The members of the Senate are elected for life by the House of Burgesses; but a senator is at liberty to retire at the end of six years. A first and second burgomaster, chosen annually in secret ballot, preside over the meetings of the Senate. No burgomaster can be in office longer than two years; and no member of the Senate is allowed to hold any public office whatever. The House of Burgesses consists of 160 members, 80 of whom are elected in secret ballot by the votes of all tax-paying citizens. Of the remaining 80 members, 40 are chosen, also by ballot, by the owners of house property in the city valued at 3,000 marks, or 150l., over and above the amount for which they are taxed; while the other 40 members are deputed by various guilds, corporations, and courts of justice. All the members of the House of Burgesses are chosen for six years, in such a manner that every three years new elections take place for one-half the number. The House of Burgesses is represented, in permanence, by a Bürger-Ausschuss, or Committee of the House, consisting of twenty deputies, of whom no more than five are allowed to be members of the legal profession. It is the special duty of the committee to watch the proceedings of the Senate, and the general execution of the articles of the constitution, including the laws voted by the House of Burgesses. In all matters of legislation, except taxation, the Senate has a veto; and, in case of a constitutional conflict, recourse is had to an assembly of arbitrators, chosen in equal parts from the Senate and the House of Burgesses; also to the Supreme Court of Judicature of the Empire (Reichsgericht) at Leipzig. The revenue of the State is mainly derived from direct taxes, chief among them an income-tax, the amount of which upon each contributor is left to self-assessment. Disbursements for public works, including the maintenance of free and unobstructed navigation on the river Elbe, form the principal part of the expenditure. The jurisdiction of the free port was, however, on January 1, 1882, restricted to the city and port by the inclusion of the Lower Elbe in the Zollverein, although it was stipulated that the incorporation treaty with the Empire should not, unless necessary, be enforced until October, 1888. The alterations in the port necessitated by this step will involve an expenditure of 5 millions sterling, to which the Imperial Government contributes 2 millions. In the budget for 1885 the revenue was, estimated at 1,881,2021., and expenditure the same. The largest source of income is direct taxes, amounting to more than one-third the whole revenue, and next to that the proceeds of domains, quays, railways, &c. The largest item in the expenditure is for the debt, 330,500l. in 1885; for education the expenditure is 186,0237. The direct taxation amounts to 17. 10s. per head of population. For the privilege of remaining a 'Free Port,' and exempt from the customs of the Zollverein, Hamburg has to pay an annual sum. The public debt of Hamburg on the 1st of January, 1883, amounted to 142,456,540 mark, or 7,122,8271. The debt was incurred chiefly for the construction of public works, a considerable part of it being devoted, after the great fire in 1842, to the rebuilding of the destroyed city on a new plan. Population and Commerce. The state embraces a territory of 148 English square miles, with a population, according to the census of December 1, 1875, of 388,618 inhabitants, and on Dec. 1, 1880, of 453,869 (221,522 males, 232,347 females), Included in the census returns were two battalions of Prussian soldiers, forming the garrison of Hamburg. The state consists of three divisions, viz. the city proper with its suburbs, the district of Geest, and the townships of Bergedorf and Ritzebüttel, the population of each of which districts was follows on December 1, 1880: as In the four years from 1867 to 1871 the population of the State increased at the high rate of 2.59 per cent. per annum ; from 1871 to 1875, at the rate of 3·41 per cent. per annum, and in 1875-80, at the rate of 3.35. In 1883 the population of the state was estimated at 495,029, and of town and suburbs at 439,666. A large stream of emigration to America-which, after rapidly declining, has as rapidly increased in recent years flows through Hamburg. The number of German emigrants by Hamburg was 32,556 in 1870; 74,406 in 1872; 43,443 in 1874; 12,729 in 1876; 11,827 in 1878; 42,786 in 1880; 84,425 in 1881; 71,164 in 1882; and 55,666 in 1883. The total emigration by Hamburg in 1882 was 113,221; and in 1883, 89,465. The emigration from Hamburg itself in 1881 was 3,188; in 1882, 3,410; in 1883, 3,170. Marriages, 1882, 4,165; births, 18,170 (644, or 3.54 per cent. still-born; 1,841, or 10-13 per cent. illegitimate); deaths, 11,908; surplus, 6,262. Protestants (1880) 420,003; Catholics, 12,063; other Christians, 873; Jews, 16,024; unclassified, or 'no religion,' 4,906. The commercial intercourse of the United Kingdom with Hamburg is very important, embracing more than one-half of the total commerce with Germany. The total imports of Hamburg in 1882 were valued at 102,198,9427.; of this 47,560,1531. was by sea, of which 21,183,1317. was from Great Britain. The exports in 1882 amounted to 85,541,9127., of which 43,229,7551. went by sea. In 1883 the imports of merchandise were valued at 111,410,000l. The total number of vessels which entered the port of Hamburg in the year 1882 was 6,189, with an aggregate tonnage of 3,030,909; in 1883, 6,352 vessels, of 3,351,670 tons. The number of vessels which cleared in 1882 was 6,167, of 3,022,027 tons; and in 1883, 6,387, of 3,355,612 tons. In 1882, British vessels entered with cargoes, 2,455, of tonnage, 1,322,791; the value of cargoes 33,875,000l., besides 76 vessels of 35,009 tons, in ballast. In 1883, British vessels entered, with cargoes, 407, of tonnage 591,197; the value of the cargoes 25,067,3821.; besides 107, of 46,803 tons, in ballast. In 1882, British vessels cleared with cargoes, 1,747, of 919,085 tons, and cargoes valued at 14,705,000Z., besides 780 vessels, of 431,486 tons, in ballast. In 1883, British vessels cleared with cargoes, 1,862, of 1,048,170 tons, and cargoes valued at 20,654,2647.; besides 738 vessels, of 481,776 tons, in ballast. The total number of sea-going vessels (Seeschiffe) which belonged to the port of Hamburg was as follows on Jan. 1, 1884 :— At the commencement of 1871, the number of vessels belonging to Hamburg was 439, with an aggregate tonnage of 184,496, so that in the twelve years there was an increase of 122,548 in tonnage. The mercantile navy of Hamburg was nearly eight times as large as that of the kingdom of Belgium. There were 12 miles of railway in 1884. XXIV. LÜBECK. (FREIE STADT LÜBECK.) Constitution, Revenue, and Population. The free city and state of Lübeck is governed according to a constitution revised April 7, 1875. The main features of this charter are two representative bodies-first, the Senate, exercising the executive, and, secondly, the Bürgerschaft, or House of Burgesses, exer cising, together with the Senate, the legislative authority. The Senate is composed of fourteen members, elected for life, and presided over by one burgomaster, who holds office for two years. There are 120 members in the House of Burgesses, chosen by all citizens of the town. A committee of thirty burgesses, presided over by a chairman elected for one year, has the duty of representing the legislative assembly in the intervals of the ordinary sessions, and of carrying on all active business. The government is in the hands of the Senate, but the House of Burgesses has the right of initiative in all measures relative to the public expenditure, foreign treaties, and general legislation. To the passing of every new law the sanction of the Senate and the House of Burgesses is required. After the creation of a new system of judicature in 1879 for the whole Empire of Germany, with the Reichsgericht' at Leipzig at the head of all the Courts of Law, the Imperial Court at Leipzig is now for Lübeck the highest Court of Appeal. There exist, at Lübeck, since October 1, 1879, only the Amtsgericht' and the 'Landgericht'; from these the appeal lies to the 'Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht' at Hamburg, for the three Hanse towns, Lübeck, Hamburg, and Bremen, and from that to the Reichsgericht at Leipzig. The estimated revenue for the year 1885 amounted to 2,643,978 mark, or 132,1987., and the expenditure to the same amount. Nearly one-third of the revenue is derived from public domains, chiefly forests; another third from excise duties; and the rest mostly from direct taxation. Of the expenditure, one-third is for the interest and reduction of the public debt, the latter amounting, in 1884, to 21,826,311 mark, or 1,091,3157. Rather more than one-fifth of the public liabilities were contracted in 1806, at the time of the French occupation; while the rest consist mainly of a 4% loan of 1850, and a 31% loan of 1863. According to the census of December 1, 1875, the State comprises a territory of 124 square miles, with a population of 56,912, including a garrison; on December 1, 1880, the population was 63,571 (30,981 males, and 32,590 females). The city proper had 39,743, and the rural districts, composed of scattered portions of territory surrounded by Prussia and Mecklenburg, 12,415 inhabitants in 1875; in 1880 the city had increased to 51,055. In the four years from 1871 to 1875, the population increased at the rate of 2.18 per cent. per annum, and in the five years from 1875 to 1880 at the rate of 2.37 per cent. per annum. Estimated population of city and suburbs in 1882, 67,368. Except 812 Catholics and 560 Jews (1880), the inhabitants are Protestants. Marriages, 1882, 505; births, 2,195; (83, or 3.78 per cent., still-born; 169, or 7-70 per cent., illegitimate); deaths, 1,529; surplus, 666. Emigrants, 1881, 186; 1882, 204; 1883, 161. In 1883 the value of the imports of Lübeck was 10,775,300l., and exports 9,565,9007. Lübeck possessed, at the commencement of 1884, forty-two sea-going vessels, of 11,177 tons, including thirty steamers, of 8,858 tons. In the year 1883, there entered the port of Lübeck 2,012 vessels, of 403,660 tons, and there cleared 2,105 vessels, of 401,517 tons. The number of vessels arriving under the British flag in 1883 was 11, of an aggregate tonnage of 6,297. The direct trade of Lübeck is chiefly with Russia, Sweden and Norway, Denmark, and Great Britain. Returns of the extent of commerce of the free city with Great Britain are included under Germany. (See p. 191.) The State had 25 miles of railway in 1884. XXV. BREMEN. (FREIE STADT BREMEN.) Constitution and Revenue. The free city of Bremen is governed, under a constitution proclaimed March 5, 1849, and revised February 21, 1854, November 17, 1875, December 1, 1878, and May 27, 1879, by a Senate of seventeen members, forming the executive, and the Bürgerschaft, or Convent of Burgesses, of 150 members, invested with the power of legislation. The Convent is returned by the votes of all the citizens, divided into classes. The citizens who have studied at a university return 14 members; the merchants 42 members; the common traders and shop-keepers 22 members, and the other tax-paying inhabitants of the Free City the rest. The Convent and Senate elect the seventeen members of the Senate, ten of whom at least must be lawyers. Two burgomasters, the first elected for four years, and the second for the same period, direct the affairs of the Senate, through a Ministry divided into twelve departments—namely, Foreign Affairs, Church and Education, Justice, Finance, Police, Medical and Sanitary Administration, Military Affairs, Commerce and Shipping, Ports and Railways, Public Works, Industry, and Poor Laws. All the ministers are senators. The budget estimate of revenue and expenditure for 1884 balanced at 11,593,700 mark, or 579,6851. In 1883 the revenue was 13,087,553 mark, or 654,3771., and expenditure 13,470,773 mark, or 678,5381. More than one-third of the revenue is raised |