Belgium, Denmark, Austria and Hungary; but there will still remain the menace of the Extremists, possibly reinforced by returned Siberian exiles, many of whom are philosophical anarchists.

*

THE KAISER AND THE GERMAN EMPIRE

ACCORDING to the Constitution of

the German Empire, dated April 16, 1871, the supreme direction of the military and political affairs of the empire is vested in the King of Prussia, who, as German Emperor, "represents the empire internationally," and can declare war if defensive, and make peace, as well as enter into treaties with other nations, and appoint and receive Ambassadors. But when war is not merely defensive the Kaiser must have the consent of the Bundesrat, or Federal Council. In this Federal Council of sixty-one members the Kingdom of Prussia has seventeen members; the Kingdoms of Bavaria, Saxony, and Württemberg have together fourteen, six Grand Duchies have eleven, five Duchies have six, seven Principalities have seven, three free towns-Lübeck, Bremen, Hamburg--have one Alsace-Lorraine has three.

each,

In the Reichstag, of 397 Deputies, Prussia has 236. In sharp contrast with the Prussian system, the Deputies are elected by universal manhood suffrage, with the result that, in the present Reichstag, there are 107 Socialists, ninetyone Centrists, ninety Liberals and Radicals, forty-four Conservatives, twentyseven members of the German Party, eighteen Poles, and twenty Independents.

In the army Prussia greatly outweighs all the rest of the empire, providing sixteen of the twenty-five army corps, as against three for Bavaria, two for Saxony, one for Württemberg, two for

THE CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT OF PRUSSIA

KAIS

AISER WILHELM, as King of Prussia, has given an undertaking to reform the Prussian Constitution at the end of the war. Under the present fundamental laws, the whole of the executive and much of the legislative authority is vested in the King, who appoints all Ministers by royal decree. The King's power in the executive department is, therefore, absolute. He also possesses the power of veto over all legislation.

The Herrenhaus, the upper house of the Legislature, is closely identified with the King, since Princes of the royal family and of two other branches of the Hohenzollerns are members, as are the heads of sixteen princely families and of the nobility formed by the King, with a number of life peers chosen by the King, who may further nominate an unlimited number of members for life, or for shorter periods. The King thus has it in his power to insure a majority for any measure he may wish passed in the Herrenhaus. The lower house has 443 members, elected indirectly, as follows: The indirect electors are divided into three classes: The first consists of all electors who pay the highest taxes, to the amount of one-third of the whole; the second, of those who pay the next highest amount, down to the limits of the second one-third; the third, of all who pay the lowest taxes. The indirect electors choose electors, who choose the representatives.

Under this system, which secures control to a wealthy minority, there were elected, in 1913, 202 Conservatives, 216 Centrists, Liberals and Progressives, 10 Socialists, and 15 others.

corps of Prussian Guards. Under the Constitution of 1871, the whole of the land forces of the empire form a united army, under the orders of the Emperor, whom all troops are bound by the Constitution to obey conditionally. The Emperor is, therefore, responsible for every order given to any part of the German Army.

mation of April 16, drew attention to the fact that the United States will in the coming year be called upon not only to feed its own people and army, but also to make very large contributions to the feeding of England, France, and Italy; Russia, as a great wheat growing country, being probably able to feed itself. It is estimated that, in part owing

to the destruction by frost of large areas of Winter wheat, the United States will this year produce less wheat than in average years by at least 26,000,000 bushels, though a part of this may be made up by Spring sowing over the frost-killed areas. The whole of Canada's coming supply of wheat has already been bought by the British Government, Canada having produced in 1915 336,258,000 bushels of wheat, one-fifth of which came into the United States.

Certain causes have contributed to bring about this world-wide wheat shortage, such as the large amount of wheat and other foods destroyed by German submarines, the lack of tonnage to bring wheat to England from Australia, the unwillingness of the Argentine Republic to sell wheat to England, the closing of the Black Sea route, by which Russia's

biles at night. On one farm a motor tractor working continuously for five days and four nights plowed a tract of forty-two acres, about equal to one-sixteenth of a square mile. To cover the same tract with a horse plow would, it is estimated, have taken fifty-six days, more than ten times as long; while the motor tractor plow, working only eight hours a day, would have taken twelve days to complete the work. On the darkest nights two acetylene lamps are used; on moonlight nights no artificial light is needed. The plow cuts four furrows at once, like the American "gang plow," and the men work in five-hour shifts, with an interval of an hour between two shifts for oiling and adjusting the tractor.

BRITISH WAR PENSIONS

the world, the destruction of immense quantities of wheat during the devastation of Rumania. France faces a deficit of 127,000,000 bushels of wheat in the coming year, in part due to the lack of field labor, while the aggregate deficit of the Entente Allies for the coming year has been placed at from 190,000,000 to 216,000,000 bushels.

Two ways of meeting this deficit have been suggested, besides wider cultivation-the saving of the large percentage of wheat lost in turning it into white flour, and the cessation of brewing and distilling, thus turning millions of bushels into bread instead of liquor.

Grants of the British Government are as follows, the rate being the maximum weekly allowance:

Disabled soldier, including children's
allowance

Widow with children..
Parent or guardian..
Other dependents

.$18.75

9.372

3.75

1.25

These payments are to be continued beyond the age of 16 in the case of apprentices receiving not more than nominal wages, or of children being educated at secondary schools, and may be granted or continued between the ages of 16 and 21 in the case of a child incapable through mental or physical infirmity of earning a living, provided the infirmity existed before the child attained the age of 16. Provision is also made for an alternative compensation to make up the deficit subject to a maximum of $12.50 a week, plus half of any earnings prior to the war between $12.50 and $25 a week.

In the case of slight injuries a gratuity averaging from $500 to $1,000 is granted

A

* * *

GERMAN RULE IN RUMANIA DISPATCH from Jassy, the temporary capital of Rumania, reveals the first news of Rumanian affairs that has been permitted to leak out since the occupation of that country by the Germans. The dispatch is dated March 28, 1917, and says that in all parts of Rumania women, old and young, have been arrested on the pretext of being related to members of the Government. Elderly magistrates and doctors are also among those who have been seized and imprisoned. The majority are being sent to Bulgaria and Turkey. Among those arrested is the mother of the Prime Minister. The situation in the country districts, where the population is kept in a state of terror by robberies, fires, and incessant requisitions, systematically carried out, is worse than that in the towns.

A dispatch from Zurich dated March 26 says that approximately 1,100 Rumanians of Transylvania have been sentenced by Austro-Hungarian courtsmartial to terms of penal servitude varying from thirty years to three years. The entire property of more than 600 Rumanians of Transylvania has been confiscated by the Hungarian Government. Practically all these victims of Hungarian persecution were Rumanians of position and education.

Among those condemned to death and

executed was a priest, Father David Pope; the former sub-prefect of Kronstadt, M. Constantine Bojta; M. Yovan Koman, a professor; M. Romulus Kristelgan, headmaster of the school at Kronstadt; M. Pompilius Dan, a private tutor; Dr. Zacharius Mountean, advocate; M. Victor Pope, chemist; Father Koman Baka, a priest, and Dr. Nicholas Hamzea, physician-all of Kronstadt. Among other victims condemned to death and executed were practically all the principal Rumanian Intellectuals of Klausenburg.

VAST QUANTITIES OF SUPPLIES

H. W. FORSTER, official Secretary

of the British War Office, in moving the war estimates made some interesting statements to Parliament regarding the prodigious operations in equipping an army. As an illustration, he said, at the beginning of the war it was difficult to obtain horseshoes, which were procured from Canada and the United States, hence village blacksmiths were organized to make hand-made shoes. This output, at first, was 50,000 pairs a month; it is now 1,500,000. To illustrate the scale upon which supplies were required, he states that the War Office had to provide:

Total in United States..

In the omitted States the number of foreign-born citizens in the foregoing classifications is fairly proportional, ranging from 30,000 in the more populous States to 4,000 or 5,000 in the Southern and smaller States. The foreign-born seem to prefer urban life, as 23,000,000 out of 35,000,000 live in cities. Only one-fifth of the population of New York and Chicago is of native white ancestry. Less than a third of the populations of Boston, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Buffalo, San Francisco, Milwaukee, Newark, Minneapolis, Jersey City, Providence, St. Paul, Worcester, Scranton, Paterson, Fall River, Lowell, Cambridge, and Bridgeport are of native ancestry.

Though the foreign-born constitute one-seventh of the nation, nearly onefourth of the arm-bearing strength of the country is represented in this class.

.1,209,000