The Washington herald., 1911-05-07

In former letters have had occa
sion to dwell on the power limits Of
William II, whether as King of Prussia
or as German Emperor. imposed upor
him by the constitutions Perhaps the
strongest and most tenacious rivet In
the edifice of national unity was de-
rived from the unification and codiflca.
ton of the various systems of law pre-.
vailing throughout the different federated
states. civil. commercial, and criminal
and the systematizing of their proce.
dure
Practically speaking. there is now one
law for the whole empire, although the
only imperial tribunal is the supreme
court at Leipzig. which may be used. in
certain matters. as a court of first in
stance (as in the case of the English
officers accused of espionage. or as a
courts. For though the law is general
and imperial its administration is left
to the individual states in conformity
with the federal provisions.
But what are the Kaiser's preroga-
tives as supreme executor of the law?
Yes: but only in matters where the
Reichsgericht (supreme court Of the en-
pire). has passed judgment as a court
Of first instance; and this right he en-
jcys-not under the imperial constitu-
tion-but under the code Of criminal pro-
cedure Otherwise, he cannot exercise
the prerogative of mercy outside his own
kingdom of Prussia, not even in the
free hanse cities of Hamburg and Bre-
men, not to speak of the other kingdoms
in the German union-Bavaria. Saxony.
and Wurttemburg To the monarchs of
those states. and the minor ones as well.
belongs the prerogative OF pardon within
their respective territories.
At the same time though the Kaiser, as
l have shown, is not monarch" Of the
empire, he is vested with powers usually
found possessed only by monarcnical rul-
ers AS Kaiser, the sole source of his au-
thority is the imperial constitution and
the laws made in conformity Herewith.
That Is to say, his powers as emperor
are all derivative and not original: but
for all that they are very ample, and
make him one Of the most potent mon
archs Of his time. In the field Of domes-
tic politics his power is limited by the
constitution Of Prussia and the empire,
but in the arena Of his activity outside
this field his personal power is not so
being absolute.
THE KAISER" says the imperial consti-
tuition, shall represent the empire in
international matters and In the name
of the empire he shall declare war and
make peace and enter into treaties and
alliances with foreign states" It IL he
who appoints all diplomatic representa-
tives Of the empire to serve 1t abroad.
and to him also are accredited the cor
responding agents OF foreign powers.
1t is in this capacity that he shines as
Kaiser and keeps a court worthy OF an
emperor. like man who. bySthe social
code. has got to live up TO his position.
Yet even so. the Emperor's power as
conductor of the foreign policy of the
Reich is not without its limitations. For
one thing, there is a foreign relations
committee of the Bundesrath federal
counciD. in harmony with which the En-
peror is expected to work; while in the
case of treaties involving money expen.
diture. the Reichstag, or peoples house,
has the final word
One often hears the Kaiser's critics Ia
menting that his foreign policy is so
because pursued in the dark;
but have never yet heard Of any gov
ernment which did otherwise. Diplomacy
would be impossible II practiced in the
open. Treaty-making cannot be q thing
Of the market place; and. in fact. there
is no essential difference between the Sc
cret methods of English and Of German
DID Disraeli take the House of Com
mons into his confidence before purchas-
ing the Khedive's shares. in the Suck
Canal one of the cutest and most ad-
things ever done by British
Had any one the least ink
ling Of the exchanges Of notes between
Britain and France. constituting the
agreement known as the entente cor
dale" before these notes were present