Daily union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1865-1866, 1866-07-04
The European War Question.
HISTORY AND PRER0GATIVES OF
THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION

HISTORY AND PREROGATIVES OF
THE GERMAN CONFEDERATION.
The New York Post gives the following
interesting account Of the German Confed-
Grafton:
For Americans to understand the workings
] of the German Confederation, it Is well TO
/ look at things in the order of their exist
ence. The old German empire, which had
! Austria, Prussia, and several hundred
smaller States holding a feudal subsection to
| 1t, was dissolved in 1906, and the feudal re-
| lation thereby ceased to exist. There was no
! longer a Germany to be the sovereign. The
! country was then divided into a number Of
national governments and principalities,
| each independent Of the others.
These States were afterward re-arranged,
| and their divisions and boundaries regulated
| anew by the Congress of Vienna, in 1915,
/ and the number reduced to thiTty-ive, of
! which four were free cities, having republi-
/ can forms Of government. The monarchies
were at that time mostly absolute in form,
/ but the Vienna treaties stipulated that each
/ sovereign should give to his State a repre-
! sentative constitution, of such form and at
/ such time as he should deem safe and wise.
These independent States then united by
a federal act, with the approval of the Con-
| gress Of Vienna, in a consideration, includ-
/ ing all that was formerly the German
empire, for the object of preserving to each
| Its conceded territories, and generally for
| the preservation of the external and inter
nal peace Of Germany. The confedeTated
! states were to be represented in a Federal
! Diet which should sit at Frankfort, in which
! all the members, through their plenipoten-
| tiaries, should vote, separately or collective
! " their votes to be recksned according to 4
/ certain rule. BY this the whole number of
! votes are counted as seventeen, Of which
nine are cast by Austria and the FIVE king
| doms, one each by Holstein and Luxem-
/ burg, and six by the minor houses. In any
matter affecting the Federal act or organic
| Constitution the vote is taken by what is
| called plenum, by which sixty-nine votes
! are counted, whatever may be the number Of
! representatives present. OF these votes, the
! Emperor of Austria and each of the five
| kings casts four, making twenty-four; five
| grand duchies have three each, making lif-
| teen; three have two each, making six;
and the rest have each one vote; sixty
! nine in all.
In 1920 the Confederation extended its
! powers by what is called the Final Act, so as
to gain the right Of waging war against a
! foreign power, and also of interfering di-
rectly in the internal affairs of the States,
and Of executing It's DEGREES therein by mill
tary force. This is called technically feder-
al execution. 1t was as if the American
Government had taken upon itself the pow
er over the individual States to interfere in
their internal affairs and coerce obedience
| by military force. The object of this as
sumption was to keep out liberal ideas, and
prevent. the forms of government from be-
coming popular. All the embarrassments
! of which the Diet has been the seat of cause
have arisen from the application or the fail
ure of this Final Act.
| This Diet is impotent, unwieldy and ir-
| responsible, being composed of representa-
! tives of the Government and not of the peO-
! pie; the delegates are expressly bound to
| vote according to the instructions of their
/ respective Governments, and therefore new
| er act for the good of the whole; and it has
| never undertaken to send Ministers to for
| eign Governments, as a real nation among
nations. 1t has no navy, and the merchant
| ships of Germany sail under the flags and
| are accredited by the Consuls Of the several
| powers. 1t has no power to regulate COM
merce, either with foreign nations or among
! the several States. 1t has no authority to
/ impose and collect taxes by its own authori-
| tv; neither can it define or punish treason
| against itself; and therefore it is as unable
/ to make its power felt by individual subjects
as by foreign nations. Ina word, considered
! as a National Government, it amounts to a
very large 0.
The evils resulting from the want of a
central power to regulate the internal com
merce of the country, were precisely such
rs were beginning to be experienced by the
| United States under the old Articles of Con-
! federation, when the mutual jealousies of
the States crippled our commerce. In Ger
many a partial remedy has been found in
! the Zollverein, or Customs Union, vOlUn-
| tary agreement among the States, prescrip-
| ing uniformity of duties upon goods impor-
ted from abroad, and establishing entire
! freedom of internal trade among all the
! States that unite in this special compact. 1t
was first proposed by Prussia in 1916, and
was adopted successfully by different States
by some readily, by others reluctantly the
| latest in 1852, until it aow embraces all the
members Of the Confederation, except Aus
| tria, the free cities and three or four small
! States It's effect has been excellent during
| the long peace, but of course it will be bro
| ken up by war. Each State receives much
| greater revenue from customs that 1t did be-
| fore. The increrse Of production and gen
| eral prosperity is beyond calculation. As
/ an example, the amount of iron produced
| in seven States-Prussia being one-was, IN
! 1850, 3,70S, ,432 cwt, and in 1858 it was TO-,
! 2O7 ,O9S cwt., while in the same period the
/ importation Of foreign iron and irOnwares
| increased from 2,4550 600 cwt., to 1851, 900
! cwt. The result is a striking confirmation
of the benefits of free trade. 1t has had
| great influence not only in developing the
! resources of Germany, but in making the
/ Confederation tolerable so long.
| 1t is by its military force that n nation
! takes its position among the powers. But
! the military force of the Germanic Conted-
/ "ratiOn has been practically determined to be
| precisely uH The final act made provision
! for an army Of the Confederation, and pre-
! scribed the quota to be furnished by each
! State, amounting in all to over five hundred
! thousand men. But it depends upon each
! State to furnish its contingent force, and also
/ to provide for its support. If any State fails
| of its duty, there is no way to compel 1t but
by the process of federal execution, which is
by military force. Consequently, if any
! State does not choose to furnish its quota to
the army, not only does the army fail to that
extent, but portion of what Is furnished by
the rest must be taken TO compel the recus-
ant State. Il is impossible to carry. on real
war in that way.
Moreover, the resolution to coerce a State
becomes virtually an act of war against that
State. and converts the State at once into a
beIHgerent. This is seen in the case of
Prussia, now before US. As soon as the Diet
decrted federal execution against Prussia,
tie latter declared the Confederation dis
solved and the relation became merely that
of war.
There is another curious fact in the mill
tary aspect Of this system. While the Con-
federation is nominally an army Of half a
million both Austria and Prussia nave ar
mics much larger, so that we have the anom-
ally of a body which has parts greater than
itself This was shown in the attempt to
enforce federal execution in Holstein. The
army of the Diet took possession Of the
Duchy in order to establish the claims OF the
Duke of Augustenberg. In a few days the
united forces Of Austria and Prussia came
up and drove out the forces Of the Diet, took
both Schleswig and Holstein out Of the hands
Of Denmark, and have hold them since
under military rule, as 10y right Of con-
quest.
IL issafe 10 believe that this clumsy con-