Bismarck is thought' to have created the chancellorship for and the powers of the office are such that a strong man in the position will dominate even the emperor who appoints him, and be a leader rather than a servant of the legislature. He is furthermore the (Erect head of the whole bureaucratic sys tem of Germany, which includes, in addition to the usual governmental bureaus, such as con sular service, customs, taxes, war, navy, agri culture, office and thh like, the railroads, telegraphs, educational syStems and numerous Other departments.
The result of the political organization of the empire is that the German governmental system is highly efficient. The high source of authority is the Bundesrat, composed of the best brains of the nation, such as the most prominent bankers, leading business men, ad ministrators; great landed proprietors and tax payers, eminent lawyers, etc., chosen for their integrity and ability. All problems therefore have the attention, not of politicians whose de cisions are dictated by motives of self-interest, but of disinterested patriots • who have every Possible qualification for the task. Thus, when Germany decides upon a policy it is a policy approved by her best men and not by her dema gogues, and it is a policy which commands the respect of the public as being the hest that could be adopted. And once a policy is decided upon it is carried into execution with unerring decisiveness. No endless questions of consti tutionality are brought up to defeat the will of the people, for the Bundesrat which passed the law is the court which will decide its con stitutionality, and •is, through the Chancellor as the head of the various departments, the power which will put it into effect. The Ger man system is. to centralize authority and to put it into the hands of those who may be trusted. An efficient government system as thus established, with policies determined by the wisest members of the organization and car ried into effect by a thoroughly responsive routine organization.
The Economic out line of its principal factors will demonstrate its thoroughness. The whole system is co-ordi nated so that cross-friction is eliminated to the greatest possible extent and every activity of German economy developed to the ultimate de gree. Germany's economic organization really begins in the home with maternity insurance and benefits for certain classes of women workers. The infant thus, at birth, is already a beneficiary of the system. The child next feels the good influences of the system in the strict discipline of the German home, which starts' him on the path of life with proper re spect for his parents and a valuable element of self-control ingrained in his character. The next step is the kindergarten, which gives the child an excellent start for school work. The
regular schooling follows, up to a certain point, where the wisdom of the system is shown by the branching off which occurs sufficiently early in life to prevent the wasting of years in stud ies that will have no bearing on the pupil's later career.
The •German educational system recognizes the fact that a large proportion of the pupils must earn their daily bread by the sweat of their brows. The whole student body is not, therefore, started off on a course of study cal culated to fit them for the chancellorship, from which the less fortunate ones drop out from time to time into business life and trades as necessity dictates, more or less learned, but the curriculum is so arranged as to lead each pupil to the goal selected for him; that which the circumstances and tastes of his parents dictate. All pupils enter the public schools at the age of five and a half to six years, and all pursue the same studies- up to the age of nine, when those intended for higher walks of life diverge into two branches; one curriculum leading to professional careers (medicine, law, teaching, the pulpit, etc.) and the other to technical careers (engineering, chemistry, architecture, mining, metallurgy, etc.), while the main body of pupils, who will not be able to afford special ized branches, continue from 9 years to 14 years in the public schools in a curriculum which is adapted to be of the greatest practical use in later life. The German pupil in the upper pub lic school grades has regularly 1,440 hours of study per year.
After leaving school at 14, the main body of pupils continue for three years (6 to 10 hours per week) while employed, to attend continua tion schools, in which special studies fitting them for particular trades and commercial po sitions are carried on, as well as certain general studies. Both the public school and continua tion school courses are compulsory. Those taking courses for professional and technical careers continue from the 9th to the 15th and 16th years in the middle schools and then pass into the high schools for four years more, when at the 19th and 20th years they are ready for the universities, in which four years or more are spent. Meanwhile, beginning at the 15th year, certain pupils destined for professional careers as officers have left the middle schools and gone into special academies, both military and naval, though from time to time at later periods in the school life (usually at the 20th year) pupils also have the option of entering the mili tary and naval branches for careers as officers. In the case of pupils taking up technical careers, one year's shop or field work is required prior to entering the university.