LASKER, EDUAKD. 



LAW, CONSTITUTIONAL. 469 



were amended through his efforts. The same 

 idea underlay the German industrial laws of 

 1869, one of the greatest works of his life. In 

 1870 he introduced in the Reichstag the propo- 

 sition to incorporate Baden in the North Ger- 

 man League. In 1871 and the following years 

 he advocated the proposition to extend clause 

 13 of the fourth article of the German Consti- 

 tution to the civil law, i. e., to unify the laws 

 of the German states into a single imperial 

 system. In this most important part of the 

 process of transforming the league into a na- 

 tion, the chief share of the labor fell to him, 

 and it remains a monument of his historical 

 services and juristic genius. The imperial ju- 

 diciary, which was introduced in October, 

 1879, the common code of procedure, and the 

 lification of the civil laws, were the labori- 



fruits of this period of his life. 

 Lasker's greatest popular success was his 

 speech in the Prussian Diet on Feb. 7, 1873, in 

 which he laid bare the jobbery of promoters 

 and the corruption of officials in connection 

 with railroad concessions and the establish- 

 ment of fraudulent joint-stock companies. His 

 proposal of an investigating commission was 

 approved ; and, although the results of the in- 

 vestigation were not equal to the expectations, 

 the law officers of the Government kept a 

 closer watch, the commercial schemers and 



ieir aristocratic accomplices took alarm, and 

 10 such scandals have occurred again. 



Lasker's literary labors were confined to 

 contributions in Oppenheim's " German Year- 

 Book " on Prussian constitutional history (1875). 

 He wrote the report of the National-Liberal 



irty for the legislative period of the Reichs- 



ig, Customs Union, and Prussian Diet ending 

 1870, which was printed in Hirth's "An- 

 s " (1870). His most noted oratorical efforts 

 mtside the legislature were a commemoration 



Idress on Karl Twesten. 

 In support of Prince Bismarck's policy, Las- 

 ter advocated fixing the military budget for 



jven years in advance. He also co-operated 

 in bringing about the Prussian administrative 

 law. Yet as soon as the aims of the Chancellor 

 ran counter to his political principles, he op- 

 posed the Government with such energy that 

 it often came to parliamentary duels between 

 the two. Their differences were repeatedly 

 composed, until Bismarck's economical and 

 tax-reform projects separated them completely. 

 Lasker upheld the free-trade principle, and 

 withdrew from the National-Liberal party. In 

 the sitting of May 2, 1879, he declared that by 

 the economical policy of the Government he 

 was driven into the opposition. He was fol- 

 lowed in August, 1879, by Forkenbeck, Stauf- 

 fenberg, and Bamberger, and the Secessionist 

 fraction became the most vigorous antagonists 

 of the Chancellor. 



Dr. Lasker's health was broken for two or 

 three years before his death, and he visited 

 Switzerland several times, with the object of 

 recuperating his strength. From the same 



motive he came to America late in the summer 

 of 1883, and made a tour of the United States. 

 After visiting his brother in Texas, he returned 

 to New York. On the evening of his death he 

 dined with Mr. Seligman, the banker, and was 

 taken with heart-disease while walking back 

 to his boarding place, dying in a stable, into 

 which he was taken, directly after the arrival 

 of a physician. 



LAW, CONSTITUTIONAL. International Arbitra- 

 tion. An important opinion on this subject 

 was rendered by the United States Supreme 

 Court on Jan. 7, 1884, in the noted Weil and 

 La Abra cases. In 1868 a convention between 

 the United States and Mexico was concluded 

 for the arbitration and payment of claims of 

 citizens of either country against the Govern- 

 ment of the other. These claims were to be 

 submitted to a mixed commission, which was 

 to take testimony and hear counsel. The treaty 

 stipulated that " the President of the United 

 States and the President of the Mexican Re- 

 public hereby solemnly and sincerely engage to 

 consider the decision of the commissioners con- 

 jointly, or of the umpire, as the case may be, 

 as absolutely final and conclusive upon each 

 claim decided upon by them or him respect- 

 ively, and to give full effect to such decision 

 without any objection, evasion, or delay what- 

 ever." It was then provided that the aggre- 

 gate of all the amounts awarded to citizens 

 of one country should be deducted from the 

 aggregate awarded to citizens of the other, 

 and that $300,000 of the balance should be 

 paid by the debtor to th,e creditor Government 

 within twelve months from the close of the 

 commission, and that the rest should be paid 

 in yearly installments, not exceeding $300,000 

 each. It was further stipulated : 



The high contracting parties agree to consider the 

 result of the proceedings of this commission as a full, 

 perfect, and final settlement of every claim upon either 

 Government arising out of any transaction of a date 

 prior to the exchange of the ratifications of the present 

 convention ; and further engage that every such claim, 

 whether or not the same may have been presented to 

 the notice of, made, preferred, or laid before the said 

 commission ; shall, from and after the conclusion of 

 the proceedings of the said commission, be considered 

 and treated as finally settled, barred, and thenceforth 

 inadmissible. 



When the work of the commission ended, it 

 was found that the balance against Mexico was 

 about $1,200,000, and annual payments were 

 duly made by that Government in accordance 

 with the terms of the convention. Among the 

 claims presented to the commission by citizens 

 of the United States was one of Benjamin Weil 

 for cotton alleged to have been seized in Mexico 

 and confiscated by the Mexican authorities in 

 1864, and one by the La Abra Silver Mining 

 Company for the loss of a mine in the State of 

 Durango, which the owners alleged they were 

 forced to abandon in consequence of illegal 

 acts on the part of Mexican officers. On Oct. 

 1, 1875, an award of $489,810 was made in 

 favor of Weil against Mexico, and on December 



