by the Bundesrath. May 21, 1906, such a measure was
at last enacted by both chambers, providing for a payment of 3,000
marks a session (with a deduction of twenty-five marks for each day's
absence), and in addition free passes over German railways during, and
for eight days before and after, sessions. Upon the taking effect of
this measure, Germany became one of the several European countries in
which, within years comparatively recent, the members of the popular
legislative chamber have been given a right to public compensation.
Special privileges enjoyed by members are of the customary sort. No
member may at any time be held legally to account outside the chamber
by reason of his utterances or his votes within it. Unless taken (p. 226)
in the commission of a misdemeanor, or during the ensuing day, a
member may not be arrested for any penal offense, or for debt, without
the consent of the chamber; and at the request of the chamber all
criminal proceedings instituted against a member, and any detention
for judicial investigation or in civil cases, must be suspended during
a session.[335]

[Footnote 333: "The members of the Reichstag, as
such, shall draw no salary or compensation." Art.
32. Dodd, Modern Constitutions, I., 334.]

[Footnote 334: Cf. the Osborne Judgment of 1909 in
England (see p. 127).]

[Footnote 335: Arts. 30 and 31. Dodd, Modern
Constitutions, I., 334.]

II. ORGANIZATION AND POWERS OF THE REICHSTAG

*239. Sessions and Officers.*--The constitution stipulates that the
Reichstag and the Bundesrath shall meet annually. Beyond this, and the
further requirement that the Reichstag shall never be in session when
the Bundesrath is not, the Imperial Government is left entirely free
in respect to the convening of the representative body.[336] The
summons is issued by the Emperor and the sessions are opened by him,
in person or by proxy. By him the assembly may be prorogued (though
not more than once during a session, and never for a longer period
than thirty days without its own consent); by him also, with the
assent of the Bundesrath, it may be dissolved.[337] The chamber
validates the election of its members, regulates its own procedure and
discipline, and elects its president, vice-presidents, and
secretaries.[338] Under standing orders adopted February 10, 1876, the
pre