Congress of Vienna. The civil list of the Prince of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen amounts to 500,000 marks, being nearly one sixth of the revenue of the country.

The Principality has a Constitution, granted July 8, 1857, under which restricted legislative rights are given to a Diet composed of fifteen members, five of whom are appointed by the Prince, five elected by certain highlytaxed landowners and others, and five elected by the inhabitants in general. The sole executive and part of the legislative power is in the hands of the Prince, who exercises his authority through a Government divided into five departments.

For the years 1904 to 1907 the annual revenue was estimated to amount to 3,541,588 marks, and the annual expenditure to the same. There is a public debt (April 1, 1904) of 5,454,225 marks.

The population on December 1, 1900, was 80,898 (39,508 males and 41,390 females). Except 1,110 Catholics and 166 Jews, the population is Protestant. The chief towns, Sondershausen and Arnstadt, have respectively 7,054 (1900) and 14,421 inhabitants.

WALDECK.

(FÜRSTENTHUM WALDECK.)

Reigning Prince, Friedrich, born January 20, 1865; the son of Prince George Victor and Princess Helena of Nassau; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, May 12, 1893; married, August 9, 1895, to Princess Bathildis of Schaumburg-Lippe; offspring: Prince Josias, born May 13, 1896; Prince Max, born September 13, 1898; Princess Helene, born December 22, 1899; Prince Georg Wilhelm, born March 10, 1902. Brother and sisters of the reigning prince are:-I. Princess Pauline, born October 19, 1855; married, May 7, 1881, to the Hereditary Prince Alexis of Bentheim-Steinfurt. II. Princess Emma, born August 2, 1858; married, January 7, 1879, King Willem III. of the Netherlands; widow, November 20, 1890. Princess Helene, born February 17, 1861; married, April 27, 1882, to Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany, son of Victoria, Queen of Great Britain; widow, March 28, 1884. IV. Princess Elizabeth, born September 6, 1873; married May 3, 1900, to Alexander, hereditary Count of Erbach-Schönberg. V. Prince Wolrad-Friedrich (brother on the father's side), born June 22, 1892.

III.

After the war between Austria and Prussia, at the end of 1866, a Treaty of Accession' was signed by the Prince on July 18, 1867, by which he surrendered his chief sovereign rights to King Wilhelm I. for ten years, retain. ing merely nominal power, and renewed November 24, 1877, till January 1, 1888. A Treaty, made March 2, 1887, continued the arrangement for the future, making it terminable on notice given.

It

In

The charter of the Principality was granted August 17, 1852. provided for a legislative assembly of forty-one members, but this number is now reduced to fifteen, with authority restricted to purely local affairs. terms of the Treaty of Accession' all public officials are appointed by the King of Prussia, and take the oath of fidelity to him. Prussia also manages the finances of the Principality.

The estimated revenue and expenditure for three years are:-1902, 1,674,963 marks; 1903, 1,673,727 marks; 1904, 1,673,622 marks.

The debt on July 1, 1904, was 1,793,100 marks.

The Principality is divided for administrative purposes into circles:Waldeck: Twiste, population, 16, 430; Eisenberge, population, 17,593; Eder, population, 15,259; Pyrmont: population, 8,636-total, 57,918 in December, 1900.

Except 1,831 Catholics and 637 Jews, the people are Protestants. The residence town, Arolsen, has (1900) 2,734 inhabitants.

British Minister-Resident.—Viscount Gough, K. C. V.O.
Consul-General.-Sir William Ward, C. V.O. (Hamburg).

Reference.

Waldeckischer Landes-Kalender. Mengeringhausen. Annual.

WÜRTTEMBERG.

(KÖNIGREICH WÜRTTEMBERG.)
Reigning King.

Wilhelm II., King of Württemberg, born February 25, 1848; son of the late Prince Friedrich of Württemberg (cousin of the late king Karl I.) and of the late Princess Katharine of Württemberg (sister of the late king); ascended the throne on the death of Karl I., October 6, 1891. Married (1), February 15, 1877, to Princess Maric of Waldeck-Pyrmont, who died April 30, 1882; issue of this union, Princess Pauline, born December 19, 1877, married October 29, 1898, to Prince Friedrich of Wied. (2), April 8, 1886, Princess Charlotte of Schaumburg-Lippe.

The former Duchy and Electorate of Württemberg was erected into a Kingdom by the Peace of Pressburg, 1805, and by a decree of January 1, 1806. The civil list of the king amounts to 2,023,825 marks, with additional grants of 50,572 marks for the other members of the royal family.

Constitution and Government.

Württemberg is a constitutional hereditary Monarchy, the Constitution of which bears date September 25, 1819. It vests certain powers in the Landstände, or two Estates' of the realm, called together at least every two years to discuss and sanction the estimates. The Upper Chamber, or House of Standesherren, is composed of the princes of the royal family, of the heads of twenty mediatised houses which were before 1806 endowed with votes in the Imperial Diet, and a number of members nominated by the king hereditarily or for life, which number, however, must not exceed one-third of that of the two other categories (there are now eight, two hereditary). The Second Chamber, or House of Deputies (Abgeordneten), consists of thirteen members of the nobility, elected by the Ritterschaft (Equestrian Order) of the Kingdom: six dignitaries of the Evangelical clergy; three dignitaries of the Catholic clergy; the chancellor of the University of Tübingen; seven deputies of towns (gute Städte'), and sixty-three of districts (Oberämter'), elected by all citizens over twenty-five years of age by secret ballot. All the members of the Second Chamber are chosen for six years, and they must be thirty years of age; property qualification is not necessary. The president of the Upper Chamber is appointed by the king, the vice-president is elected by the Chamber from among the mediatised princes and nobles (royal princes and

life members being ineligible); the president and vice-president of the Second Chamber are both elected by the deputies. The debates of both Chambers are public. Whenever the Chambers are not sitting they are represented by a committee of twelve persons, consisting of the presidents of both Chambers, two members of the Upper, and eight of the Lower House. A special court of justice, called the Staats-Gerichtshof, is appointed guardian of the Constitution. It is composed of a president and twelve members, six of whom, together with the president, are nominated by the king, while the other six are elected by the combined Chambers. Members of both Chambers receive an allowance of 9s. 2d. a day during the session and travelling expenses, but to the members of the Upper Chamber payment is made on application only.

The executive of the Kingdom is a Ministry of State composed of six ministerial departments. The heads of the six departments are the Ministers of Justice; of Foreign Affairs and the Royal House, to whose province belongs also the administration of the State railways, posts, and telegraphs; of the Interior; of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public Education; of War; and of Finance. There is also a Privy Council (Geheimer Rat), of which the Ministers and some Councillors (Wirkliche Staatsräte) are members, and which the sovereign has a right to consult on all occasions.

For administrative purposes the country is divided into 4 circles (Kreise), 64 districts (Oberämter), and 1.908 communes (Gemeinden).

Area and Population.

Württemberg has an area of 7,534 English square miles, with a population of 2,169,480 on December 1, 1900

The following table shows the area and population of the whole and of each of the four 'circles' (Kreise) in 1895 and 1900:

The increase of population between 1895 and 1900, amounted on the whole to only 0.83 per cent. per annum. Of the total population in 1900, 795,839, or 367 per cent., lived in communes of 3,000 inhabitants and upwards, and 1,373,641, or 633 per cent., in rural communes. The population included 1,052,769 males and 1,116,711 females, or 106 8 females for every 100 males. The number of foreigners was 17,083 in 1900.

The movement of the population for five years was :—

In 1903 the still-births formed 30 per cent., and the illegitimate births 8.7 per cent. of the total number of births.

The population in 1900 of the largest towns was as follows:

Of the population in 1900, 69 per cent. were Protestant and 30 per cent. Catholic. The various creeds were distributed as follows at the census of 1900::

In the king is vested the right of guardianship and direction over the churches, and, so far as he belongs to the Evangelical Church, also the conservation of the episcopal rights in this church. The administration of the Evangelical Church is in the hands of a consistorium of one president, nine councillors, and six general superintendents, at Ludwigsburg, Heilbronn, Reutlingen, Tübingen, Hall, and Ulm. The representative body of the Evangelical ecclesiastical communes is the Evangelical Landes-synode, consisting of 25 clerical and 25 lay representatives of the dioceses and 1 of the evangelical theological faculty of the university, with 3 clerical and 3 lay members appointed by the evangelical princes. It meets at least every six years, oftener if necessary. The Roman Catholics, most numerous in the southern part of the Kingdom, comprising the circle of the Danube, are under a bishop, who has his seat at Rottenburg. The State exercises its rights over the Catholic Church through the Catholic Kirchenrat, which is appointed by

the king and is subject to the Ministry of Worship. The Jews likewise are under a special council (Oberkirchenbehörde), nominated by the king on the proposition of the Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public Education.

Instruction.

Education is compulsory in Württemberg, and there must be one public school or more in every commune. According to recent official returns, there is not an individual in the kingdom, above the age of ten, unable to read and write. In 1903 there were 2,381 elementary public schools with 5,148 teachers, attended by 307,748 pupils; 88 Realschulen with 12,569 pupils; 18 grammar schools (Elementarschulen) with 3,393 pupils; 17 classical colleges (gymnasia), of which 4 are training colleges for the Protestant clergy, 6 Progymnasiums and Realprogymnasiums, 63 Latin schools, having together 9,373 scholars. The whole educational system is completed by the University of Tübingen (founded in 1477). There are, besides, the Technical High School (Technische Hochschule) at Stuttgart, the Veterinary High School at Stuttgart, the Agricultural Academy at Hohenheim, and several agricultural and other special institutes. The funds appropriated by the State to educational purposes amounted in 1901-02 to 77 million marks, not including the sums bestowed on public schools by the parishes or out of the revenue of foundations.

In Württemberg there is one Oberlandesgericht at Stuttgart. In 1902, 18,436 persons were convicted of crimes.

Finance.

The estimated revenue and expenditure for two years ending March 31, 1904 and 1905, are as follows: