[38] It must be noted that, contrary to the practice in most parliamentary countries, there is no distinction made between ordinary laws and fiscal laws. The latter, particularly the budget, audit laws, loans, are subject to the same regulation as the former. This is explained by the fact that, unlike most other parliamentary countries, Germany does not practice, properly speaking, the two-chamber system.
[39] Heilfron, op. cit., vol. V, p. 3193.
[40] See in general the work of Redslob, Die parlamentarische Regierung in ihrer wahren und in ihrer unechten Form, Tübingen, 1918. It is curious to note that every argument and all the investigations of Redslob take as their point of departure the criticisms addressed by Professor Duguit against the French system, particularly in his Traité de Droit Constitutionnel, 1911, vol. I, pp. 411-412.
[41] This law has never been applied. President Ebert, now in office, was, it will be remembered, elected by the National Assembly.
[42] The President of the Reich has not, what is called in France, le pouvoir réglementaire, that is to say, the right to issue general ordinances obligatory on all citizens. He cannot make regulations of this kind except in cases where the Constitution or an ordinary law gives him special power to do so. In such a case either he issues the regulation, naturally with the countersignature of a Minister (Articles 48, 49, 51, 59 of the Constitution, for example), or he must first obtain the consent of the Reichstag.
[43] See particularly the decree of March 19, 1920, Reichsgesetzblatt, 1920, p. 467.
[44] At the meeting of the Committee on the Constitution on April 4, 1919, Preuss, then Minister of the Interior, declared that such was already the practice in Germany and that President Ebert presided over the most important meetings of the Council of Ministers.
[45] It includes in addition two members that do not belong to any party—the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Transport.
[46] [Article 64] provided also that after the reunion of Austria with the German Reich the latter would have the right to be represented in the Reichstag numerically in proportion to the size of its population. Until such union the representatives of German Austria would have only a consultative voice. This provision, contrary both in letter and spirit to [Article 80] of the Peace Treaty, brought a protest from the Supreme Council of the Allied Powers and their associates. The first note on September 2, 1919, demanded the abolition of the offending provision by constitutional amendment within a fortnight. On September 5, the German government replied that no article of the Constitution could be in contradiction with the Treaty of Peace, for [Article 78], paragraph 2, expressly provides that no constitutional provision may carry any attempt against the treaty. This reply justly seemed to the Allies insufficient. [Article 78], paragraph 2, constitutes, it is true, on the part of the drafters of the Constitution an excellent measure of precaution against contradictions between the Constitution and the Treaty not provided for in advance and revealed in practice. But the contradiction pointed out by the note of the Allies of September 2 was too clear and evident to have been accidental. The Allied Powers, therefore, demanded that the German Government send by means of a diplomatic document the interpretation contained in its note of September 5. This is the text, therefore, of a supplementary declaration drawn up by the German Cabinet and ratified by the National Assembly:
“The undersigned, duly authorized in the name of the German Government, recognize and declare that all provisions of the German Constitution of August 11, 1919, that are in contradiction with stipulations of the Treaty of Peace signed at Versailles on June 28, 1919, are without force, and that particularly the admission of the representatives of Austria as members of the Reichstag cannot be effected except if, in conformance with Article 80 of the Treaty of Peace, the League of Nations sanctions a change in the international situation of Austria. The present declaration must be ratified by the competent authorities within a fortnight after the Treaty of Peace becomes operative.”