Part Two

Fundamental Rights and Duties of Germans

SECTION I

THE INDIVIDUAL

ARTICLE 109

All Germans are equal before the law.

Men and women have fundamentally the same civil rights and duties.

Privileges or discriminations due to birth or rank and recognized by law are abolished. Titles of nobility will be regarded merely as part of the name and may not be granted hereafter.

Titles may be conferred only when they designate an office or profession; academic degrees are not affected by this provision.

Orders and honorary insignia may not be conferred by the state.

No German may accept a title or order from a foreign Government.

ARTICLE 110

Citizenship in the Commonwealth and in the States will be acquired and lost in accordance with the provisions of a national law. Every citizen of a State is at the same time a citizen of the Commonwealth.

Every German has the same rights and duties in each State of the Commonwealth as the citizens of that State.

ARTICLE 111

All Germans enjoy the right to travel and reside freely throughout the whole Commonwealth. Every one has the right of sojourn and settlement in any place within the Commonwealth, the right to acquire land and to pursue any gainful occupation. No limitations may be imposed except by authority of a national law.

ARTICLE 112

Every German has the right to emigrate to foreign countries. Emigration may be limited only by national law.

All German citizens, both within and without the territory of the Commonwealth, have a right to its protection with respect to foreign countries.

No German may be surrendered to a foreign Government for prosecution or punishment.

ARTICLE 113

Those elements of the People which speak a foreign language may not be interfered with by legislative or administrative action in their free and characteristic development, especially in the use of their mother tongue in the schools or in matters of internal administration and the administration of justice.

ARTICLE 114

Personal liberty is inviolable. An interference with or abridgement of personal liberty through official action is permissible only by authority of law.

Persons, who are deprived of their liberty, shall be informed at latest on the following day by what authority and on what grounds they have been deprived of liberty, and they shall without delay receive an opportunity to present objections against such loss of liberty.

ARTICLE 115

The house of every German is his sanctuary and is inviolable. Exceptions are permissible only by authority of law.

ARTICLE 116

An act can be punishable only if the penalty was fixed by law before the act was committed.

ARTICLE 117

The secrecy of postal, telegraphic, and telephonic communications is inviolable. Exceptions may be permitted only by national law.

ARTICLE 118

Every German has a right within the limits of the general laws to express his opinion freely by word, in writing, in print, by picture, or in any other way. No relationship arising out of his employment may hinder him in the exercise of this right, and no one may discriminate against him if he makes use of this right.

There is no censorship, although exceptional provisions may be made by law in the case of moving pictures. Legal measures are also permissible for combating obscene and indecent literature as well as for the protection of youth at public plays and spectacles.

SECTION II

COMMUNITY LIFE

ARTICLE 119

Marriage, as the foundation of family life and of the maintenance and increase of the nation, is under the special protection of the Constitution. It is based on the equal rights of both sexes.

The maintenance of the purity, the health, and the social advancement of the family is the task of the state and of the municipalities. Families with numerous children have a claim to equalizing assistance.

Motherhood has a claim to the protection and care of the State.

ARTICLE 120

The physical, mental, and moral education of their offspring is the highest duty and the natural right of parents, whose activities are supervised by the political community.

ARTICLE 121

Illegitimate children shall be provided by law with the same opportunities for their physical, mental, and moral development as legitimate children.

ARTICLE 122

Youth shall be protected against exploitation as well as against neglect of their moral, mental, or physical welfare. The necessary arrangements shall be made by state and municipality.

Compulsory protective measures may be ordered only by authority of the law.

ARTICLE 123

All Germans have the right of meeting peaceably and unarmed without notice or special permission.

Previous notice may be required by national law for meetings in the open, and such meetings may be forbidden in case of immediate danger to the public safety.

ARTICLE 124

All Germans have the right to form associations or societies for purposes not contrary to the criminal law. This right can not be limited by preventive measures. The same provisions apply to religious associations and societies.

Every association has the right of incorporation in accordance with the civil law. No association may be denied this right on the ground that it pursues a political, social-political, or religious object.

ARTICLE 125

The liberty and secrecy of the suffrage are guaranteed. Details will be regulated by the election laws.

ARTICLE 126

Every German has the right to petition or to complain in writing to the appropriate authorities or to the representatives of the People. This right may be exercised by individuals as well as by several persons together.

ARTICLE 127

Municipalities and unions of municipalities have the right of self-government within the limits of the laws.

ARTICLE 128

All citizens without distinction are eligible for public office in accordance with the laws and according to their ability and services.

All discriminations against women in the civil service are abolished.

The principles of the official relation shall be regulated by national law.

ARTICLE 129

Civil officers are appointed for life, in so far as is not otherwise provided by law. Pensions and provisions for surviving dependents will be regulated by law. The duly acquired rights of the civil officers are inviolable. Claims of civil officers based upon property rights may be established by process of law.

Civil officers may be suspended, temporarily or permanently retired, or transferred to other positions at a smaller salary only under the legally prescribed conditions and forms.

A process of appeal against disciplinary sentence and opportunity for reconsideration shall be established. Reports of an unfavorable character concerning a civil officer shall not be entered in his official record, until he has had the opportunity to express himself. Civil officers shall also be permitted to inspect their official records.

The inviolability of the duly acquired rights and the benefit of legal processes for the establishment of claims based on property rights are also assured especially to regular soldiers. In other respects their position is regulated by national law.

ARTICLE 130

The civil officers are servants of the whole community, not of a part of it.

To all civil officers freedom of political opinion and of association are assured.

The civil officers receive special representation in their official capacity in accordance with more precise provisions of national law.

ARTICLE 131

If a civil officer in the exercise of the authority conferred upon him by law fails to perform his official duty toward any third person, the responsibility is assumed by the state or public corporation in whose service the officer is. The right of redress [by the state or public corporation] against the officer is reserved. The ordinary process of law may not be excluded.

Detailed regulations will be made by the appropriate law-making authority.

ARTICLE 132

Every German, in accordance with the laws, has the duty of accepting honorary offices.

ARTICLE 133

All citizens are obliged, in accordance with the laws, to render personal services to the state and the municipality.

The duty of military service will be defined in accordance with the provisions of the national defence law. This will determine also how far particular fundamental rights shall be restricted in their application to the members of the armed forces in order that the latter may fulfil their duties and discipline may be maintained.

ARTICLE 134

All citizens, without distinction, contribute according to their means to the support of all public burdens, as may be provided by law.

SECTION III

RELIGION AND RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES

ARTICLE 135

All inhabitants of the Commonwealth enjoy complete liberty of belief and conscience. The free exercise of religion is assured by the Constitution and is under public protection. This Article leaves the general laws undisturbed.

ARTICLE 136

Civil and political rights and duties are neither conditioned upon nor limited by the exercise of religious liberty.

The enjoyment of civil and political rights as well as eligibility to public office is independent of religious belief.

No one is under any obligation to reveal his religious convictions.

The authorities have a right to inquire about religious affiliation only so far as rights and duties are dependent thereon or in pursuance of a statistical enumeration prescribed by law.

No one may be forced to attend any church ceremony or festivity, to take part in any religious exercise, or to make use of any religious oath.

ARTICLE 137

There is no state church.

Freedom of association in religious societies is guaranteed. The combination of religious societies within the Commonwealth is not subject to any limitations.

Every religious society regulates and administers its affairs independently within the limits of the general law. It appoints its officers without interference by the state or the civil municipality.

Religious societies may be incorporated in accordance with the general provisions of the civil law.

Existing religious societies remain, to the same extent as heretofore, public bodies corporate. The same rights shall be accorded to other religious societies if by their constitution and the number of their members they offer a guaranty of permanence. If a number of such public religious societies unite, this union is also a public body corporate.

The religious societies, which are recognized by law as bodies corporate, are entitled on the basis of the civil tax rolls to raise taxes according to the provisions of the laws of the respective States.

The associations, which have as their aim the cultivation of a system of ethics, have the same privileges as the religious societies.

The issuance of further regulations necessary for carrying out these provisions comes under the jurisdiction of the States.

ARTICLE 138

State contributions to religious societies authorized by law, contract, or any special grant, will be commuted by State legislation. The general principles of such legislation will be defined by the Commonwealth.

The property of religious societies and unions and other rights to their cultural, educational, and charitable institutions, foundations, and other possessions are guaranteed.

ARTICLE 139

Sundays and legal holidays remain under the protection of law as days of rest and spiritual edification.

ARTICLE 140

The members of the armed forces shall be granted the necessary leave for the performance of their religious duties.

ARTICLE 141

In so far as there is need for religious services and spiritual care in hospitals, prisons or other public institutions, the religious societies shall be permitted to perform the religious offices, but all compulsion shall be avoided.

SECTION IV

EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS

ARTICLE 142

Art, science and the teaching thereof are free. The state guarantees their protection and takes part in fostering them.

ARTICLE 143

The education of the young shall be provided for through public institutions. In their establishment the Commonwealth, States and municipalities co-operate.

The training of teachers shall be regulated in a uniform manner for the Commonwealth according to the generally recognized principles of higher education.

The teachers in the public schools have the rights and duties of state officers.

ARTICLE 144

The entire school system is under the supervision of the state; it may grant a share therein to the municipalities. The supervision of schools will be exercised by technically trained officers who must devote their time principally to this duty.

ARTICLE 145

Attendance at school is obligatory. This obligation is discharged by attendance at the elementary schools for at least eight school years and at the continuation schools until the completion of the eighteenth year. Instruction and school supplies in the elementary and continuation schools are free.

ARTICLE 146

The public school system shall be systematically organized. Upon a foundation of common elementary schools the system of secondary and higher education is erected. The development of secondary and higher education shall be determined in accordance with the needs of all kinds of occupations, and the acceptance of a child in a particular school shall depend upon his qualifications and inclinations, not upon the economic and social position or the religion of his parents.

Nevertheless, within the municipalities, upon the petition of those entitled to instruction common schools shall be established of their faith or ethical system, in so far as this does not interfere with a system of school administration within the meaning of Paragraph 1. The wishes of those entitled to instruction shall be considered as much as possible. Details will be regulated by State laws in accordance with principles to be prescribed by a national law.

To facilitate the attendance of those in poor circumstances at the secondary and higher schools, public assistance shall be provided by the Commonwealth, States, and municipalities, particularly, assistance to the parents of children regarded as qualified for training in the secondary and higher schools, until the completion of the training.

ARTICLE 147

Private schools, as a substitute for the public schools, require the approval of the state and are subject to the laws of the States. Approval shall be granted if the private schools do not fall below the public schools in their educational aims and equipment as well as in the scientific training of their teachers, and if no separation of the pupils according to the wealth of their parents is fostered. Approval shall be withheld if the economic and legal status of the teachers is not sufficiently assured.

Private elementary schools shall be only permissible, if for a minority of those entitled to instruction whose wishes are to be considered according to Article 146, Paragraph 2, there is no public elementary school of their faith or ethical system in the municipality, or if the educational administration recognizes a special pedagogical interest.

Private preparatory schools shall be abolished.

The existing law remains in effect with respect to private schools which do not serve as substitutes for public schools.

ARTICLE 148

All schools shall inculcate moral education, civic sentiment, and personal and vocational efficiency in the spirit of German national culture and of international conciliation.

In the instruction in public schools care shall be taken not to hurt the feelings of those of differing opinion.

Civics and manual training are included in the school curriculum. Every pupil receives a copy of the Constitution on completing the obligatory course of study.

The common school system, including university extension work, shall be cherished by the Commonwealth, States and municipalities.

ARTICLE 149

Religious instruction is included in the regular school curriculum, except in the nonsectarian (secular) schools. The imparting of religious instruction is regulated by the school laws. Religious instruction is imparted in accordance with the principle of the religious society concerned, without prejudice to the right of supervision of the state.

The imparting of religious instruction and the use of ecclesiastical ceremonies is optional with the teachers, and the participation of the pupils in religious studies and in ecclesiastical ceremonies and festivities is left to the decision of those who have the right to control the religious education of the child.

The theological faculties in the universities will be continued.

ARTICLE 150

The artistic, historical and natural monuments and scenery enjoy the protection and care of the state.

The prevention of the removal of German art treasures from the country is a function of the Commonwealth.

SECTION V

ECONOMIC LIFE

ARTICLE 151

The regulation of economic life must conform to the principles of justice, with the object of assuring humane conditions of life for all. Within these limits the economic liberty of the individual shall be protected.

Legal compulsion is permissible only for safeguarding threatened rights or in the service of predominant requirements of the common welfare.

The freedom of trade and industry is guaranteed in accordance with the national laws.

ARTICLE 152

Freedom of contract prevails in economic relations in accordance with the laws.

Usury is forbidden. Legal practices which conflict with good morals are void.

ARTICLE 153

The right of private property is guaranteed by the Constitution. Its nature and limits are defined by law.

Expropriation may be proceeded with only for the benefit of the community and by due process of law. There shall be just compensation in so far as is not otherwise provided by national law. If there is a dispute over the amount of the compensation, there shall be a right of appeal to the ordinary courts, in so far as not otherwise provided by national law. The property of the States, municipalities, and associations of public utility may be taken by the Commonwealth only upon payment of compensation.

Property-rights imply property-duties. Exercise thereof shall at the same time serve the general welfare.

ARTICLE 154

The right of inheritance is guaranteed in accordance with the civil law.

The share of the state in inheritances is determined in accordance with the laws.

ARTICLE 155

The distribution and use of the land is supervised by the state in such a way as to prevent its misuse and to promote the object of insuring to every German a healthful dwelling and to all German families, especially those with numerous children, homesteads corresponding to their needs. War-veterans shall receive special consideration in the enactment of a homestead law.

Landed property, the acquisition of which is necessary to satisfy the demand for housing, to promote settlement and reclamation, or to improve agriculture, may be expropriated. Entailments shall be dissolved.

The cultivation and utilization of the soil is a duty of the landowner toward the community. An increase of the value of land arising without the application of labour or capital to the property shall inure to the benefit of the community as a whole.

All mineral resources and all economically useful forces of nature are subject to the control of the state. Private royalties shall be transferred to the state, as may be provided by law.

ARTICLE 156

The Commonwealth may by law, without impairment of the right to compensation, and with a proper application of the regulations relating to expropriation, transfer to public ownership private business enterprises adapted for socialization. The Commonwealth itself, the States, or the municipalities may take part in the management of business enterprises and associations, or secure a dominating influence therein in any other way.

Furthermore, in case of urgent necessity the Commonwealth, if it is in the interest of collectivism, may combine by law business enterprises and associations on the basis of administrative autonomy, in order to insure the co-operation of all producing elements of the people, to give to employers and employés a share in the management, and to regulate the production, preparation, distribution, utilization and pecuniary valuation, as well as the import and export, of economic goods upon collectivistic principles.

The co-operative societies of producers and of consumers and associations thereof shall be incorporated, at their request and after consideration of their form of organization and peculiarities, into the system of collectivism.

ARTICLE 157

Labour is under the special protection of the Commonwealth.

The Commonwealth will adopt a uniform labour law.

ARTICLE 158

Intellectual labour, the rights of the author, the inventor and the artist enjoy the protection and care of the Commonwealth.

The products of German scholarship, art, and technical science shall also be recognized and protected abroad through international agreement.

ARTICLE 159

The right of combination for the protection and promotion of labour and economic conditions is guaranteed to everybody and to all professions. All agreements and measures which attempt to limit or restrain this liberty are unlawful.

ARTICLE 160

Any one employed on a salary or as a wage-earner has the right to the leave necessary for the exercise of his civil rights and, so far as the business is not substantially injured thereby, for performing the duties of public honorary offices conferred upon him. To what extent his right to compensation shall continue will be determined by law.

ARTICLE 161

For the purpose of conserving health and the ability to work, of protecting motherhood, and of guarding against the economic effects of age, invalidity and the vicissitudes of life, the Commonwealth will adopt a comprehensive system of insurance, in the management of which the insured shall predominate.

ARTICLE 162

The Commonwealth commits itself to an international regulation of the legal status of the workers, which shall strive for a standard minimum of social rights for the whole working class of the world.

ARTICLE 163

Every German has, without prejudice to his personal liberty, the moral duty so to use his intellectual and physical powers as is demanded by the welfare of the community.

Every German shall have the opportunity to earn his living by economic labour. So long as suitable employment can not be procured for him, his maintenance will be provided for. Details will be regulated by special national laws.

ARTICLE 164

The independent agricultural, industrial, and commercial middle class shall be fostered by legislation and administration, and shall be protected against oppression and exploitation.

ARTICLE 165

Wage-earners and salaried employés are qualified to co-operate on equal terms with the employers in the regulation of wages and working conditions, as well as in the entire economic development of the productive forces. The organizations on both sides and the agreements between them will be recognized.

The wage-earners and salaried employés are entitled to be represented in local workers’ councils, organized for each establishment in the locality, as well as in district workers’ councils, organized for each economic area, and in a National Workers’ Council, for the purpose of looking after their social and economic interests.

The district workers’ councils and the National Workers’ Council meet together with the representatives of the employers and with other interested classes of people in district economic councils and in a National Economic Council for the purpose of performing joint economic tasks and co-operating in the execution of the laws of socialization. The district economic councils and the National Economic Council shall be so constituted that all substantial vocational groups are represented therein according to their economic and social importance.

Drafts of laws of fundamental importance relating to social and economic policy before introduction [into the National Assembly] shall be submitted by the National Cabinet to the National Economic Council for consideration. The National Economic Council has the right itself to propose such measures for enactment into law. If the National Cabinet does not approve them, it shall, nevertheless, introduce them into the National Assembly together with a statement of its own position. The National Economic Council may have its bill presented by one of its own members before the National Assembly.

Supervisory and administrative functions may be delegated to the workers’ councils and to the economic councils within their respective areas.

The regulation of the organization and duties of the workers’ councils and of the economic councils, as well as their relation to other social bodies endowed with administrative autonomy, is exclusively a function of the Commonwealth.

SECTION VI

TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS

ARTICLE 166

Until the establishment of the National Administrative Court, the National Judicial Court takes its place in the organization of the Electoral Commission.

ARTICLE 167

The provisions of Article 18, Paragraphs 3 to 6, become effective two years after the promulgation of the national Constitution.

ARTICLE 168

Until the adoption of the State law as provided in Article 63, but at the most for only one year, all the Prussian votes in the National Council may be cast by members of the State Cabinet.

ARTICLE 169

The National Cabinet will determine when the provisions of Article 83, Paragraph 1, shall become effective.

Temporarily, for a reasonable period, the collection and administration of customs-duties and taxes on articles of consumption may be left to the States at their discretion.

ARTICLE 170

The Postal and Telegraphic Administrations of Bavaria and Wurtemberg will be taken over by the Commonwealth not later than April 1, 1921.

If no understanding has been reached over the terms thereof by October 1, 1920, the matter will be decided by the Supreme Judicial Court.

The rights and duties of Bavaria and Wurtemberg remain in force as heretofore until possession is transferred to the Commonwealth. Nevertheless, the postal and telegraphic relations with neighbouring foreign countries will be regulated exclusively by the Commonwealth.

ARTICLE 171

The state railroads, canals and aids to navigation will be taken over by the Commonwealth not later than April 1, 1921.

If no understanding has been reached over the terms thereof by October 1, 1920, the matter will be decided by the Supreme Judicial Court.

ARTICLE 172

Until the national law regarding the Supreme Judicial Court becomes effective its powers will be exercised by a Senate of seven members, four of whom are to be elected by the National Assembly and three by the National Judicial Court, each choosing among its own members. The Senate will regulate its own procedure.

ARTICLE 173

Until the adoption of a national law according to Article 138, the existing state contributions to the religious societies, whether authorized by law, contract or special grant, will be continued.

ARTICLE 174

Until the adoption of the national law provided for in Article 146, Paragraph 2, the existing legal situation will continue. The law shall give special consideration to parts of the Commonwealth where provision for separate schools of different religious faiths is not now made by law.

ARTICLE 175

The provisions of Article 109 do not apply to orders and decorations conferred for services in the war-years 1914-1919.

ARTICLE 176

All public officers and members of the armed forces shall be sworn upon this Constitution. Details will be regulated by order of the National President.

ARTICLE 177

Wherever by existing laws it is provided that the oath be taken in the form of a religious ceremony, the oath may be lawfully taken in the form of a simple affirmation by the person to be sworn: “I swear.” Otherwise the content of the oath provided for in the laws remains unaltered.

ARTICLE 178

The Constitution of the German Empire of April 16, 1871, and the law of February 10, 1919, relating to the provisional government of the Commonwealth, are repealed.

The other laws and regulations of the Empire remain in force, in so far as they do not conflict with this Constitution. The provisions of the Treaty of Peace signed on June 28, 1919, at Versailles, are not affected by the Constitution.

Official regulations, legally issued on the authority of laws heretofore in effect, retain their validity until superseded by other regulations or legislation.

ARTICLE 179

In so far as reference is made in laws or executive orders to provisions and institutions which are abolished by this Constitution, their places are taken by the corresponding provisions and institutions of this Constitution. In particular, the National Assembly takes the place of the National Convention, the National Council that of the Committee of the States, and the National President elected by authority of this Constitution that of the National President elected by authority of the law relating to the provisional government.

The power to issue executive orders, conferring upon the Committee of the States in accordance with the provisions heretofore in effect, is transferred to the National Cabinet; in order to issue executive orders it requires the consent of the National Council in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.

ARTICLE 180

Until the convening of the first National Assembly, the National Convention will function as the National Assembly. Until the inauguration of the first National President the office will be filled by the National President elected by authority of the law relating to the provisional government.

ARTICLE 181

The German People have ordained and established this Constitution by their National Convention. It goes into effect upon the day of its promulgation.

SCHWARZBURG, August 11, 1919

(Signed)

The National President

EBERT

The National Cabinet

BAUER ERZBERGER HERMANN MÜLLER DR. DAVID NOSKE SCHMIDT SCHLICKE GIESBERTS DR. MAYER DR. BELL

FOOTNOTES

Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Wurtemberg, Baden, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Saxe-Weimar, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, Brunswick, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Anhalt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen, Waldeck, Reuss (elder line), Reuss (younger line), Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe, Lübeck, Bremen and Hamburg.

See Joseph-Barthelémy, les Institutions politiques de l’Allemagne contemporaine, Paris, Alcan, 1915.

See Laband, Die geschichtliche Entwicklung der Reichsverfassung in the Jahrbuch des oeffentlichen Rechts, 1907, p. 1, et seq.

Piloty, Die Umformung der Reichsregierung und die Reichsverfassung, Deutsche Juristen Zeitung, 1918, p. 651, et seq.; Stier-Somlo, Reichsverfassung, p. 6.

Page 13, footnote 1. See the text of these claims in Gentizon, la Révolution allemande. 1 vol. Payot, Paris, 1919, p. 222.

It is interesting to note that with the exception of Barth all these men were members of the Reichstag before the Revolution.

See Jean de Granvilliers, Essai sur le libéralisme allemand, Paris, 1914.

See page 73, et seq., of this book.

German jurists get much pleasure in pointing out the following constitutional curiosity: the condition necessary for a law enacted by a parliament to become operative is that this law shall be promulgated, that is to say, authenticated and published. But these operations suppose a government. Now, the law of February 10, created the government; but this law could not be promulgated by a government which this very promulgation would create. It was decided, therefore, that the law should become operative immediately and be authenticated by the President of the National Assembly.

These concepts of “unitarism” and “federalism” must be compared with “centralism” and “particularism,” which correspond to them, but which, nevertheless, also differ from them. When one speaks of “particularism” one means, beyond the legal and political differences which may exist between the member states of a federated state, the peculiarities of race, special traits of culture, geographic and ethnographic characteristics which give to populations their own stamp and a distinct collective sentiment. Political “particularism” and federalist tendencies may co-exist naturally; but “particularism” is not necessarily anti-centralistic: a “particularism” inspired by the love of a little fatherland and its individuality gives to the population a certain national consciousness which is not necessarily antagonistic to the establishment of a strong central power. On the other hand “unitarism,” if it preserves for the state the character of a federated state and does not tend to a complete fusion of the member states, may well recognize that races and provinces wish for individual existence and may be ready to accord them corresponding liberty.

See Preuss, Deutschlands republikanische Reichsverfassung, p. 8.

See Jacobi, Einheitsstaat oder Bundesstaat, Leipzig, 1919.

Since the Revolution, Coburg has detached itself from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and become a distinct state without the decision of any authority whatsoever sanctioning this situation.

There was in this a true provisionally federated state within a federal German state. For several months there was thus, in central Germany, a triple superposition of states.

It must be recognized nevertheless that with the exception of the Hanseatic cities the monarchical form was implied. For Prussia it was obligatory.

See Giese, Die Reichsverfassung, vom II, August, 1919, p. 65; Jacobi, Einheitsstaat oder Bundesstaat, p. 6, et seq.; Poetsch, Handausgabe der Reichsverfassung, p. 25, et seq.; Wenzel, Festgabe für Bergbohn, 1919, p. 159, et seq.

See Stier-Somlo, op. cit., p. 79, et seq.; Walter Jellinek, Revolution und Reichsverfassung, in Jahrbuch des öffentlichen Rechts, p. 81; Arndt, Reichsverfassung, 1919, p. 35.

In reality the states still exchange ambassadors and, in the official German language, the agreements reached either between two states or several carry the name of Staatsverträge (international treaties). See particularly the international treaty adopted between the Reich on the one hand, and Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Wurtemberg, Baden, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Schwerin and Oldenburg on the other, concerning the transfer to the Reich of the railroads of these states, the treaty approved by the National Assembly, April 30, 1920.

See Heilfron, Die deutsche Nationalversammlung im Jahre 1919, vol. ii, p. 1176.

See Julius Kaliski, Der Kern des Rätegedanken, in Welt-Echo, June, 1919.

This is the exact text: “1. For the immediate formation of the cabinets in the Empire and in Prussia, the questions of individual appointments will be decided by the political parties in agreement with the organizations of workers, salaried employés and civil servants taking part in the general strike, and a decisive influence will be accorded to these organizations in the new policies of economic and social legislation, all with the view of safeguarding the rights of popular representation. 2. Immediate disarmament and punishment of all those guilty of participating in the pronunciamento or the overthrow of the constitutional government, as well as of all civil servants who placed themselves at the disposal of the illegal governments. 3. All public and industrial administrations must be radically purged of counter-revolutionary personalities, in particular of those who participate in the management, and these personalities must be replaced by trusted elements. Re-employment of all the representatives of organizations in public services who were made the victims of disciplinary measures. 4. The earliest possible realization of administrative reform on a democratic basis, with the co-operation of the economic organizations of wage-workers, salaried employés and civil servants. 5. The immediate execution of all existing laws and the enactment of new social laws that will accord to wage-workers, salaried employés and civil servants complete social and economic equality; and the immediate enactment of liberal legislation in behalf of civil servants. 6. The immediate socialization of the branches of industry ripe for socialization on the basis of the decisions of the Committee on Socialization, in which representatives of vocational organizations shall take part. The immediate convocation of the Committee on Socialization. The transfer to the Empire of the coal and potash corporations. 7. More effective appropriation and, if need be, the expropriation of available necessities of life; more vigorous war against usurers and profiteers in the country districts and in the cities; guarantees that obligations of deliveries will be executed, insured by the organization of societies for delivery of goods, and the establishment of definite fines and punishments for all violations of these obligations due to ill-will. 8. The dissolution of all counter-revolutionary military organizations that did not remain faithful to the Constitution, and their replacement with organizations recruited from the masses of tried republican population, in particular workers, salaried employés and organized civil servants, without favour to any class whatever. In this reorganization the rights of all troops and organizations that have remained faithful shall remain intact.”

Retreat of the Berlin troops to the line of the Spree; the lifting of the state of siege; no attack on armed workers, particularly in the Ruhr; negotiations with labour organizations with the view of recruiting of workers in the troops of Prussian safety police.

The principal of the new “Nine Points” are: 1. The troops of Reichswehr remain in their position and must not advance on the industrial area except with the express authorization of the Cabinet. 2. The red army dissolves and gives up its arms. 3. Adequate police is assured by the constitutional authorities, supported by “committees on public order” and of “local armies” composed of workers, salaried employés and civil servants of all parties. 4. The “committees of action” and the “executive committees” are dissolved.

Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, March 28, 1920.

Lokal Anzeiger, April 8, evening.

Lensch, Erwünschte Nachwirkungen, in Der Tag, No. 83.

Preuss, Deutschlands republikanische Reichsverfassung.

Session of July 2. (Heilfron, op. cit., vol. V, pp. 2960-2961.)

There are differences of detail between these two modes, but of no importance.

The origin of this provision goes back to the “certificate” that was given in the elections for the National Assembly to soldiers and sailors returning from the front and to troops assigned to service for the preservation of order in polling places.

Session of July 7, 1919. (Heilfron, op cit., vol. V, p. 3314.)

Session of July 7, 1919. (Heilfron, op. cit., vol. V, pp. 3299-3300.)

See the analysis of this bill in the Deutsche Juristen Zeitung, 1920, p. 385.

Heilfron, op. cit., vol. II, p. 969.

Reichsgesetzblatt, 1920, p. 909.

Bismarck was always against the granting of salaries to members of the Reichstag. He hoped thereby to prevent making of politics a career. The members of the Reichstag since 1906 have been receiving compensation which, at first fixed at 3,000 marks a year, was increased in 1918 to 5,000. National Assembly members were paid 1,000 marks a month. The new Reichstag in one of its first sessions decided (1) that its members are to receive 1,500 marks a month; (2) that those of its members who, in the intervals of the Reichstag’s sitting, worked on committees, should receive 50 marks a day. In addition, members of the Reichstag have the right to travel free on all railroads of the Reich.

There were formerly six important permanent committees: on procedure, petitions, commerce and industry, finance and customs, justice, and budget. We shall see that the Constitution has added to this list a committee on foreign affairs, and a committee on the protection of the rights of popular representation when the Reichstag is not meeting. It goes without saying that the Reichstag may name special committees for such and such functions decided upon.

There are thus three kinds of treaties: Those made by a law of the Reich, those made by agreement between the President and the Reichstag, and those made by the President alone.

It must be noted that, contrary to the practice in most parliamentary countries, there is no distinction made between ordinary laws and fiscal laws. The latter, particularly the budget, audit laws, loans, are subject to the same regulation as the former. This is explained by the fact that, unlike most other parliamentary countries, Germany does not practice, properly speaking, the two-chamber system.

Heilfron, op. cit., vol. V, p. 3193.

See in general the work of Redslob, Die parlamentarische Regierung in ihrer wahren und in ihrer unechten Form, Tübingen, 1918. It is curious to note that every argument and all the investigations of Redslob take as their point of departure the criticisms addressed by Professor Duguit against the French system, particularly in his Traité de Droit Constitutionnel, 1911, vol. I, pp. 411-412.

This law has never been applied. President Ebert, now in office, was, it will be remembered, elected by the National Assembly.

The President of the Reich has not, what is called in France, le pouvoir réglementaire, that is to say, the right to issue general ordinances obligatory on all citizens. He cannot make regulations of this kind except in cases where the Constitution or an ordinary law gives him special power to do so. In such a case either he issues the regulation, naturally with the countersignature of a Minister (Articles 48, 49, 51, 59 of the Constitution, for example), or he must first obtain the consent of the Reichstag.

See particularly the decree of March 19, 1920, Reichsgesetzblatt, 1920, p. 467.

At the meeting of the Committee on the Constitution on April 4, 1919, Preuss, then Minister of the Interior, declared that such was already the practice in Germany and that President Ebert presided over the most important meetings of the Council of Ministers.

It includes in addition two members that do not belong to any party--the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Transport.

Article 64 provided also that after the reunion of Austria with the German Reich the latter would have the right to be represented in the Reichstag numerically in proportion to the size of its population. Until such union the representatives of German Austria would have only a consultative voice. This provision, contrary both in letter and spirit to Article 80 of the Peace Treaty, brought a protest from the Supreme Council of the Allied Powers and their associates. The first note on September 2, 1919, demanded the abolition of the offending provision by constitutional amendment within a fortnight. On September 5, the German government replied that no article of the Constitution could be in contradiction with the Treaty of Peace, for Article 78, paragraph 2, expressly provides that no constitutional provision may carry any attempt against the treaty. This reply justly seemed to the Allies insufficient. Article 78, paragraph 2, constitutes, it is true, on the part of the drafters of the Constitution an excellent measure of precaution against contradictions between the Constitution and the Treaty not provided for in advance and revealed in practice. But the contradiction pointed out by the note of the Allies of September 2 was too clear and evident to have been accidental. The Allied Powers, therefore, demanded that the German Government send by means of a diplomatic document the interpretation contained in its note of September 5. This is the text, therefore, of a supplementary declaration drawn up by the German Cabinet and ratified by the National Assembly:

“The undersigned, duly authorized in the name of the German Government, recognize and declare that all provisions of the German Constitution of August 11, 1919, that are in contradiction with stipulations of the Treaty of Peace signed at Versailles on June 28, 1919, are without force, and that particularly the admission of the representatives of Austria as members of the Reichstag cannot be effected except if, in conformance with Article 80 of the Treaty of Peace, the League of Nations sanctions a change in the international situation of Austria. The present declaration must be ratified by the competent authorities within a fortnight after the Treaty of Peace becomes operative.”

The committees thus formed are eleven in number and each consists of nine members. They are, committees on foreign affairs, political economy, interior administration, commerce and audits, taxes and customs, justice, the Constitution and interior regulation, the army, navy, and the execution of the Treaty of Peace.

See Koch, Die Grundrechte in der Verfassung, Deutsche Juristen Zeitung, 1919, p. 609, et seq.

It should be observed that this provision has been decreed by a law; consequently there can be no question in regard to it whether it is a provision having the force of law or only a moral maxim. It is a legislative provision. The fact that it was later inserted into the Constitution has only the effect of preventing its abrogation or its modification other than by constitutional amendment.

This principle of civil law has also become now a provision of constitutional law (Article 152).

It must be also noted that up to now the States have not as yet complied with this order of the Constitution. In Prussia in particular it does not seem that measures have yet been enacted against the “fideicommis.”

Reichsgesetzblatt, 1920, p. 876.

The question of the length of the working day has not been touched by the Constitution. Up to now it has been regulated exclusively by special decrees based on the eight-hour day. The decrees of November 23, 1918, and of December 17, 1918, introduced the eight-hour day for workers in industries with the exception of industries which must not be interrupted. The decree of November 23, 1918, prescribed the length of the working day in bakeries; that of March 18, 1919, did the same for salaried employés. A general law that provides for an eight-hour day and regulating its application is in preparation.

Reichsgesetzblatt, 1920, p. 98.

As yet there has not been organized insurance against non-employment.

The political parties interested themselves in these elections, the platform being “for or against religious instruction.” The number of socialists elected was less than that of bourgeois parties.

See Chapter III.

Max Schippel, Schicksalstunden der Arbeitsgemeinschaft, Sozialistische Monatshefte, 1920, p. 328.

It has been changed by a law of May 31, 1920. (Reichsgesetzblatt, 1920, p. 1128.)

Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung, April 29, evening.

In the discussion that arose on this subject an expression used in it has achieved popularity and is in current use. The strikers demanded and obtained the “anchorage” of the Councils in the Constitution.

See p. 307.

It will be recalled that in order to obtain increase in authority for the Factory Workers Councils, the Independents organized a great manifestation in Berlin in January, 1920, in the course of which about forty of the participants in the manifestation were killed on the steps of the Reichstag.

These enterprises are: Stock companies, limited joint-stock companies, mutual insurance companies, and eventually limited liability companies.

See Paul Umbreit, das Betriebsrätegesetz, Berlin, 1920, pp. 20-21.

It met for the first time on June 30, 1920.

This memorandum did not represent the personal opinion of the Minister. The ideas expressed in it were the opinions of a group that included both socialists and bourgeois elements, men like Walter Rathenau, von Möllendorf (under-secretary of State under Wissel), Andreas, a banker, Georg Bernhard, editor of the Vossiche Zeitung, and others.

Reier, Sozialisierungsgesetze, Berlin, 1920, p. 14.

Wissel, then Minister of Public Economy, on March 7, 1919, before the National Assembly thus defined collective economy properly so-called: “Collective economy means the organization and management of private economic enterprises in the interests of the Reich, the subordination of private interests to collective interests. The application of this general principle to particular cases must be adapted to the special conditions of the different branches of the economy. Nothing can be worse than to want to make the economy rigidly uniform. Every economic group is a different organism that demands forms appropriate to it. This seems to be indicated in the exterior forms of union, such as capitalist economy practiced in its associations and cartels. But the spirit that prevails in these organizations must be raised above purely private considerations up to a sense of responsibility toward the people as a whole, up to the conception of a collective economy. Collective economy does not mean state economy, but autonomy. The State is not the master of economy. It can and should exercise supreme supervision and hold in equilibrium the opposing interests with justice and wisdom.”

These sixty members are divided as follows:

3 representatives of states; 15 representatives of colliers’ organizations; 15 representatives of mine workers; 1 employer and 1 worker in gasworks; 2 salaried employés of the technical service of the mines; 1 salaried employé of the commercial service of the mines; 5 coal merchants; 1 employé in the wholesale coal trade; 2 employers and 2 workers in industries using coal; 2 representatives of consumers’ societies; 1 user of coal in the cities, 1 in the country; 2 representatives of small industries using coal; 1 user of coal for railroads; 1 user of coal for maritime navigation; 1 user of coal for river navigation; 3 mine and boiler experts.

The representatives of the states are named by the Reichsrat from among the municipal administrations and consumers of coal. The representatives of employers and employés in the mining industries as well as the twelve representatives of the colliers’ associations are elected by the mine groups of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft. Two representatives are named by the Prussian Minister of Commerce and Industry. The representatives of the coal trade are named by the German Congress of Commerce and Industry. The representatives of the employers and employés of the industries using coal, and the representatives of the employés of gasworks are elected by their Arbeitsgemeinschaften. The representatives of the small industries using coal are elected by the German Chambers of Commerce and Industry. The other representatives are appointed, on the advice of those they represent, by the Minister of Public Economy of the Reich.

Stricken out at the demand of the Supreme Council of the Allied and Associated Powers. The Supreme Council addressed the following demand to Germany on September 2, 1919:

“The Allied and Associated Powers have examined the German Constitution of August 11, 1919. They observe that the provisions of the second paragraph of Article 61 constitute a formal violation of Article 80 of the Treaty of Peace signed at Versailles on June 28, 1919. This violation is twofold:

“1. Article 61 by stipulating for the admission of Austria to the Reichsrat assimilates that Republic to the German States composing the German Empire--an assimilation which is incompatible with respect to the independence of Austria.

“2. By admitting and providing for the participation of Austria in the Council of the Empire Article 61 creates a political tie and a common political action between Germany and Austria in absolute opposition to the independence of the latter.

“In consequence the Allied and Associated Powers, after reminding the German Government that Article 178 of the German Constitution declares that ‘the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles can not be affected by the Constitution,’ invite the German Government to take the necessary measures to efface without delay this violation by declaring Article 61, Paragraph 2, to be null and void.

“Without prejudice to subsequent measures in case of refusal, and in virtue of the Treaty of Peace (and in particular Article 29), the Allied and Associated Powers inform the German Government that this violation of its engagements on an essential point will compel them, if satisfaction is not given to their just demand within 15 days from the date of the present note, immediately to order the extension of their occupation on the right bank of the Rhine.”

Article 29 of the Treaty of Peace refers to Map No. 1 which shows the boundaries of Germany and provides that the text of Articles 27 and 28 will be final as to those boundaries. Article 80 reads as follows:

“Germany acknowledges and will respect strictly the independence of Austria, within the frontiers which may be fixed in a Treaty between that State and the Principal Allied and Associated Powers; she agrees that this independence shall be inalienable, except with the consent of the Council of the League of Nations.”

A diplomatic act was signed at Paris on September 22, 1919, by the representatives of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers and Germany in the following terms:

“The undersigned, duly authorized and acting in the name of the German Government, recognizes and declares that all the provisions of the German Constitution of August 11, 1919, which are in contradiction of the terms of the Treaty of Peace signed at Versailles on June 28, 1919, are null.

“The German Government declares and recognizes that in consequence Paragraph 2 of Article 61 of the said Constitution is null, and that in particular the admission of Austrian representatives to the Reichstag could only take place in the event of the consent of the Council of the League of Nations to a corresponding modification of Austria’s international situation.

“The present declaration shall be approved by the competent German legislative authority, within the fortnight following the entry into force of the Peace Treaty.

“Given at Versailles, September 22, 1919, in the presence of the undersigned representatives of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers.”