New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1859-12-02
rival elaine Of austria and Prussia, may prove OPP

parded az the most nDtrdl lubdsthichtai iaw Ofti
proclaimed in Europe. There is no other Constr
tnton which restrains the powers of the executive
within limits so narrow, makes The Administration
more 9ependent on the Legislature, and confides
such a supreme control 10 the judicial benches. To
account for this strange fact II may be said that
the Hessian revolution Of 1881 was, in point OF
fact, a revolution against the Prince on the part OF
the lawyers, the civil service and the military
officers acting in harmony with the malcontents
of all estates" BY the first paragraph,
every Hcssian prince is excluded from the
succession TO the throne, who should de-
cline taking an oath To the Constitution The law
on Ministerial responsibility, far from being an
unmeaniDg phrase enables the representatives to
remove, through the State tribunal, every Minister
declared guilty Of having even mlslnterpreted any
resolution of the Legislature. The Prince is d.
vested Of the right Of grace He enjoys neither the
privilege Of pensioniDg removing the members OF
the Administration against their viii, there being
always open to them appeal TO the courts OF law.
The latter are invested with the right OF hnal
decision in all questions of bureaucratic discipline.
The Representative Chamber selects out Of its
members permanent committee, forming sort Of
AreOpagus, watching and controlling the Govern
ment, and impeaching the officials for viola
ton Of the Constitution, no exception being
granted on behalf Of orders received by sub
slterns from their superiors in rank. In
were emaDcipated from the Crown. On the other
hand the Courts of law, empowered to decide de-
fnitiyey upon all the acts OF the Executive, were
rendered Omnipotent. Communal Councillors,
nominated by popular election, had 10 administer
not only the local, but also the general police. The
military officers, before entering the service, are
bound by oath TO obedience to the Constitution,
and, in all respects enjoy the same privileges
against the Crown as the civilians The representa-
ton, consisting Of one single Chamber, possesses
the right of stopping all taxes, impOsts and duties,
on every conflict with the executive.
Such is the Constitution of 1881 for HesseCassel,
which the Arch-electOr, William H., the father of
the now regning Prince, proclaimed, " in perfect
agreement with his estates and which " he hoped
4" would still in distant centuries, flourish as
"sohd monument of the harmony between the
" sovereign and his subjects" A draft of the Con-
sttution was then, on the part of the Government,
communicated TO the German Diet which, if it
gave no guaranty, seemed to accept it as fait
aoc0mpi. 1t could be fOreseen that despite all
pia desideria, the Constitutional machinery
was not to run smoothly in Hesse-Cassel
From 1882 to I949 there sat not less than
ten legislatures, of which not two contrived to
last their natural terms of life. The revolution of
ls4S and 1S49 impregDated the Constitution OF 1881
with more democratic spirit by aboishng the
election by estates, by putting the nomination OF
the members of the Supreme Court into the hands
of the Legislature and lastly, by taking out of the
hands of the Prince the supreme control Of the army
and making it over to the Minister of War; per-
sonage responsible to the representatives of the
people.
In IS49--on the meeting of the first Hessian
Legislature elected according to the new electoral
lava general reaction had already broken in
upon Germany; but, nevertheless, things were
stil in a state of fermentation. The old German
Diet had been washed away by the revolutionary
waves while the German National Assembly, and
its mock Executive, had been laid low at the point
of the bayonet So there no longer existed center
of the whole German Federation. Under these
circumstances, Austria demanded the restoration
of the old Diet at Frankfort where its influence had
always been paramount, while Prussia wanted TO
form Northern Union, for her own use and under
her own control. Austria, backed by the four
German Kingdoms and Baden, cOntriyed, in fact,
TO gather around her in Frankfort-on-theAlain the
relies of the old German Diet, while Prussia
made weak attempt at holding a Union
Diet at Erfurt, with some of the smaller
States Hesse-C assel, under the direction of
It's liberal Legislature, was Of course, foremost
among the opponents of Austria, and the partisans
of Prussia. As soon, however, as the Arch-electOr
had ascertaned that Austriawas backed by Russia,
and was likely TO win the race, he threw of the
mask, declared for the Austrian Diet against the
Prussian Union, installed a reactOnary Ministry
with the i-lamed Hassenphug at It's head, dissolved
the opposing Legislature, which Rad refused to
grant taxes, and, having yainly tried 10 raise the
taxes on his own authority, finding no support in
the ranks of the army, the bureaucracy and the
law courts, declared Hesse- Cassel in a state of
siege. He had taken the good precautiOn of run
ming away and resortng to Frankfort Main,
there 10 live under the immediate protection of Aus
tria. Austria in the Of the old Diet restored by
herself dispatched federal corps on the errand of
putting down the Hessian Constitution, and raising
up the throne of the Arch-elector. Prussia, her
part, was forced to declare for the Hessan
Constitution against the Arch-elector in order TO
maintain her own protest against the revival Of the
German Diet, and her attempt of establishing
Northern Union under her own auspices. Thus
the Hessian Constitution was converted into
battle-cry between Austria and Prussia. Things
drew meanwhile 70 q crisis. The vanguards Of the
Federal and the PruSsian armies confronted each
other at Bronsell but only TO sound the retreat on
both sides. The President Of the PTussian Minis
try, Herr won Mannteufel met the Prince of
SebNarzenberg the Austrian Minister, at Olmiiiz,
on the Doth of November, 1850, to resign into his
hands all Prussian claims to a policy Of her own
with regard 10 the Diet Hesse asset and Scheswig
Holstein. Prussia returned to the Diet downcast
and penitent sinner. Her humiliation was embt-
tered by the triumphant march of an Austrian
army TO the coasts Of the Northern Sea. The
Hessan Constitution of 1881 was of course abol-
ished without further ado, to be replaced at first
by martial law, and subsequently, 10 1852, by q
most reactionary Constitution, Matched cut by Has
senphug, doctored by the Elector and emendated
and sanctioned by the German Diet This COnsti-
luton of 1852 formed, then, the standing topic of
quarrel between the country and the Elector-
all attempts at Cancellation proving futile
The late events in Italy, and the cOnse-
quent movements in Germany, were considered
by the Prussian Government TO afford the best
opportunity of revenge for the defeat of 0lmitz
and the renewal of its old feud with Austria Prrs