For an overview of these laws see http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 936#129936 and the two posts following it.
This is part 1 of two parts:
1919 REICHSGESETZBLATT, PART I, PAGE 1383
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE GERMAN REICH
August 11, 1919
The German people, united in their racial elements and impelled by the will to renew and strengthen their Reich in freedom and justice, to serve the ends of peace at home and abroad and further social progress, have established this Constitution.
FIRST PART
STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION OF THE REICH
First Chapter
Reich and Lands
Article 1
The German Reich is a Republic. The state power is derived from the people.
Article 2
The territory of the Reich consists of the territories of the German Member States [Lands]. Other territories may be incorporated in the Reich by Reich statute if the inhabitants of such territory, in exercises of the right of self-determination, so desire.
Article 3
The Reich colors are black, red and gold. The merchant flag is black, white and red, with the Reich colors in the upper inside corner.
Article 4
The generally accepted rules of international law are to be considered as binding integral parts of the law of the German Reich.
Article 5
The state power in respect to matters within the competence of the Reich shall be exercised by the authorities of the Reich on the basis of the Constitution of the Reich; in respect to matters within the competence of the Member States by the authorities of the Lands, on the basis of their respective constitutions.
Article 6
The Reich shall have exclusive legislative competence for :
1. Foreign affairs.
2. colonial matters.
3. questions relating to nationality, freedom of travel and residence, immigration, emigration and extradition.
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4. the organization of defense forces.
5. coinage.
6. customs, as well as the unity of customs and trading areas and freedom of commerce.
7. post and telegraph, including the telephone.
Article 7
1. civil law.
2. penal law.
3. judicial procedure, including the execution of penalties and legal aid between authorities.
4. matters relating to passports and police supervision of aliens.
5. poor relief and the care of vagrants.
6. matters relating to the press, associations and assemblies.
7. policies relating to population, maternity relief, welfare of infants, children and youth.
8. public health, veterinary matters and the protection of plants against disease and pests.
9. labor laws, insurance, and the protection of laborers and employees, and employment bureaus.
10. the establishment of Reich organs of vocational representation.
11. provision for war veterans and the surviving dependents of deceased soldiers.
12. laws relating to expropriation.
13. the socialization of natural resources and economic under-takings, and also the production, manufacture, distribution and price regulation of economic wares for the benefit of the general economy.
14. trade and commerce, weights and measures, the issue of paper money, banks and banking and the stock exchanges.
15. traffic in foodstuffs, articles for consumption and luxury, and necessaries of daily life.
16. industries and mining.
17. matters relating to insurance.
18. ocean navigation, deep-sea fishing and coastal fishing.
19. railways, inland navigation, automatic traffic on land, water, and in the air; the construction of highways, insofar as general communication and national defense are concerned.
20. theaters and cinemas.
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Article 8
The Reich shall further legislate in regard to taxation and other revenues, insofar as they are partially or wholly utilized for its own purposes. If the Reich claims such taxes or other revenues for its own purposes as have hitherto been available for the Member States (Lands), the Reich shall take into consideration the preservation of the life of the Member States.
Article 9
Insofar as it is necessary to issue uniform rules, the Reich shall legislate for:
1. public welfare.
2. the protection of public order and safety.
Article 10
The Reich may by legislation, establish fundamental principles . for:
1. the rights and duties of religious associations.
2. educational matters including high schools and scientific libraries.
3. laws relating to off'icer's of all public corporations.
4. matters relating to the real-estate laws, distribution of the
soil, settlements and homesteads, restrictions attached to landed
property, housing and the distribution of the population.
5. matters relating to burial.
Article 11
The Reich may by means of legislation establish fundamental principles concerning the admissibility and mode of:
1. injury to the revenues or commercial relations of the Reich.
2. double taxation.
3. excessive or obstructional fees for the use of public means of communication, highways, and other facilities.
4. tax discrimination against imported goods in favor of domestic products in inter-state or inter-district commerce, or
5. export premiums,
or in order to preserve important social interests.
Article 12
So long as and so far as the Reich refrains from exercising the right of legislation, the Lands shall retain the right of legislation. This does not apply to matters for which the Reich has exclusive competence of legislation.
The government of the Reich has the right of veto in regard to Lands laws relating to matters within the scope of Article 7, Number 13, so far as the general welfare of the Reich is thereby affected.
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Article 13
Reich law takes precedence over Lands law.
Where there are doubts or differences of opinion as to whether a legal provision of a Land is compatible with Reich law, the competent Reich or central authorities of a Land may, in accordance with particulars prescribed by the Reich law, appeal for decision to a Supreme Court of the Reich.
Article 14
The laws enacted by the Lands shall be executed by the authorities of the States, unless the laws of the Reich determine otherwise.
Article 15
The government of the Reich exercises supervision in such matters as are within the legislative competence of the Reich.
So far as the laws of the Reich are to be executed by the authorities of the Lands, the government of the Reich may issue general instructions. The government is empowered to send commissioners to the central authorities of the Lands, and with their permission, to the lower state authorities, to supervise the execution of the laws of the Reich.
It is the duty of the government of the Lands, at the request of the government of the Reich, to rectify defects which have become manifest in the execution of Reich laws. Where differences of opinion arise both the government of the Reich and the government of the Land may appeal for decision to the Constitutional Court, unless a different court is prescribed by Reich law.
Article 16
The officers entrusted with direct Reich administration in any Land shall, as a rule, be citizens of that Land. The officers, employees and laborers of the Reich administration shall be employed in their home districts if they so desire, whenever this is possible and not inconsistent with the requirements of their training or the service.
Article 17
Each Land must have a republican constitution. The people's representatives must be elected by universal, equal, direct and secret ballot by all German men and women in conformity with the principles of proportional representation. The government of the Land must enjoy the confidence of the people's representatives.
The principles for the elections of the people's representatives apply equally to communal elections. A Land law; however, may make the right to vote dependent on residence in the communal district for a period not exceeding one year.
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Article 18
The division of the Reich into Lands shall be such as to serve the people to the highest possible economic and cultural attainment, whereby the will of the population affected shall be taken into consideration as far as possible. The alteration of territory of the Lands and the creation of new Lands within the Reich may be effected by means of a Reich law amending the Constitution.
If the Lands directly affected give their consent, an ordinary Reich law is sufficient.
An ordinary Reich law is also sufficient, if one of the Lands affected refuses consent, but the territorial alteration or the creation of a new Land is demanded by the will of the population and the paramount interests of the Reich.
The will of the population shall be ascertained by plebiscite. The Government of the Reich orders the plebiscite if, in the territory to be separated, one-third of the inhabitants qualified to vote for the Reichstag so demand.
Three-fifths of the votes taken, but at least a majority of the', enfranchised voters, are necessary for a resolution to alter a boundary or create a new Land. Even if it is only a question o the disconnection of a part of a Prussian administrative district, a Bavarian "county" or a corresponding administrative division '-other Lands, the will of the population in the whole district affected must be ascertained. If the territory to be disconnect-nowhere adjoins the rest of the district, a specific Reich law may declare that the will of the population in the said district is sufficient.
The consent of the population having been ascertained, the government of the Reich shall introduce an appropriate bill for enactment in the Reichstag.
If the unification or disconnection should give rise to a dispute concerning the distribution of property, the Constitutional Court` of the German Reich shall decide the same on the application of one party.
Article 19
Constitutional disputes arising within any Land in which there is no court competent to settle the same, of disputes not governed by private law, arising between different Lands or between the Reich and any Land shall be decided by the Constitutional Court of the German Reich on the application of one party, unless some other court of the Reich is competent to decide such dispute.
The President of the Reich executes the judgment of the Constitutional Court of the Reich.
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Second Chapter The Reichstag
Article 20
The Reichstag is composed of the delegates of the German people.
Article 21
The delegates represent the whole people. They are subject only to their own conscience and are not bound by instructions.
Article 22
The delegates are elected by universal, equal, direct and secret ballot by men and women over twenty years of age, according to the principles of proportional representation. The election day must be a Sunday, or a public holiday.
The Reich Election Law will regulate details.
Article 23
The Reichstag is elected for four years. New elections must take place at the latest on the sixtieth day after this term has run its course.
The Reichstag assembles for the first time at the latest on the thirtieth day following the election.
Article 24
The Reichstag meets every year on the first Wednesday in November at the seat of the government of the Reich. The President of the Reichstag must summon it earlier if the President of the Reich or at least one-third of the members of the Reichstag so demand.
The Reichstag determines the close of its session and the date of reassembly.
Article 25
The President of the Reich may dissolve the Reichstag, but not more than once for the same cause.
The new election takes place not later than the sixtieth day after dissolution.
Article 26
The Reichstag chooses its president, his substitutes and its secretaries. It sets up its own rules of procedure.
Article 27
Between two sessions or terms the President and his substitutes of the preceding session continue in their duties.
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Article 28
The President has domiciliary and police authority within the Reichstag building. He controls the house administration; he manages the revenues and expenditure of the house in accordance with the budget of the Reich, and represents the Reich in all legal transactions and disputes arising within his administration.
Article 29
The Reichstag proceedings are public. They may be held in camera, if, on the motion of fifty members, a two-thirds majority so decides.
Article 30
Accurate reports of the proceedings of the public meetings of the Reichstag, the State Diets, and of their committees remain free from all responsibility.
Article 31
An Election Investigation Court shall be established in connection with the Reichstag. It shall also be competent to decide whether a delegate has forfeited his seat.
The Election Investigation Court consists of members of the Reichstag, elected by the latter for the election period and of members of the Reich Court of Administration, appointed by the President of the Reich on the proposal of the presidency of the said court.
The decisions of the Election Investigation Court shall be taken after a public oral hearing by three members of the Reichstag and two judicial members.
Outside of the oral proceedings before the Election Investigation Court such affairs shall be managed by a commission of the Reich, nominated by the President of the Reich. In other respects the procedure is regulated by the Election Investigation Court.
Article 32
A simple majority vote is necessary for decisions of the Reichstag, unless the Constitution prescribes a different proportion of votes. The rules of procedure may make exceptions in the case of elections by the Reichstag.
The rules of procedure regulate the question of a quorum.
Article 33
The Reichstag and its committees may demand the presence of the Chancellor of the Reich and of any Minister of the Reich.
The Chancellor and Ministers of the Reich and the commissioners appointed by them have access to the sittings of t
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Reichstag and its committees. The Lands are entitled to send delegates to these meetings to state the views of their governments on the subject under discussion.
At their request the governmental delegates must be heard during the deliberations, in the case of the representatives of the government of the Reich, even irrespective of the agenda.
They are subject to the authority of the chairman as regards questions of orders.
Article 3
The Reichstag has the right and—on the application of one-fifth of its members—the duty, of appointing investigation committees. These committees hear such evidence in public sittings as they or the applicants consider necessary. The public may be excluded from the proceedings by a two-thirds majority of the investigation committee. The rules of procedure determine the proceedings of the committee and determine the number of its members.
It is the duty of the judicial and administrative authorities to accede to the requests of the said committees in regard to the taking of evidence; the files of the authorities must be submitted to the committees on request.
The provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure are applicable as far as is appropriate to the investigations of the committees and the authorities approached by them; nevertheless, the secrecy of letters, post, telegraph and telephone remains inviolate.
Article 35
The Reichstag appoints a standing committee for foreign affairs, which may also act when the Reichstag is in recess, and after the parliamentary term has expired, or after the dissolution of the Reichstag, until the new Reichstag meets.
The meetings of this committee are not public, unless the committee decides otherwise by a two-thirds vote.
The Reichstag also appoints a standing committee for the maintenance of the right of the people's representation towards the government of the Reich during the periods of recess, and after the term has expired or the Reichstag is dissolved, until the new Reichstag meets.
These committees have the rights of investigation committees.
Article 36
No member of the Reichstag or of a Land's Diet may at any time be subjected to criminal or disciplinary prosecution or
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otherwise held responsible outside the house on account of hi$ vote or of remarks made by him in the execution of his functions.
Article 37
During a session no member of the Reichstag or of a Land's Diet may be subjected to investigation or arrested on account oft any punishable offense, without the consent of the house to which such a delegate belongs, unless he is arrested in the act of committal or at the latest in the course of the following day.
Similar consent must be obtained for every other curtailment of personal freedom which hinders a delegate in the execution of his functions as representative.
Any criminal proceeding against a member of the Reichstag or a Land's Diet, any detention or other curtailment of his personal liberty must be suspended for the duration of the session at the request of the house to which the delegate belongs.
Article 38
Members of the Reichstag and the Land's Diets are entitled to refuse to give evidence in respect to persons who have confided matters to them in their capacity as delegates or to whom they have given such confidences in the execution of their functions as delegates, as well as in respect to such facts. In respect also to the seizure of documents they have the same status as persons who are entitled by law to refuse to give evidence.
Any search or seizure may only be carried out within the precincts of the Reichstag or a Land's Diet with the consent of their President.
Article 39
Public officials and members of the defense forces need no leave for the performance of their functions as members of the Reichstag or a Land's Diet.
If they are candidates for a seat in one of these bodies, the necessary leave must be extended to them to enable them to prepare for their election.
Article 40
Members of the Reichstag shall have free passes for all German railways and receive a compensation for expenses to be fixed by Reich law.
Third Chapter
The Reich President and the Reich Government
Article 41
The Reich President is elected by the whole German people.
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Every German who has completed his thirty-fifth year is eligible for election.
Details will be regulated by a Reich law.
Article 42
The Reich President shall, on assuming office, take the following oath before the Reichstag.
I swear to devote my energies to the well-being of the German people, to further their interests, to protect them from injury, to keep the Constitution and the laws of the Reich, to fulfill my duties conscientiously and to administer justice to all.
It is permissible to add a religious asseveration.
Article 43
The Reich President's term of office shall last seven years. Re-election is permissible.
At the request of the Reichstag the President may be deposed from office by plebiscite before his term has expired. A two-thirds majority vote is necessary for such a resolution by the Reichstag.
The resolution has the effect of suspending the Reich President from the further exercise of his office. If the deposition is rejected by the plebiscite, this is regarded as a new election and entails the dissolution of the Reichstag.
The Reich President cannot be prosecuted criminally without the consent of the Reichstag.
Article 44
The Reich President may not at the same time be a member of the Reichstag.
Article 45
The Reich President represents the Reich in the sphere of international law. He concludes alliances and other treaties with foreign powers in the name of the Reich. He accredits and receives Ministers.
War is declared and peace concluded by Reich law.
Alliances and treaties with foreign States which relate to matters within the legislative competence of the Reich, require the consent of the Reichstag.
Article 46
The Reich President appoints and dismisses the public officials of the Reich and officers of the defense forces, unless otherwise provided by law. He may allow the right of appointment and dismissal to be exercised by other authorities.
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Article 47
The Reich President has supreme command over all the defense forces of the Reich.
Article 48
If a Land fails to fulfill the duties incumbent upon it according to the Constitution or the laws of the Reich, the Reich President can force it to do so with the help of the armed forces.
The Reich President may, if the public safety and order in the German Reich are considerably disturbed or endangered, take such measures as are necessary to restore public safety and order. If necessary he may intervene with the help of the armed forces. For this purpose he may temporarily suspend, either partially or wholly, the Fundamental Rights established in Articles 114, 115, 117, 118, 123, 124 and 153.
The Reich President shall inform the Reichstag without delay of all measures taken under Paragraph 1 or Paragraph 2 of this Article. On demand by the Reichstag the measures shall be repealed.
In case of imminent danger, the government of any Land may take preliminary measures of the nature described in Paragraph 2 for its own territory. The measures are to be revoked upon the demand of the Reich President or the Reichstag.
Details will be regulated by a Reich law.
Article 49
The Reich President exercises the right of pardon for the Reich.
Reich amnesties require a Reich law.
Article 50
All orders and decrees of the Reich President, including those concerning the defense forces, require for their validity the countersignature of the Chancellor of the Reich or the competent Minister of the Reich. By countersignature responsibility is assumed.
Article 51
The Reich President shall, when prevented from functioning, be represented in the first place by the Reich Chancellor.
When such disability is likely to be of long duration, a Reich law shall regulate the question of representation.
The same applies in the case of a premature termination of the Presidency until the new election takes place.
Article 52
The government of the Reich shall consist of the Chancellor and the Reich Ministers.
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Article 53
The Reich Chancellor and at his proposal the Reich Ministers shall be appointed and dismissed by the Reich President.
Article 54
The Chancellor and the Reich Ministers require for the exercise of their office the confidence of the Reichstag. Any of them must retire if the Reichstag by express resolution withdraws its confidence.
Article 55
The Reich Chancellor presides over the government of the Reich and conducts its affairs according to rules of procedure laid down by the government of the Reich and approved by the Reich President.
Article 56
The Reich Chancellor determines the outlines of the policy of the State and is responsible to the Reichstag for the same.
Within these outlines each Reich Minister conducts the office en-trusted to him independently and on his own responsibility towards the Reichstag.
Article 57
The Reich Ministers shall lay before the Reichstag for deliberation and enactment all bills and all matters for which such a course is prescribed in the Constitution or by law, as well as all differences of opinion in regard to questions within the competence of more than one Minister.
Article 58
The government of the Reich passes its resolutions by majority vote. In the case of tie votes the chairman has a casting vote.
Article 59
The Reichstag is entitled to impeach the Reich President, the Chancellor and Reich Ministers for having culpably violated the Constitution or a statute of the Reich before the Constitutional Court. The motion for impeachment must be signed by at least one hundred members of the Reichstag and be approved by the majority prescribed for amending the Constitution.
Details will be regulated by the Reich statute concerning the Constitutional Court.
Fourth Chapter
The Reich Council
Article 60
A Reich Council shall be constituted to represent the German Lands in the legislature and administration of the Reich.
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Article 61
Each Land has at least one vote in the Reich Council. In the case of larger Lands there shall be one vote for every 1,000,000 inhabitants. A surplus, which is equal to at least the population of the smallest Land, will be reckoned equal to 1,000,000. No Land may be represented by more than two-fifths of the total number of votes.
German-Austria, after its union with the German Reich, shall be entitled to participate in the Reich Council with the number of votes proportionate to its population. Until then the representatives of German-Austria may take part in the deliberations.
The number of votes shall be fixed anew by the Reich Council after every general census.
Article 62
No Land shall have more than one vote on the committees formed by the Reich Council from its own members.
Article 63
The Lands shall be represented on the Reich Council by members of their governments. But half the Prussian votes shall belong to the Prussian provincial administrations in accordance with a Land law.
The Lands are entitled to send as many representatives to the Reich Council as they have votes.
Article 64
The government of the Reich must convene the Reich Council on the demand of one-third of its members.
Article 65
A member of the government of the Reich shall preside over the Reich Council and its committees. The members of the government of the Reich have the right and—if so demanded—the duty of attending the deliberations of the Reich Council and its committees. On their own request they must be heard at any time during the proceedings.
Article 66
The government of the Reich and each member of the Reich Council are entitled to lay proposals before the Reich Council.
The Reich Council regulates its procedure by rules of procedure.
The plenary sittings of the Reich Council are public. In compliance with the rules of procedure the public may be excluded for specific subjects of deliberation.
Decisions are taken by a simple majority of those voting.
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Article 67
The Reich Council shall be kept informed by the Reich minis-tries of the conduct of affairs of the Reich. The competent committees of the Reich Council shall be consulted by the ministries of the Reich with regard to important affairs.
Fifth Chapter Reich Legislation
Article 68
Bills are introduced by the government of the Reich or by- members of the Reichstag.
Reich laws shall be enacted by the Reichstag.
Article 69
The introduction of bills by the government of the Reich requires the consent of the Reich Council. If no agreement is reached between the Reich government and the Reich Council, the Reich government may introduce the bill
notwithstanding, but must state the contrary opinion of the Reich Council.
If the Reich Council resolves on a bill not assented to by the government of the Reich, the latter must introduce the bill to the Reichstag, stating its own point of view.
Article 70
The Reich President shall promulgate all constitutionally en-acted laws and proclaim them in the Reich's Legal Gazette within one month.
Article 71
Reich laws, unless they provide otherwise, come into force on the fourteenth day after the date on which the Reich's Legal Gazette is published in the capital of the Reich.
Article 72
The proclamation of a Reich law shall be postponed for two months on the demand of one-third of the Reichstag. Laws stated to be urgent by the Reichstag and the Reich Council may be pro-claimed by the Reich President notwithstanding such demand.
Article 73
A law enacted by the Reichstag shall be made the subject of a referendum, if the Reich President so determines within a month.
A law, the proclamation of which has been postponed on the application of at least one-third of the members of the Reichstag, shall be subjected to a referendum, if one-twentieth of the persons qualified to vote so submit.
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A referendum shall further be instituted if one-tenth of the persons qualified to vote initiate by petition the introduction of a bill. An elaborated bill must underlie such people's initiative. The bill shall be submitted to the Reichstag by the government together with a statement of its own point of view. No referendum shall take place if the petitional bill is passed unaltered by the Reichstag.
In regard to the budget, taxation laws and laws relating to pay and salaries, only the Reich President may inaugurate a referendum.
A Reich law shall regulate the procedure for referendum and initiative.
Article 74
The Reich Council is entitled to raise an objection to laws passed by the Reichstag.
The objection must be submitted to the Reich government within two weeks following the final vote in the Reichstag and sustained by reasons at the latest within two further weeks.
When such objection has been raised, the law is again submitted to the Reichstag for redecision. If by this means no agreement is reached between the Reichstag and the Reich Council, the President may, within three months, order that a referendum be taken on the matter in dispute. If the President does not exercise this right, the law is considered not to have been passed. If the Reichstag has passed the law in spite of the objection by the Reich Council by a two-thirds majority, then the President must either proclaim the same within three months in the form approved by the Reichstag or order a referendum to be taken.
Article 75
A referendum can nullify an enactment of the Reichstag only if a majority of those qualified to vote take part in the vote.
Article 76
The Constitution may be amended by law. But acts of the Reichstag amending the Constitution can only take effect if two-thirds of the legal number of members are present and at least two-thirds of those present consent. Resolutions of the Reich Council also require a two-thirds majority of the votes taken, when an amendment to the Constitution is in question. If on a popular initiative an amendment to the Constitution is to be decided by referendum the consent of a majority of those qualified to vote is required.
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If the Reichstag has passed an amendment to the Constitution in spite of an objection on the part of the Reich Council, the President may not proclaim such law, if within two weeks the Reich Council demands a referendum.
Article 77
Unless otherwise provided by law the Reich government shall issue the general administrative provisions necessary for putting into execution the laws of the Reich. The approval of the Reich Council is required when the execution of the Reich laws is within the competence of the authorities of the Lands.
Sixth Chapter
Reich Administration
Article 78
The cultivation of the relations with foreign States is exclusively a function of the Reich.
With regard to matters the regulation of which is within the competence of the Lands' legislatures, the Lands may conclude treaties with foreign States ; such treaties require the approval of the Reich.
Agreements with foreign States relating to any alteration of the boundaries of the Reich are concluded by the Reich, after the consent of the Lands concerned has been obtained. Such boundary alterations may only be undertaken on the basis of a Reich law, unless it is simply a case of adjusting the boundaries of uninhabited districts.
All arrangements and measures necessary for safeguarding the interests of individual Lands arising out of their particular economic relations with or their proximity to foreign States shall be undertaken by the Reich in agreement with the Lands concerned.
Article 79
The defense of the Reich is a function of the Reich. The defense organization of the German people shall be uniformly regulated by Reich law with due regard to special peculiarities of the inhabitants of the different Lands.
Article 80
Colonial matters belong exclusively to the competence of the Reich.
Article 81
All German commercial vessels constitute one single merchant marine.
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Article 82
Germany constitutes one single customs and trading area surrounded by a customs frontier.
The customs frontier coincides with Germany's foreign frontier line. At the sea the shore of the mainland and of the islands be-longing to the territory of the Reich form the customs boundary. Deviations may be ordered for the course of the boundary line along the sea and other waters.
Foreign territories or parts of territories may be joined to the customs area by means of international treaties or agreements.
Portions may be excluded from the customs area to meet particular necessities. In the case of free ports such exclusion can only be repealed by a law amending the Constitution.
Districts excluded from the customs area may be joined to a foreign customs area by means of international treaties or agreements.
All products of nature and industry and art which are freely traded within the Reich may be transported over the boundaries of the Lands and Communes into, out of, and through them. Exceptions may be allowed by Reich law.
Article 83
Customs duties and consumption taxes are administered by the authorities of the Reich.
The authorities of the Reich, when administering taxes of the Reich, shall take steps to enable the individual Lands to safe-guard their own particular interests in regard to agriculture, trade, commerce and industry.
Article 84
The Reich shall provide by law for :
1. the institution of a tax administration of the Lands, so far as is necessary for the uniform and equal execution of the Reich taxation laws
2. the institution and powers of the authorities entrusted with the supervision of the execution of the Reich taxation laws
3. the accounting with the Lands
4. the reimbursement of the costs of administration in executing the Reich taxation laws.
Article 85
All revenues and expenditures of the Reich must be estimated for every fiscal year and entered in the budget.
The budget shall be passed by law before the beginning of the fiscal year.
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Appropriations are as a rule made for one year; in special cases they may be granted for a longer period. Other provisions in the budget law which legislate for a period beyond the fiscal year, or which have no reference to the revenues or expenditures of the Reich, may not be incorporated in the budget law.
The Reichstag may not increase existing or incorporate new appropriations in the budget bill without the consent of the Reich Council.
The consent of the Reich Council may be replaced as provided in Article 74.
Article 86
The Reich Minister of Finance shall, in the course of the year, account to the Reich Council and the Reichstag for the expenditure of all the revenues of the Reich for the preceding year in order to release the government of the Reich from its responsibility. The auditing of this account shall be regulated by Reich law.
Article 87
Funds may only be obtained by loans in the case of extraordinary requirements and, as a rule, only for the purpose of productive outlay. A Reich law is required for this method of pro-curing funds as well as for the creation of a charge on the Reich by way of security.
Article 88
The post and telegraph as well as the whole telephone system are exclusive functions of the Reich.
Postage stamps are uniform for the whole Reich.
Treaties relating to communications with foreign countries may only be concluded by the Reich.
Article 89
It is a function of the Reich to take over the ownership of rail-ways serving as means of general traffic and to operate them as a uniform system of communications.
The rights of the Lands to acquire private railways shall be transferred to the Reich on demand.