of the
Landtag are elected for six years (one-half retiring every three
years) by the diets of the circles, and they comprise, as a rule,
local administrative officials of the circles, large landowners, and
other well-to-do persons. Sessions are convoked by the crown at least
every two years.[395] The Landtag's functions are comprehensive. They
include the supervision of charities, highways, and industry; the
voting of local taxes and the apportionment of them among the circles;
the enactment of local laws; the custody of provincial property; the
election of the Landeshauptmann and the members of the provincial
committee; and the giving of advice on provincial matters at the
request of the central government. The Landtag is in practice less
independent, however, than this enumeration of powers might seem to
imply. All of its legislation requires the assent of the king; most of
its fiscal arrangements must be submitted to one or more of the
ministers; and the body itself may be dissolved at any time by the
crown.

[Footnote 395: Towns of twenty-five thousand
inhabitants or more may, by ministerial decree, be
set off as separate circles. In such circles
Landtag members are chosen by the municipal
officials.]

*290. The Government District.*--Each province is divided into a number
of Regierungsbezirke, or districts, of which there are now thirty-five
in the kingdom.[396] Unlike the province, the district exists for
purposes of general administration only. It therefore has no organs of
self-government. Its Regierung, or "administration," consists of a
body of professional, salaried officials, appointed by the crown and
having at its head the Regierungspraesident, who is, on the whole, the
most important official in the Prussian local service. The subjects
that fall within the jurisdiction of the functionaries of the
district, including taxation, education, religion, forests, etc., are
very comprehensive, and the work of administration is carried on
chiefly through "colleges," or boards. For the management of police
and the supervision of local bodies there exists a Bezirksausschuss,
or district committee, composed of the Regierungspraesident, two (p. 271)
other persons appointed by the crown, and four members elected by the
Provinzialausschuss for six years. A very important function which
this body has possessed since 1883