German Reich may profitably be compared with its predecessor, the constitution of the North German Confederation of 1867, which served the German Empire from 1871 to the revolution of November, 1918. Certain extracts from the speeches of the statesmen concerned in the setting-up of the new constitutions have been included in order to shew something of the ideas that moved them. Considerations of space have severely limited such selections, but students who are desirous of extending their reading in this direction, may be referred to Elliot's Debates on the Federal Constitution, Alexander Hamilton's arguments in the Federalist, and Messrs. Egerton and Grant's Canadian Confederation, which contain much valuable material of a similar kind in relation to the United States and the Dominion of Canada. Responsible government in the British Empire is so closely bound up with federation that no apology is necessary for the inclusion of extracts concerning it. My acknowledgments are due to my former pupil Mr. Laurence Hollingsworth, B.A., now of the Department of Education, Zanzibar, for his patient and skilled assistance in preparing the various documents for the press. UNIVERSITY OF LONDON, KING'S COLLEGE, 29 September, 1923. A. P. N. TABLE OF CONTENTS. The Confederation of the Colonies of New England. 19 May, 1643 Act of Parliament for the Union of the Two Kingdoms of England and The Declaration of Independence of the Thirteen American Colonies. Articles of Confederation of the United States of America. 15 No- Constitution of the United States of America. 17 September, 1787 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States. Federal Pact between the Twenty-two Cantons of Switzerland. Act of Parliament uniting Upper and Lower Canada. 3 and 4 Vict. Despatches concerning the Establishment of Responsible Government Act of Parliament establishing Municipal Corporations, etc., in New Constitution of the Confederate States of America. 11 March, 1861. 156 The Quebec Resolutions precedent to the Confederation of British North America. 10 October, 1864. Speech of Attorney-General Macdonald on the Confederation of British PAGE Speech of the Earl of Carnarvon, Secretary of State for the Colonies, in introducing the British North America Bill. 19 February, 1867. 191 Act of Parliament for the Confederation of the Colonies of British North America as the Dominion of Canada. 30 Vict. cap. 3. 29 Amendments affecting certain Provisions of the British North America Constitution of the North German Confederation (16 April, 1867) and of the German Empire, 16 April, 1871 Act of Parliament establishing the Federation of the Leeward Islands. Act of Parliament establishing a Federal Council of Australasia. 48 and 49 Vict. cap. 60. 14 August, 1885 Constitution of the Republic of the United States of Brazil. 24 Feb- Speech of the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., Secretary of . HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION. § 1. "By a Sovereign State," says Bernard,1 "we mean a community or number of persons permanently organized under a sovereign government of their own; and by a sovereign government we mean a government, however constituted, which exercises the power of making and enforcing law within a community, and is not itself subject to any superior government. These two factors, one positive, the other negative-the exercise of power and the absence of superior control-compose the notion of sovereignty, and are essential to it." The idea of a State necessarily implies a fixed abode within territory definitely belonging to and occupied by its citizens, who pay habitual obedience to those persons in whom superiority is vested. This obedience is rendered in deference to the so-called "internal sovereignty," which is vested in the rulers of the state either by traditional usage or by the provisions of a written constitution. The external sovereignty" of the state consists in its independence in respect to all other political societies, and this is in theory restricted only by a body of usages that have received the general assent of mankind and are termed International Law. The sovereignty of a state, both internal and external, has either become vested in it in the course of far-back ages when civil society was gradually shaping itself, or it has been acquired in modern times by a definite act. Internal sovereignty was formally 1 Bernard, M.," Neutrality of Great Britain during the American Civil War," p. 107. assumed upon the completion of the written instrument whereby the citizens of the new state declared their independence of the political community to which they formerly owned allegiance. But external sovereignty became full and complete only when that political community formally acquiesced in the separation. A state is a fluctuating body as to the individual members of which it is composed, but as to the society it is one and the same body whose existence is perpetuated by a constant succession of new members. It differs from other states in having a different origin, and its existence continues either until society is completely dissolved into anarchy, or until it is merged into some other state. The merging may be complete either by conquest or by voluntary absorption, in both of which cases the existence of the merged state has come to an end. Within modern times states have in certain cases formed permanent associations one with another wherein, while still retaining some part of their own sovereign power and separate existence, they have resigned a portion of their sovereignty into the hands of a common authority. To such an act of association the term "federation" is applied, while a more complete but still voluntary association, by which the existence of two or more states is merged in that of a newly founded state, is called "unification." The written instrument whereby these changes are made of legal effect and the new relations of the citizens to the sovereign power are regulated are called respectively "federal" and "unified constitutions." A federal constitution only regulates the relations of the associated states with one another and of them and their citizens with the central power. The relations of the citizens with the surviving state government remains after federation 1 In some federations the word state is used in two different senses; in the first place to represent the whole political community, and in the second the associates who have resigned a portion of their sovereignty. This usage is employed in Germany, the United States of America, Australia, and the federations of Latin America. In Canada the associates are called " "provinces " and in Switzerland "cantons,' |