Part 33

_Local Government._--In the details of its organization local self-government differs considerably in the various states of the German empire. The general principle on which it is based, however, is that which has received its most complete expression in the Prussian system: government by experts, checked by lay criticism and the power of the purse, and effective control by the central authorities. In Prussia at least the medieval system of local self-government had succumbed completely to the centralizing policy of the monarchy, and when it was revived it was at the will and for the purposes of the central authorities, as subsidiary to the bureaucratic system. This fact determined its general characteristics. In England the powers of the local authorities are defined by act of parliament, and within the limits of these powers they have a free hand. In Germany general powers are granted by law, subject to the approval of the central authorities, with the result that it is the government departments that determine what the local elected authorities may do, and that the latter regard themselves as commissioned to carry out, not so much the will of the locality by which they are elected, as that of the central government. This attitude is, indeed, inevitable from the double relation in which they stand. A _Burgermeister_, once elected, becomes a member of the bureaucracy and is responsible to the central administration; even the headman of a village commune is, within the narrow limits of his functions, a government official. Moreover, under the careful classification of affairs into local and central, many things which in England are regarded as local (e.g. education, sanitary administration, police) are regarded as falling under the sphere of the central government, which either administers them directly or by means of territorial delegations consisting either of individuals or of groups of individuals. These may be purely official (e.g. the Prussian _Regierung_), a mixture of officials and of elected non-official members approved by the government (e.g. the _Bezirksausschuss_), or may consist wholly of authorities elected for another purpose, but made to act as the agents of the central departments (e.g. the _Kreisausschuss_). That this system works without friction is due to the German habit of discipline; that it is, on the whole, singularly effective is a result of the peculiarly enlightened and progressive views of the German bureaucracy.[3]

The unit of the German system of local government is the commune (_Gemeinde_, or more strictly _Ortsgemeinde_). These are divided into rural communes (_Landgemeinden_) and urban communes (_Stadtgemeinden_), the powers and functions of which, though differing widely, are based upon the same general principle of representative local self-government. The higher organs of local government, so far as these are representative, are based on the principle of a group or union of communes (_Gemeindeverband_). Thus, in Prussia, the representative assembly of the Circle (_Kreistag_) is composed of delegates of the rural communes, as well as of the large landowners and the towns, while the members of the provincial diet (_Provinziallandtag_) are chosen by the _Kreistage_ and by such towns as form separate _Kreise_.

In Prussia the classes of administrative areas are as follows: (1) the province, (2) the government district (_Regierungsbezirk_), (3) the rural circle (_Landkreis_) and urban circle (_Stadtkreis_), (4) the official district (_Amtsbezirk_), (5) the town commune (_Stadtgemeinde_) and rural commune (_Landgemeinde_). Of these areas the provinces, circles and communes are for the purposes both of the central administration and of local self-government, and the bodies by which they are governed are corporations. The _Regierungsbezirke_ and _Amtsbezirke_, on the other hand, are for the purposes of the central administration only and are not incorporated. The Prussian system is explained in greater detail in the article PRUSSIA (q.v.). Here it must suffice to indicate briefly the general features of local government in the other German states, as compared with that in Prussia. The province, which usually covers the area of a formerly independent state (e.g. Hanover) is peculiar to Prussia. The _Regierungsbezirk_, however, is common to the larger states under various names, _Regierungsbezirk_ in Bavaria, _Kreishauptmannschaft_ in Saxony, _Kreis_ in Wurttemberg. Common to all is the president (_Regierungsprasident_, _Kreishauptmann_ in Saxony), an official who, with a committee of advisers, is responsible for the oversight of the administration of the circles and communes within his jurisdiction. Whereas in Prussia, however, the _Regierung_ is purely official, with no representative element, the _Regierungsbezirk_ in Bavaria has a representative body, the _Landrat_, consisting of delegates of the district assemblies, the towns, large landowners, clergy and--in certain cases--the universities; the president is assisted by a committee (_Landratsausschuss_) of six members elected by the _Landrat_. In Saxony the _Kreishauptmann_ is assisted by a committee (_Kreisausschuss_).

Below the _Regierungsbezirk_ is the _Kreis_, or Circle, in Prussia, Baden and Hesse, which corresponds to the _Distrikt_ in Bavaria, the _Oberamt_ in Wurttemberg[4] and the _Amtshauptmannschaft_ in Saxony. The representative assembly of the Circle (_Kreistag_, _Distriktsrat_ in Bavaria, _Amtsversammlung_ in Wurttemberg, _Bezirksversammlung_ in Saxony) is elected by the communes, and is presided over by an official, either elected or, as in the case of the Prussian _Landrat_, nominated from a list submitted by the assembly. So far as their administrative and legislative functions are concerned the German _Kreistage_ have been compared to the English county councils or the Hungarian _comitatus_. Their decisions, however, are subject to the approval of their official chiefs. To assist the executive a small committee (_Kreisausschuss_, _Distriktsausschuss_, &c.) is elected subject to official approval. The official district (_Amtsbezirk_), a subdivision of the circle for certain administrative purposes (notably police), is peculiar to Prussia.

_Rural Communes._--As stated above, the lowest administrative area is the commune, whether urban or rural. The laws as to the constitution and powers of the rural communes vary much in the different states. In general the commune is a body corporate, its assembly consisting either (in small villages) of the whole body of the qualified inhabitants (_Gemeindeversammlung_), or of a representative assembly (_Gemeindevertretung_) elected by them (in communes where there are more than forty qualified inhabitants). At its head is an elected headman (_Schulze_, _Dorfvorsteher_, &c.), with a small body of assistants (_Schoffen_, &c.). He is a government official responsible, _inter alia_, for the policing of the commune. Where there are large estates these sometimes constitute communes of themselves. For common purposes several communes may combine, such combinations being termed in Wurttemberg _Burgermeistereien_, in the Rhine province _Amtsverbande_. In general the communes are of slight importance. Where the land is held by small peasant proprietors, they display a certain activity; where there are large ground landlords, these usually control them absolutely.

_Towns._--The constitution of the towns (_Stadteverfassung_) varies more greatly in the several states than that of the rural communes. According to the so-called _Stein'sche Stadteverfassung_ (the system introduced in Prussia by Stein in 1808), which, to differentiate between it and other systems, is called the _Magistratsverfassung_ (or magisterial constitution), the municipal communes enjoy a greater degree of self-government than do the rural. In the magisterial constitution of larger towns and cities, the members of the _Magistrat_, i.e. the executive council (also called _Stadtrat_, _Gemeinderat_), are elected by the representative assembly of the citizens (_Stadtverordnetenversammlung_) out of their own body.

In those parts of Germany which come under the influence of French legislation, the constitution of the towns and that of the rural communes (the so-called _Burgermeistereiverfassung_) is identical, in that the members of the communal executive body are, in the same way as those of the communal assembly, elected to office immediately by the whole body of municipal electors.

The government of the towns is regulated in the main by municipal codes (_Stadteordnungen_), largely based upon Stein's reform of 1808. This, superseding the autonomy severally enjoyed by the towns and cities since the middle ages (see COMMUNE), aimed at welding the citizens, who had hitherto been divided into classes and gilds, into one corporate whole, and giving them all an active share in the administration of public affairs, while reserving to the central authorities the power of effective control.

The system which obtains in all the old Prussian provinces (with the exception of Rugen and Vorpommern or Hither Pomerania) and in Westphalia is that of Stein, modified by subsequent laws--notably those of 1853 and 1856--which gave the state a greater influence, while extending the powers of the _Magistrat_. In Vorpommern and Rugen, and thus in the towns of Greifswald, Stralsund and Bergen, among others, the old civic constitutions remain unchanged. In the new Prussian provinces, Frankfort-on-Main received a special municipal constitution in 1867 and the towns of Schleswig-Holstein in 1869. The province of Hanover retains its system as emended in 1858, and Hesse-Nassau, with the exception of Frankfort-on-Main, received a special corporate system in 1897. The municipal systems of Bavaria, Wurttemberg and Saxony are more or less based on that of Stein, but with a wider sphere of self-government. In Mecklenburg there is no uniform system. In Saxe-Coburg, the towns of Coburg and Neustadt have separate and peculiar municipal constitutions. In almost all the other states the system is uniform. The free cities of Lubeck, Hamburg and Bremen, as sovereign states, form a separate class. Their constitutions are described in the articles on them.

Where the "magisterial" constitution prevails, the members of the _Magistrat_, i.e. the executive council (also called variously _Stadtrat_, _Gemeindevorstand_, &c.), are as a rule elected by the representative assembly of the burgesses (_Stadtverordnetenversammlung_; also _Gemeinderat_, _stadtischer Ausschuss_, _Kollegium der Burgervorsteher_, _Stadtaltesten_, &c.). The _Magistrat_ consists of the chief burgomaster (_Erster Burgermeister_ or _Stadtschultheiss_, and in the large cities Oberburgermeister), a second burgomaster or assessor, and in large towns of a number of paid and unpaid town councillors (_Ratsherren_, _Senatoren_, _Schoffen_, _Ratsmanner_, _Magistratsrate_), together with certain salaried members selected for specific purposes (e.g. _Baurat_, for building). Over this executive body the _Stadtverordneten_, who are elected by the whole body of citizens and unpaid, exercise a general control, their assent being necessary to any measures of importance, especially those involving any considerable outlay. They are elected for from three to six years; the members of the _Magistrat_ are chosen for six, nine or twelve years, sometimes even for life. In the large towns the burgomasters must be jurists, and are paid. The police are under the control of the _Magistrat_, except in certain large cities, where they are under a separate state department.

The second system mentioned above (_Burgermeistereiverfassung_) prevails in the Rhine province, the Bavarian Palatinate, Hesse, Saxe-Weimar, Anhalt, Waldeck and the principalities of Reuss and Schwarzburg. In Wurttemberg, Baden and Hesse-Nassau the system is a compromise between the two; both the town and rural communes have a mayor (_Burgermeister_ or _Schultheiss_, as the case may be) and a _Gemeinderat_ for administrative purposes, the citizens exercising control through a representative _Gemeindeausschuss_ (communal committee).

_Justice._--By the Judicature Act--_Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz_--of 1879, the so-called "regular litigious" jurisdiction of the courts of law was rendered uniform throughout the empire, and the courts are now everywhere alike in character and composition; and with the exception of the _Reichsgericht_ (supreme court of the empire), immediately subject to the government of the state in which they exercise jurisdiction, and not to the imperial government. The courts, from the lowest to the highest, are _Amtsgericht_, _Landgericht_, _Oberlandesgericht_ and _Reichsgericht_. There are, further, _Verwaltungsgerichte_ (administrative courts) for the adjustment of disputes between the various organs of local government, and other special courts, such as military, consular and arbitration courts (_Schiedsgericht_). In addition to litigious business the courts also deal with non-litigious matters, such as the registration of titles to land, guardianship and the drawing up and custody of testamentary dispositions, all which are almost entirely within the province of the _Amtsgerichte_. There are uniform codes of criminal law (_Strafgesetzbuch_), commercial law and civil law (_Burgerliches Gesetzbuch_), the last of which came into force on the 1st of January 1900. The criminal code, based on that of Prussia anterior to 1870, was gradually adopted by all the other states and was generally in force by 1872. It has, however, been frequently emended and supplemented.

The lowest courts of first instance are the _Amtsgerichte_, each presided over by a single judge, and with jurisdiction in petty criminal and civil cases, up to 300 marks (L15). They are also competent to deal with all disputes as to wages, and letting and hiring, without regard to the value of the object in dispute. Petty criminal cases are heard by the judge (_Amtsrichter_) sitting with two _Schoffen_--assessors--selected by lot from the jury lists, who are competent to try prisoners for offences punishable with a fine, not exceeding 600 marks (L30) or corresponding confinement, or with imprisonment not exceeding three months. The _Landgerichte_ revise the decisions of the _Amtsgerichte_, and have also an original jurisdiction in criminal and civil cases and in divorce proceedings. The criminal chamber of the _Landgericht_ is composed of five judges, and a majority of four is required for a conviction. These courts are competent to try cases of felony punishable with a term of imprisonment not exceeding five years. The preliminary examination is conducted by a judge, who does not sit on the bench at the trial. Jury courts (_Schwurgerichte_) are not permanent institutions, but are periodically held. They are formed of three judges of the _Landgericht_ and a jury of twelve; and a two-thirds majority is necessary to convict. There are 173 _Landgerichte_ in the empire, being one court for every 325,822 inhabitants. The first court of second instance is the _Oberlandesgericht_, which has an original jurisdiction in grave offences and is composed of seven judges. There are twenty-eight such courts in the empire. Bavaria alone has an _Oberstes Landesgericht_, which exercises a revising jurisdiction over the _Oberlandesgerichte_ in the state. The supreme court of the German empire is the _Reichsgericht_, having its seat at Leipzig. The judges, numbering ninety-two, are appointed by the emperor on the advice of the federal council (_Bundesrat_). This court exercises an appellate jurisdiction in civil cases remitted, for the decision of questions of law, by the inferior courts and also in all criminal cases referred to it. It sits in four criminal and six civil senates, each consisting of seven judges, one of whom is the president. The judges are styled _Reichsgerichtsrate_ (counsellors of the imperial court).

In the _Amtsgericht_ a private litigant may conduct his own case; but where the object of the litigation exceeds 300 marks (L15), and in appeals from the _Amtsgericht_ to the _Landgericht_, the plaintiff (and also the defendant) must be represented by an advocate--_Rechtsanwalt_.

A _Rechtsanwalt_, having studied law at a university for four years and having passed two state examinations, if desiring to practise must be admitted as "defending counsel" by the _Amtsgericht_ or _Landgericht_, or by both. These advocates are not state officials, but are sworn to the due execution of their duties. In case a client has suffered damage owing to the negligence of the advocate, the latter can be made responsible. In every district of the _Oberlandesgericht_, the _Rechtsanwalte_ are formed into an _Anwaltkammer_ (chamber of advocates), and the council of each chamber, sitting as a court of honour, deals with and determines matters affecting the honour of the profession. An appeal lies from this to a second court of honour, consisting of the president, three judges of the _Reichsgericht_ and of three lawyers admitted to practice before that court.

Criminal prosecutions are conducted in the name of the crown by the _Staatsanwalte_ (state attorneys), who form a separate branch of the judicial system, and initiate public prosecutions or reject evidence as being insufficient to procure conviction. The proceedings in the courts are, as a rule, public. Only in exceptional circumstances are cases heard _in camera_.

Military offences come before the military court and serious offences before the _Kriegsgericht_. The court-martial is, in every case, composed of the commander of the district as president, and four officers, assisted by a judge-advocate (_Kriegsgerichtsrat_), who conducts the case and swears the judges and witnesses. In the most serious class of cases, three officers and two judge-advocates are the judges. The prisoner is defended by an officer, whom he may himself appoint, and can be acquitted by a simple majority, but only be condemned by a two-thirds majority. There are also _Kaufmanns-_ and _Gewerbegerichte_ (commercial and industrial courts), composed of persons belonging to the classes of employers and employees, under the presidency of a judge of the court. Their aim is the effecting of a reconciliation between the parties. From the decision of these courts an appeal lies to the _Landgericht_ where the amount of the object in dispute exceeds 100 marks (L5).

The following table shows the number of criminal cases tried before the courts of first instance, with the number and sex of convicted persons, and the number of the latter per 10,000 of the civil population over twelve years of age:--

+------+-------------------------+-------------------+---------+------------+ | | Cases tried. | Persons convicted.| |Convictions | | Year.|-------------------------+-------------------| Total. | per 10,000 | | |Amtsgericht.|Landgericht.| Males. |Females. | |Inhabitants.| +------+------------+------------+---------+---------+---------+------------+ | 1900 | 1,143,687 | 94,241 | 396,975 | 72,844 | 469,819 | 119.5 | | 1901 | 1,205,558 | 101,471 | 419,592 | 77,718 | 497,310 | 125.6 | | 1902 | 1,221,080 | 104,434 | 431,257 | 81,072 | 512,329 | 127.3 | | 1903 | 1,251,662 | 105,241 | 424,813 | 80,540 | 505,353 | 123.4 | | 1904 | 1,287,686 | 105,457 | 435,191 | 81,785 | 516,976 | 124.2 | +------+------------+------------+---------+---------+---------+------------+

Of those convicted in 1904, 225,326 had been previously convicted.

_Poor Law._--A law passed by the North German Confederation of the 6th of June 1870, and subsequently amended by an imperial law of the 12th of March 1894, laid down rules for the relief of the destitute in all the states composing the empire, with the exception of Bavaria and Alsace-Lorraine. According to the system adopted, the public relief of the poor is committed to the care of local unions (_Ortsarmenverbande_) and provincial unions (_Landarmenverbande_), the former corresponding, generally, to the commune, and the latter to a far wider area, a circle or a province. Any person of eighteen years, who has continuously resided with a local union for the space of two years, there acquires his domicile. But any destitute German subject must be relieved by the local union in which he happens to be at the time, the cost of the relief being defrayed by the local or provincial union in which he has his domicile. The wife and children have also their domicile in the place where the husband or father has his.[5]

Relief of the poor is one of the chief duties of the organs of local self-government. The moneys for the purpose are mainly derived from general taxation (poor rates per se being but rarely directly levied), special funds and voluntary contributions. In some German states and communes certain dues (such as the dog tax in Saxony), death duties and particularly dues payable in respect of public entertainments and police court fines, are assigned to the poor-relief chest. In some large towns the Elberfeld system of unpaid district visitors and the interworking of public and private charity is in force. The imperial laws which introduced the compulsory insurance of all the humbler workers within the empire, and gave them, when incapacitated by sickness, accident and old age, an absolute right to pecuniary assistance, have greatly reduced pauperism and crime.

_Workmen's Insurance._--On June 15, 1883, the Reichstag, as the result of the policy announced by the emperor William I. in his speech from the throne in 1881, passed an act making insurance against sickness, accident, and incapacity compulsory on all workers in industrial pursuits. By further laws, in 1885 and 1892, this obligation was extended to certain other classes of workers, and the system was further modified by acts passed in 1900 and 1903. Under this system every person insured has a right to assistance in case of sickness, accident, or incapacity, while in case of death his widow and children receive an annuity.

1. Insurance against sickness is provided for under these laws partly by the machinery already existing, i.e. the sick benefit societies,

## partly by new machinery devised to meet the new obligation imposed.

The sick-funds (_Krankenkassen_) are thus of seven kinds: (1) free assistance funds (_Freie Hilfskassen_), either registered under the law of 1876, as modified in 1884 (_Eingeschriebene Hilfskassen_), or established under the law of the separate states (_landesrechtliche Hilfskassen_); (2) _Betriebs-_ or _Fabrikkrankenkassen_, funds established by individual factory-owners; (3) _Baukrankenkasse_, a fund established for workmen engaged on the construction (_Bau_) of

## particular engineering works (canal-digging, &c.), by individual

contractors; (4) gild sick funds (_Innungskrankenkassen_), established by the gilds for the workmen and apprentices of their members; (5) miners' sick fund (_Knappschaftskasse_); (6) local sick fund (_Ortskrankenkasse_), established by the commune for particular crafts or classes of workmen; (7) _Gemeindekrankenversicherung_, i.e. insurance of members of the commune as such, in the event of their not subscribing to any of the other funds. Of these, 2, 3, 6 and 7 were created under the above-mentioned laws.

The number of such funds amounted in 1903 to 23,271, and included 10,224,297 workmen. The _Ortskrankenkassen_, with 4,975,322 members, had the greatest, and the _Baukrankenkassen_, with 16,459, the smallest number of members. The _Ortskrankenkassen_, which endeavour to include workmen of a like trade, have to a great extent, especially in Saxony, fallen under the control of the Social Democrats. The appointment of permanent doctors (_Kassenarzte_) at a fixed salary has given rise to much difference between the medical profession and this local sick fund; and the insistence on "freedom of choice" in doctors, which has been made by the members and threatens to militate against the interest of the profession, has been met on the part of the medical body by the appointment of a commission to investigate cases of undue influence in the selection.

According to the statistics furnished in the _Vierteljahreshefte zur Statistik des deutschen Reiches_ for 1905, the receipts amounted to upwards of L10,000,000 for 1903, and the expenditure to somewhat less than this sum. Administrative changes were credited with nearly L600,000, and the invested funds totalled L9,000,000. The workmen contribute at the rate of two-thirds and the employers at the rate of one-third; the sum payable in respect of each worker varying from 1(1/2)-3% of the earnings in the "communal sick fund" to at most l(1/2)-4% in the others.

2. Insurance against old age and invalidity comprehends all persons who have entered upon their 17th year, and who belong to one of the following classes of wage-earners: artisans, apprentices, domestic servants, dressmakers, charwomen, laundresses, seamstresses, housekeepers, foremen, engineers, journeymen, clerks and apprentices in shops (excepting assistants and apprentices in chemists' shops), schoolmasters, schoolmistresses, teachers and governesses, provided the earnings do not exceed L100 per annum. The insured are arranged in five classes, according to the amount of their yearly earnings: viz. L17, 10s.; L27, 10s.; L47, 10s.; L57, 10s.; and L100. The contributions, affixed to a "pension book" in stamps, are payable each week, and amount, in English money, to 1.45d., 2.34d., 2.82d., 3.30d. and 4.23d. Of the contribution one half is paid by the employer and the other by the employee, whose duty it is to see that the amount has been properly entered in the pension book. The pensions, in case of invalidity, amount (including a state subsidy of L2, 10s. for each) respectively to L8, 8s.; L11, 5s.; L13, 10s.; L15, 15s.; and L18. The old-age pensions (beginning at 70 years) amount to L5, 10s.; L7; L8, 10s.; L10; and L11, 10s. The old-age and invalid insurance is carried out by thirty-one large territorial offices, to which must be added nine special unions. The income of the forty establishments was, in 1903, L8,500,000 (including L1,700,000 imperial subsidy). The capital collected was upwards of L50,000,000.