Imperial measures, after passing the Bundesrat and the Reichstag, must obtain the sanction of the emperor in order to become law, and must be countersigned, when promulgated, by the chancellor of the empire (Reichskanzler). All members of the federal council are entitled to be present at the deliberations of the Reichstag. The Bundesrat, acting under the direction of the chancellor of the empire, is also a supreme administrative and consultative board, and as such it has nine standing committees, viz.: for army and fortresses; for naval purposes; for tariffs, excise and taxes; for trade and commerce; for railways, posts and telegraphs; for civil and criminal law; for financial accounts; for foreign affairs; and for Alsace-Lorraine. Each committee includes representatives of at least four states of the empire.
For the several branches of administration a considerable number of imperial offices have been gradually created. All of them, however, either are under the immediate authority of the chancellor of the empire, or are separately managed under his responsibility. The most important are the chancery office, the foreign office and the general post and telegraph office. But the heads of these do not form a cabinet.
The Chancellor of the Empire (Reichskanzler).—The Prussian plenipotentiary to the Bundesrat is the president of that assembly; he is appointed by the emperor, and bears the title Reichskanzler. This head official can be represented by any other member of the Bundesrat named in a document of substitution. The Reichskanzler is the sole responsible official, and conducts all the affairs of the empire, with the exception of such as are of a purely military character, and is the intermediary between the emperor, the Bundesrat and the Reichstag. All imperial rescripts require the counter-signature of the chancellor before attaining validity. All measures passed by the Reichstag require the sanction of the majority of the Bundesrat, and only become binding on being proclaimed on behalf of the empire by the chancellor, which publication takes place through the Reichsgesetzblatt (the official organ of the chancellor).
Government Offices.—The following imperial offices are directly responsible to the chancellor and stand under his control:—
1. The foreign office, which is divided into three departments: (i.) the political and diplomatic; (ii.) the political and commercial; (iii.) the legal. The chief of the foreign office is a secretary of state, taking his instructions immediately from the chancellor.
2. The colonial office (under the direction of a secretary of state) is divided into (i.) a civil department; (ii.) a military department; (iii.) a disciplinary court.
3. The ministry of the interior or home office (under the conduct of a secretary of state). This office is divided into four departments, dealing with (i.) the business of the Bundesrat, the Reichstag, the elections, citizenship, passports, the press, and military and naval matters, so far as the last concern the civil authorities; (ii.) purely social matters, such as old age pensions, accident insurance, migration, settlement, poor law administration, &c.; (iii.) sanitary matters, patents, canals, steamship lines, weights and measures; and (iv.) commercial and economic relations—such as agriculture, industry, commercial treaties and statistics.
4. The imperial admiralty (Reichsmarineamt), which is the chief board for the administration of the imperial navy, its maintenance and development.
5. The imperial ministry of justice (Reichsjustizamt), presided over by a secretary of state. This office, not to be confused with the Reichsgericht (supreme legal tribunal of the empire) in Leipzig, deals principally with the drafting of legal measures to be submitted to the Reichstag.