DISCOVERY 



215 



the other hand, there is no special stipulation for a 

 plebiscite in the case of a proposed amendment of the 

 Constitution ; the only peculiar provision being that, 

 if a plebiscite be held by popular initiation on a con- 

 stitutional amendment, a majority of the Electorate 

 must be in its favour (Art. 76). The ordinary pro- 

 cedure for effecting a change in the Constitution 

 will be by legislation in Parliament, a two-thirds 

 majority in a House where two-thirds are present 

 being required in the Reichstag, and two-thirds of 

 the recorded votes in the other House. The amend- 

 ment of the Constitution will not be hampered by 

 so many difficulties in Germany as in the United 

 States. 



In the Constitution of the Central Government there 

 are some interesting reminiscences of the old imperial 

 system. The President, who, by the way, will be 

 "elected by the whole German people" (Art. 41), 

 will appoint the Chancellor, and the Chancellor will 

 recommend the other Ministers to him for appointment. 

 " The Chancellor lays down general policy and is 

 responsible therefore to the Reichstag " (Art. 56). 

 Nevertheless, in Art. 57, though here only, a " Cabi- 

 net " is recognised. But Art. 54 reveals the funda- 

 mental change beneath the superficial resemblance : 

 " Chancellor and Ministers of the Realm require the 

 confidence of the Reichstag for the exercise of office. 

 Any one of them must resign should the Reichstag 

 withdraw its confidence by express resolution." It 

 is noticeable that in this connection no function is 

 assigned to the Reichsrat. 



A section consisting of twenty articles is devoted 

 to " The Individual," but here we need notice only 

 the remarkable Article 113 : " The foreign-speaking 

 parts of the Realm shall not be obstructed, either 

 legislatively or administratively, in the free develop- 

 ment of their ethnological characteristics, especially 

 in the use of their mother tongue, in educational es- 

 tablishments, in internal administration, and in the 

 administration of Justice. " In the next section headed 

 " The Community," a remarkable point is the guarantee 

 of complete freedom, for the formation of associations 

 and unions, including those of a religious nature. All 

 such associations can acquire corporate rights, a 

 provision which, as Mr. Young notes, repeals the 

 Prussian law which required special legislation for 

 the incorporation of a religious association. This 

 principle is further laid down in Art. 137, which 

 contains also a remarkable clause, empowering " re- 

 ligious associations which are public corporate bodies 

 to tax their members on the basis of the rate assess- 

 ments and subject to Lander legislation." A religious 

 denomination wiU apparently be able to collect revenue 

 forcibly from its adherents ; the individual will be able 

 to avoid the assessed tax only by leaving the religious 



body. Such a clause reveals the influence of the 

 Roman CathoHc and Evangelical Churches ; cheek 

 by jowl with it is another which shows the strength of 

 the Socialists : " Associations whose aim is to promote 

 the cult of a common view of life shall be on a par 

 with religious associations." Thus are Secularism and 

 Religion placed on a level in the eyes of the law, and a 

 Bolshevist or Agnostic Brotherhood will have the same 

 rights as an ancient Church. The property of all 

 religious bodies is guaranteed to them, though, of 

 course, all State Churches are abolished. Endowments 

 will therefore remain, at least for the present. The 

 anti-religious element in Germany is evidently much 

 less strong than it was in France in 1790, or than it 

 is in Russia. The educational system adumbrated by 

 the Constitution is based on the foundation-stones of 

 democratic unity and secularism. Art. 142 declares 

 that " art, knowledge, and their instruction are free." 

 The next article provides that " the training of teachers 

 shall be uniformly regulated for the whole Realm on 

 the general lines laid down for higher education " : 

 apparently in this all-important matter neither Lander 

 nor Local Authorities wiU have any voice. The 

 Einhcitschtile is estabUshed by Art. 146: "The 

 foundation school, which shall be common to all, 

 shall lead on to the secondary and higher school 

 system." Private preparatory schools are abolished, 

 no doubt as being inconsistent with the principle of 

 the Einheitschule; but, on the other hand, private 

 elementary schools may be established if " a minority 

 of parents and guardians have no public elementary 

 school for their faith or views, or if the educational 

 administrative authorities recognise that special 

 educational interests are involved " (Art. 147). No- 

 thing is said about the possibility of such schools 

 receiving grants or accepting pupils with public 

 scholarships. Express provision for such scholar- 

 ships, including maintenance grants, is made, prob- 

 ably for the first time in the fundamental law of any 

 people. 



Apparently schools will be in general secular, though 

 it is nowhere so expressly stated. But there is an 

 important provision by which, on the demand of 

 parents or guardians (the number or proportion is not 

 specified), " Elementary schools for their particular 

 religious faith or their particular views shall be set up 

 within a municipality " (Art. 146). Here again we 

 note that the Secularist and the Christian are treated 

 alike ; the Communists in a predominantly Catholic 

 town have the same right to demand a school of their 

 own as the Catholics in a predominantly Socialistic 

 town. About country schools nothing is said. All 

 schools are to " aim at inculcating moral character, a 

 civic conscience, personal and professional efficiency 

 in the spirit of the German national character and of 



