MUNICIPAL GOVERNMENT IN GERMANY. 67 



substantially the same as the ten thousand dollars paid to 

 our Mayor here in Boston. It is a post of the highest 

 honor, and may be considered equivalent to a life position, 

 for when there is a vacancy in this office in a large German 

 city it is customary for the authorities to survey the field 

 throughout the country, and select from the mayors of other 

 cities some man of the highest qualifications for executive 

 and general business efficiency ; and the person thus agreed 

 upon can usually make his own conditions and be sure of 

 reelection when his term expires, if he does not choose 

 to retire upon a liberal pension. One mayor of Berlin, 

 when chosen, refused to accept the position unless certain 

 objectional state laws were repealed, and the government 

 was prevailed upon by the city authorities to take such 

 action. The present mayor of Berlin, von Forckenbeck, 

 was mayor of the large city of Breslau when called to Ber- 

 lin. The mayor has general direction of the Board of 

 Aldermen, and is almost absolute in the disposal of city 

 business. 



The fifteen salaried aldermen are elected for twelve years 

 by the municipal counsel, with especial regard to the qual- 

 ifications for administering the departments over which they 

 are to rule. Their salaries being higher than those of the 

 local judges and the higher members of the Civil Service, 

 the offices are made attractive to the best class of men, who 

 must have received a thorough training in the splendid 

 civil service of Prussia from which they were chosen. It 

 is also the custom to re-elect these men on the expiration 

 of their terms, if they do not choose to retire on their pen- 

 sions. These paid aldermen consist of the deputy mayor, 

 two legal advisers, the city treasurer, two school council- 

 lors, two architects, and seven aldermen without special 

 title who may be assigned to any positions they are deemed 

 most fit to occupy. These men correspond to the heads 



