The National tribune., 1900-07-12
GERMAN MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT.

D been made by Prof. Edmund ]. James,
: Ph.D.. of the University of Chicago, and
S published by the American Academy of
: Physical and Social Science, at Philadel-
Z phia.
I The city of Hallc-on-the-Saale QIalle-
4 am-Saalel, n rapidly growing commercial
and manufacturing place of $4,000 inhab-
{ itants, is taken as an example.
The head of the Government is the
"Magistrat." or magistracy, consisting of
) IL members. eight salaried and nine I'M
, salaried. The eight salaried members are
/ aricd for six years, all by the City Coun-
ell. 0ne-third of the unsalared members
retire every two years. They are Sc
lcctcd from the substantial citizens of the
city. The salaricd members consist of the
Head Mayor, the Mayor, the City Attor-
ney, the School Inspector, the City Archi
tcct, or Engineer, Auditor, Treasurer etc.
All these have become regular prores-
sions, for which men train themselves.
For example, when Il Mayor anywhere
reaches the age for retirement, or for any
other cause the position becomes vacant,
an advertisement in the papers of the En-
pirc notihes those who would like the
place TO make their applications. Men
who are Mayors, Assistant Mayors,
etc, of smaller towns and cities and
want promotions. become candidates ana
L.,
Gil considers these. and selects the best
man it can get for the money. All Of the
salaried members of the Halle Magistrat
have been taken from other places. The
selection Of the Head Mayor and the
Mayor must he approved by the King of
Prussia and the minor officers must be
confirmed by the Provincial Magstracy:
1t is believed that this method secures tie
highest class of experts for the city's
service.
The City Council of Halle CONSISTS If
a members. elected by the PrtlSs;an
thrce-class system. BY this all the quail
fed voters are arranged in list accord
ing to the amount of the taxes they pay
to the City. District. Province and King
dom. The total amount of taxation raised
| in the City is divided by three Begin
ming with the highest, the list is added up
until the amount paid equals one-third ut
| the entire taxes. The men who pay this
are made into a list Of Voters of the
! First Class" and they have the right to
elect one-third Of the members of the
| Council. Then the list is gone down again,
until another third of the total taxation
is found. and the men who pay this con-
stitute the Voters of the Second Class"
and have the election of One-third of the
Council The great body of the voters,
who pay the remaining third of the taxes.
constitute the 'Voters of the Ihiru
Class. and elect the remaining third of
the Council. Last year there were 1859
qualified voters in Halle. who paid alto
gether 2,143,639 marks of direct taxes. |
The Voters Of the First Class consist |
ed of 40 persons. who paid alto
gether 9l4 4,346 marks or one-thrd the TO-
tai. The highest man in this class paid
5G,G31 marks (about S14.O00l, and the
lowest 2,2GI marks (about $561,. The
Voters of the Second Class numbered,
91I. the highest of whom paid 2.2Gf marks |
| and the lowest 1876 marks (about Sf2n. |
The Voters of the Third Class" nnm-
bered 16,G45, who paid all the way from
4SG marks down to 4.Se marks SLID.
1t will be seen that the City of Halle
is governed by much less than one-six-
teenth of the population, who pay two
thirds of the taxes and elect two-tbirds
| of the Council.
When to this is added the bureaucratic
character of the ''Magistrat," it will be
| seen that the average citizen has very lii
tie share in the Government of his City. |
Probably this has great deal to do with |
the development of Socialism in GERMANY.
On the other hand, it must be great in |
ducement to the payment of taxes. to have
mans share in the Government depend
hpon the amount of taxes he pays. Prob |
ably quite Il number of the thrifty bureb |
ers of Halle strain themselves a little to
pay more than S567 year and 50 he in. |
ciuded among the gilded 40 Voters of
the First Class" who have the right to
elect as many Councilmen as the 1864,
Voters of the Third Class"
NOT merely the numbering. but the
crueiest torturing and unspeakabIe insults |
to the bodies Of the men and womon and
children of the foreign legations in China
are very likely to happen, and have han
pened before. British, Portuguese. Dutcb |
and French attaches have been cruelIv
| tortured, even skinned alive. and m,,r-
dered, and this has led TO wars. If was
barbarities of this kind upon British and
French Enjoys that led to the war in
1850, when Pekin was taken by Franco
British army, and the Emperor's magni6-
cent Summer Palace destroyed. The
goody-eoody people all over the world