GOVERNMENT. The present Constitution of Prussia is a written instrument and one of the products of the revolutionary events of IS4S. It was promulgated by the King in 1S50 and has since been modified by various royal decrees. It prescribes a number of limitations in behalf of in dividual liberty upon the power of the Govern /neut. It may he amended by the King and the Legislature according to the ordina7 processes of legislation, except that the resolution for amendment must he twice passed by the Cham bers. an interval of three weeks intervening be tween the two votes.
The executive power is vested in the King. who attains his majority at eighteen. and whose crown is hereditary according to the principle of agnatic lineal primogenial succession. He is irresponsi ble and exercises his powers through mini-ters, who must countersign all his official acts and who thereby assume for them. Their responsibility, however. is not to the Legislature, hut to the King, who appoints and dismisses them without regard to the wishes of the Legislature. They are entitled to seats in either Chamber and may participate actively in the debates, but can vote only in the House in which they have a seat. They do not resign upon an adverse vote, for the parliamentary or cabinet system of government does not exist in Pi-us-ia. The number of minis ters as well as their duties is regulated by the King. At present there are nine. None of them acts as Prime Minister with authority over the others. although the Minister of Foreign Affair-, as chairman of the Council of Ministers, is called the Mini-ter president. Their responsibility is not collective, and each conducts his own depart ment independently of the others. However, they meet occasionally as a .?:taa tsmini&tcrium for the consideration of matters of general concern, for the discussion of proposed legislation, for the preparation of ordinances to meet temporary ex igencies during the adjournment of the Legisla ture. etc.
The legislative power is rested in the King and a bicameral legislature (Lampag), the two Chambers having substantial equality of powers in legi.lation. The House of Peers ( errEnhaus of three hereditary group'.: (1) Adult princes of the royal blood: (21 princes of media tized houses: (3) territorial nobles. and the fol lowing non-hereditary elements: (1) Life peers. appointed by the King from among certain wealthy and distinguished person.; (2) eight noblemen elected by certain Prussian land owners: (31 representatives of the univer sities, c f evangelical bodies, and of certain cities: and 4) an unlimited number of worthies appointed by the King for any term he pleases.
The total number of members at present is about 300. of whom about two-thirds are representa tives of large land-owninz The House of Representatives .1 /)!) ord tenliausl is com posed of 433 members. elected for a term of five. year by indirect vote. For the purpose of election the country is divided into districts, in each of which usually one member is elm-en by the three class system. Under this arrangement of each district the voters (all Prussian twenty-five years of age and qualified to vote in the municipal election.) are divided into three cla.se- accord ing to the amount of taxes they pay: the largest taxpayers, who together pay one-third of the taxes. constituting the first class: the next high est taxpayers, who together pay another third. forming the -econd class: and the remaining tax payers forming the third class:. Each class of voter- then chooses an equal number of electors, who then assemble and choose the representative. Thus it i- seen that the moneyed class have a most decided advantage. one elector is chosen from about 250 of the population and representa tives are distributed on the basis of one for about 75.000 inhabitants. The qualifications for mem bership in the House of Representatives are the completion of the thirtieth year, the full enjoy ment of civil rights. and the payment of all taxes assessed for the three years previous. The Par liament is regularly convoked by the King each year in November and in special session at such other times as he may choose. It is also opened, prorogued. dissolved, and adjourned by the King, but cannot be adjourned for a longer period than thirty or score than once during the ses sion. Each House is the judge of the elections at I qualifications of its own members and has full power over its organization, procedure. and discipline except that the sessions must be public. The monbers cannot be questioned outside of their resiwetive Chambers for any speech deliv ered or vote cast therein. nor be arrested with out the consent of the Chamber unless caught in the act of committing a crime or within twenty four hours thereafter. The members of the House of Representatives receive as compensa tion about three dollars and a half a day. In legislation the powers of the two Chambers are equal, except that the budget and revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives and cannot be amended by the Peers.