which has been proposed or approved by the Ministry. A referendum is not admissible in this instance. In the administra- tion the Staatsrat cooperates by giving its opinion on the general ordinances which are to be issued by the Ministry. The President of the Staatsrat, elected by itself, is entitled to cooperate in the dissolution of the Diet, which, in the absence of a President of the State, is decided upon by a body (Kollegium) composed of the Minister-President, the President of the Diet and the President of the Staatsrat. The Landtag can also be dissolved by its own vote or by popular demand. For the rest the referendum, the popular demand and the popular decision are admissible in a form similar to, though somewhat more restricted than, that which is prescribed for the Reich.
It is only by a gradual and tranquil development that the immense transformations in every sphere of the State, which find expression in the constitution of the Reich and Prussia, can establish themselves and take firm root in the mind of the people, in which, naturally, traditions and memories of the past were still not obliterated in 1021. (H. P.*)
ADMINISTRATION
The business of the German Reich is conducted by the Minis- tries of the Reich, consisting of departmental ministers and minis- ters without portfolio. The departmental Ministries are as fol- lows: Foreign Affairs, Interior, Finances of the Reich, National Defence (Reichswehr) , Justice, National Economy (Rcichswrt- schaff), Labour, Post Offices and Communications, Treasury, Food, Reconstruction.
In Prussia affairs are conducted by the Ministry of State, com- posed of Ministries of the Interior, Justice, Finance, Public Wel- fare, Commerce and Industry, Agriculture, Domains and Forests, Education and Public Worship (Kultus-Ministerium).
The Territory and Free State of Prussia is now divided into ten provinces: Brandenburg, Pomerania, Lower Silesia, Upper Silesia, Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Hanover, Westphalia, Rhein Prov- ince, Hesse-Nassau. The municipality of Greater Berlin, cre- ated by the law of April 27 1920, also ranks as a province, as does the border region {Crenzmark) of Posen and West Prussia, being the remainder of the two former Prussian provinces bearing those names which was left to Prussia by the Treaty of Versailles. A Prussian province is at once a Regional State Authority (Staats- teil) and a self-governing local authority.
According to the new Prussian constitution (Art. 72), the prov- inces are to be administered by their own administrative organs in accordance with the terms of an Autonomy Law which is to be enacted. This administration is concerned with (i.) matters fall- ing within the administrative competency of the provinces, hav- ing been either assigned to them by legislation or voluntarily taken over by them; (ii.) delegated affairs, i.e. affairs of State which have been transferred to the provinces.
The State authorities of the provinces are the Chief President (Oberregierungsprasident) and the Provincial Council; the local authorities are the Landcshauptmann (in some regions known as the Landesdirektor) , the Provincial Diet and the Provincial Dele- gation (Provinzialausschuss). The provinces are divided as territorial parts of the State into districts (Regicrungsbczirke), at the head of which is the district president. The districts are divided into sub-districts (Kreise), which are of two kinds, urban and rural sub-districts (Sladl- und Landkreise). These form part of the State Government like the provinces, and are also inde- pendent, self-governing units. The constitutions of local gov- ernment units, i.e. the provinces, the urban and the rural sub- districts, are determined by provincial and local statutes, which differ for different parts of the country. The electoral sys- tem, on the other hand, has been made uniform for the organs of local government by a law of Dec. 3 1920. The suffrage is the same as for the Reichstag, with proportional representation.
In the sub-districts the organs of administration are the Landrat, the Kreistag and the sub-district delegation (Kreisausschuss). A town with a population of more than 25,000 inhabitants may sep- arate from the rural sub-districts to which it would otherwise belong and form an independent urban sub-district. Rural sub-districts are divided into communes (Cemeinden), which again are cither urban
or rural communes. The pre-war statutes as to the administration of urban and rural communes are still in force. The organs of State administration under the Landrat are the Amtsvorsteher (sub-district officials) ; the organs of the communal administration are the Gemeindevorsteher (communal officials). The larger landed estates constitute Gutsbezirke, the administrative organs of which are the Gutsvorstelier . In the towns there is a council of aldermen (burgomaster and aldermen) at the head of the administration, and there is likewise a council of elected municipal deputies. All these administrative organs are being reformed on uniform and modern lines. Greater Berlin has, by the law of April 27 1920, been made into a single urban community, consisting of 8 urban communes, 59 rural communes and 27 manorial communes (Gutsbezirke). This permanent organization replaced the union of Greater Berlin, which had been provisionally effected for certain special purposes.
The status of officials as regards the Reich is based on Art. 128131 of the constitution. They are appointed for life except in cases where the contrary is provided by statute. In Prussia their position is regulated by the Prussian constitution (Art. 7779). Every official of the Reich has to take an oath of fidelity to the constitution of the Reich, and every Prussian official to the constitutions of the Reich and, of Prussia. The scale of salaries has been revised for the Reich by the laws of April 30 and-Dec. 17 1920, for Prussia by the law of May 7 1920. According to the law of the Reich of Dec. 21 1920, the remunerations and allowances paid by the individual states, the local authorities or by other public corporations to their officials and the teachers in their schools must not be higher than the salaries paid to the officials of the Reich who occupy corresponding positions (Beamtensperrgeselz) . In Prussia a maximum age limit has been introduced by the law of Dec. 15 1920. For officials directly employed by the State and for national-school teachers it is 65; for judges, teachers in universities and. higher technical colleges, 68.
Socialization. According to the new constitution of the Reich (Art. 156) the Reich may convert into property of the community all enterprises which are suitable for socialization. The Reich may associate itself, the individual states or the communes, with the administration of such enterprises, and it may out of separate in- dustrial undertakings form self-governing cooperative bodies. The Socialization Law of March 23 1919 had been promulgated before the constitution was enacted. According to this law the Reich had the power (i.) to socialize all suitable enterprises, especially those occupied with the extraction of minerals and with the exploitation of natural sources of power; 1 (ii.) in case of urgent necessity to regulate by means of administration in the public interest the production and distribution of economic products. A Socialization Commission was set up whose business it is to make proposals for laws for carrying out the Socialization Law.
The rules for the working of the Statute of March 23 1919 dealing with the coal industry were promulgated Aug. 20 1919. At the head of the coal administration is the Coal Council of the Reich (Reichskohlenrat) , under which is the Coal Association (Reichs- kohlenverband). The latter supervises the main lines laid down by the Coal Council for dealing with the whole industry in fuel. Germany is divided into II mining districts; all the collieries of each district are united into a syndicate. Similarly all gas-works in the district are united in one Gas Coke Syndicate. The Chancellor, and, under him, the coal commissaries of the Reich, exercise supervision over distribution of all the coal which is produced in Germany.
The potash industry is regulated by the law of the Reich of April 24 1919. The chief control is in the hands of the Potash Council. This body is competent to give its assent to the conclusion of syndi- cate contracts and to business regulations for the potash industry. It may forbid the opening of new potash-fields and may close down existing works. It fixes the price at which potash may be sold in Germany and also the average wage to be paid in the industry. Wage bureaux of first and second instance have been instituted for the latter purposes. All producers of potash are united in one obligatory syndicate, which has the sole right to sell and to import potash products. The potash control office supervises the execution of the instructions of the Potash Council of the Reich. It fixes the extent to which each of the potash-works is to participate in the general production. An application for revision of its decisions may be made to the Potash Board of Appeal.
Socialization of electricity has been initiated by the law of Dec. 31 1919. Associations are to be formed for the production and distribution of electrical power in all districts where there are elec- trical works. In the case of larger works the Reich has the right to take them over.
Settlement and Housing. By the Settlement Law of Aug. 8 1919 the individual states are obliged to establish settlement associations in the public interest for the creation of small independent settle- ments. These associations have the right of preemption for all properties over 25 hectares in extent unless they pass into the possession of a husband or wife or near relations of the owner. In settlement districts where more than 10% of the agricultural land is in properties exceeding 100 hectares in extent the properties form a land supply association with cooperative rights. This association
'A great development of water-power was in progress in 1921, especially in Bavaria.
