376 



GERMANY. 



send to Berlin commissioners armed with full powers 

 to make a draft of the Federal Constitution accord- 

 ing to. the fundamental principles of the 10th June, 

 to be laid before the Parliament for their discussion 

 and approval. 



ART. 6. This treaty is to remain in force till the 

 settlement of the new federal relations, eventually 

 for a year, should the new act of confederation not 

 be definitively settled before the lapse of that period. 



ART. 7. The present treaty shall be duly ratified, 

 and the acts of ratification exchanged at Berlin as 

 quickly as possible, and certainly not later than three 

 weeks'from the present date. 



Later the G overnments of Saxony, of the two 

 Mecklenburgs, of Hesse-Darmstadt (for the prov- 

 ince of Upper Hesse), the Governments of 

 Saxe-Meiningen and Eeuss, elder line, gave in 

 their adhesion to this treaty. 



The following electoral law for the first North 

 German Parliament, was (in September) adopt- 

 ed by the Prussian Legislature and sanctioned 

 by the Government : 



1. A Parliament is to be assembled for the consi- 

 deration of the Constitution and of the regulations 

 of the North German Confederation. 



2. Every man blameless in the eye of the law who 

 is a citizen of one of the German States united in 

 the Confederation is to be a voter as soon as he has 

 attained the age of twenty-five. 



3. From the right of voting are excluded. (1.) Per- 

 sons who are under guardianship or trusteeship. 

 (2.) Persons against wnose property rules of bank- 

 ruptcy have been granted, during the term of such 

 bankruptcy. (3.) Persons who obtain support as 

 paupers from the funds of the State or of their dis- 

 trict, or Who have obtained support during the year 

 preceding the election. 



4. As criminals, and therefore excluded from the 

 right of voting, shall be considered those from whom 

 the full and perfect enjoyment of their rights as citi- 

 zens has been withdrawn by legal sentence, as long 

 as these rights are not restored to them. 



5. Any man entitled to vote who has belonged for 

 at least three years to one of the States forming the 

 Confederation may be elected as deputy, Penalties 

 for political offences which have been undergone or 

 remitted do not exclude from election. 



6. Persons who occupy a public office require no 

 permission from Government to enter Parliament. 



7. One deputy is to be elected for every 100,000 

 souls of the population as shown in the last census. 

 A surplus of 50,000 souls or more, in the total popu- 

 lation of a State, is to be reckoned as equal to 100,000 

 souls. Each deputy is to be elected in a special elec- 

 tive department. 



8. The elective departments will be divided, for the 

 purpose of voting, into smaller districts. 



9. Whoever wishes to exercise his right of voting 

 in a particular district must have his residence at the 

 time of the poll in that district. No elector may vote 

 in more than one place. 



10. In every district lists will be opened in which 

 the Christian and surnames of those entitled to vote, 

 with their ages, professions, and dwelling-places, will 

 be entered. These lists shall be open to every one's 

 inspection at the latest four weeks before the day 

 appointed for the election, and this is to be pub- 

 licly advertised. Objections to the lists are to be 

 made within eight days of the appearance of the 

 public advertisement to the authority by whom 

 the advertisement has been published, and are to be 

 settled within the next fourteen days, whereupon the 

 lists will be closed. Only those are entitled to vote 

 who have their names inscribed on-the list. 



11. Voting is to be in public; members of the 

 community are to take part in it who hold no direct 

 office under Government. The vote is to be given in 



person by means of a voting card, without signature, 

 which is to be enclosed in an envelop, and so placed 

 in an urn. 



12. The voting is to be direct. Election is to be 

 dependent upon the absolute majority of all the 

 votes given in one department'. Should there not 

 be an absolute majority the votes are to be taken 

 over again, but only to decide between the two can- 

 didates who have the most votes. 



13. Representatives of the deputies are not to 

 vote. 



14. The polls are to take place at the same time in 

 the whole of the State. 



15. The elective departments and districts, the 

 directors, and the proceedings of the elections, in so 

 far as they are not determined by the present bill, 

 are to be settled by the Government. 



16. The Parliament examines into the privileges 

 of its members, and decides upon the granting of 

 them. It regulates the order of its business and its 

 discipline. 



17. No member of the Parliament can at any time 

 be prosecuted in a court of justice, or a police court, 

 on account of his vote, or for any utterances made 

 use of in the exercise of his office, or be otherwise 

 rendered responsible outside of the Assembly. 



The main points of the constitution for the 

 North German Confederation, as proposed by 

 Prussia, were reported to be as follows : 



The draft consists of 13 sections, divided into 69 or 

 70 paragraphs. The first division sets forth what is 

 to be considered Federal territory ; the second con- 

 tains definitions of the legislative power in the Con- 

 federation ; the third treats of the Federal council ; 

 section 4 settles the position of the presiding power : 

 section 5 treats of the parliament ; sections 6-10 or 

 the competence appertaining to the legislative pow- 

 er ; the llth contains the important clauses as to the 

 Federal army; and section 12 refers to the settle- 

 ment of differences between members of the Con- 

 federation. The last section holds forth a prospect 

 of the regulation of relations with the South German 

 states. The Federal territory embraces the states of 

 the Governments known to belong to the North Ger- 

 man Confederation, with those parts of Hesse lying 

 north of the Main. Subjects of any of these states 

 are to have equal rights with natives in all other 

 Federal states. The Federal Legislature consists of 

 the Federal Council and the Parliament having under 

 its jurisdiction, as common affairs of the North Ger- 

 man Confederation, customs, commercial legislation, 

 coinage, weights and measures, banks, regulations 

 as to native rights and rights of settlement, etc., pat- 

 ents for inventions, protection of German trade, 

 railway, postal, and telegraph systems, river naviga- 

 tion, the code of civil process, laws relating to bills 

 of exchange, and commerce. The Governments are 

 represented in Federal Council. Similarly to the 

 plenum of the former Diet, the votes are divided, so 

 that Prussia commands 17, Saxony four, Mecklen- 

 burg-Schwerin and Brunswick two each, and the re- 

 maining states one apiece. The total number ot 

 votes amounts to 43. The members of the Federal 

 Council may be present in Parliament, and represent 

 the views of their Governments ; the Council forms 

 departmental committees for the various branches 

 of the functions within the competence of the Con- 

 federation ; except in alterations of the constitution, 

 the resolutions of the Council are passed by mere 

 majority. The Prussian crown occupies the presi- 

 dency, which represents the Confederation abroad, 

 decides upon war and peace, concludes treaties, and 

 appoints ambassadors. A Federal chancellor, ap- 

 pointed by the presiding power, takes the chair at 

 the Federal Council. The Council and the Parlia- 

 ment meet yearly. The Parliament is chosen bv gen. 

 eral direct election, and possesses the right of initia- 

 tive within the competence of Federal legislation ; il 



