e, power. The crown is hereditary in the male line of the
house of Hohenzollern, following the principle of primogeniture. An
heir to the throne is regarded as attaining his majority on the
completion of his eighteenth year. It has been pointed out that the
German Emperor, as such, has no civil list. He has no need of one, for
the reason that in the capacity of king of Prussia he is entitled to
one of the largest civil lists known to European governments. Since
the increase provided for by law of February 20, 1889, the
"Krondotations Rente," as it appears in the annual Prussian budget,
aggregates 15,719,296 marks; besides which the king enjoys the
revenues from a vast amount of private property, comprising castles,
forests, and estates in various parts of the realm. There are also
certain special funds the income from which is available for the needs
of the royal family.

*270. Powers.*--The powers of the crown are very comprehensive.[372] It
is perhaps not too much to say that they exceed those exercised by any
other European sovereign. The king is head of the army and of the
church, and in him are vested, directly or indirectly, all functions
of an executive and administrative character. All appointments to
offices of state are made by him immediately or under his authority.
The upper legislative chamber is recruited almost exclusively by royal
nomination. And all measures, before they become law, require the
king's assent; though, by reason of the sovereign's absolute control
of the upper chamber, no measure of which he disapproves can ever be
enacted by that body, so that there is never an occasion for the
exercise of the formal veto. To employ the language of a celebrated
German jurist, the king possesses "the whole and undivided power of
the state in all its plenitude. It would, therefore, be contrary to
the nature of the monarchical constitutional law of Germany to
enumerate all individual powers of the king.... His sovereign right
embraces, on the contrary, all branches of the government. Everything
which is decided or carried out in the state takes place in the name
of the king. He is the personified power of the state."[373] (p. 254)
Except in so far as the competence of the sovereign is expressly
limited or regulated by the constitution, it is to be regarded as
absolute.

[Footnote 372: They are enumerated in articles
45-52 of the constitution. Robinson, Constitut