affairs of the commune, convokes the communal assembly, directs its deliberations, and executes the decrees. He must aid the bailiff in the exercise of police duties, and provide the proper means in case of urgent necessity; he is, according to the expression of the law, the local authority. — In the landed estates which constitute a commune, the proprietor represents the local authority. He exercises authority in person, or by a substitute approved by the Landrath. On the other hand, he is liable for all the expenses which are incumbent on a commune. In the province of Westphalia, bailiwicks have been established composed of many rural communes. Each commune preserves its own particular interests; it is administered by a chief, assisted by landed proprietors paying a certain amount of taxes (the amount required is rather large) whose decisions must be approved by the bailiff, often by the superior authority, in order to be valid. The bailiff, as well as the chief of the commune, exercises his functions gratuitously. The bailiff is appointed by the king, upon the presentation of the Landrath, from among the inhabitants of the district; if there is no person in the neighborhood capable of properly exercising this function, a paid bailiff not belonging to the locality may be appointed. — In the Rhenish province there are paid burgomasters at the head of the cantons, which form large communes, having their municipal council, without prejudice to the individuality of each village, which has its chief, and the inhabitants of which assemble to deliberate upon their particular interests. The burgomasters are assisted by a council. lung). In the Rhenish province a burgomaster | to 1,000, 186. Localities with less than 100 indi(mayor) and two or three deputies take the place of the magistracy. The magistracy is always composed of a burgomaster, as president, and several councilors, some of whom, as well as the burgomaster, receive a compensation. They are elected by the municipal council, but in cities of 10,000 inhabitants and more, their election must be confirmed by the king; in the others, by the govern ments. The burgomaster and the paid councilors are elected for twelve years, the others for six years. The number of the members of the municipal council is in proportion to the size of the city; they are appointed by the municipal electors, divided into three classes, each of which chooses a third of the members of the council, one-half of whom must be landed proprietors. The term of office is six years, but the council is renewed one-third every two years. Every Prussian twenty-four years of age, who has lived in the city for at least a year, punctually and fully paid his taxes, who has a house within the territory of the commune, or carries on an industry of a certain importance, and is inscribed for at least fifteen francs upon the register of the class taxes or the revenue register, is a burgher, and has the right to vote at municipal elections. The powers of the magistrate and of the municipal council somewhat resemble those of the mayor and municipal council in France. The surveillance of the state is exercised, in the large cities, by the governments, and in the small, by the Landraths. Both may annul illegal municipal decisions, those which involve an exceeding of power, or which cause prejudice to the state; they may also, if they see fit, insert in the budgets the obligatory expenses which the municipal council has refused to insert in them. A municipal council can be dissolved by royal ordinance, but in this case another council must be elected within six months. The approval of the superior authority is necessary: 1, to validate the alienation of urban real estate, or of objects having a particular historical, artistic or scientific interest; 2, to contract a loan; 3, to levy communal taxes; 4, to change the mode of the enjoyment of a communal right. The ordinance-III. Finances. The good administration of the of Sept. 22, 1867, for Hanover, and that of March 25, 1867, for Frankfort, differ in some details from the preceding. We now come to the rural com. munes. In the six eastern provinces, to which the law of 1873, concerning the arrondissements, of which we have given a brief analysis, applies, the rural communes consist, on the one hand, of villages, and in part of great landed properties. In 1872 these six provinces included 25,446 communes, 14,152 landed estates enjoying municipal rights, and 82 localities which did not form part of any municipality; in all, 39,680 communes and localities. Most of the communes are small, as the following figures show: Rural communes with less than 100 individuals, 5,305; with from 100 to 500, 15,676; with from 500 to 1,000, 3,493. Landed estates with less than 100 individuals, 7,682; with from 100 to 500, 6,260; with from 500 finances of Prussia is proverbial. During many centuries it had princes who took care of its pennies; the immediate successor of Frederick the Great, Frederick William II., alone, made a break in the series. Fortunately, his reign was short (1786–97), and his son, Frederick William III., devoted himself to paying off the debts, by practicing the strictest economy for many years. The oldest accounts preserved are on the civil list of Joachim Frederick for the year 1606. This prince had only 40,000 thalers revenue, which did not prevent him from undertaking the construction of a canal. Under, George William the domain revenues of the elector reached, in 1622, 211,527 thalers, but in consequence of the devastations of war they fell (account of 1638) to 23,440 thalers. On the accession of the great elector (1640) the whole of the revenues of the state were valued at We GROSS RECEIPTS, IN THALERS. Receipts collected by the ministry of finance: Domains (9,475,100) and forests (14,540,000), the trust fund of the crown (2,573,099) subtracted. 21,442,001 Product of the redemption of rents and sale of domains Direct taxes: Tax upon incomes of more than 1,000 Tax upon incomes of less than 1,000 Industrial tax (patents). Miscellaneous Indirect taxes: 1. Imperial taxes: Sugar (gross 10,475,380), remains to Prussia Salt (gross 6,058,260), remains to Prus- Tobacco (gross 120,020), remains to Brandy (gross 12,840,910), remains to Beer (gross 2,876,640), remains to Prus- 830,000 13,055,000 7,000,000 13,264,000 5,402,000 2,343.000 125,000 46,056,000 1,818,000 419,000 36,390 18,000 1,926,140 431,500 4,649,030 1,750,000 2,526,400 400,000 thalers; on his death (1688) the receipts | the Prussian budget, as it has been presented were valued at 2,500,000 thalers. His son, Fred- since 1868; we shall analyze that of 1873, passed erick III., who became in 1701 the first king of March 24, 1873 (a little later than usual): Prussia, under the title of Frederick I., brought the revenues up to 4,000,000 thalers. He died in 1713. Frederick William I. (1713–40) reached the sum of 6,917,192 thalers (he introduced various taxes), and the amount in the treasury was 8,700,000 thalers. Frederick the Great (1740-86) had, in the last year of his reign, 20,000,000 thalers revenue, and at his death, the treasury, despite the wars and public works which he had undertaken, was found to contain 55,000,000 thalers. This money Frederick William II. set himself to work to dissipate; he reduced certain taxes, so that Frederick William III. (who died in 1840) had, in 1797, a revenue of only 20,499,383 thalers. know the vicissitudes through which the Prussian monarchy passed, during the period which terminated with the year 1815. In 1821 the receipts rose again to 50,000,000 thalers net (costs of collection deducted); in 1844, to 57,677,194 thalers net, and 74,981,330 thalers gross. From this year (1844) onward, the budget gave the gross product of the taxes, but in the case of the postoffice and other revenues, only the net revenue of the postoffice was inserted. In 1854 it exceeded 100,000,000, the account balancing at 107,990,069 thalers; in 1866, the last year preceding the increase of territory, it was 168,929,873 thalers. The annexations brought the figures up to 210,620,043 thalers (budget of 1867), of which 168,929,873 were for the old provinces, 22,589,700 for Hanover, 5,749,000 for the electorate of Hesse, 4,882,303 for Nassau, and 7,671,303 for Schleswig-Holstein; the rest for the small additions to the frontiers. From 1868 to 1873 we have the following figures: 1868, 159,757,064 thalers; 1869, 167,536,494; 1870, 168,251,372; 1871, 172,918,937; 1872, 197,059,940; and 1873, 206,802,643 thalers. When, from 210,000,000 in 1867, the total of the budget fell suddenly, in 1868, to 159,000,000, it was because the establishment of the Norddeutsche Bund, which became in 1871 the German empire, had exacted a great alteration, a part of the revenues and expenses of the kingdom of Prussia being transferred to the confederation. The total of the Prussian revenues thus transferred to the federal German budget was (budget of 1868) 62,173,346 thalers in receipts (customs and indirect taxes, sugar, brandy, 29,616,401; salt, 9,547,737; postoffice, 15,783,899; telegraphs, 1,594,275, etc., etc.), and 100,254,789 thalers in expenses (salt, 2,866,344; postoffice, 13,945,500; telegraphs, 1,737,230; army, 72,994,740; navy, 8,428,975; consulates, 102,000; civil pensions, 180,000). These changes are due to the fact that the German empire has charge of the foreign affairs, of the army, of the navy, and of the postoffice and telegraphs, and that its own revenues consist of customs duties, duties on salt, the postoffice, and some sources less productive; finally, that the federated states have to cover the deficit by a matriculate contingent, an obligation which is incumbent also upon Prussia. The following is Total imperial taxes 2. Taxes collected for Prussia alone: Stamps (the taxes were reduced in 1872) 10,000,000 265,240 1,525,880 600,000 678,450 17,345,970 21,995,000 1,340,800 2,500,000 2,002,000 344,000 328,000 Naval commercial institution (Seehandlung).. Printing of the state.. General administration of the finances (the prin- Total of the collections of the ministry of Receipts collected by the ministry of commerce Collections of the ministry: Of state (sale of the bulletin of the laws).. Of the interior (work in the prisons, collections of Of agriculture (product of the schools, of the Of worship, instruction and public health. Total receipts..... 20,169,650 117,006,951 76,835,623 41.750 14,005,000 931,679 1,055,480 166,284 210,042,767 — Domains and forests. The state is proprietor of 1,148 farms or rural domains, comprising a productive surface of 354,819 hectares, not including a quantity of small properties or parts of properties, the area of which is not known, but which, to judge from the provinces from which we have returns, must surpass in extent 200,000 hectares, and yield about 4,000,000 francs of farm rents, and besides a sum of 10,000,000 francs of perpetual rents, due by cultivators for lands which were formerly abandoned to them. There are, besides, about 3,000,000 hectares of state forests. With the exception of a revenue of 9,649,121 francs, drawn from the whole of the domains in favor of the crown, these latter were declared, in 1820, the property of the state, and pledged at the same time as a mortgage to its creditors. What remains of the revenues of the domains and for ests, after the payment of the income of the crown, is devoted to the payment of the interest of the public debt. The rural domains are farmed out by adjudication, ordinarily for eighteen years, and produce a farm rent, the amount of which rises with the price of commodities. In 1849 an average obtained was 1 thaler 5 sgr. 7 pf. per morgen, or 17 fr. 76 c. per hectare; in 1856, 20 fr. 40 c.; in 1869, 34 fr. 56 c. From 1869 to 1873 the average was still higher. The rents fixed upon the portions of land, and which we have qualified as perpetual, must, however, be discharged by amortizement in forty or fifty-six years; they are also redeemable, entirely or in part, at the choice of the debtors. The amount of these redemptions may be estimated at 3,000,000 francs a year. The expenses of administration and other expenses absorb about 15 per cent. of the gross revenue of the domains, and about 47 per cent. of the product of the forests. The expenses of the administration of the forests are so high, because they include the expenses of cultivation, of the cutting and transporting of the wood to the markets. - Direct tazes. The land tax is levied in the different provinces in accordance with old traditions. It thus weighs very unequally upon immovable property. To effect an equalization of the burden, the laws of May 21, 1861, prescribed a new assessment upon general principles, applied everywhere in the same manner. This distribution of the burden was finished at the ascribed time, but it operated only in the old provinces. The tax is levied upon the net product of immovable property. Landed estates not built on, in these provinces, yield the treasury a sum of 10,000,000 thalers, or 37,500,000 francs; by adding to this the product of real estate built on, which is 7,000,000 francs, the land tax rose in 1865 from 38,000,000 to 45,000,000 francs. The tax upon classified income and the class taxes (law of May 1, 1851) are personal taxes levied upon the income. For this purpose tax payers are divided, according to their incomes, into several classes, the amount of income for each class being fixed by law. The classification is made by commissions of tax payers appointed by the communal author148 VOL. III. - 29 ities, so that, in fact, the tax payers classify themselves. The tax upon classified revenue is paid only by persons with an income of more than 1,000 thalers a year, while the class tax is due from all tax payers who do not live in cities subject to the tax on the grinding of corn and the tax on the slaughtering of animals (tax on flour and meat). There is in Prussia an income tax, but this tax has a different name, according as the tax payer has more or less than 1,000 thalers income. The rate of the tax also differs; it is about 2 per cent. for the class tax, and 3 per cent. for the tax on classified income. The term class has the following signification: instead of demanding so much per cent. of income, a poll tax is demanded, graduated according to the wealth of the tax payer; tax payers are, therefore, grouped into classes, accord. ing to the amount of their income (for example, 1,000 to 1,100, 1,100 to 1,200, etc.), and poll taxes are demanded proportionate to the income. The result is, that for 1,150 thalers income, as much is required as for 1,101, or 1,199. The industrial or license tax (law of May 30, 1820) is levied upon the exercise of the industrial and commercial professions. The different localities are, for this purpose, divided into four categories, of which the first three embrace the cities of a certain impor tance, while the fourth comprises all the other communes. The first three categories are deter. mined by the number of the population; the localities belonging to the fourth category are joined together in unions corresponding to the circle (kreis). The license is always a distributed tax. The contingent is fixed in a lump for a city or circle; it is then divided among those engaged in industry according to the importance of their business. The tax upon railways (law of May 30, 1853) is levied upon their net proceeds. The tariff is as follows: when the income from shares is 4 per cent. net or less, the tax is one-fortieth of the income; when the dividend exceeds 4 per cent., the tax is one-twenty-fourth for the excess between 4 and 5 per cent., one-tenth for what exceeds 5 per cent, and up to 6 per cent., and two-tenths for the part of the dividend which exceeds 6 per - The land, class and patent taxes are collected by collectors, who receive allowances for collection, while the tax upon classified incomes is collected by the pay offices of the circle (the receivers of finances), and the tax upon railways by the provincial pay-offices of the government (receivers general). — Indirect taxes. The customs duties, the tax upon salt, brandy, malt, native sugar and tobacco, coming within the jurisdiction of the empire, we have nothing to do with here. We shall speak here only of taxes purely Prussian. The stamp duties (law and tariff of March 7, 1822, modified in 1869 and 1873) are in part fixed and in part proportional. To the first are subject all instruments submitted for registration, or which are presented to the public authority, such as passports, playing cards, periodicals, so long as stamps had to be affixed to them; to the latter, unilateral instruments concerning objects cent. |