raised in the territory of the confederation; concerning the taxation of manufactured brandy and beer, and of sugar and sirup prepared from beets or other domestic productions. It shall have exclusive power to legislate concerning the mutual protection of taxes upon articles of consumption levied in the several states of the empire; against embezzlement; as well as concerning the measures which are required, in granting exemption from the payment of duties, for the security of the common customs frontier. In Bavaria, Würtemberg, and Baden, the matter of imposing duties on domestic brandy and beer is reserved for the legislature of each country. The states of the confederation shall, however, endeavor to bring about uniform legislation regarding the taxation of these articles.

ARTICLE 36. The imposing of duties and excises on articles of consumption, and the collection of the same, (article 35,) is left to each state of the confederation within its own territory, so far as this has been done by each state heretofore.

The Emperor shall have the supervision of the institution of legal proceedings by officials of the empire, whom he shall designate as adjuncts to the custom or excise offices, and boards of directors of the several states, after hearing the committee of the Confederate Council on customs and revenues.

Notices given by these officials as to defects in the execution of the laws of the empire (article 35) shall be submitted to the confederate council for action.

ARTICLE 37. In taking action upon the rules and regulations for the execution of the laws of the empire, (article 35,) the vote of the presiding officer shall decide, whenever he shall pronounce for upholding the existing rule or regulation.

ARTICLE 38. The amounts accruing from customs and other revenues designated in article 35 of the latter, so far as they are subject to legislation by the diet, shall go to the treasury of the empire.

This amount is made up of the total receipts from the customs and other revenues, after deducting therefrom

1. Tax compensations and reductions in conformity with existing laws or regulations.

2. Reimbursements for taxes unduly imposed.

3. The costs for collection and administration, viz:

a. In the department of customs, the costs which are required for the protection and collection of customs on the frontiers and in the frontier districts.

b. In the department of the duty on salt, the costs which are used for the pay of the officers charged with collecting and controlling these duties in the salt mines.

c. In the department of duties on beet-sugar and tobacco, the compensation which is to be allowed, according to the resolutions of the confederate council, to the several state governments for the costs of the collection of these duties.

d. Fifteen per cent. of the total receipts in the departments of the other duties. The territories situated outside of the common customs frontier shall contribute to the expenses of the empire by paying an aversum, (a sum of acquittance.)

Bavaria, Würtemberg, and Baden shall not share in the revenues from duties on liquors and beer, which go into the treasury of the empire, nor in the corresponding portion of the aforesaid aversum.

ARTICLE 39. The quarterly statements to be regularly made by the revenue officers of the federal states at the end of every quarter, and the final settlements (to be made at the end of the year, and after the closing of the account-books) of the receipts from customs, which have become due in the course of the quarter, or during the fiscal year, and the revenues of the treasury of the empire, according to article 38, shall be arranged by the boards of directors of the federal [states, after a previous examination in general summaries in which every duty is to be shown separately; these summaries shall be transmitted to the federal committee on accounts.

The latter provisionally fixes, every three months, taking as a basis these summaries, the amount due to the treasury of the empire from the treasury of each state, and it shall inform the federal council and the federal States of this act; furthermore, it shall submit to the federal council, annually, the final statement of these amounts, with its remarks. The federal council shall act upon the fixing of these amounts. ARTICLE 40. The terms of the customs-union treaty of July 8, 1867, remain in force, so far as they have not been altered by the provisions of this constitution, and as long as they are not altered in the manner designated in articles 7 and 78.

VII.-RAILWAYS.

ARTICLE 41. Railways, which are considered necessary for the defense of Germany or for purposes of general commerce, may be built for the account of the Empire by a law of the Empire, even in opposition to the will of those members of the confederation through whose territory the railroads run, without detracting from the rights of the sovereign of that country; or private persons may be charged with their construction and receive rights of expropriation. Every existing railway company is bound to permit new railroad lines to be connected with it, at the expense of these latter.

All laws granting existing railway companies the right of injunction against the building of parallel or competition lines are hereby abolished throughout the empire, without detriment to rights already acquired. Such right of injunction can henceforth not be granted in concessions to be given hereafter.

ARTICLE 42. The governments of the federal states bind themselves, in the interest of general commerce, to have the German railways managed as a uniform net-work, and for this purpose to have the lines constructed and equipped according to a uniform system.

ARTICLE 43.. Accordingly, as soon as possible, uniform arrangements as to management, shall be made, and especially shall uniform regulations be instituted for the police of the railroads. The Empire shall take care that the administrative officers of the railway lines keep the roads always in such a condition as is required for public security, and that they be equipped with the necessary rolling stock.

ARTICLE 44. Railway companies are bound to establish such passenger trains of suitable velocity as may be required for ordinary travel, and for the establishment of harmonizing schedules of travel; also, to make provision for such freight trains as may be necessary for commercial purposes, and to establish, without extra remuneration, offices for the direct forwarding of passengers and freight trains, to be transferred, when necessary, from one road to another.

ARTICLE 45. The Empire shall have control over the tariff of fares. The same shall endeavor to cause

1. Uniform regulations to be speedily introduced on all German railway lines.

2. The tariff to be reduced and made uniform as far as possible, and particularly to cause a reduction of the tariff for the transport of coal, coke, wood, minerals, stone, salt, crude iron, manure, and similar articles, for long distances, as demanded by the interests of agriculture and industry, and to introduce a one-penny tariff as soon as practicable.

ARTICLE 46. In case of distress, especially in case of an extraordinary rise in the price of provisions, it shall be the duty of the railway companies to adopt temporarily a low special tariff, to be fixed by the Emperor, on motion of the competent committee, for the forwarding of grain, flour, vegetables, and potatoes. This tariff shall, however, not be less than the lowest rate for raw produce existing on the said line.

The foregoing provisions, and those of articles 42 to 45, shall not apply to Bavaria. The imperial government has, however, the power, also with regard to Bavaria, to establish, by way of legislation, uniform rules for the construction and equipment of such railways as may be of importance for the defense of the country.

ARTICLE 47. The managers of all railways shall be required to obey, without hesitation, requisitions made by the authorities of the empire for the use of their roads for the defense of Germany. Particularly shall the military and all material of war be forwarded at uniform reduced rates.

VIII.-MAILS AND TELEGRAPIIS.

ARTICLE 48. The mails and telegraphs shall be organized and managed as state institutions throughout the German Empire. The legislation of the empire in regard to postal and telegraphic affairs, provided for in article 4, does not extend to those matters whose regulation is left to the managerial arrangement, according to the principles which have controlled the North German administration of mails and telegraphs. ARTICLE 49. The receipts of mails and telegraphs are a joint affair throughout the Empire. The expenses shall be paid from the general receipts. The surplus goes into the treasury of the Empire. (Section 12.)

ARTICLE 50. The Emperor has the supreme supervision of the administration of mails and telegraphs. The authorities appointed by him are in duty bound and authorized to see that uniformity be established and maintained in the organization of the administration and in the transaction of business, as also in regard to the qualifications of employés.

The Emperor shall have the power to make general administrative regulations, and also exclusively to regulate the relations which are to exist between the post and telegraph offices of Germany and those of other countries.

It shall be the duty of all officers of the post-office and telegraph department to obey imperial orders. This obligation shall be included in their oath of office.

The appointment of superior officers (such as directors, counselors, and superintendents.) as they shall be required for the administration of the mails and telegraphs, in the various districts; also the appointment of officers of the posts and telegraphs, (such as inspectors or comptrollers,) acting for the aforesaid authorities in the several districts, in the capacity of supervisors, shall be made by the Emperor for the whole territory of the German Empire, and these officers shall take the oath of fealty to him as a part of their oath of office. The governments of the several states shall be informed in due time, by means of imperial confirmation and official publication, of the aforementioned appointments, so far as they may relate to their territories.

Other officers required by the department of mails and telegraphs, as also all officers to be employed at the various stations, and for technical purposes, and hence officiating at the actual centers of communication, &c., shall be appointed by the respective governments of the states.

Where there is no independent administration of inland mails or telegraphs, the terms of the various treaties are to be enforced.

ARTICLE 51. In assigning the surplus of the post-office department to the treasury of the Empire for general purposes, (article 49,) the following proceeding is to be observed in consideration of the difference which has heretofore existed in the clear receipts of the post-office departments of the several territories, for the purpose of securing a suitable equalization during the period of transition below named.

Of the post-office surplus, which accumulated in the several mail districts during the five years from 1861 to 1865, an average yearly surplus shall be computed, and the share which every separate mail district has had in the surplus resulting therefrom for the whole territory of the Empire shall be fixed upon by a percentage.

In accordance with the proportion thus made, the several states shall be credited on the account of their other contributions to the expenses of the empire with their quota accruing from the postal surplus in the Empire, for a period of eight years subsequent to their entrance into the post-office department of the empire.

At the end of the said eight years this distinction shall cease, and any surplus in the post-office department shall go, without division, into the treasury of the empire, according to the principle enunciated in article 49.

Of the quota of the post-office department surplus resulting during the aforementioned period of eight years in favor of the Hanseatic towns, one-half shall every year be placed at the disposal of the Emperor, for the purpose of providing for the establish-, ment of uniform post-offices in the Hanseatic towns.

ARTICLE 52. The stipulations of the foregoing articles 48 to 51 do not apply to Bavaria and Wurtemberg. In their stead the following stipulution shall be valid for these two states of the confederation.

The Empire alone is authorized to legislate upon the privileges of the post-office and telegraph departments, on the legal position of both institutions toward the public, upon the franking privilege and rates of postage, and upon the establishment of rates for telegraphic correspondence into Hanseatic towns. Exclusive, however, of managerial arrangements, and the fixing of tariffs for internal communication within Bavaria and Wurtemberg.

In the same manner the Empire shall regulate postal and telegraphic communication with foreign countries, excepting the immediate communication of Bavaria and Wurtemberg with their neighboring states, not belonging to the Empire, in regard to which regulation the stipulations in articles 49 of the postal treaty of November 23, 1867, remains in force.

Bavaria and Wurtemburg shall not share in the postal and telegraphic receipts which belong to the treasury of the Empire.

IX.-MARINE AND NAVIGATION.

ARTICLE 53. The navy of the empire is a united one, under the supreme command of the Emperor. The Emperor is charged with its organization and arrangement, and he shall appoint the officers and officials of the navy, and in his name these and the seamen are to be sworn in.

The harbor of Kiel and the harbor of the Iade are imperial war harbors.

The expenditures required for the establishment and maintenance of the navy and the institutions connected therewith shall be defrayed from the treasury of the Empire. All sea-faring men of the Empire, including machinists and hands employed in shipbuilding, are exempt from service in the army, but obliged to serve in the imperial

navy.

The apportionment of men to supply the wants of the navy shall be made according to the actual sea-faring population, and the quota furnished in accordance herewith by each state shall be credited to the army account.

ARTICLE 54. The merchant vessels of all states of the confederation shall form a united commercial marine.

The Empire shall determine the process for ascertaining the tonnage of sea-going vessels, shall regulate the issuing of tonnage-certificates and sea-letters, and shall fix the conditions to which a permit for commanding a sea-going vessel shall be subject. The merchant vessels of all the states of the confederation shall be admitted on an equal footing to the barbors, and to all natural and artificial water-courses of the several states of the confederation, and shall receive the same usage therein.

The duties which shall be collected from sea-going vessels, or levied upon their freights, for the use of naval institutions in the harbors, shall not exceed the amount required for the maintenance and ordinary repair of these institutions.

On all natural water-courses, duties are only to be levied for the use of special estab

lishments, which serve for facilitating commercial intercourse. These duties, as well as the duties for navigating such artificial channels, which are property of the state, are not to exceed the amount required for the maintenance and ordinary repair of the institutions and establishments. These rules apply to rafting, so far as it is carried on on navigable water-courses.

The levying of other or higher duties upon foreign vessels or their freights than those which are paid by the vessels of the federal states or their freights does not belong to the various states, but to the Empire.

ARTICLE 55. The flag of the war and merchant navy shall be black, white, and red.

'X.-CONSULAR AFFAIRS.

The Emperor shall have the supervision of all consular affairs of the German Empire, and he shall appoint consuls, after hearing the committee of the federal council on commerce and traffic.

No new state consulates are to be established within the jurisdiction of the German consuls. German consuls shall perform the functions of state consuls for the states of the confederation not represented in their district. All the now existing state consul- · ates shall be abolished, as soon as the organization of the German consulates shall be completed, in such a manner that the representation of the separate interests of all the federal states shall be recognized by the federal council as secured by the German consulates.

XI.-MILITARY AFFAIRS OF THE EMPIRE.

ARTICLE 57. Every German is subject to military duty, and in the discharge of this duty no substitute can be accepted.

ARTICLE 58. The costs and the burden of all the military system of the empire are to be borne equally by all the federal states and their subjects, and no privileges or molestations to the several states or classes are admissible. Where an equal distribution of the burdens cannot be effected in natura without prejudice to the public welfare, affairs shall be equalized by legislation in accordance with the principles of justice.

ARTICLE 59. Every German capable of bearing arms shall serve for seven years in the standing army, ordinarily from the end of his twentieth to the beginning of his twenty-eighth year; the first three years in the army of the field, the last four years in the reserve; during the next five years he shall belong to the militia. In those states of the confederation in which heretofore a longer term of service than twelve years was required by law, the gradual reduction of the required time of service shall take place in such a manner as is compatible with the interests and the war-footing of the army of the empire.

As regards the emigration of men belonging to the reserve, only those provisions shall be in force which apply to the emigration of members of the militia.

ARTICLE 60. The strength of the German army in time of peace shall be, until the 31st December, 1871, one per cent. of the population of 1867, and shall be furnished by the several federal states in proportion to their population. In future the strength of the army in time of peace shall be fixed by legislation.

ARTICLE 61. After the publication of this constitution the full Prussian military system of legislation shall be introduced without delay throughout the Empire, as well the statutes themselves as the regulations, instructions, and ordinances issued for their execution, explanation, or completion; thus, in particular, the military penal code of April 3, 1845; the military orders of the penal court of April 3, 1845; the ordinance concerning the courts of honor of July 20, 1843; the regulations with respect to recruiting, time of service, matters relating to the service and subsistence, to the quartering of troops, claims for damages, mobilizing, &c., for times of peace and war. Orders for the attendance of the military upon religious services is, however, excluded. When a uniform organization of the German army shall have been established, a comprehensive military law for the Empire shall be submitted to the diet and the federal council for their action in accordance with the constitution.

ARTICLE 62, For the purpose of defraying the expenses of the whole German army, and the institutions connected therewith, the sum of 225 (two hundred and twentyfive) thalers shall be placed at the disposal of the Emperor until the 31st of December, 1871, for each man in the army on the peace-footing, according to article 60. (See section 12.)

After the 31st of December, 1871, the payment of these contributions of the several states to the imperial treasury must be continued. The strength of the army in time of peace, which has been temporarily fixed in article 60, shall be taken as a basis for calculating these amounts until it shall be altered by a law of the Empire.

The expenditure of this sum for the whole army of the empire and its establishments shall be determined by a budget law.

In determining the budget of military expenditures, the lawfully established organization of the imperial army, in accordance with this constitution, shall be taken as a

ARTICLE 63. The total land force of the empire shall form one army, which, in war and in peace, shall be under the command of the Emperor.

The regiments, &c., throughout the whole German army shall bear continuous numbers. The principal colors and the cut of the garments of the Royal Prussian army shall serve as a pattern for the rest of the army. It is left to commanders of contingent forces to choose the external badges, cockades, &c.

It shall be the duty and the right of the Emperor to take care that, throughout the German army, all divisions be kept full and well equipped, and that unity be established and maintained in regard to organization and formation, equipment, and command in the training of the men, as well as in the qualification of the officers. For this purpose the Emperor shall be authorized to satisfy himself at any time of the condition of the several contingents, and to provide remedies for existing defects.

The Emperor shall determine the strength, composition, and division of the Contingents of the imperial army, and also the organization of the militia, and he shall have the right to designate garrisons within the territory of the confederation, as also to call any portion of the army into active service.

In order to maintain the necessary unity in the care, arming, and equipment of all troops of the German army, all orders hereafter to be issued for the Prussian army shall be communicated in due form to the commanders of the remaining contingents by the committee on the army and fortifications, provided for in article 8, No. 1.

ARTICLE 64. All German troops are bound implicitly to obey the orders of the Emperor. This obligation shall be included in the oath of allegiance. The commander-inchief of a contingent, as well as all officers commanding troops of more than onecontingent, and all commanders of fortresses, shall be appointed by the Emperor. The officers appointed by the Emperor shall take the oath of fealty to him. The appointment of generals, or of officers performing the duties of generals, in a contingent force, shall be in each case subject to the approval of the Emperor.

The Emperor has the right with regard to the transfer of officers, with or without promotion, to positions which are to be filled in the service of the Empire, be it in the Prussian army or in other contingents, to select from the officers of all the contingents of the army of the Empire.

ARTICLE 65. The right to build fortresses within the territory of the Empire shall belong to the Emperor, who, according to section 12, shall ask for the appropriation of the necessary means required for that purpose, if not already included in the regular appropriation.

ARTICLE 66. If not otherwise stipulated, the princes of the Empire and the senates shall appoint the officers of their respective contingents, subject to the restriction of article 64. They are the chiefs of all the troops belonging to their respective territories, and are entitled to the honors connected therewith. They shall have especially the right to hold inspections at any time, and receive, besides the regular reports and announcements of changes for publication, timely information of all promotions and appointments concerning their respective contingents.

They shall also have the right to employ, for police purposes, not only their own troops but all other contingents of the army of the Empire who are stationed in their respective territories.

ARTICLE 67. The unexpended portion of the military appropriation shall, under no circumstances, fall to the share of a single government, but at all times to the treasury of the Empire.

ARTICLE 68. The Emperor shall have the power, if the public security of the Empire demands it, to declare martial law in any part thereof, until the publication of a law regulating the grounds, the form of announcement, and the effects of such a declaration, the provisions of the Prussian law of June 4, 1851, shall be substituted therefor. (Laws of 1851, page 451.)

Addition to section XI.

The provisions contained in this section shall go into effect in Bavaria as provided for in the treaty of alliance of November 23, 1870, (Bundesgesetzblatt, 1871, section 9,) under III, section 5, in Wirtemberg, as provided for in the military convention of November 21-25, 1870, (Bundegesetzblatt, 1870, section 658.)

XII.-FINANCES OF THE EMPIRE.

ARTICLE 69. All receipts and expenditures of the Empire shall be estimated yearly, and included in the financial estimate. The latter shall be fixed by law before the beginning of the fiscal year, according to the following principles:

ARTICLE 70. The surplus of the previous year, as well as the customs duties, the common excise duties, and the revenues derived from the postal and telegraph service, shall be applied to the defrayal of all general expenditures. In so far as these expenditures are not covered by the receipts, they shall be raised, as long as no taxes of the Empire shall have been established, by assessing the several states of the Empire