612 



PAPAL STATES. 



hospitals, and, to a certain extent, the gen- 

 darmes. 



At the side of the Cabinet of Ministers stands 

 the Council of State, consisting of nine ordinary 

 and six extraordinary members. A cardinal is 

 the president, a prelate vice-president. The 

 councillors of state must be at least thirty years 

 of age, born subjects of the Roman Govern- 

 ment, or have resided in the territory con- 

 stantly for ten years, and be in the free exer- 

 cise and enjoyment of their civil rights. The 

 extraordinary members do not habitually attend 

 the sittings, but are summoned when required 

 by the president. A secretary makes out the 

 minutes of the proceedings of the council. The 

 vice-president, councillors, secretary, and other 

 officers are named by the pope, through the 

 president. The functions of ordinary council- 

 lors and secretaries are incompatible with the 

 profession of advocate or attorney, but not with 

 that of consistorial advocates in all that relates 

 to their functions in consistory. 



The most important affairs to be regulated 

 by the Council of State are projects of new 

 laws, the interpretation of laws and of supe- 

 rior orders, questions of competency between 

 ministers, the examination of municipal regula- 

 tions, and the approbation of all the acts of the 

 provincial councils in the part reserved to his 

 holiness. The president proposes to the coun- 

 cil the matters referred to him by the Holy 

 Father. The ministers, collectively or sep- 

 arately, address reports to the president, re- 

 questing that they may be examined and dis- 

 cussed in the council. The ministers may be 

 present in the sessions, or at the general assem- 

 bly, but they have no vote. 



The Consulta of State for the finances is com- 

 posed of councillors chosen by his holiness on 

 the proposition of the provincial councils, and 

 their number is equal to that of the provinces. 

 The council has a secretary, a chief account- 

 ant, and assistants. Each provincial council 

 prepares a list of four candidates, from among 

 whom a councillor is chosen. He must belong 

 to one of the following classes: 1. Those who 

 possess either in town or country a landed 

 property worth $10,000. 2. Those who pos- 

 sess a capital of $12,000, of which one-third is 

 in landed property, and the remainder in pub- 

 lic securities, or in capital employed in trade, 

 manufactures, or agriculture. 3. The rectors, 

 professors, or members of colleges, or of state 

 universities, either in actual service or in the 

 retired list, provided they possess $2,000 in 

 landed property. More than one-half of the 

 property must be situated in the province to 

 which the candidate belongs. One half of the 

 candidates are chosen from the two latter 

 classes ; the other half are always chosen from 

 the first-named one. The councillors are renewed 

 by thirds every two years, and they retire ac- 

 cording to length of service. When they cease 

 to exercise their functions, from any cause 

 whatever, for the period of two years, the 

 Holy Father selects the new councillors among 



the candidates already proposed, or he com- 

 mands the provincial councils to prepare a 

 new list. The councillors immediately cease 

 from their functions, when they are from any 

 cause rendered ineligible. Should His Holiness 

 dissolve the Council, a new selection is pre- 

 pared in the manner indicated above. 



The principal objects of the deliberations of 

 the Consulta are the examination or revision 

 of the budget and the accounts of the state. 

 The examination and revision comprise not only 

 the general account, but also the particular ac- 

 counts of each administration set forth in the 

 budget. The Consulta, in case the subject relates 

 to expenses already incurred, pronounces its 

 judgment, which is absolute. The opinion of the 

 Council is demanded whenever it is intended to 

 create or to extinguish a debt, to impose new 

 taxes, to diminish existing ones, to confirm exist- 

 ing contracts, or to conclude others which inter- 

 est the public administration. Its advice is equal- 

 ly demanded in respect to changes or modifica- 

 tions in the customs department, and to the 

 best means of contributing to the prosperity of 

 agriculture, manufactures, or commerce, and to 

 the conclusion of commercial treaties as fur as 

 they regard articles relating to the finances. 

 In the month of September preceding the ex- 

 piration of each session, the Minister of Finance 

 transmits to the president the budget of ordi- 

 nary expenses, and in the month of September 

 of each year that of the extraordinary ex- 

 penses; both accompanied with his remarks. 

 The president, by means of the commission on 

 accounts, prepares the revision so as to examine 

 the matter at the next sitting. When under 

 other circumstances the opinion of the Consulta 

 is demanded, the Minister of Finance and the 

 other ministers transmit their reports to the 

 president. ( When these refer to important 

 matters, the president appoints a reporter, or 

 transmits them to a commission of three or five 

 councillors, who prepare the discussion and 

 make their report to the assembly. 



Revenue, Expenditure, and Debt. Although 

 no official accounts of the revenue and expendi- 

 ture of the Papal Government are given to the 

 public, yet from sources which seem reliable it 

 appears that the outlay is now more than double 

 the income. According to the budget of 1867, 

 the amount of the former was 10,729,029 scudi, 

 or gold dollars; that of the latter, 5,318,708 

 scudi in round numbers, two against one. 

 Such large annual deficits have been covered 

 partly by voluntary gifts of Roman Catholics, 

 from all parts of the world, and partly by loans. 

 The last loan thus issued and sanctioned by the 

 Pontiff, August 6, 1865, was to the amount of 

 ten millions scudi, or two millions sterling. 

 This great disproportion between revenue and 

 expenditure may be explained, and perhaps 

 sufficiently accounted for, by the fact that the 

 Papal Government continues to pay the interest 

 of the whole national debt, amounting to 5,363,- 

 260 scudi, while, since I860, less then one- 

 fourth of the territory and less than one-fifth 



