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of the special State in which they exercise jurisdiction, and not to the Imperial Government. The appointment of the judges is also a State and not an Imperial function. The Empire enjoys uniform codes of commercial and criminal law, and the civil code of August 18, 1896, came into force on January 1, 1900.

The lowest courts of first instance are the Amtsgerichte, each with a single judge, competent to try petty civil and criminal cases. There was on January 1, 1903, 1,933 Amtsgerichte in the Empire, or one for every 29,160 inhabitants. The Landgerichte exercise a revising jurisdiction over the Amtsgerichte, and also a more extensive original jurisdiction in both civil and criminal cases, divorce cases, &c. In the criminal chamber five judges sit, and a majority of four votes is required for a conviction. Jury courts (Schwurgerichte) are also held periodically, in which three judges preside; the jury are twelve in number. There are 173 Landgerichte in the Empire, or one for every 325,822 of the population. The first court of second instance is the Oberlandesgericht. In its criminal senate, which also has an original jurisdiction in serious cases, the number of the judges is seven. There are twenty-eight such courts in the Empire. The total number of judges on the bench in all the courts above mentioned is 8,397. In Bavaria alone there is an Oberste Landesgericht, with 22 judges, with a revising jurisdiction over the Bavarian Oberlandesgerichte. The supreme court is the Reichsgericht, which sits at Leipzig. The judges, 92 in number, are appointed by the Emperor on the advice of the Bundesrath. The court exercises an appellate jurisdiction over all inferior courts, and also an original jurisdiction in cases of treason. It has four criminal and six civil senates.

The following table shows the number of criminal cases tried before the courts of first instance, with the number and sex of convicted persons, and the number of the latter per 10,000 of the civil population over twelve years of age :

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Of the persons convicted in 1901, 49,675; 1902, 51,046 were under eighteen years of age; and 1901, 209,346; 1902, 218,179 had been previously convicted.

Pauperism.

The relief of the poor is not an imperial function; but all the States except two have adopted the law of settlement passed by the Reichstag in June, 1870. Bavaria and Alsace-Lorraine have independent poor-law legislation. According to the law of 1870 each commune (Gemeinde) or poor law-district (Armenverband) is bound to provide for its own poor, much as is the case in English parishes; and a settlement for purposes of poor-relief is generally obtained by a residence of two years in any one commune. Paupers who

from any cause have no local settlement are looked after by the Government of the State to which they belong, and are called Landarmen, or national paupers. By an imperial law passed in 1874, any German entitled to poorrelief may apply for it to the commune in which he happens at the time to be, but that commune is empowered to recover expenses from the commune in which the pauper has a settlement. Statistics of poor-relief have not been published since 1885.

As preventive measures under this head must be mentioned the imperial laws introducing the compulsory insurance of workmen against sickness (1883 and 1892) and insurance against accidents by employers (1884-1887) and the compulsory insurance of workmen by the workmen themselves against old age and infirmity (1889).

Finance.

The common expenditure of the Empire is defrayed from the revenues arising from customs, certain branches of the excise, and the profits of the posts, telegraphs, and State railways. The individual States are assessed to, make up any deficit in proportion to population.

The following tables exhibit the revenue and expenditure (in thousands of marks) for six years, beginning 1 April, the figures for the last 2 years being taken from the budget estimates (20 marks = £1):

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For 1904-05 the revenue and expenditure are each estimated at 2,460,735,004 marks. This includes extraordinary revenue and expenditure amounting to 229,136,164 marks, of which 214,713,352 marks will be raised by loan. The amounts raised by customs, excise, and stamps were as follows (in thousands of marks) :

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The sums paid in lieu of customs and excise by the parts of the Empire not included in the Zollgebiet are included in the above figures. The share of this direct imperial taxation is about 10s. 6d. per head.

The chief branches of Imperial expenditure, ordinary and extraordinary, in 5 years (estimates for the last two years) have been in 1,000 marks :—

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1 These assignments (Ueberweisungen) are repayments to the various States of the surplus of the revenue from customs, tobacco, stamp and spirit duties, over 130,000,000 marks.

The following table gives the estimated total revenue and expenditure including supplements for the financial year ending March 31, 1905 :

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For 1905-06 the revenue and expenditure are estimated at 2,241,560,000 marks.

The Federal contributions (Matricular Beiträge) are assessed according to

population, at a rate per head fixed annually in the Imperial budget. For 1904 they were estimated as follows:

1,000 M.

1,000 M.

1.000 M.

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Reuss, Younger Branch 587

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Schaumburg-Lippe...

182

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Wurtemberg

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Lübeck

408

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At the end of 1902 the total funded debt amounted to 2,733,500,000 marks, of which 1,240,000,000 bears interest at 3 per cent., and 1,493,500,000 at 3 per cent.; the Treasury bonds amounted to 80,000,000 marks at 4 per cent., and 12,000,000 free of interest; outstanding 'Reichs-Kassenscheine,' or imperial treasure bills, 120,000,000 marks.

As a set off against the debt of the Empire there exists a variety of invested funds. The fund for invalids (March, 1902) consisted of 335,253,900 marks. The war treasure fund, 120,000,000 marks, is not invested, but preserved in gold at Spandau.

Defence.
I. FRONTIER.

Germany has a total frontier length of 4,570 miles. On the north it is bounded by the North Sea (293 miles), Denmark (47 miles), and the Baltic (927 miles); on the south well-defined mountain-ranges and the Lake of Constance separate it from Austria (1,403 miles) and Switzerland (256 miles). On the remaining sides, however, the boundaries are chiefly conventional, except in the south-west, where the Vosges Mountains separate Germany and France. On the east Germany is bounded by Russia for 843 miles; on the west by France (242 miles), Luxemburg (111 miles), Belgium (70 miles), and Holland (377 miles).

Some of the coast defences and batteries have been placed under the jurisdiction of the admiralty. The Empire is at present divided into ten fortress districts' (Festungs-Inspectionen), each including a certain area with fortified places. The following is a list of these districts, and the names of the fortresses in each, the fortified places of the first class, serving as camps, being distinguished by italics, while those specially designed for railway protection or obstruction are marked by asterisks (*), and coast fortresses by a dagger (†) :

*

1. KÖNIGSBERG: Königsberg, Danzig,† Pillau,+ Memel,+ Boyen. 2 POSEN: Posen, Glogau,* Neisse, Glatz. 3. BERLIN: Spandau, Magdeburg, Torgau, Küstrin. 4. MAINZ: Mainz, Ulm, Rastatt. 5. METZ: Metz, Diedenhofen,* Bitsch.* 6. COLOGNE (Köln): Cologne, Koblenz, Wesel,* Saarlouis. 7. KIEL: Kiel, Friedrichsort, † Cuxhaven,† Geestemünde, † Wilhelmshaven,† Swinemünde. 8. THORN: Thorn, Graudenz, Vistula Passages (Weichselübergänge), Dirschau. 9. STRASSBURG: Strassburg: New Breisach. 10. MUNICH (München): Ingolstadt, Germersheim."

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The 63rd Acle of the Constitution of 1871 enacts that she whole of the land frees of the Empire shall form a united army in war and peace, under the ariers of the Kaiser. The Prussian War Office Esenarves so the functions of an Imperial War Offices but Bavaria. Saxony, and Wittemberg have War Ministers of their own. The military budgets of the two last named are, however, prepared in Berlin, and Bavaria is obliged to vote military supplies in a fixed proportion to the other budgets. The Sovereigns of these three Kingdoms have the right to select the lower grades of officers, and the King of Bavaria, by convention signed November 23, 1870, reserved to himself the special privilege of superintending the general administration of the Bavarian contingent to the German army, But the approval of the Kaiser must be obtained to all appointments, and nothing affecting the superior direction of the troops of any State of the Empire can be done without his consent. All German troops are bound by the Constitution to obey unconditionally the orders of the Kaiser, and must swear accordingly the oath of fidelity. But this oath to the Kaiser is not imposed upon the Bavarian troops in time of peace. Art. 65 of the Constitution gives the Emperor the right of ordering the erection of fortresses in any part of the Empire; and Art. 68 invests him with the power, in case of threatened disturbance of order, to declare any country or district in a state of siege. The constitution of the army is regulated by various military laws passed between 1867 and 1899; the Prussian military legislation before 1871 being extended to the Empire.

By the Constitution of April 16, 1871, it is enacted that 'overy German is liable to service-and no substitution is allowed. Every German capable of bearing arms has to be in the standing army (or navy) for six years (seven years for the cavalry and field horse-artillery) as a rule from the finished twentieth till the commencing twenty-seventh year of his age, though liability to service begins on the completion of the seventeenth year. Of the six years, two must be spent in active service (three for the cavaly and told horse-artillery), and the remaining four in the army of reserve, After quitting the army of reserve, the conscript has to form part of the Landwehr for another five years in the first class or ban' (four years for the cavalry and field horse-artillery), and seven years in the second ban,'

About 500,000 young men reach the age of twenty every year, and when" the numbers of those morally or physically unfit to serve, of volunteers, and of emigrants, are deducted, about 360,000 are left liable for service. Of these, however, owing to the legal limitation of the peace strength, only a certain

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