The Sun.
London, England, 1848-07-22 00:00:00

TIII SUN, LONDON,_ SATURDAY EVENING, JULY 22, 1848.

PRUSSIA.

MEMEL, JULY B.—The war with Denmark, which
unhappily appears to be still protracted, is bringing
Memel to the verge of ruin. The few English ships
which now visit our harbour cannot make up for the
immense losses of the shipowners, and of the nume-
rous families who gain their livelihood by the ship-
ping. We are already looking :forward with much
anxiety to the winter, for the great distress which
even now prevails here will inevitably bring fatal
consequences. No city of the Prussian do-
minions will be so completely ruined by the
war with Denmark, as Memel. Being almost iso-
lated, and bordering upon the closed frontier of
Russia, its inhabitants have no means of obtaining
a subsistence, whenever navigation is at a stand-still.
On the 17th of July the Committee of the National
Assembly at Berlin adopted the following paragraphs
relative to the rights of the King :—_
" The regal power is hereditary in the masculine line
of the royal house by the right of primogeniture. The
King is of age at eighteen, and takes the following oath
on his accession:—' I swear to maintain the constitution
of the state firm and inviolate, and to govern according
to it and the laws.'

" The King may not accept the Crown of another
state without the consent of the Chambers. The guar-
dianship and the regency are decided upon by the two
Chambers deliberating in common. Should the King
be in the impossibility of governing, the Ministry must
immediately call the Chambers together ; the Regency
can only be deferred to one person, and the Regent
takes the same oath as the King. The person of the
King is inviolable ; ,he exercises the executive power,
names and revokes the Ministers, orders the pro-
mulgation of laws, and renders the ordinances neces-
sary for their execution ; but he may neither
delay this execution nor refuse it. The King has the
chief command of the army, and names all the officers,
as well as all the functionaries of the other branches of
the public service, provided the constitution and laws do
not require otherwise. The King has the right to do•
Clare war, provided this right bo not limited by the
German Constitution. All treaties and conclusions of
peace with foreig❑ States required to be valid, the assent
of the Chambers, always with the same restrictions.
The King has the right to grant pardon, but cannot
exercise this right towards Ministers condemned for
acts while in office, except on the motion of the Chamber
which accused them. The King has the right to bestow
orders and other decorations to which no privilege is at-
tached. The law fixes the civil list for the duration of
each reign. The King opens and closes the sessions of
the Chambers. He may dissolve either Chamber or
both; but by the same decree ho must fix fresh elections
and a new meeting of the Chamber within two months
at the latest."

In the sitting of the Prussian Chamber of the 18th
inst., M. Bredt, being called upon to support the mo
tion, inscribed in the order of the day, said, " The esta-
blishment of a universal German Zollverein is one of the
questions that naturally arise from the new order of
affairs. The magnanimous changes of the last few
months have rendered a general customs union essential
to the unity of Germany. In the present Zollverein 28
millions are ineluded ; but Austria, Wurtemberg, Hano-
ver, and the Hanse Towns, are still wanting to complete
the circle. The Zollverein does not possess the prin-
cipal issue to the North Sea. It is necessary that
we should adopt the system of differential duties. This
subject, I know, will be thoroughly sifted at Frank-
fort, but it is our duty to contribute by all means in our

Milde observed, in reply, that the subject had not
been neglected. The Diet had requested that the diffe-
rent Governments should send Commissioners to discuss
the;subject at Frankfort, and Prussia was already in treaty
with Baden, Nassau, and other States. The affair had
also been taken in hand by the Committee of the Na-
tional Assembly. As to the question of differential
duties, he begged to observe that this also had been the
subject of negotiation. Hanover, Oldenburg, and Bre-
men were in favour—Hamburgh was opposed to this
system. As to a general German commercial and
maritime union, that must remain an open question, In
regard to the tariff, it had been proposed, in April, to
prolong the present tariff for one year, and to negotiate
in the mean time.