The Washington herald., 1911-04-18
Our cath resounds; the river flows;
In golden light our banner glows;
Our hearts will guard thy strram divine:
The Rhina the Rhine the German Rhine.

Our hearts will guard thy strram divine;
The Rhine the Rhine. the German Rhine.
1t is not generally known that Ger
many is par excellence the country OF
home rule in Europe, her local or indi-
vidual state parliaments corresponding to
the various State legislatures In the
American Union. But whereas in Eng
land it is proposed TO decentralize legts-
latlon by the creation OF separate par
laments. subject to the will Of the CEN
trail body at Westminster. Germany has
attained to her present autonomous con-
dition by something like the reverse
process. That is 20 say, all the home
rule diets Cor local state assemblies) In
Germany did not proceed from but pre-
ceded the Imperial Parliament They
were in existence before the creation OF
the empire in 1871, and all they did was
to surrender some of their lawmaking
power to the legislature of the empire.
The residue of these powers they re-
tanned and continue to exercise in as
full and independent a manner as ever.
Prussia. Bavaria, Saxony, Wurttem-
berg, Baden, and all the other minor
sovereignties in Germany form the con-
federation called the German empire.
Each has its separate state assembly,
generally consisting of two chambers,
with the King grand duke, duke, or
prince as the third effective factor in the
legislature, and each Of these bicameral
diets is entitled to legislate on local mat
ters as before. minus the AFFAIRS that
were. by comm IN consent in III. handed
over 10 the care of the Reichstag or
Imperial Parliament.
Even the Reichland, Alsace-Lorraine, Is
now at last TO be endowed with two
chamber sort of legislature for local self
government, under a viceroy, and this
promises to reconcile this recon-
quered people to their lot as nothing else
has ever done. Though Bavaria for ex-
ample. enjoys some very special privi-
leges in the field of autonomy, neither
there nor in any other state has there
ever been seen any sign of centrifugal
tendency or disposition to dislocate and
disrupt the imperial edifice which had the
mighty Bismarck for its builder. This is
an edifice in which the most keen-eyed
critic will search in vain for the very
slightest rent or crack. all the German
princes and people being welded indi-
visibly together by their heart-whole de-
votion TO the idea of KAISER and Reich" ."
1t Is known how the various state legis-
latures are constituted, most of them BIZ
cameral diets, with the local Crown
placed effectively. but by no means ar
bitrarily. over them. And now let US
see what is the nature of the federal
or imperial legislature itself. This may
be said to consist of two factors, with
no Crown or veto power over them. The
Emperor, as executive president of the
German Union, has no veto power what
ever over measures which have been
passed by the imperial legislature.
The two chambers constituting the
German legislature represents the
German people on one hand and the
sovereign princes of Germany on the
other. The former is called the Reichs-
tag, or National Assembly, return
able on the basis of universal suffrage.
while the other is the Bundesrath. or
Federal Council, composed of personal
representatives of the confederated
sovereigns. and presided over by the
imperial chancellor. who is appointed
by the Kaiser. Each of these cham
bers-one the peoples house, the other
the princes house-has coordinate
and co-equal powers. The assent Of
both is necessary to the passing Of a
law, and any bill would. be blocked
by the negation of either.
The Reichstag has S97 members, while
Votes" not members. OF these seven
teen belong to the King of Prussia, whose
monarchy is about two-thirds of the
whole of Germany, while the rest are
distributed among the other states In
proportion to their size and Importance.
Thus 1t will be seen that Prussia easily
might be outvoted in what may be
called the upper chamber (or princes
house) of Germany. The combined
noes" of Saxony and the Southern
German states would suffice to coun-
teract the ayes" of Prussia, and as
a matter of fact 1t has happened re-
peatedly that the King of Prussia has
been outvoted by his sovereign confed-
crates The location of the Supreme
Court of the Empire at Leipzig, in
stead of at Berlin, was a case in point
But will my readers try to bear In
mind that the Kaiser, as executive
chief of the German Union, has no
power Of veto over a measure which
has once-as in the case of the Su-
p-eme Court-been approved by the two
chambers of the legislature: and that
as German Emperor he has no choice
but to promulgate a law which, as
King of Prussia, he may have previous
ly opposed in the princes house?
Moreover, 1T is a mistake to suppose
that the Reichstag, which Is returnable
by suffrage, is law-assenting and regis
tering body, and that IT has no will or
power of its own. This Is a gross mis-
take, and the chancellery Is ankle deep
with the bones and dust of bills which
the peoples chamber has thrown out.
The Reichstag's power of the purse is
sbsolute. Not single man or horse can
be added to the German army without
the consent Of the German people. The
veto power of the Reichstag Is just as
absolute as that OF the Bundesrath. and
nothing can be done in the way Of posi-
tive legislation without the assent of
both. They thus represent a pretty even
balance of forces What matters 1t that
the initiative Of legislation lies with the
federal council, and that therefore pri-
vate bills rarely are heard Of II the
Reichstag enjoys the absolute right Of
rejecting those measures?
The one thing the Reichstag cannot do
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