Art. 5. Since according to the 59th article of the Final Act, in those States where the publication of the deliberations of the Chambers is secured by the constitution, the free expression of opinion, either in the deliberations themselves, or in their publication through the medium of the press, cannot be so extended as to endanger the tranquillity of the State itself, or of the Confederation in general, all the governments belonging to it mutually bind themselves, as they are already bound by their federal relations, to adopt and maintain such measures as may be necessary to prevent and punish every attack against the Confederation in the local Chambers. Art. 6. Since the Diet is already authorized by the 17th article of the Final Act, for the maintenance of the true meaning of the original act of confederation, to give its provisions such an interpretation as may be consistent with its object, in case. doubts should arise in this respect, it is understood that the Confederation has the exclusive right of interpreting, so as to produce their legal effect, the original act of the Confederation and the Final Act, which right it exercises by its constitutional organ, the Diet.' Diet of Further modifications of the federal constitution were Act of the introduced by the act of the Diet of the 30th of Octo- 1834. ber, 1834, in consequence of the diplomatic conferences held at Vienna in the same year, by the representatives of the different States of Germany. By the 1st article of this last-mentioned act, it is provided that, in case of differences arising between the government of any State and the legislative Chambers, either respecting the interpretation of the local constitution, or upon the limits of the coöperation allowed to the Chambers, in carrying into effect certain determinate rights of the sovereign, and especially in case of the refusal of the necessary supplies for the support of government, conformably to the constitution and the federal obligations of the State, after every legal and constitutional means of conciliation have been exhausted, the differences shall be decided by a federal tribunal of arbitrators, appointed in the following manner : 1 Wheaton, Hist. Law of Nations, pp. 460–486. 2. The representatives, each holding one of the seventeen votes in the ordinary assembly of the Diet, shall nominate, once in every three years, within the States represented by them, two persons distinguished by their reputation and length of service in the judicial and administrative service. The vacancies which may occur, during the said term of three years, in the tribunal of arbitrators thus constituted, shall be in like manner supplied as often as they may occur. 3. Whenever the case mentioned in the first article arises, and it becomes necessary to resort to a decision by this tribunal, there shall be chosen from among the thirty-four, six judges arbitrators, of whom three are to be selected by the government, and three by the Chambers. This number may be reduced to two, or increased to eight, by the consent of the parties: and in case of the neglect of either to name judges they may be appointed by the Diet. 4. The arbitrators thus designated shall elect an additional arbiter as an umpire, and in case of an equal division of votes, the umpire shall be appointed by the Diet. 5. The documents respecting the matter in dispute shall be transmitted to the umpire, by whom they shall be referred to two of the judges arbitrators to report upon the same, the one to be selected from among those chosen by the government, the other from among those chosen by the Chambers. 6. The judges arbitrators, including the umpire, shall then meet at a place designated by the parties, or, in case of disagreement, by the Diet, and decide by a majority of voices the matter in controversy according to their conscientious conviction. 7. In case they require further elucidations before proceeding to a decision, they shall apply to the Diet, by whom the same shall be furnished. 8. Unless in case of unavoidable delay under the circumstances stated in the preceding article, the decision shall be pronounced within the space of four months at farthest from the nomination of the umpire, and be transmitted to the Diet, in order to be communicated to the government of the State interested. 9. The sentence of the judges arbitrators shall have the effect of an austrëgal judgment, and shall be carried into execution in the manner prescribed by the ordinances of the Confederation. In the case of disputes more particularly relating to the financial budget, the effect of the arbitration extends to the period of time for which the same may have been voted. 10. The costs and expenses of the arbitration are to be exclusively borne by the State interested, and, in case of disputes respecting their payment, they shall be levied by a decree of the Diet. 11. The same tribunal shall decide upon the differences and disputes which may arise, in the free towns of the Confederation, between the Senate and the authorities established by the burghers in virtue of their local constitutions. 12. The different members of the Confederation may resort to the same tribunal of arbitration to determine the controversies arising between them; and whenever the consent of the States respectively interested is given for that purpose, the Diet shall take the necessary measures to organize the tribunal according to the preceding articles.1 (a) For further details respecting the Germanic Constitution, see Wheaton's History of the Law of Nations, p. 455, et seq. (a) [In 1848, an attempt was made to establish a new German nationality on the basis of a confederation of all the States, with one general Diet or Parliament, and a Central Executive at Frankfort. A national Assembly, elected by the people of the German States, including Schleswig and Holstein, in proportion to their respective populations and in the manner prescribed by the several local constitutions, met on the 18th of May, of that year, and adopted a law for the creation of a provisional central power, which was confided to the Archduke John of Austria, who was installed as Regent on the 12th of July. The Provisional Central Power was vested with the right of deciding on questions of peace and war, and, with the consent of the Assembly, of making treaties with foreign powers. The Diet, representing the old Federal Constitution of Germany, on his election, communicated to the Archduke the assent of their respective governments. A constitution was, at the same time, proposed, by which the Confederation was to be a Constitutional Monarchy, with a Diet of two Chambers. The "Emperor of Germany" was to be hereditary and inviolable, the ministers being responsible for all acts, and the existing German sovereigns to be members, though not exclusively, of the Upper Chamber, of which the other members were to be elected by the sovereigns, or the local Diets of the States; -the Lower Chamber to be elected for six years from electoral districts of equal population, one third retiring biennially. A Court of Imperial Judicature was to be established to have cognizance of all disputes between German States and princes, of disputes between citizens of different States, and disputes between princes and their State Diets; also of all imperial fiscal matters. Free municipal constitutions to be guaranteed; a national guard; § 24. United States of America. The Constitution of the United States of America is of a very different nature from that of the Germanic Confederation. It is not merely a league of sove unrestrained freedom of public meetings; and absolute freedom of religion and the press. Austria refused to take any part in a confederation of this character; but the Assembly proceeded to the adoption of the Constitution, and, on the 28th of March, 1849, elected the King of Prussia Emperor of Germany. The result, however, of his appeal to the other German States, being, that Austria, Wurtemburg, Bavaria, and Hanover, at once declared their decided dissent, and the Frankfort Assembly having refused some modifications of the Constitution, on which the king insisted, he gave a distinct and unequivocal refusal, on the ground that the Imperial Supremacy was an unreal dignity, and the Constitution only a means, gradually, and under legal pretences, to set aside authority and introduce a Republic. The Plenipotentiaries of Prussia, Hanover, and Saxony, published the draught of a new Imperial Federal Constitution, preceded by an address which stated that, "because the Frankfort Assembly ceased to exist as a legal body when it completed its plan of a constitution, which could not be accepted by the Government without alteration; all the after acts of the Chamber were to be considered as exceeding its powers, and without validity." The constitution thus proposed did not go into operation; but Austria convened at Frankfort, on the 10th of May, 1850, the Diet under the Federal Act of 1815, while Prussia contended that the assumption of a political superiority by Austria, and the summoning of the old Diet, were contrary to the spirit of the Confederation, and the resolution passed by it on the 13th of July, 1848, which abolished the former organization of the whole body. Two rival congresses were sitting at the same time, one at Berlin, headed by Prussia, and one at Frankfort, over which Austria presided. The object of the former was to establish a new Confederation, of which Prussia should be the acknowledged leader; of the latter to preserve to Austria her old preeminence, while taking into consideration a new organization of the Diet. After warlike demonstrations on the part of Austria and Prussia, for which an intervention in the disputes between the Elector of Hesse Cassel and his Diet were the apology, a conference of the different German States was had at the close of the year 1850, at Dresden, on the invitation of the two principal powers. This, after ineffectual efforts on the part of Austria to bring all the States of her Empire into the Germanic Confederation, resulted in the restoration, assented to in May, 1851, by all the German powers, of the old Frankfort Diet, as it had existed since 1815. Annual Reg. 1848, p. 362; id. 1849, p. 347; id. 1850, pp. 313, 320; id. 1851, p. 276. Brief as was the duration of the " German Empire," it became involved, under circumstances somewhat complicated, in a war with Denmark, growing out of a question which arose before its inauguration, and which was prolonged beyond its own existence the succession of the crown connected with the integrity of the Danish States. See for the merits of the controversy," Mémoire sur l'Histoire du Droit de la Succession à la Couronne de Danemark, par M. Wheaton, reign States, for their common defence against external and internal violence, but a supreme federal government, or com read before the French Institute, Compte Rendu, Mars, 1847. The Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein were under the same sceptre as Denmark, but in the kingdom, on the failure of heirs in the male line, then anticipated, the females of the same line are called to the throne; while in the Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, and in Lauenburg ceded to Denmark in 1815, as a partial indemnity for Norway, after the extinction of the males of the elder royal line, the males of the next collateral line succeed. This view of the case, however, was not acquiesced in by the reigning monarch, at least as regards Schleswig and Lauenburg; and though he admitted that there were doubts as to Holstein, he declared that every effort would be made to maintain the integrity of the Danish States. While Holstein and Schleswig were supposed to be united by a rule of succession which would continue the union of the Duchies, long established for administrative purposes, they both claimed to be considered a portion of the Germanic Confederation; but Holstein alone had been represented by Denmark in the Diet under the Federal pact of 1815. It was contended by Denmark, that the Duchy of Schleswig had always, with the exception of a brief interval, during which it enjoyed a doubtful state of independence, been a fief of the crown of Denmark, and that it never had belonged to the old German Empire, while Holstein had been, from time immemorial, a fief of Germany. So early as 1846, the Diet of the Germanic Confederation charged itself with this subject, on the application of Holstein, in order to preserve the rights of the Confederation and of the collateral branches to the successsion. Prussia took the initiative, in 1848, in the recess of the Diet, in sustaining Schleswig-Holstein against Denmark, and the Frankfort Assembly approved the conduct of the King of Prussia, and declared that the Confederation was bound to maintain the interests and rights of the Duchy of Holstein, in union with Schleswig, as being included in the Germanic Confederation. The King of Prussia was requested to represent to the King of Denmark the necessity of evacuating Schleswig, or should that be of no avail, to order out the troops of the Confederation to conquer it, and the Provisional Government of the Duchies was acknowledged by the Confederation, and placed temporarily under the protection of Prussia. Russia and Sweden protested against the interference of Germany, and an armistice was concluded, but not till actual hostilities had occurred. A temporary administration was formed for the Duchies, chosen in part by Denmark, and in part by Prussia, acting for the central power of Germany, which transferred, in 1851, its authority to commissioners of the Germanic Confederation, to be restored after establishing the old relations between Schleswig and Holstein, into the hands of their legitimate sovereign. This was done in February, 1852, and the authority of the King of Denmark again became paramount. The matter of the succession was settled by a treaty, concluded in May, 1852, at the invitation of His Danish Majesty, between Denmark, Great Britain, Austria, France, Russia, Prussia, and Sweden, so as to insure the unity and integrity of the Danish dominions. The King of Denmark, with the assent of the Hereditary Prince, and of the nearest cognates, and in concert with the Emperor of Russia, as head of the elder branch of the House of Holstein-Gottorp, agreed that in default of issue in a direct line |