of the activity of the authorities of the territories, however, the
Reich exercises supervision, and it can give these authorities
general directions. In cases of difference a Supreme Court decides.
If a territory does not fulfil the duties incumbent upon it
according to the constitution or the laws of the Reich, the
President of the Reich, with the aid of armed forces, can make
it do so. Similarly, if in any part of the Reich public security
and order are seriously disturbed or imperiled, the President
can adopt the measures necessary for their restoration, and he
can at the same time suspend certain of the fundamental rights.
He must without delay inform the Reichstag of all these measures,
and, if the Reichstag so demands, he must revoke them. In
the spirit of the State based upon law the constitution of the
Reich contemplates at all points the decision of disputed ques-
tions of justice by independent courts. It sets up the leading
principles for securing this independence and for the judges'
tenure of their office for life. It prohibits emergency courts,
enacts the abolition of military jurisdiction and, on the other
hand, secures the existence of courts of administration for the
protection of the individual against ordinances of the administra-
tive authorities. A Supreme Court of Administration (Reichs-
verwaltuHgsgericht) is to be established by a special law.
In addition to the part which specially deals with organization and is entitled " Construction and Duties of the Reich " in fact the whole scheme of government the constitution sets up as its second part a declaration of rights entitled " Funda- mental Rights and Duties of Germans." These rights embrace partly statute rights which are directly applicable, but, for the most part, the declaration lays down guiding lines for a programme of legislation for the Reich and the separate ter- ritories. These, in a multitude of diverse provisions, have reference to the individual, life in communities, religion and religious societies, education and schools, and economic life. In contradistinction to earlier declarations of the rights of man and of the citizen they lay stress, not merely upon the preserva- tion of individual liberty, but above all upon the obligations and the solidarity of society. Of special importance from the point of view of organization is Art. 165, which declares that the workers and salaried employees and their organizations are to be brought into cooperation on an equal footing with the employers in the arrangement of social and economic life. The declaration prescribes the formation of workers' industrial factory councils, of district economic councils, and of an Economic Council of the Reich (Rcichswirtschaftsraf). Before the last-mentioned Council social and economic bills of funda- mental importance must be laid by the Government of the Reich for its opinion. The Council can also itself propose such measures and can have them advocated by one of its members before the Reichstag. The constitution does not, however, give the Economic Council of the Reich a decisive vote; the Council is, therefore, not an actual organ of legislation.
6. The Constitution of the Free State of Prussia. From the collapse of Nov. 1918 there did not emerge a common Revolution- ary Government for the Reich and Prussia. Accordingly in Jan. 1919, eight days after the elections for the German National Assembly, a separate Prussian Constituent Assembly was likewise elected. After many difficulties and obstacles had been overcome this Assembly completed on Nov. 30 1920 the republican constitution of Prussia.
For Prussia the revolution had infinitely greater significance than for any other German state. In view of the distinctively monarchic structure of the old Prussian State the transition to a republic was in itself something that bore the aspect of a prodigy. This change at the same time brought with it the complete alteration of the position of Prussia in the Reich, a position which had hitherto been characterized by the imperial dignity (Kaisertum) attaching to the Prussian Crown. And not only was this hegemony, the close connexion of the Prussian Government with that of the Reich, abolished; important rights and instruments of power, as, in particular, military organization and railways, passed from Prussia to the Reich. Finally this brought about a further change in the other direction
in the relationship between Prussia and her own provinces, which had till then been held together by the compact centraliza- tion of monarchy.
The contents of the Prussian constitution are determined and influenced in a far-reaching and decisive way by the new constitution of the Reich. The republican form of government, the basis of the suffrage for the election of the Landtag (the Prussian Diet or Legislative Assembly) , and a Government supported by the confidence of the representatives of the people, were prescribed for the constitution of this territory by the law of the Reich. The new Prussian constitution merely carries out these instructions. But, in its close connexion with the constitution of the Reich, it designedly goes considerably further; for the majority of the Prussian Constituent Assembly desired to strengthen as much as possible the unity of the Reich. But for the sake of this object they had to deviate in one impor- tant particular from the pattern of the constitution of the Reich. If they had set up a president of the Prussian State in addition to the President of the Reich, friction of the most serious character would have been inevitable. The Prussian Republic has, therefore, no president. The Diet (Landtqg) is elected on the same franchise as the Reichstag and, like it, for four years. It elects, without debate and by an absolute majority, 1 the Minister-President, who then appoints the rest of the Ministers. The Minister-President and the Ministry of the state hold a position as regards each other and as regards the Diet analogous to that of the Chancellor and the Ministers of the Reich as regards the Reichstag. Their political and legal responsibilities are regulated in the same way as in the Reich. The Staatsrat (State Council) holds a position in accordance with the Prussian constitution similar to that of the Reichsrat in the Reich.
So long as a new territorial arrangement of the territories (states) which compose the Reich cannot be carried out, the attempt is being made to diminish the difficulties arising from the disproportionate size of Prussia in comparison with the Reich by increasing the independence of the Prussian provinces by means of thoroughgoing decentralization and enabling them to enter upon direct relations with the Reich. This at the same time meets the popular desire in many districts of Prussia, which are hardly inferior in extent, in population and in cultural and economic importance, to any of the non-Prussian German territories, and are, indeed, superior to most of them in these respects. In the sense of this policy the constitution of the Reich has conferred half the Prussian votes in the Reichsrat to the Prussian provinces. In the same spirit the Prussian constitution prescribes a great extension of provincial autonomy, and has created the Staatsrat (State Council) to represent the provinces in the legislation and administration of the state. The Staatsrat is no more intended to be a second chamber than the Reichsrat; the Parliament consists of one House. But, as the Prussian provinces have no independent Governments of their own, the Staatsrat cannot, like the Reichsrat, be composed of the members of Governments. Its members are elected by the different provincial Diets, which, again, are the products of equal suffrage like the Reichstag and the Landtag. The pro- cedure is that the members of the Staatsrat are elected on the proportional system immediately after every general election for the provincial Diets. They give their votes in the Staatsrat without instructions in accordance with their own unfettered convictions. Every province sends up at least three representa- tives and an additional one for every half-million inhabitants. All men and women who are citizens of the Reich, have completed their twenty-fifth year, and have been domiciled in the province for one year, are eligible. In the legislation of Prussia the Staats- rat plays a part analogous to that of the Reichsrat in the legislation of the Reich. If it raises objection to decisions of the Diet the objection can be set aside by a repetition of the vote of the Diet by a two-thirds majority or by a referendum which the Diet can institute. The assent of the Staatsrat is requisite if the Diet wishes to vote expenditure exceeding the amount
1 A candidate, in order to be elected, must have received one more than half of the number of votes cast.
