Decadence of the Mark. 41 



1, 



A reaction naturally followed, when it was pointed out 

 that the wealth of a nation lies in its natural resources 

 and ia its labor, but this so-called physiocratic doctrine 

 had little practical influence except to prepare men's 

 minds for the reception of the teachiags of Adam Smith 

 at the end of the period. 



The doctrines of the Eoman law, deified by the jurists 

 and commentators, undermined the national conceptions 

 and institutions of free citizenship and property rela- 

 tions; courts, legislation and administration were sub- 

 ject to their sway, and this influence lasted, in spite of 

 reactions, until the end of the 18th century. Under it 

 the doctrine of the imperium — the seignorage or supe- 

 rior power of the princes (Hoheitsrecht) — ^was further 

 developed into the dominium terrae, i. e., superior own- 

 ership of all the land, which gives rise to the title and 

 the exercise of the function of "Landesherren," masters 

 of the land and confers the privilege of curtailing and 

 even discontinuing private property rights. 



Under this doctrine the historic position of the Mark 

 is perverted and instead of being the common property 

 of the people, it becomes the property of the prince, on 

 which he graciously permits the usufruct; for forest, 

 pasture and water (Wald, Weide, Wasser) are res pub- 

 Ucae, hence ownerless and at the disposal of the King. 

 Through this construction of relationship, as well as 

 through the same machinations and tricks which the 

 princes as ObermaerJcer or headmen of the Mark em- 

 ployed in the foregoing period to usurp power, and 

 partly through voluntary dissolution the decadence of 

 the social, economic and political organization of the 

 Mark was gradually completed. 



