Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1899 American Edition.djvu/977

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CONSTITUTION— AUEA AND POPULATION

()21

The Grand-duke is in the rc(3eipt of a civil list of 1,833,413 marks, which includes the allowances made to the princes and princesses.

Constitution.

The Constitution of Baden vests the executive power in the Grand- duke, the legislative authority is shared by him with a representative assembly (Landtag), composed of two Chaml)ers. The Upper Chamber comprises the princes of the reigning family who are of age ; the heads of the mediatised families ; eight members elected by the territorial nobility ; the Roman Catholic Archbishop ; the prelate of the Protestant Church ; two deputies of Universities ; and eight members nominated by the Grand-duke. The Second Chamber is composed of 63 representatives of the people, 20 of whom are elected by towns, and 43 by rural districts. Every citizen not convicted of crime, nor receiving parish relief, has a vote in the elections. The elections are indirect : the citizens nominating the Wahlmiinner, or deputy-electors, and the latter the representatives. The members of the Second Chamber are elected for four years, one-half of the number retiring at the end of every two years. The Chambers must be called together at least once every two years. ^Members of both Chambers wdiose seats are not here- ditary, receive an allowance of 12 marks a day and travelling expenses.

The executive is composed of four departments — the Ministers of the Interior, of the Grand-ducal House and of Foreign Affairs, of Finance, and of Justice, Ecclesiastical Aflairs and Instruction. The ministers are in- dividually and collectively responsible for their actions.

For general administrative purposes the Grand-duchy contains 53

  • Amtsbezirke,' suj^erintended by four general commissioners (Landes-

Kommissare). For purposes of local government it is divided into 11 circles (Kreise), and 1,605 communes (Gemeinden), 117 communal cities, and 1,488 parishes.

Area and Population.

The following table shows the area and population of the whole, and of the four commissioners' districts : —

District

Area : Square miles

Population

Pop. per square mile 1895

1890

1895

Konstanz Freiburg Karlsruhe . Mannheim .

Total .

1,610

1,830

993

1,390

281,770 469,515 445,156 461,426

285,459 480,664 472,061 487,280

177-4 262-7 475-4 350-6

5,823

1,657,867

1,725,464

296-4

Adding the part of the Lake of Constance next to Baden the area is

5,893 square miles.

Between 1890 and 189.'> the increase was 67,597, or at the rate of 0-802 per cent. })er annum. Of the population in 1895, 45-3 per cent, lived in communities with 2,000 inhabitants and upwards, 54*7 per cent, in smaller communities ; 847,281 were males, and 878,183 females — i.e. 10365 females per 100 males.