An amendment to the Constitution so adopted shall be signed by the president and secretary of the Storthing, and forwarded to the King for publication as part of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway.

GENERAL LOWZOW TALKS ON NORWAY AND PREPAREDNESS.

Christiania, Norway-General Lowzow, a former minister of defense, in a lecture given upon the defense of Norway, said: We are a small nation who have nothing to win by a war. The powers are doing what they can to draw more countries into the war, each on their own side, or, if they find it advantageous, to force the smaller states into the war on the side of the opponent. The neutral states have already felt the inconveniences of the war, though what we have hitherto seen is a trifle. When the big battle fleets commence their fight in the North sea, and not till then, will the danger be great for our country. Then we may be obliged to take sides.

After the first days of the crisis had passed, the people took it for granted that Norway would not intervene. The danger of war is just as great as before, and it depends on our preparing with might and man for all eventualities. Everything must now be done in order to improve our defense in the best possible way. (Christian Science Monitor).

OTHER CONSTITUTIONS.

The University of Chicago press has published two large volumes entitled "Modern Constitutions," by Walter Fairleigh Dodd, which contain the full text of the Canadian, Mexican, Central and South American constitutions and most of the modern constitutions of Europe, except Portugal, and including that of Germany, Austria-Hungary, Switzerland, Japan, and Russia. It does not include the constitutions of Prussia, China, the Ottoman Empire, or the revised constitution of Norway, which are published in this work.

I would recommend the study of Professor Dodd's valuable collection, with very comprehensive historical and bibliographical notes. I also wish to call attention to the work of Prof. A. Lawrence Lowell, president of Harvard University, entitled "Governments and Parties in Continental Europe," in two volumes, and also his work on the English Government.

Frederick Austin Ogg, Ph. D., has published a work entitled "The Governments of Europe," Macmillan Company, New York, 1913. This gives a thorough account of many constitutions of European nations with extensive notes.

The constitution of Prussia which I have included in this work, is taken from a supplement to the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 5, Number 2, Sept., 1894, translated by James Harvey Robinson, Ph. D., University of Pennsylvania, a copy of which was sent me by the author. This supplement comprises also a sketch of the origin and nature of the Prussian constitution, with copious notes to the text.

CHINA.

The latest constitutional government claiming recognition among the nations of the world is China, one of the oldest nations known to history, extending over an immense territory in Asia, with a population of some three hundred and fifty millions.

The following revised provisional constitution, which appears to me to be partly copied from the Japanese constitution, is entirely unsatisfactory, crude, and inadequate for practical application to China or any other country. It is not really republican in its structure. The best known constitution suitable to China

is that of Switzerland, with its federal council composed of seven carefully selected and competent men chosen by the advisory council for three years to act as counselors and direct the affairs of the executive department of the nation, with the co-operation of the president, also elected by the advisory council which is elected by the people. The president is elected for only one year and cannot succeed himself.

Each of these counselors will have charge of one of the departments of state. This method has worked well in Switzerland and the members of the federal council would give stability to the government and be more apt to gain the confidence of the people than one man given a large amount of power and occupying the position of a prince-president like Napoleon the Third.

The present constitution of China was mostly revised, dictated by Yuan Shi Kai, the late president, who has been succeeded by Li Yuan Hung, the former vice-president. Yuan Shi Kai was scheming to imitate Napoleon and restore the monarchical form of government in China. It is probable that a new constitution will now be drawn up and promulgated suited to the requirements of China.

CHINA'S DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE.

(Address of the Republic Issued to the World Yesterday.)

"On this eighth day of the fourth month in the second year of the republic of China, the date fixed for the first opening of our permanent national assembly, the members of the senate and the house of representatives, having met in these halls to celebrate the event, now make this declaration of their sentiments.

"The will of Heaven is manifested through the will of the people. That the hundreds of millions of the people possess the authority of the state is not proclaimed now for the first time. The monarchy, so long corrupt, proved unworthy of the grave responsibilities intrusted to it by the will of the people, but with the introduction of popular government the representatives of the people must share the likes and dislikes of the people. They are to give expression to the desires and voice the will of the people; they hold the reins in behalf of the nation to govern with severity or leniency, with parsimony or extravagance; they become the pivot upon which the prosperity of the state is made to turn. For the success or failure, safety or danger, adversity or good fortune, theirs is the merit or the blame.

"Can we be otherwise than anxious? Yet through great tribulation the spring comes to prosperity, and our bad management

and anxieties are a means to happiness. Now, therefore, we unite to form this assembly and presume to publish our aspirations. May ours be a just government. May our five races lay aside their prejudices. May rain and sunshine bring bounteous harvest and cause the husbandman to rejoice. May the scholar be happy in his home and the merchant conduct his trade in peace. May no duty of government be unfulfilled and no hidden wound go unredressed. Thus may the glory be spread abroad and these our words be echoed far and wide, that those in distant lands who hear may rejoice, our neighbors on every side give us praise, and may the new life of the old nation be lasting and unending. Who of us can dare to be neglectful of his duties!"

CHAPTER II. THE PRESIDENT.

Art. 14. The President is the Head of the nation, and controls the power of the entire administration.

Art. 15. The President represents the Chung Hua Min Kuo. Art. 17. The President convokes the Li Fa Yuan, declares the opening, the suspension and the closing of the sessions.

Art. 19. For the purposes of improving the public welfare or enforcing law or in accordance with the duties imposed upon him by law, the President may issue orders and cause orders to be issued, but he shall not alter the law by his order.

Art. 20. In order to maintain public peace or to prevent extraordinary calamities at a time of great emergency when time will not permit the convocation of the Li Fa Yuan, the President may, with the approval of the Tsan Cheng Yuan, issue provisional orders which shall have the force of law; but in that case he shall ask the Li Fa Yuan for indemnification at its next session.

Art. 21. The President shall fix the official systems and official regulations. The President shall appoint and dismiss military and civil officials.

Art. 22. The President shall declare war and conclude peace. Art. 23. The President is the Commander in Chief of, and controls, the Army and Navy of the whole country. The President shall decide the system of organization and the respective strength of the Army and Navy.

Art. 27. The President may confer titles of nobility, decorations, and other insignia of honour:

Art. 28. The President may declare general amnesty, special pardon, commutation of punishment, or restoration of rights. In case of general amnesty the approval of the Li Fa Yuan must be secured.