the male line, according to primogeniture. In the exercise of the government, the king is assisted by a council of ministers, appointed by royal decree. The legislative authority the king shares with a representative assembly, the Landtag, composed of two Chambers, the first called the 'Herrenhaus,' or House of Lords, and the second the 'Abgeordnetenhaus,' or Chamber of Deputies. The assent of the king and both Chambers is requisite for all laws. Financial projects and estimates must first be submitted to the second Chamber, and be either accepted or rejected en bloc by the Upper House. The right of proposing laws is vested in the Government and in each of the Chambers.

The first Chamber, according to the original draft of the Constitution, was to consist of adult princes of the royal family, and of the heads of Prussian houses deriving directly from the former Empire, as well as of those heads of families that, by royal ordinance, should be appointed to seats and votes in the Charaber, according to the rights of primogeniture and lineal descent. Besides these hereditary members, there were to be ninety deputies directly elected by electoral districts, consisting of a number of electors who pay the highest taxes to the State; and, in addition, other thirty members elected by the members of the municipal councils of large towns. This original composition of the House of Lords' was greatly modified by the royal decree of Oct. 12, 1854, which brought into life the Upper Chamber in its present form. It is composed of, first, the princes of the royal family who are of age, including the scions of the formerly sovereign families of Hohenzollern-Hechingen and HohenzollernSigmaringen; secondly, the chiefs of the mediatised princely houses, recognised by the Congress of Vienna, to the number of sixteen in Prussia; thirdly, the heads of the territorial nobility formed by the king, and numbering some fifty members; fourthly, a number of life-peers, chosen by the king from among the rich landowners, great manufacturers, and 'national celebrities'; fifthly, eight titled noblemen elected in the eight provinces of Prussia by the resident landowners of all degrees; sixthly, the representatives of the universities, the heads of 'chapters,' and the burgomasters of towns with above fifty thousand inhabitants; and seventhly, an unlimited number of members nominated by the king for life, or for a more or less restricted period.

The second Chamber consists of 432 members-352 for the old Kingdom, and the rest added in 1867 to represent the newly-annexed provinces; the proportion to the population is 1 to every 66,000. Every Prussian who has attained his twenty-fifth year, and is qualified to vote for the municipal elections of his place of domicile, is eligible to vote as indirect elector. Persons who are entitled to vote for municipal elections in several parishes can only exercise the right of indirect elector, or Urwähler,' in one. One direct elector, or 'Wahlmann,' is elected from every complete number of 250 souls. The indirect electors are divided into three classes, according to the respective amount of direct taxes paid by each; arranged in such manner that each category pays one-third of the whole amount of direct taxes levied on the whole. The first category consist of all electors who pay the highest taxes to the amount of one-third of the whole; the second, of those who pay the next highest amount down to the limits of the second third; the third of all the lowest taxed, who, together, complete

the last class. Each class may be divided into several electoral circles, none of which must, however, exceed 500 Urwähler.' Direct electors may be nominated in each division of the circle from the number of persons entitled to vote indirectly, without regard to special divisions. The representatives are chosen by the direct electors. The legislative period of the second Chamber is limited to five years. Every Prussian is eligible to be a member of the second Chamber who has completed his thirtieth year, who has not forfeited the enjoyment of full civic rights through a judicial sentence, and who has paid taxes during three years to the State. The Chamber must be re-elected within six months of the expiration of their legislative period, or after being dissolved. In either case former members are reeligible. The Chambers are to be regularly convoked by the king during the month of November; and in extraordinary session, as often as circumstances may require. The opening and closing of the Chambers must take place by the king in person, or by a minister appointed by him. Both Chambers are to be convoked, opened, adjourned, and prorogued simultaneously. Each Chamber has to prove the qualification of its members, and to decide thereon. Both Chambers regulate their order of business and discipline, and elect their own presidents, vice-presidents, and secretaries. Functionaries

do not require leave of absence to sit in the Chamber. When a member accepts paid functions, or a higher office connected with increased salary, he vacates his seat and vote in the Chamber, and can only recover the same by a new election. No one can be member of both Chambers. The sittings of both Chambers are public. Each Chamber, at the proposition of the president or of ten members, may proceed to secret deliberation. Neither Chamber can adopt a resolution when the legal majority of its members is not present. Each Chamber has a right to present addresses to the king. No one can deliver a petition or address to the Chambers, or to either of them, in person. Each Chamber can refer documents addressed to it to the ministers, and demand explanations relative to complaints contained therein. Each Chamber has the right to appoint commissions of investigation of facts for its own information. The members of both Chambers are held to be representatives of the whole population. They vote according to their free conviction, and are not bound by prescriptions or instructions. They cannot be called to account, either for their votes or for opinions uttered by them in the Chambers. No member of the Chambers can, without its assent, be submitted to examination or arrest for any proceeding entailing penalties, unless seized in the act, or within twenty-four hours of the same. All criminal proceedings against members of the Chambers, and all examination or civil arrest, must be suspended during the session, should the Chamber whom it may concern so demand. Members of the second Chamber receive travelling expenses and diet money from the State, according to a scale fixed by law, amounting to 20 marks, or one pound sterling, per day. Refusal of the same is not allowed.

The executive government is carried on by a Staatsministerium, or Ministry of State, the members of which are appointed by the king, and hold office at his pleasure. The Staatsministerium is divided into ter

departments, as follows:

1. President of the Council of Ministers.- General George von Caprici. 2. Vice-President of the Council of Ministers, Minister of State, and Imperial Secretary of State for the Interior.-Karl Heinrich von Boetticher. born January 6, 1833; studied jurisprudence and entered the State service 1856; 1873 Landdrost at Hanover; 1876 Regierungspräsident at Schles wig; 1879 Oberpräsident of Schleswig-Holstein; September 1880, Imperial

Secretary of State for the Interior; 1881 'representative' of the Chancellor of the Empire.

3. Minister of the Interior.-Ernst Ludwig Herrfurth, born March 6, 1830, entered 1873 the Ministry of the Interior; 1881 Ministerial Director; 1882 Unterstaatssekretär; appointed Minister of the Interior July 1888.

4. Minister of War.-Julius von Verdy du Vernois, born July 19, 1832; entered the army service 1850; attached 1866 and 1870-71 to headquarters staff of the II. Army and grand headquarters; 1879, Chief of the Army Department in the Ministry of War; well known by numerous military works; appointed Minister April 9, 1889.

5. Minister of Public Works.-Dr. August von Maybach, born November 22, 1822; studied jurisprudence, and entered the State service in 1845; Director-General of the Railways of Hanover, 1866-71, and of the German State Railways, 1871-78. Appointed Minister of Public Works March 30, 1878.

6. Minister of Agriculture, Domains, and Forests. Dr. Robert Freiherr Lucius Ballhausen, born December 20, 1835; studied medicine at Heidelberg and Breslau; took part as physician in the Prussian Embassy to China and Japan, 1860–62; officer of cavalry in the campaigns of 1864, 1866, and 1870-71, against Denmark, Austria, and France; member of the Reichstag since 1870; elected Second Vice-President of the Reichstag 1879. Appointed Minister of Agriculture, &c., July 14, 1879.

7. Minister of Justice.-Dr. Hermann von Schelling, born April 19, 1824; studied philosophy and jurisprudence; entered the State service 1844, and 1864 the Ministry of Justice; 1875 Vice-President of the Prussian Obertribunal; 1877 Unterstaatssekretär, and November 1879 Secretary of State in the Imperial Department of Justice. Appointed Minister of Justice 1889.

8. Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Instruction, and Medicinal Affairs.—Dr. D. Gustav von Gossler, born April 13, 1838; studied jurisprudence; entered the State service 1860, and 1874 the Ministry of the Interior; 1879 Unterstaatssekretär of the Ministry of Ecclesiastical &c. Affairs. Appointed Minister July 18, 1881.

9. Minister of Finance.-Adolf von Scholz, born November 1, 1833; studied jurisprudence; entered the State service 1855; 1879 Unterstaatssekretär, and January 1880 Secretary of State of the Imperial Board of Treasury. Appointed Minister of Finance January 28, 1882.

10. Minister of State and Imperial Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.-Count Herbert Bismarck, born December 28, 1849, appointed Secretary of State May 1880, and Minister of State 1888.

11. Minister of Commerce.-Baron Berlepsch. Appointed February 1890.

The salary of the President of the Council is 54,000 marks, and that of each of the other ministers 36,000 marks.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT.

Each of the provinces of the Kingdom is placed under the superintendence of an Oberpräsident,' or governor, who has a salary of 21,000 marks. Each province has also a military commandant, a superior court of justice, a director of taxes, and a consistory, all appointed by the king. The provinces are subdivided into Regierungsbezirke, or counties, and these again into 'Kreise,' or circles, and the latter into Amtsbezirke or Bürgermeistereien, these again into Gemeinden or Gutsbezirke. Each county has

a president and an administrative board or cour several ecil; and the further subdivisions have also their local authorities. The Ivähler.' rincipal functionaries are all elective; but the elections must be confirmed m the nurby the Government.

Area and Population.

1 division
ian is e
gislative

I. PROGRESS AND PRESENT CONDF thirti

agh a

TION.

The area of Prussia is 136,075 English squee. Tare miles. The following table exhibits the area and population of their the whole and

of each of the 14 provinces :

emb Engu

At the close of the reign of Friedrich I., first King of Prussia, the Kingdom had an area of about 43,400 square miles, and a population of 1,731,000. The following table illustrates the development of Prussia since the beginning of the present century. The figures for 1797 are estimated merely.

Of the total population in 1885, 45 per cent. lived in towns of 2,000 inbitants and upwards, and 55 per cent. in rural communes.

While the town population increased at the rate of 2:08 per cent. per num between 1875 and 1880, the country population decreased at the te of 0-73 per cent. per annum. The town population in 1885 was ,554,596, showing a rate of increase of 174 per cent. per annum since 380, while the rate of increase in the country districts was only 0.22 per ent. per annum.

The urban and rural population were distributed as follows at the last wo census periods :

:

The urban population was thus distributed in 1885:-.

See p. 525 for the official signification of these terms.

In 1885 the population included 13,893,604 males and 14,424,866 females-i.e. 103-8 females per 100 males. With respect to conjugal condition the following was the distribution :—

The division of the population according to occupation is shown in the table on p. 523, and some particulars as to race on the same page.

In 1885 the number of foreigners (exclusive of other Germans) resident in Prussia was 214,240, of whom 58,827 were Austrians and Hungarians, 43,010 Dutch, 41,066 Russians, 18,178 Danes, 8,204 Swedes and Norwegians, 7,946 British, 6,984 Belgians, 6,903 Americans, 6,853 Swiss, and 4,358 French.