catholic institutions founded for the education and training of ecclesiastics shall continue under the sole control of the Holy See, without any interference from the educational authorities of the state.

TITLE II.

RELATION OF THE STATE TO THE CHURCH

ART. 14. Every special restriction upon the exercise of the right of members of the Catholic clergy to assemble is abolished.

ART. 15. The government renounces the right to an apostolic legation in Sicily, and to the appointment or nomination to the major benefices throughout the kingdom.

Bishops shall not be required to swear fidelity to the King. Major and minor benefices may be conferred only upon Italian citizens, except in the city of Rome and in the subsidiary

sees.

Nothing is changed with respect to the collation to benefices of royal patronage.

ART. 16. The exequatur and placet regio and all other forms of government authorization for the publication or execution of ecclesiastical acts are abolished.

But, until otherwise provided by a special law mentioned in Art. 18, such exequator and placet regio shall be required for acts disposing of ecclesiastical property and for appointments to major and minor benefices, except those in the city of Rome and in the subsidiary sees.

The provisions of the civil law relating to the creation and management of ecclesiastical institutions, and to the sale of their property, remain unchanged.

ART. 17. In matters of spiritual discipline there shall be no appeal from decisions of ecclesiastical authorities, nor shall such decisions be recognized or executed by the civil authorities.

The determination of the legal effects of such decisions and of other acts of the ecclesiastical authority shall belong to the civil authorities.

If, however, such acts are contrary to the laws of the state or opposed to public order, or encroach upon the rights of individuals they shall be of no effect and shall be subject to the criminal laws, if they constitute offenses.

ART. 18. A future law shall provide for the reorganization, preservation, and administration of the ecclesiastical property within the state.

ART. 19. All regulations now in force contrary to this law are repealed.

JAPAN

In 1867 the Shogun, until then the real ruler of Japan, surrendered his powers to the Emperor. The disappearance of the Shogunate weakened the feudal system, which was, however, made the basis of the first representative organization. In February, 1868, a superior council and seven ministerial departments were organized; a deliberative assembly was convened, its members to be composed of delegates appointed by the feudal chiefs. In the same year the Emperor took an oath that "the system of a deliberative assembly should be adopted and that all measures should be taken in conformity with public opinion." The organization of government upon a feudal basis proved unsatisfactory; the deliberative assembly was abolished in 1870, and the feudal régime itself was suppressed in 1871.

An agitation in favor of national representative institutions began in 1874, but those in charge of the government considered such a step premature; in 1878 representative provincial councils were created. Beginning in 1880 a vigorous political propaganda was conducted in favor of the establishment of a representative assembly; an imperial edict of October 12, 1881, announced that the first Imperial Diet would be convened in 1890.

Between 1881 and 1889 important reforms were made in the organization of the government. The constitution was promulgated on February 11, 1889, and at the same time were issued the Imperial House Law, the ordinance concerning the House of Peers, the Law of the Houses, the election law for members of the House of Representatives, and the law of finance. The first Diet was formally opened on November 29, 1890.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

ITO, HIROBUMI. Commentaries on the Constitution of the Empire of Japan. Translated by Miyoji Ito. (Tokyo, 1889.) A brief commentary by the author of the constitution.

GOLLIER, THÉOPHILE.

Essai sur les institutions politiques du Japon. (Brussels, 1903.) An excellent account of the structure of the Japanese government.

NOSAWA TAKEMATSU. Étude sur la constitution du Japon. (Paris, 1896.) FURUYA, HISATSUNA. Système représentatif au Japon. (Brussels, 1899.) A study of the history and organization of the Japanese Diet. KAWAKAMI, KARL KIYOSHI. The Political Ideas of Modern Japan. (Iowa City, Iowa, 1903.)

ARTICLE I. The Empire of Japan shall be reigned over and governed by a line of emperors unbroken for ages eternal.

ART. 2. The imperial throne shall be succeeded to by imperial male descendants, according to the provisions of the Imperial House Law.2

ART. 3. The Emperor is sacred and inviolable.

ART. 4. The Emperor is the head of the Empire, combining in himself the rights of sovereignty, and exercises them, according to the provisions of the present constitution.

ART. 5. The Emperor exercises the legislative power with the consent of the Imperial Diet.

ART. 6. The Emperor gives sanction to laws, and orders them to be promulgated and executed.

ART. 7. The Emperor convokes the Imperial Diet, opens, closes, and prorogues it, and dissolves the House of Representatives.

This text has been adopted almost without change from the official English translation issued from Tokyo in 1889; the difficulty of obtaining revision makes it necessary to give this constitution in the untechnical language in which it here appears.

2 "By the Imperial House Law the succession is in the male descendants of the Emperor, in accordance with the law of primogeniture; when the Emperor has no descendants the crown goes to the male relative of the nearest collateral male line.