68 BERLIN : A STUDY OF 



of ur various department commissions, but it is a great 

 advantage to have them regular members of the Board of 

 Aldermen, where they may take part in the deliberations. 



The seventeen unpaid aldermen are chosen by the As- 

 sembly for terms of six years, are usually taken from the 

 higher class of citizens and, indeed, from those members 

 of the Assembly itself, who have distinguished themselves 

 by years of efficient service in various departments. Their 

 positions are esteemed of great honor, and the incumbents 

 assume the same duties as those of the paid aldermen. They 

 are also usually reflected at the end of their term, so that 

 any competent man may be a member of the city govern- 

 ment for life, if he chooses ; and under this system it would 

 be difficult for an incompetent member to be elected. Pro- 

 fessor Gneist, in his admirable paper contributed to the 

 Contemporary Review five years ago, and to which I am 

 largely indebted for the details of this effort, as well as to 

 the kind suggestions of Professor Woodrow Wilson of 

 Wesleyan and Professor Ely, calls this Board of Aldermen 

 "the soul of the government of the city," and points out 

 that its ability to control the wide range of important in- 

 terests of so large a community is due to the excellent di- 

 vision of labor which has gradually developed itself in the 

 management of the business. 



Returning to the municipal assembly, I must describe 

 the peculiar manner in which it is chosen by the people. 

 The voters of the city are divided into three classes, a sys- 

 tem which prevails throughout Prussia, and, I believe, 

 throughout Germany. These classes are divided accord- 

 ing to the rate of taxes they pay. In the first class come 

 those heaviest tax-payers who pay one-third of the entire 

 levy. In the second class come those who pay the next 

 third : while the third class comprises all the rest of the 

 tax-payers. Each of these classes chooses one-third of the 



