352 



GERMANY. 



Penitentiary. The number of convicts Oct. 

 20, 1884, was 1,377 (an increase of 135 over 

 1882), leased for twenty years from April 1, 

 1879, to three companies. The death-rate for 

 the year among the con victs was less than 2 

 per cent. 



Deaf and Dnmb and Blind. During the year 

 the number of pupils in the Institution for 

 the Deaf and Dumb was 96 (of whom 65 

 were white and 31 were colored). The en- 

 tire expenditure by the State for their main- 

 tenance was $15,867.74. The attendance at 

 the Academy for the Blind was 71 (of whom 

 35 were white males, 29 were white females, 

 6 were colored males, and 1 a colored fe- 

 male). 



Gubernatorial Recommendations. The Govern- 

 or in his message recommends the establish- 

 ment of savings-banks, the revision of the 

 laws relating to the State banks and private 

 bankers, the encouragement of volunteer mili- 

 tia companies, and the amendment of the Con- 

 stitution. 



Political. At the State election, on the 1st of 

 October, the Democratic ticket was chosen 

 without opposition. The result of the voting 

 on the 4th of November was declared as fol- 

 lows : Democratic presidential electors, 94,667 ; 

 Republican, 48,603 ; scattering, 340 ; Congress- 

 men, 10 Democrats. The Legislature, almost 

 unanimously Democratic, convened on the 5th 

 of November, and adjourned, on the 20th of 

 December, to the second Wednesday of July, 

 1885. On the 18th of November, Joseph E. 

 Brown, Democrat, was re-elected United States 

 Senator. A general local-option bill passed 

 the Senate by a vote of 26 to 12, but, reaching 

 the House late in the session, it was by the fili- 

 bustering of the minority carried over to July. 

 It provides for an election in any county, city, 

 or precinct, where a small percentage of the 

 voters ask for it; except in counties or pre- 

 cincts where a prohibition law is already in 

 force. It makes the most stringent provision 

 for the carrying out of the law, and provides 

 severe penalties for its infraction. Under 

 special local-option laws, more than ninety of 

 the counties in the State already have either 

 partial or total prohibition. As a rule, the 

 advocates of prohibition are from rural con- 

 stituencies or from the small towns; while 

 its opponents are usually from the larger 

 cities. 



GERMANY, an empire in Europe, formed by 

 the union of the German states, consummated 

 on May 4, 1871, when the Constitution of the 

 German Empire replaced the articles of con- 

 federation between the North German states 

 and the treaties by which the Grand Duchies 

 of Baden and Hesse and the Kingdoms of Ba- 

 varia and Wurtemberg entered the League dur- 

 ing the Franco-Prussian War. King Wilhelm 

 I was proclaimed German Emperor from Ver- 

 sailles on the 18th of January, 1871, upon the 

 successful termination of the war with France. 

 He was born March 22, 1797, and ascended the 



Prussian throne on the death "of his brother, 

 January 2, 1861. The heir-apparent is Prince 

 Friedrich Wilhelm, who was born October 18, 

 1831. 



The sovereign powers of the confederation, 

 of states forming the empire are vested in the 

 Prussian crown and the Federal Council, but 

 the concurrence of the Parliament, or Reichs- 

 tag, elected by universal suffrage, is necessary 

 to the exercise of certain functions. The popu- 

 lar assembly possesses, also, certain rights of 

 control over the acts of the Government. To 

 declare war, if not merely defensive, the Em- 

 peror must have the consent of the Bundes- 

 rath, or Federal Council, in which body, con- 

 jointly with the Reichstag, or Diet of the Realm, 

 are vested the legislative functions of the em- 

 pire. The Bundesrath represents the individu- 

 al states, and the Reichstag the German nation. 

 The members of the Bundesrath, sixty-two in 

 number, are appointed by the governments of 

 the individual states for each session, while the 

 members of the Reichstag, 397 in number, are 

 elected by universal suffrage and by ballot, for 

 the term of three years. The Bundesrath is pre- 

 sided over by the Chancellor of the Empire, 

 who, as representative of the Bundesrath, has a 

 right to interpose in the deliberations of the 

 Reichstag. Both bodies meet annually, called 

 together by the Emperor. All imperial laws 

 must receive the votes of a majority in each 

 of the houses. And after that the assent of 

 the Emperor, which must be countersigned by 

 the Chancellor, is still necessary to give them 

 effect. 



The Chancellor of the Empire, Prince Otto 

 von Bismarck, fills the posts of President of the 

 Council of Ministers, President of the Federal 

 Council, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Prus- 

 sian Minister of Commerce. In the office of 

 Foreign Affairs his chief subordinate is Count 

 von Hatzfeldt, Secretary of State, who is also 

 Minister of State in Prussia. The Secretary of 

 State for the Interior is Minister von Botticher. 

 The Chief of the Admiralty is Lieut. -Gen. von 

 Caprivi, who succeeded Admiral von Stosch, 

 on his retirement, March 8, 1883. The Secre- 

 tary of State for Justice is Dr. von Schelling ; 

 Financial Secretary of State, Von Burchard ; 

 Chief of the Post-Office, Dr. Stephan ; Minister 

 of Railroads and Prussian Minister of Public 

 Works, Dr. Maybach. 



The Prussian ministry is composed as fol- 

 lows : President, Prince Bismarck, Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs and of Commerce ; Vice-Presi- 

 dent, Von Puttkamer, Minister of the Interior ; 

 Public Works, Maybach ; Agriculture and Do- 

 mains and Forests, Dr. Lucius ; Justice, Dr. 

 Friedberg ; Ecclesiastical Affairs, Von Gossler ; 

 Finance, Von Scholtz; War, Lieut.-Gen. Bron- 

 sart von Schellendorf ; without a portfolio, 

 Connt von Hatzfeldt-Wildenburg. 



Area and Population. The area and population 

 of the confederated states forming the German 

 Empire were returned in the census of Decem. 

 ber 1, 1880, as follow: 



