out of the income of the domains, and the surplus of 34,079 thalers is paid into the public exchequer, while the rest is divided between the Duke and the State. Constitution, Revenue, and Population. The Staatsgrundgesetz, or fundamental law of the duchy, proclaimed May 3, 1852, vests the legislative power in two separate assemblies, one for the province of Coburg and the other for the province of Gotha. The Coburg Chamber consists of eleven, and that for Gotha of nineteen members, chosen in as many electoral divisions, by the indirect vote of all the inhabitants. Every man above the age of twenty-five, who pays taxes, has a vote, and any citizen above thirty may be elected a deputy. New elections take place every four years. The two assemblies meet separately every year; and every second year they unite into one Chamber, to which the Coburg Diet deputes seven, and that of Gotha fourteen members. The United Parliament meets alternately at the town of Coburg and at Gotha, and has to decide all legislative measures bearing upon questions affecting the whole duchy, while the provincial assemblies occupy themselves with affairs of a more local nature. The budget is voted for the term of four years, and in the financial accounts a distinction is made between Crown-revenue, derived from the domains, and State-revenue. In recent years the Crown-revenue produced an annual surplus of from 25,000l. to 26,000l., divided in the proportion above mentioned between the Duke and the public exchequer. In the budget estimates for 1873-77, the Crown-revenue for Coburg was set down at 223,700 florins, or 18,6427., and that for Gotha at 607,083 thaler, or 91,0621., per annum. The annual State-revenue and expenditure for the period 1873-77 was fixed for Coburg at 483,245 florins, or 40,2701., and for Gotha at 716,000 thaler, or 102,4001. The public debt, in 1874, amounted to 173,509 florins for Coburg, and to 471,443 thaler for Gotha, being a total of 85,1757. The area of the duchy is 816 English square miles, of which 230 belong to the province of Coburg, and 586 to Gotha. At the census of December 1, 1871, the inhabitants of the former division numbered 51,709, and of the latter 122,630, giving a total of 174,339. The population of the duchy increased to the number of 5,488, or 3.25 per cent., in the census period from December, 1867, to December, 1871. Nearly the whole of the population are Protestant. XV. SAXE-ALTENBURG. Reigning Sovereign and Family. Ernst, Duke of Saxe-Altenburg, born September 16, 1826, the son of Duke Georg of Saxe-Altenburg and Princess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin. Succeeded to the throne, at the death of his father, August 3, 1853; married, April 28, 1853, to Princess Agnes, born June 24, 1824, the daughter of Duke Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau. Issue of the union is a daughter, Princess Marie, born August 2, 1854; married April 19, 1873, to Prince Albrecht of Prussia. Heir-apparent is the only brother of the Duke, Prince Moritz, born October 24, 1829, and married, October 15, 1862, to Princess Augusta of Saxe-Meiningen, by whom he has issue four daughters and a son, Ernst, born Aug. 31, 1871. The reigning family of Saxe-Altenburg, formerly called SaxeHildburghausen, dates its origin from the year 1482, when the separation took place between the Ernestine and Albertine lines of Saxony. Up to the year 1826, Saxe-Altenburg formed part of Saxe-Gotha, and was then, by a general exchange of territories among the Saxon princes, made over to the Hildburghausen family. The Duke has a civil list of 143,000 thaler, or 21,450l., amounting to above one-sixth of the revenue of the whole country. On December 20, 1862, the Chamber raised the ducal income to this sum-from 128,000 thaler, or 19,2007., which it had been previously -on condition that the whole of the domains, formerly belonging to the reigning family, should be made over definitely to the State. Constitution, Revenue, and Population. The Constitution bears date April 29, 1831, but was altered at subsequent periods. It vests the legislative authority in a Chamber composed of twenty-four representatives, of which eight are chosen by the Ritterschaft, or land-holding nobility, eight by the inhabitants of towns, and eight by those of rural districts. The Chamber meets every three years, and the deputies are elected for two sessions. The executive is divided into three departments, namely, of the Ducal House; the Interior; of Justice; and of Finance. The budget is voted for three years, the last period of 1872-74 exhibiting an annual revenue of 878,904 thaler, or 131,8357., and an expenditure of 878,888 thaler, or 131,8321. Very nearly twothirds of the revenue are derived from the State domains, and the remainder from indirect taxes. The public debt at the commence ment of 1872 amounted to 1,047,352 thaler, or 157,1037., a moiety of which consisted in notes, not bearing interest. Saxe-Altenburg has an area of 509 English square miles, with a population, according to the census of Dec. 1, 1871, of 142,122 inhabitants. With the exception of about two hundred Roman Catholics, they are all Protestant. There are no settled Jews. The inhabitants of the duchy are of Slavonic origin, and the customs and dress of the nationality are still prevailing in the rural districts, although the Slavonic dialect has disappeared since the middle of the sixteenth century. The peasants are reputed to be more wealthy than in any other part of Germany, and the rule prevails among them of the youngest son becoming the heir to the landed property of the father. Estates are kept for generations in the same family, and seldom parcelled out. The rural population, however, has been declining in numbers for the last twenty years. XVI. WALDECK. (FÜRSTENTHUM WALDECK.) Reigning Sovereign. son Georg Victor, Prince of Waldeck, born Jan. 14, 1831, the of Prince Georg Friedrich and Princess Emma of Anhalt-Bernburg; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, under the guardianship of his mother, May 14, 1845; married, Sept. 26, 1853, to Princess Helena, born Aug. 12, 1831, daughter of the late Duke Wilhelm of Nassau. Offspring of the union are five daughters and one son, namely:-1. Pauline, born Oct. 19, 1855. 2. Marie, born May 23, 1857. 3. Emma, born Aug. 2, 1858. 4. Helena, born Feb. 17, 1861. 5. Friedrich, heir-apparent, born Jan. 20, 1865. 6. Elizabeth, born September 6, 1873. The Prince has a civil list of 245,000 thaler, or 36,735l., being more than one half of the total revenue of the principality. After the war between Austria and Prussia, at the end of 1866, Prince Georg Victor made an offer to abdicate the throne in favour of the King of Prussia, but the proposal was not accepted by the latter. Consequent upon further negotiations, a Treaty of Accession' (Accessionsvertrag) was signed by the Prince on July 10, 1867, by which he surrendered his chief sovereign rights to King Wilhelm I., retaining merely nominal power. Constitution and Population. The charter of the principality was granted Aug. 17, 1852. It provides for a legislative assembly of forty-one members, of which number eighteen are chosen by the nobility, thirteen by the inhabitants of towns, and ten by the people of the rural districts.. On October 22, 1867, the assembly approved the Treaty of Accession' concluded between the reigning Prince and King Wilhelm I., which made the administration of the country over to Prussia, restricting the authority of the representatives to purely local affairs. The principality embraces an area of 466 English square miles,. with a population, according to the census of December 1, 1871, of 56,224. At the preceding census, of Dec. 3, 1867, the inhabitants numbered 57,495, so that there was a decrease of 1,271, or 2.22 percent., in the four years. The great majority of the inhabitants areProtestants. XVII. LIPPE. (FÜRSTENTHUM LIPPE.) Reigning Sovereign and Family. Waldemar, Prince of Lippe, born April 18, 1824, the second son of Prince Leopold, and of Princess Emilie of Schwarzburg-Sondershausen; succeeded to the throne at the death of his brother, Dec. 10, 1875; married, Nov. 9, 1858, to Princess Sophie, born August 7, 1834, daughter of the late Margrave Wilhelm of Baden. Heir-apparent is the Prince's brother, Prince Hermann, born Jan.. 16, 1831, formerly captain in the Hanoverian army. The house of Lippe is a younger branch of the ancient family of Lippe, formed in the latter part of the sixteenth century. The Prince has a civil list amounting to about 10,000l., which is stated to be insufficient for the expenses of the court. Owing to financial distress, the late Prince, on May 17, 1850, sold a part of his territory, the Lippstadt, to Prussia, for a life-annuity of 9,000 thaler, or 1,3507. Constitution, Revenue, and Population. A charter of rights was granted to Lippe by decree of July 6,. 1836. It includes a representative organisation; but nearly the wholelegislative as well as executive power remains in the hands of the Prince. The Chamber of Deputies consists of twenty-one members, seven of which are elected by the territorial nobility, and the other fourteen by the inhabitants of towns and rural districts. The discussions are kept secret. To the Chamber belongs the right of voting, in part, the supplies; otherwise its functions are consultative. The Prince governs through one irresponsible minister. The public revenue for the year 1874 amounted to 664,161 mark, or 33,2087., and the expenditure to 733,524 mark, or 36,6761., leaving a deficit of 69,363 mark or 3,4681. The public debt, on December 31, 1874, was 1,400,000 mark, or 70,000l. The population, at the census of December 1, 1871, numbered 111,153 souls, living on an area of 445 English square miles. At the preceding census of Dec. 3, 1867, the inhabitants numbered 111,909, so that there was a decrease of 756, or 0.68 per cent., in the four years. XVIII. SCHWARZBURG-RUDOLSTADT. (FÜRSTENTHUM SCHWARZBURG-RUDOLSTADT.) Reigning Sovereign, Georg, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, born Nov. 23, 1838; succeeded to the throne at the death of his father, Prince Albert, November 26, 1869. Heir-apparent of the Prince is his cousin, Prince Günther, born June 3, 1860. The Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt line is a younger branch of the house of Schwarzburg, being descended from Johann Gunther, who died in the middle of the seventeenth century. The present sovereign has a civil list of 240,000 mark, or 12,000l., exclusive of the revenue of the State domains, property of the reigning family. Constitution, Revenue, and Population. The fundamental law of the principality is the constitution of March 21, 1854, modified November 16, 1870. For all legislative measures the Prince has to obtain the consent of a Chamber of Representatives of sixteen members, four of whom are elected by the highest-assessed inhabitants, and the rest returned by the general population. The deputies meet every three years, and their mandate expires at the end of two sessions. |