tion with the Bundesrath. The Kaiser was
represented personally at Strassburg, as he still is, by a
Statthalter, or governor-general, whose powers were such as the
Emperor might from time to time intrust to him. At Strassburg (p. 283)
also was a ministry, with a secretary of state at the head, and with
under-secretaries, appointed by the Kaiser, in charge of four
departments; likewise a council of state, which was a purely advisory
body made up of the secretary and under-secretaries, certain judicial
officials, and from eight to twelve members specially appointed by the
Kaiser for a term of three years.

*306. The Landesausschuss.*--Such privileges of self-government as were
possessed by the inhabitants of the territory arose from the peculiar
and complicated arrangements which were devised for legislation. In
1874 an Imperial decree called into being a Landesausschuss, or
Territorial Committee. This body consisted originally of thirty
members--ten elected in each of the three districts of Upper Alsace,
Lower Alsace, and Lorraine. Its function at the outset was merely to
give expert advice on subjects pertaining to local legislation and
taxation. By law of 1877, however, it was intrusted with power to
initiate legislation in matters pertaining solely to the territory.
Measures of any sort designed for Alsace-Lorraine exclusively were
enabled to be carried through by enactment in the Territorial
Committee, provided they received the assent of the Bundesrath and
were duly promulgated by the Emperor. The Committee was enlarged until
it consisted of fifty-eight members, thirty-four of whom were elected
by the assemblies of the three districts from their own membership,
four others being chosen by the communal councils of Strassburg, Metz,
Kolmar, and Muelhausen, and twenty elected by indirect suffrage from
the twenty-three circles into which the territories were divided.

*307. Legislative Processes.*--Several conditions, however, operated to
impose upon what might appear a fairly liberal system some very
serious limitations. In the first place, there was no possibility of
legislation which was wholly within the control of the inhabitants of
the territory. The laws applicable solely to Prussia are made
exclusively in Prussia, by Prussian authorities, and in like manner
those of every other one of the confederated states. But those of
Alsace-Lorraine, while they might be enacted in a provincial
legislative chamber, ac