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Read Ebook: The New German Constitution by Brunet Ren Beard Charles A Charles Austin Author Of Introduction Etc Gollomb Joseph Translator
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Ebook has 1485 lines and 114795 words, and 30 pages
Powers of the Reichstag 138 1. Powers of the Reichstag, as principal holder of sovereignty 138 2. Legislative powers; how laws are proposed and passed 139 3. Power of control; interpellations and committees 147
SECTION 2
THE PRESIDENT OF THE REICH
The need for a strong president 153
The election of the President and the length of his term 156
The powers of the President 162
The responsibility of the President 168
SECTION 3
THE CABINET OF THE REICH
The Chancellor and the Ministers according to the Constitution 172
The working of constitutional rules; how a Ministry is formed, how it works and is dissolved 177
SECTION 4
THE REICHSRAT
General features of the Reichsrat 186
The composition and the functioning of the Reichsrat 188
Powers of the Reichsrat 192
FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF GERMANS
Legal and political aspects of fundamental rights and duties 195
Fundamental rights and duties of the individual 202
Fundamental rights and duties of communities 216
Religion and the churches 222
Instruction and the schools 226
THE ECONOMIC CONSTITUTION AND SOCIALIZATION
SECTION 1
THE ECONOMIC CONSTITUTION
The "anchorage" of the Councils in the Constitution 236
Constitutional provisions relative to the Councils 244
Factory Workers Councils 248
The Trade Unions and the Councils 257
The Provisional Economic Council 263
SECTION 2
SOCIALIZATION
The problem of socialization 269
Collective economy 275
The regulation of the coal industry 280
CONCLUSION
The Constitution of August 11, 1919 297
The German Constitution
THE ORIGINS
Up to the autumn of 1918 Germany was under the Empire of the Constitution of April 16, 1871. Then in November, 1918, the work of Bismarck was suddenly overthrown and military defeat and revolution plunged Germany into chaos. How she worked out of it, through what vicissitudes she passed and with what groping she finally achieved her new Constitution is the question to examine first.
SECTION 1
THE REVOLUTION
The revolution of November, 1918, was preceded by partial reforms embodied at a late hour in the Constitution of 1871; and when it broke out, in a few hours it completely threw over all the apparatus of the old r?gime. A new government sprang up which for several weeks held power in the name of a minority and without any right other than that of force.
The principal characteristics of the Constitution of April 16, 1871, are well known.
Germany was a federal state, that is to say, above the member states, which renounced a part of their individual independence to strengthen their collective political and economic power, there existed a central state in whose favor they had given up that degree of independence--the German Empire.
In the Reich sovereign power belonged to an assembly of Princes and of governments represented by the Bundesrat or Federal Council. This council which consisted of representatives of all the member states shared with the Reichstag the power to initiate and vote legislation. It promulgated the general administrative measures necessary for the execution of the laws; and with the consent of the Emperor it could dissolve the Reichstag.
The nation was presided over by the German Emperor. He exercised generally the rights which modern nations reserve to the executive power. In particular he represented the Empire in its international relations; promulgated its laws; watched over their execution; appointed civil and military officials, etc.
Several remarkable details have to be pointed out. Although in principle the Emperor's actions had to be countersigned by a minister he was free from that restriction in such matters as concerned military affairs, particularly in the nomination of the superior officers of the army and the navy. The German Emperor was the absolute chief of the forces of the Empire on sea and land. Furthermore, although he could not declare war without the consent of the Bundesrat he could act on his own authority in case of attack by a foreign power against the territory or the coasts of the German Confederation.
The Emperor nominated the Chancellor, who was after the Emperor himself, the sole chief of the political and administrative organization of the Empire. "The Chancellor," says Article 15, "presides over the Bundesrat and directs its labours." But as he clearly could not himself assume such an overwhelming task, he was authorized by the law of March 17, 1878, to call assistance and be supplemented at need by high functionaries placed at the head of Imperial departments--those of foreign affairs, of the interior, justice, treasury, railroads, marine, colonies, posts and telegraphs. These officials carried the title of State Secretaries, which seemed to give them something of the nature of ministers, though in reality they were completely subordinated to the Chancellor.
Just as the Bundesrat represented the federated Princes so the Reichstag represented the German people. Elected by direct and universal suffrage the Reichstag had the right to initiate legislation; and no law was operative unless it had obtained a majority both in the Bundesrat and in the Reichstag. Furthermore the Reichstag had the right to interpellate, not the Secretaries of State but the Chancellor himself and to ask questions; and discussions of a question could be closed by voting an expression of the confidence of the Assembly.
Under the Empire there were twenty-five states and the territory of Alsace-Lorraine.
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