New-York tribune., 1899-12-31
TILE NEW GERMAN CODE.

Among the changes which will mark tn
world with the beginning OF the new year
prominent place must be given to the dlsap
pearance Of the last vestige Of that Holy Roman
Empire" which, as we have been reminded. was
not an empire, was not holy and was no
Roman This will be effected In the abolition
of the Roman system OF Jurisprudence which
was imposed upon Germany four centuries ago
and the substitution therefor of new code OF
native German origin. 1t was in 1495 that II
was decreed that Roman law should be the
supreme law of the empire. Since then there
has been n more or less continual conflict be
tween the two systems. Cities, duchies and
kingdoms have from time 10 time reverted to
Teutonic law. But for the new German Empire
as whole as for its Holy Roman predeces'
sor the Corpus Juris Civilis" remained In
force. and has thus remained down TO the pres
ont time. At the very foundation of the present
empire however German statesmen recognized
that one Of the surest means of uniting the
various States into n homogeneous ana perpe'ua'
whole would be to enact for the whole a natVe
German code Years Of careful labor were emu
cd in August. 1896. with the PRONUNCIATION OF the
new code. which goes into actual force with the
beginning Of 1900
The new code found its origin in native Prus-
sian law, and especially in the law pertaining
10 mercantile affairs. If, as Samuel Adalhs
sold England Is n nation of shopkeepers, we
NAV reckon that Germany Is an empire OF mer-
chants and industrasts. The individual IS
dealt with in the code as debtor or credltor'
as an Garner Of wages, as holder OF properly
This fundamental principle underlles all de-
partments Of the code, those dealing with real
estate with marital rights, with inheritance
and all the rest Thus men and women are
made absolutely equal before the law. In Driei'
tho nrinciples of commercial transactions have
been applied In this code to nearly the whole
domain Of civil rights and relationships. The
code runs counter TO many Of the traditional
customs and laws of the landed proprietors ana
peasants Mercantile and agrarian systems do
not often coincide There has been some OPP
position TO 1t on that very ground But such
opposition has not been strong, and Is waning
So far as agrarian interests require special at
tention. they are served by supplementary
code. But in general the Civil Code will be ac-
cepted by the empire, and will doubtless prove
benefcent to It.
As a piece of legal workmanship the code Is
reckoned a masterpiece. That was to be ex-
pected In a nation Of so great constructive aDil-
ty. It consists of 1886 paragraphs, most OF
which are brief and all Of which are lucid and
unmistakabe in purport There is fine unity
of form and spirit throughout all. 1t Is char
acterstically German instrument, as 1t should
be. and may be properly deemed the most au-
thoritative expression Of the genius Of the Ger
man Empire and It's people. There have been
and will probably be other more snowy ana SEN
sational achievements in the reign Of William H.
Yet il may well be that history will ultimately
know him by no means least as the Lawgivlng
Emperor-the sovereign under whose reign the
German Empire was at last tapped in universal
law of German origin.