munities themselves. The sovereignty rests with the princes of the several states, who have bestowed a fixed power upon the Kaiser. As Emperor his office dates back to 1871.

The legislative machinery which has been devised for the use of these German sovereigns consists of the Bundesrath and the Reichstag. Sometimes the Bundesrath is likened to our Senate, or to the hereditary English House of Lords, while the Reichstag is compared to the House of Representatives or the House of Commons. But comparisons are odious.

THE BUNDESRATH.

The Bundesrath is an assembly in which the German kings, grand dukes, dukes, princes, etc., come together (by proxy) to direct the affairs of the Empire. Each of these sovereigns sends a specified number of delegates, in accordance with the provisions of the constitution. Thus the Kaiser, as the King of Prussia, sends seventeen delegates, while the King of Bavaria sends six. The total number of delegates is fiftyeight, so right in the beginning the Kaiser has a pretty good representation.

The delegations in the Bundesrath vote en masse—that is the "unit rule" prevails. The seventeen delegates from Prussia must vote as instructed by the Kaiser, and if there chanced to be but one member present he still would cast seventeen votes for the delegation. The members of the Bundesrath are referred to quite frequently as ambassadors. There is no need for discussion in the body since the delegations vote, in any event, as a unit.

The power of the German Bundesrath is, however, astonishing. Usually the lower house is supposed to be the one in which originates legislation, such as finance, affecting the people. But in Germany it is the Bundesrath which has the power to tax, and the lower chamber, the Reichstag, merely has the vetoing power.

This makes the taxing power in Germany primarily the privilege of the crown.

The financial program is prepared by the Chancellor, who is the direct representative of the Kaiser, and responsible only to him. In other governments members of the ministry are appointed by the legislative bodies, but the Chancellor is personally named by the Kaiser, and is not even a member of the Reichstag. He has the right, however, to address this body, as the privilege of a member of the Bundesrath of which, as the personal representative of the Kaiser, he is the presiding officer.

Since the Bundesrath, as already shown, practically controls the German Empire, and the King of Prussia, with his seventeen votes in the Bundesrath holds sway in that body, it is easy to see how the Kaiser is the dominating figure in the German Empire.

THE KAISER'S DUAL PREROGATIVE.

A unique provision of the German constitution is that fourteen votes in the Bundesrath can defeat any proposed amendment, and since the Kaiser controls seventeen votes, as King of Prussia, besides several others, he has a voting strength which can block any attempt to change the regime. Also, as King of Prussia, he can instruct his Chancellor to prepare laws to be introduced in the Bundesrath.

It is the power which the Kaiser possesses, as the King of Prussia, which gives him his control as the German Emperor. Prussia is the largest of the German states, and when the Kaiser, as King of Prussia, says that he is master in Prussia, he speaks the truth.

There is a ministry in Prussia, and the head of this body is usually the same person who occupies the position of Imperial Chancellor, and the Kaiser appoints this Minister as well as his associates, whom he can remove without reference to the Ministry as a body. There are two chambers in Prussian Min

istry commonly known as the House of Peers, and the House of Representatives.

Just to give the King of Prussia a little more control, he has the right to appoint all the members of the House of Peers, and also to designate the number. The House of Representatives, on the face of it, is a popular body, because the members are supposed to be elected by universal suffrage. The taxpayers vote for representation in this chamber, but they do not vote directly nor on equal terms.

Members of the House of Representatives are chosen by an electoral college, and several hundred of these colleges are selected at each election. Though taxpayers vote for the electors, all the votes do not have the same relative value. The taxpayers whose combined taxes represent one-third of the whole amount of taxes in an electoral district choose one-third of the members from that district to the House. Those who pay the next one-third of the taxes choose another third of the electors, and the remaining body of voters choose the last third.

CHAPTER XXVI.

UNCLE SAM AND THE NEUTRALS.

PRESIDENT WILSON PUTS EMBARGO ON FOOD SHIPMENTS SCANDINAVIAN COUNTRIES FURNISHING SUPPLIES TO GERMANY INSPIRES ORDER THE DIFFICULT POSITION of Norway, Denmark, HOLLAND AND SWITZERLAND.

HEN America first declared its intentions there were in

"America in War" simply meant that we should shut ourselves within our borders, perhaps furnish supplies to the Allied forces, lend money to England, France, Belgium and Russia, use our navy to protect our merchant shipping and go about our business, leaving the fighting to the forces joined in conflict against Germany.

They were disabused when the English and French Commission and the representatives of Belgium and Russia made it apparent that it would be necessary for America to actually raise a fighting army and General Pershing was sent to France. But they learned, too, that mobilizing the forces of the country and waging warfare were not simple matters. The truth was brought home that the whole nation must fight; that it must use its brains, its money, its resources of every sort, its whole power, both in an offensive and in a defensive way.

Not only must its soldiers and sailors face the guns of the Teutons, but the machinery of government must be used to bring the arrogant Hohenzollerns to their knees. Some startling things were discovered, and the brains of the diplomatic force of the government were put to the test. International problems arose which were never before encountered in the history of nations.

England, with its blockade against Germany, and Germany with its submarine warfare against British and neutral shipping, developed problems which had to be solved relative

to keeping Germany from getting supplies which would enable her to withstand the siege, and also as to the sending of supplies to England, Belgium, France and Russia, and particularly to our own forces fighting with the Allies in France.

A BIG FACTOR IN WAR.

Unfortunate as it may seem, one of the biggest factors in waging successful war is to prevent the enemy from getting food supplies. It is a frequently repeated truism that “an army travels on its stomach," and in the pleas for conservation and efficient management the leaders in every country declared frequently that "the war would be won by the last loaf of bread," or that it was not a question of ammunition, but of wheat.

One of the serious problems which the government was therefore called to face within a very short period after the American troops were first landed in France was that of dealing with the food situation, both at home and abroad. At that time the German U-boats had sunk merchant ships having a total of more than 5,000,000 tonnage, and the food situation was precarious in the Allied countries. Germany, on the other hand, because of long preparation for the struggle, coupled with efficient management and practices, was more largely independent of other countries.

At this time it was learned that Germany was securing large quantities of foodstuffs through the medium of some of the neutral countries. America was, therefore, called upon to take steps to prevent the Germans getting supplies from this country, through the intermediary of Holland and the Scandinavian countries. As a result the government placed an embargo on a long list of articles including fuel, oils, grains, meats and fodder. The embargo, which was made effective by a proclamation of President Wilson, forbade the carrying of such supplies as were mentioned from the United States or its territorial possessions to neutral countries.