allowed to hold any public office whatever. The House of Burgesses consists of 160 members, 80 of whom are elected in secret ballot by the votes of all tax-paying citizens. Of the remaining 80 members, 40 are chosen, also by ballot, by the owners of house property in the city valued at 3,000 marks, or 150l., over and above the amount for which they are taxed; while the other 40 members are deputed by various guilds, corporations, and courts of justice. All the members of the House of Burgesses are chosen for six years, in such a manner that every three years new elections take place for one-half the number. The House of Burgesses is represented, in permanence, by a Bürger-Ausschuss, or Committee of the House, consisting of twenty deputies, of whom no more than five are allowed to be members of the legal profession. It is the special duty of the committee to watch the proceedings of the Senate, and the general execution of the articles of the constitution, including the laws voted by the House of Burgesses. In all matters of legislation, except taxation, the Senate has a veto; and, in case of a constitutional conflict, recourse is had to an assembly of arbitrators, chosen in equal parts from the Senate and the House of Burgesses; also to the Supreme Court of Judicature of the Empire (Reichsgericht) at Leipzig. The revenue of the State is mainly derived from direct taxes, chief among them an income-tax, the amount of which upon each contributor is left to self-assessment. Disbursements for public works, including the maintenance of free and unobstructed navigation on the river Elbe, form the principal part of the expenditure. The jurisdiction of the free port was, however, on January 1, 1882, restricted to the city and port by the inclusion of the Lower Elbe in the Zollverein, although it was stipulated that the incorporation treaty with the Empire should not, unless necessary, be enforced until October, 1888. The alterations in the port necessitated by this step will involve an expenditure of 5 millions sterling, to which the Imperial Government contributes 2 millions. In the budget for 1883 the revenue was estimated at 35,291,314 marks, or 1,764,5651., and expenditure 35,738,283 marks, or 1,786,914., showing a deficit of 21,3491. The largest source of income is direct taxes, amounting to 688,500l. in 1883, and next to that the proceeds of domains, quays, railways, &c., amounting to 464,2631. in 1883. The largest item in the expenditure is for the debt, 345,500l. in 1882; for education the expenditure is 170,9027. The direct taxation amounts to 17. 10s. per head of population. For the privilege of remaining a 'Free Port,' and exempt from the customs of the Zollverein, Hamburg has to pay an annual sum. The public debt of Hamburg on the 1st of January, 1882, amounted to 143,826,050 mark, or 7,191,3021. The debt was in curred chiefly for the construction of public works, a considerable part of it being devoted, after the great fire in 1842, to the rebuilding of the destroyed city on a new plan. Population and Commerce. The state embraces a territory of 148 English square miles, with a population, according to the census of December 1, 1875, of 388,618 inhabitants, and on Dec. 1, 1880, of 453,869 (221,522 males, 232,347 females), Included in the census returns were two battalions of Prussian soldiers, forming the garrison of Hamburg. The state consists of three divisions, viz. the city proper with its suburbs, the district of Geest, and the townships of Bergedorf and Ritzebüttel, the population of each of which districts was as follows on December 1, 1880:— City of Hamburg, with suburbs. Total Inhabitants 410,127 36,388 7.354 453,869 The increase of population has been very considerable since the census of 1867. In the four years from 1867 to 1871 the population of the State increased at the high rate of 2.59 per cent. per annum; from 1871 to 1875, at the rate of 3.41 per cent. per annum, and in 1875-80, at the rate of 3.35. In 1883 the population of town and suburbs had increased to 460,561. A large stream of the German emigration to America-which, after rapidly declining, has as rapidly increased in recent years-flows through Hamburg. The number of German emigrants by Hamburg was 47,294 in 1869; 32,556 in 1870; 42,224 in 1871; 74,406 in 1872; 69,176 in 1873; 43,443 in 1874; 15,826 in 1875; 12,729 in 1876, 10,570 in 1877; 11,827 in 1878; 13,165 in 1879; 42,786 in 1880; 84,425 in 1881; and 71,164 in 1882. The total emigration by Hamburg in 1882 was 113,221. The emigration from Hamburg itself in 1881 was 3,188; in 1882, 3,290. Marriages, 1881, 4,050; births, 17,764 (586, or 3:30 per cent. stillborn; 1,705, or 9.60 per cent. illegitimate); deaths, 11,726; surplus, 6,038. Protestants (1880) 419,937; Catholics, 12,035; other Christians, 967; Jews, 16,024; unclassified, or 'no religion,' 4,906. The commercial intercourse of the United Kingdom with Hamburg is very important, embracing more than one-half of the total commerce with Germany. The total imports of Hamburg in 1881 were valued at 104,380,000l.; of this 48,430,000l. was by sea, of which 21,560,000l. was from Great Britain. The exports in 1881 amounted to 82,460,000l., of which 41,000,000l. went by sea. The total number of vessels which entered the port of Hamburg in the year 1881 was 5,975, with an aggregate tonnage of 2,805,605 in 1882, 6,189 vessels, of 3,030,909 tons. The vessels entering with cargoes under the British flag numbered, in 1881, 2,359, with a tonnage of 1,263,114, and cargoes valued at 4,600,000l., besides 104 of 32,893 tons, in ballast; in 1882, British vessels entered, with cargoes, 2,455; of tonnage, 1,322,791; the value of cargoes 33,875,000l., besides 76 vessels of 35,009 tons, in ballast. The vessels which cleared, in 1881, with cargoes, under the British flag, numbered 1,685, with a tonnage of 874,654, and cargoes valued at 10,000,000l., besides 779 of 424,067 tons, in ballast; in 1882, British vessels cleared with cargoes, 1,747, of 919,085 tons, and cargoes valued at 14,705,000l., besides 780 vessels, of 431,486 tons, in ballast. The total number of sea-going vessels (Seeschiffe) which belonged to the port of Hamburg was as follows on Jan. 1, 1883: : At the commencement of 1871, the number of vessels belonging to Hamburg was 439, with an aggregate tonnage of 184,496, so that in the twelve years there was an increase of 110,975 in tonnage. The mercantile navy of Hamburg was nearly eight times as large as that of the kingdom of Belgium. There were 12 miles of railway in 1883. British Consul-General.-George R. L. Annesley. XXIV. LÜBECK. (FREIE STADT LÜBECK.) Constitution, Revenue, and Population. The free city and state of Lübeck is governed according to a constitution revised April 7, 1875. The main features of this charter are two representative bodies-first, the Senate, exercising the executive, and, secondly, the Bürgerschaft, or House of Burgesses, exercising the legislative authority. The Senate is composed of fourteen members, elected for life, and presided over by one burgomaster, who holds office for two years. There are 120 members in the A House of Burgesses, chosen by all citizens of the town. committee of thirty burgesses, presided over by a chairman elected for one year, has the duty of representing the legislative assembly in the intervals of the ordinary sessions, and of carrying on all active business. The House of Burgesses has the initiative in all measures relative to the public expenditure, foreign treaties, and general legislation; while the Senate, entrusted with the executive government, has also to give its sanction to the passing of every new law. After the creation of a new system of judicature in 1879 for the whole Empire of Germany, with the Reichsgericht' at Leipzig at the head of all the Courts of Law, the Imperial Court at Leipzig is now for Lubeck the highest Court of Appeal. There exist at Lübeck, since October 1, 1879, only the Amtsgericht' and the 'Landgericht'; from these the appeal lies to the 'Hanseatisches Oberlandesgericht' at Hamburg, for the three Hanse towns, Lübeck, Hamburg, and Bremen, and from that to the Reichsgericht at Leipzig. 6 The estimated revenue for the year 1883 amounted to 2,914,369 mark, or 145,718., and the expenditure to the same amount. Nearly one-third of the revenue is derived from public domains, chiefly forests; another third from excise duties; and the rest mostly from direct taxation. Of the expenditure, one-half is for the interest and reduction of the public debt, the latter amounting, in 1882, to 22,826,620 mark, or 1,141,3311. Rather more than one-fifth of the public liabilities were contracted in 1806, at the time of the French occupation; while the rest consist mainly of a 4% loan of 1850, and a 31% loan of 1863. According to the census of December 1, 1875, the state comprises a territory of 127 square miles, with a population of 56,912, including a Prussian garrison; on December 1, 1880, the population was 63,571 (30,981 males, and 32,590 females). The city proper had 39,743, and the rural districts, composed of scattered portions of territory surrounded by Prussia and Mecklenburg, 12,415 inhabitants in 1875; in 1880 the city had increased to 51,055. In the four years from 1871 to 1875, the population increased at the rate of 2.18 per cent. per annum, and in the five years from 1875 to 1880 at the rate of 2:37 per cent. per annum. Except 807 Catholics and 560 Jews (1880), the inhabitants are Protestants. Marriages, 1881, 427; births, 2,170; (70, or 3.23 per cent., still-born; 192, or 8.55, illegitimate); deaths, 1,469; surplus, 701 Emigrants, 1881, 186; 1882, 204. Lübeck possessed, at the commencement of 1883, forty-seven sea-going vessels, of 13,012 tons, including thirty-five steamers, of 10,212 tons. In the year 1882, there entered the port of Lübeck 2,167 vessels, of 373,263 tons, and there cleared 2,171 vessels, of 375,417 tons. The number of vessels arriving under the British flag in 1882 was 10, of an aggregate tonnage of 6,881. The direct trade of Lübeck is chiefly with Russia, Sweden and Norway, Denmark, and Great Britain. Returns of the extent of commerce of the free city with Great Britain are included under Germany. (See p. 189.) The State had 8 miles of railway in 1883. British Vice-Consul.-H. L. Behncke. XXV. BREMEN. (FREIE STADT BREMEN.) Constitution and Revenue. The free city of Bremen is governed, under a constitution proclaimed March 5, 1849, and revised February 21, 1854, November 17, 1875, December 1, 1878, and May 27, 1879, by a Senate of seventeen members, forming the executive, and the Bürgerschaft, or Convent of Burgesses, of 150 members, invested with the power of legislation. The Convent is returned by the votes of all the citizens, divided into classes. The citizens who have studied at a university return 14 members; the merchants 42 members; the common traders and shop-keepers 22 members, and the other tax-paying inhabitants of the Free City the rest. The Convent and Senate elect the seventeen members of the Senate, ten of whom at least must be lawyers. Two burgomasters, the first elected for four years, and the second for the same period, direct the affairs of the Senate, through a Ministry divided into twelve departments-namely, Foreign Affairs, Church and Education, Justice, Finance, Police, Medical and Sanitary Administration, Military Affairs, Commerce and Shipping, Ports and Railways, Public Works, Industry, and Poor Laws. All the ministers are senators. The budget estimate of revenue and expenditure for 1883 balanced at 11,902,670 mark, or 545,1331. In 1882 the revenue was 13,381,957 mark, or 669,0971., and expenditure 12,940,7251. mark, or 647,0361. More than one-third of the revenue is raised from public property-Eigenthum und Rechten-and another third from direct taxes, one-half of which is income-tax. The chief branch of expenditure is for interest and reduction of the public debt. The latter amounted, in January, 1883, to 80,082,000 mark, or 4,004,1007. The whole of the debt, which bears interest at 31, 4, and 4 per cent., was incurred for constructing railways, harbours, and other public works. Population and Commerce. The population of the State amounted, on Dec. 1, 1875, to 142,220, inclusive of a Prussian garrison; in 1880 it was 156,723 |