Part 173

ARTICLE 18. No one is elected on the first ballot unless he receives: (1) an absolute majority of the votes cast; (2) a number of votes equal to one-fourth of the number of voters registered. On the second ballot a plurality is sufficient. In case of an equality of votes, the oldest is declared elected.

ARTICLE 19. Each department of Algeria elects one deputy.

ARTICLE 20. The voters living in Algeria in a place not yet made a commune, shall be registered on the electoral list of the nearest commune. When it is necessary to establish electoral districts, either for the purpose of grouping mixed communes in each of which the number of voters shall be insufficient, or to bring together voters living in places not formed into communes the decrees for fixing the seat of these districts shall be issued by the Governor-General, upon the report of the Prefect or of the General commanding the division.

ARTICLE 21. The four colonies to which senators have been assigned by the law of February 24, 1875, on the organization of the Senate, shall choose one deputy each.

ARTICLE 22. Every violation of the prohibitive provisions of Article 3, Paragraph 3, of the present law shall be punished by a fine of from sixteen francs to three hundred francs. Nevertheless the criminal courts may apply Article 463 of the Penal Code. The provisions of Article 6 of the law of July 7, 1874, shall apply to the political electoral lists. The decree of January 29, 1871, and the laws of April 10, 1871, May 2, 1871, and February 18, 1873, are repealed. Paragraph 11 of Article 15 of the organic decree of February 2, 1852, is also repealed, in so far as it refers to the law of May 21, 1836, on lotteries, reserving, however, to the courts the right to apply to convicted persons Article 42 of the Penal Code. The provisions of the laws and decrees now in force, with which the present law does not conflict, shall continue to be applied.

ARTICLE 23. The provision of Article 12 of the present law by which an interval of six months must elapse between the expiration of duties and election, shall not apply to officials, except Prefects and Sub-Prefects, whose duties shall have ceased either before the promulgation of the present law or within the twenty days following it.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1879. Law Relating to the Seat of the Executive Power and of the Chambers at Paris. July 22.

ARTICLE 1. The seat of the Executive Power and of the two Chambers is at Paris.

ARTICLE 2. The Palace of the Luxemburg and the Palais-Bourbon are assigned, the first to the use of the Senate, the second to that of the Chamber of Deputies. Nevertheless each of the Chambers is authorized to choose, in the city of Paris, the palace which it wishes to occupy.

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ARTICLE 3. The various parts of the palace of Versailles now occupied by the Senate and Chamber of Deputies preserve their arrangements. Whenever, according to Articles 7 and 8 of the law of February 25, 1875, on the organization of the public powers, a meeting of the National Assembly takes place, it shall sit at Versailles, in the present hall of the Chamber of Deputies. Whenever, according to Article 9 of the law of February 24, 1875, on the organization of the Senate, and Article 12 of the constitutional law of July 16, 1875, on the relations of the public powers, the Senate shall be called upon to constitute itself a Court of Justice, it shall indicate the town and place where it proposes to sit.

ARTICLE 4. The Senate and Chamber of Deputies will sit at Paris on and after November 3 next.

ARTICLE 5. The Presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies are charged with the duty of securing the external and internal safety of the Chambers over which they preside. To this end they have the right to call upon the armed force and every authority whose assistance they judge necessary. The demands may be addressed directly to all officers, commanders, or officials, who are bound to obey immediately, under the penalties established by the laws. The Presidents of the Senate and Chamber of Deputies may delegate to the questors or to one of them their right of demanding aid.

ARTICLE 6. Petitions to either of the Chambers can be made and presented in writing only. It is forbidden to present them in person or at the bar.

ARTICLE 7. Every violation of the preceding article, every provocation, by speeches uttered publicly, or by writings, or printed matter, posted or distributed, to a crowd upon the public ways, having for an object the discussion, drawing up, or carrying to the Chambers or either of them, of petitions, declarations, or addresses—whether or not any results follow such action—shall be punished by the penalties enumerated in Paragraph 1 of Article 5 of the law of June 7, 1848.

ARTICLE 8. The preceding provisions do not diminish the force of the law of June 7, 1848, on riotous assemblies.

ARTICLE 9. Article 463 of the Penal Code applies to the offences mentioned in the present law.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1884. Law Amending the Organic Laws on the Organization of the Senate and the Elections of Senators. December 9.

ARTICLE 1. The Senate consists of three hundred members, elected by the departments and the colonies. The present members, without any distinction between senators elected by the National Assembly or the Senate and those elected by the departments and colonies, maintain their term of office during the time for which they have been chosen.

ARTICLE 2. The department of the Seine elects ten senators. The department of the Nord elects eight senators. The following departments elect five senators each: Côtes-du-Nord, Finistère, Gironde. Ille-et-Vilaine, Loire, Loire-Inférieure, Pas-de-Calais, Rhône, Saône-et-Loire, Seine-Inférieure. The following departments elect four senators each: Aisne, Bouches-du-Rhône, Charente-Inférieure, Dordogne, Haute-Garonne, Isère, Maine-et-Loire, Manche, Morbihan, Puy-de-Dome, Seine-et-Oise, Somme. The following departments elect three senators each: Ain, Allier, Ardèche, Ardennes, Aube, Aude, Aveyron, Calvados, Charente, Cher, Corrèze, Corse, Côte·d'Or, Creuse, Doubs, Drôme, Eure, Eure-et-Loir, Gard, Gers, Hérault, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Jura, Landes, Loir-et-Cher, Haute-Loire, Loiret, Lot, Lot-et-Garonne, Marne, Haute-Marne, Mayenne, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Meuse, Nièvre, Oise, Orne, Basses-Pyréneées, Haute-Saône, Sarthe, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Seine-et-Marne, Deux-Sèvres, Tarn, Var, Vendée, Vienne, Haute-Vienne, Vosges, Yonne. The following departments elect two senators each: Basses-Alpes, Hautes-Alpes, Alpes-Maritimes, Ariège, Cantal, Lozère, Hautes-Pyrénées, Pyrénées-Orientales, Tarn-et-Garonne, Vancluse. The following elect one senator each: the Territory of Belfort, the three departments of Algeria, the four colonies: Martinique, Guadeloupe, Réunion and French Indies.

ARTICLE 3. In the departments where the number of senators is increased by the present law, the increase shall take effect as vacancies occur among the life senators. To this end, within eight days after the vacancy occurs, it shall be determined by lot what department shall be called upon to elect a senator. This election shall take place within three months of the determination by lot. Furthermore, if the vacancy occurs within six months preceding the triennial election, the vacancy shall be filled at that election. The term of office in this case shall expire at the same time as that of the other senators belonging to the same department.

ARTICLE 4. No one shall be a senator unless he is a French citizen, forty years of age, at least, and enjoying civil and political rights. Members of families that have reigned in France are ineligible to the Senate.

ARTICLE 5. The soldiers of the land and naval forces cannot be elected senators. There are excepted from this provision: I. The Marshals and Admirals of France; II. The general officers maintained without limit of age in the first section of the list of the general staff and not provided with a command; III. The general officers placed in the second section of the list of the general staff; IV. Soldiers of the land and naval forces who belong either to the reserve of the active army or to the territorial army.

ARTICLE 6. Senators are elected by "scrutin de liste," by a college meeting at the capital of the department or colony, and composed: (1) of the Deputies; (2) of the General Councilors; (3) of the Arrondissement Councilors; (4) of delegates elected from among the voters of the commune, by each Municipal Council.

Councils composed of ten members shall elect one delegate. Councils composed of twelve members shall elect two delegates. Councils composed of sixteen members shall elect three delegates. Councils composed of twenty-one members shall elect six delegates. Councils composed of twenty-three members shall elect nine delegates. Councils composed of twenty-seven members shall elect twelve delegates. Councils composed of thirty members shall elect fifteen delegates. Councils composed of thirty-two members shall elect eighteen delegates. Councils composed of thirty-four members shall elect twenty-one delegates. Councils composed of thirty-six members or more shall elect twenty-four delegates. The Municipal Council of Paris shall elect thirty delegates. In the French Indies the members of the local councils take the place of Arrondissement Councilors. The Municipal Council of Pondichéry shall elect five delegates. The Municipal Council of Karikal shall elect three delegates. All the other communes shall elect two delegates each. The balloting takes place at the capital of each district.

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ARTICLE 7. Members of the Senate are elected for nine years. The Senate is renewed every three years according to the order of the present series of departments and colonies.

ARTICLE 8. Articles 2 (paragraphs 1 and 2), 3, 4, 5, 8, 14, 16, 19 and 23 of the organic law of August 2, 1875, on the Elections of Senators are amended as follows:

"Article 2 (paragraphs 1 and 2). In each Municipal Council the election of delegates takes place without debate and by secret ballot, by "scrutin de liste" and by an absolute majority of votes cast. After two ballots a plurality is sufficient, and in case of an equality of votes the oldest is elected. The procedure and method is the same for the election of alternates. Councils having one, two, or three delegates to choose shall elect one alternate. Those choosing six or nine delegates elect two alternates. Those choosing twelve or fifteen delegates elect three alternates. Those choosing eighteen or twenty-one delegates elect four alternates. Those choosing twenty-four delegates elect five alternates. The Municipal Council of Paris elects eight alternates; The alternates take the place of delegates in case of refusal or inability to serve, in the order determined by the number of votes received by each of them.

Article 3. In communes where the duties of a Municipal Council are performed by a special delegation organized by virtue of Article 44 of' the law of April 5, 1884, the senatorial delegates and alternates shall be chosen by the old council.

Article 4. If the delegates were not present at the election, notice is given them by the Mayor within twenty-four hours. They must within five days notify the Prefect of their acceptance. In case of declination or silence they shall be replaced by the alternates, who are then placed upon the list as the delegates of the commune.

Article 5. The official report of the election of delegates and alternates is transmitted at once to the Prefect. It indicates the acceptance or declination of the delegates and alternates, as well as the protests made by one or more members of the Municipal Council against the legality of the election. A copy of this official report is posted on the door of the town hall.

Article 8. Protests concerning the election of delegates or alternates are decided, subject to an appeal to the Council of State, by the Council of the Prefecture, and, in the colonies, by the Privy Council. Delegates whose election is set aside because they do not satisfy the conditions demanded by law, or because of informality, are replaced by the alternates. In case the election of a delegate and of an alternate is rendered void, as by the refusal or death of both after their acceptance, new elections are held by the Municipal Council on a day fixed by decree of the Prefect.

Article 14. The first ballot begins at eight o'clock in the morning and closes at noon. The second begins at two o'clock and closes at four o'clock. The third begins at seven o'clock and closes at ten o'clock. The results of the ballotings are determined by the bureau and announced immediately by the President of the electoral college.

Article 16. Political meetings for the nomination of senators may be held from the date of the promulgation of the decree summoning the electors up to the day of the election inclusive. The declaration prescribed by Article 2 of the law of June 30, 1881, shall be made by two voters, at least. The forms and regulations of this Article, as well as those of Article 3, shall be observed. The members of Parliament elected or electors in the department, the senatorial electors, delegates and alternates, and the candidates, or their representatives, may alone be present at these meetings. The municipal authorities will see to it that no other person is admitted. Delegates and alternates shall present as a means of identification a certificate from the Mayor of the commune; candidates or their representatives a certificate from the official who shall have received the declaration mentioned in Paragraph 2.

Article 19. Every attempt at corruption or constraint by the employment of means enumerated in Articles 177 and following of the Penal Code, to influence the vote of an elector or to keep him from voting, shall be punished by imprisonment of from three months to two years, and by a fine of from fifty francs to five hundred francs, or by one of these penalties alone. Article 463 of the Penal Code is applicable to the penalties provided for by the present article.

Article 23. Vacancies caused by the death or resignation of senators shall be filled within three months; moreover, if the vacancy occurs within the six months preceding the triennial elections, it shall be filled at those elections."

ARTICLE 9. There are repealed: (1) Articles 1 to 7 of the law of February 24, 1875, on the organization of the Senate; (2) Articles 24 and 25 of the law of August 2, 1875, on the elections of senators.

Temporary Provision.

In case a special law on parliamentary incompatibilities shall not have been passed at the date of the next senatorial elections, Article 8, of the law of November 30, 1875, shall apply to those elections. Every official affected by this provision, who has had twenty years of service and is fifty years of age at the date of his acceptance of the office [of senator], may establish his right to a proportional retiring pension, which shall be governed by the third paragraph of Article 12, of the law of June 9, 1853.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1885. Law Amending the Electoral Law. June 16.

[Footnote: Articles 1, 2 and 3 repealed by the law of February 13 1889, _infra._]

[ARTICLE 1. The members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by "scrutin de liste."]

[ARTICLE 2. Each department elects the number of deputies assigned to it in the table (Footnote: This table may be found in the Bulletin des Lois, twelfth series, No. 15,518; and in the Journal Officiel for June 17, 1885, page 3074.) annexed to the present law, on the basis of one deputy for seventy thousand inhabitants, foreign residents not included. Account shall be taken, nevertheless, of every fraction smaller than seventy thousand. (Footnote: i. e., fractions of less than 70,000 are entitled to a deputy.) Each department elects at least three deputies. Two deputies are assigned to the territory of Belfort, six to Algeria, and ten to the colonies, as is indicated by the table. This table can be changed by law only.]

[ARTICLE 3. The department forms a single electoral district.]

ARTICLE 4. Members of families that have reigned in France are ineligible to the Chamber of Deputies.

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ARTICLE 5. No one is elected on the first ballot unless he receives: (1) an absolute majority of the votes cast; (2) a number of votes equal to one-fourth of the total number of voters registered. On the second ballot a plurality is sufficient. In case of an equality of votes, the oldest of the candidates is declared elected.

ARTICLE 6. Subject to the case of a dissolution foreseen and regulated by the Constitution, the general elections take place within sixty days preceding the expiration of the powers of the Chamber of Deputies.

ARTICLE 7. Vacancies shall not be filled which occur in the six months preceding the renewal of the Chamber.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1887. Law on Parliamentary Incompatibilities. December 26.

Until the passage of a special law on parliamentary incompatibilities, Articles 8 and 9 of the law of November 30, 1875, shall apply to senatorial elections. Every official affected by this provision who has had twenty years of service and is fifty years of age at the time of his acceptance of the office [of senator]. may establish his rights to a proportional retiring pension, which shall be governed by the third paragraph of Article 12 of the law of June 9, 1853.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1889. Law Re-establishing Single Districts for the Election of Deputies. February 13.

ARTICLE 1. Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the law of June 16, 1885, are repealed.

ARTICLE 2. Members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected by single districts. Each administrative arrondissement in the departments, and each municipal arrondissement at Paris and at Lyons, elects one deputy. Arrondissements whose population exceeds one hundred thousand inhabitants elect an additional deputy for every one hundred thousand or fraction of one hundred thousand inhabitants. The arrondissements are in this case divided into districts, a table of which is annexed to the present law and can be changed by a law only.

[Footnote: This table may be found in the _Journal Officiel_ for February 14, 1889. pages 76 and following; and in the _Bulletin des Lois_, twelfth series, No. 20,475.]

ARTICLE 3. One deputy is assigned to the territory of Belfort, six to Algeria, and ten to the colonies, as is indicated by the table.

ARTICLE 4. On and after the promulgation of the present law, until the renewal of the Chamber of Deputies, vacancies occurring in the Chamber of Deputies shall not be filled.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: 1889. Law on Multiple Candidatures. July 17.

ARTICLE 1. No one may be a candidate in more than one district.

ARTICLE 2. Every citizen who offers himself or is offered at the general or partial elections must, by a declaration signed or countersigned by himself, and duly legalized, make known in what district he means to be a candidate. This declaration is deposited, and a provisional receipt obtained therefor, at the Prefecture of the department concerned, the fifth day, at latest, before the day of election. A definitive receipt shall be delivered within twenty-four hours.

ARTICLE 3. Every declaration made in violation of Article 1 of the present law is void and not to be received. If declarations are deposited by the same citizen in more than one district, the earliest in date is alone valid. If they bear the same date, all are void.

ARTICLE 4. It is forbidden to sign or post placards, to carry or distribute ballots, circulars, or platforms in the interest of a candidate who has not conformed to the requirements of the present law.

ARTICLE 5. Ballots bearing the name of a citizen whose candidacy is put forward in violation of the present law shall not be included in the return of votes. Posters, placards, platforms, and ballots posted or distributed to support a candidacy in a district where such candidacy is contrary to the law, shall be removed or seized.

ARTICLE 6. A fine of ten thousand francs shall be imposed on the candidate violating the provisions of the present law, and one of five thousand francs on all persons acting in violation of Article 4 of the present law.

CONSTITUTION OF FRANCE: End----------

CONSTITUTION OF GERMANY.

CONSTITUTION OF GERMANY: 13th-17th Centuries. The Old (Holy Roman) Empire. The Golden Bull.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1125-1152; 1347-1493; and DIET, THE GERMANIC.

CONSTITUTION OF GERMANY: A. D. 1815.- The Confederation.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1814-1820.

CONSTITUTION OF GERMANY: A. D. 1871. The New Empire.

On the 18th day of January, 1871, at Versailles, King William of Prussia assumed the title of German Emperor. On the 16th of April following the Emperor issued a proclamation, by and with the consent of the Council of the German Confederation, and of the Imperial Diet, decreeing the adoption of a constitution for the Empire.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1871 (JANUARY) and (APRIL).

The following is a translation of the text of the Constitution, as transmitted by the American Minister at Berlin to his Government:

His Majesty the King of Prussia, in the name of the North German Union, His Majesty the King of Bavaria, His Majesty the King of Würtemberg, His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Baden, and His Royal Highness the Grand Duke of Hesse, and by Rhine for those parts of the Grand Duchy of Hesse which are situated south of the Main, conclude an eternal alliance for the protection of the territory of the confederation, and of the laws of the same, as well as for the promotion of the welfare of the German people. This confederation shall bear the name of the German Empire, and shall have the following constitution.

I. Territory.

Article I. The territory of the confederation shall consist of the States of Prussia, with Lauenburg, Bavaria, Saxony, Würtemberg, Baden, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, Saxe-Weimar, Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Oldenburg, Brunswick, Saxe-Meiningen, Saxe-Altenburg, Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, Anhalt, Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt, Schwarzburg-Sondershnusen, Waldeck, Reuss of the elder branch, Reuss of the younger branch, Schaumburg-Lippe, Lippe, Lubeck, Bremen, and Hamburg.

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II. Legislation of the Empire.