The New Germany Part 24

ARTICLE 155.

Distribution and cultivation of the soil shall be supervised by the State so as to ensure against abuses and to endeavour to secure healthy housing for every German, and suitable homes for each German family, especially those with many children, in which they can live and work. In drawing up a housing code special consideration shall be paid to the claims of those who have fought in the war.

Landed estate may be expropriated if it is required for housing, or for a settlement or reclamation policy, or in the interests of agriculture. Entails shall be abolished.

The owner of the soil is bound to cultivate and make use of his land, in the common interest. Increment value due to no expenditure of work or of capital shall be utilised for the common good.

All riches of the soil and all natural resources of economic use shall be under the supervision of the State. Private royalties shall, by law, be transferred to the State.

ARTICLE 156.

An act of the Realm may without prejudice to the payment of compensation, and subject to the regulations concerning expropriation, transfer to public ownership private businesses suitable for socialisation. It may name itself, the Lands, or Local Authority as partners in the administration of such business undertakings or a.s.sociations, or in any other way a.s.sure itself a predominant influence therein.

The Realm may further legislate, in case of urgent necessity and in the interest of the national economy, to oblige business undertakings or a.s.sociations to combine, on the basis of self administration, with a view to securing the co-operation of all the productive forces of the nation, to a.s.sociating employers and employed in the administration, and to regulating production, manufacture, distribution, employment, prices, as also import and export of goods on principles of public economy.

Distributive productive co-operative societies and their federations may, on their own demand, and with due regard to their const.i.tution and character, be incorporated in the public economic system.

ARTICLE 157.

The labour forces of the nation are under the special protection of the Realm. The Realm shall draw up a uniform labour code.

ARTICLE 158.

Intellectual work, the rights of discoverers, inventors, and artists, shall be under the care and protection of the Realm.

International agreements shall secure validity and protection in foreign countries for German intellectual, artistic, and technical creations.

ARTICLE 159.

Freedom of a.s.sociation with the object of guaranteeing and improving conditions of work and of employment shall be secured to all individuals and all professions. All compacts or measures which seek to limit or obstruct this freedom are illegal.

ARTICLE 160.

Any person occupying the position of employee or worker is ent.i.tled to have such free time as is necessary to avail himself of his rights as citizen, and, in so far as serious injury is not thereby done to his employment, such free time as is necessary to discharge honorary public offices conferred on him. His claims to compensation shall be determined by legislation.

ARTICLE 161.

The Realm, with the controlling co-operation of insured persons, shall create a comprehensive system of insurance for the maintenance of health and efficiency, for the protection of motherhood, and for provision against old age, infirmity, and change of circ.u.mstances.

ARTICLE 162.

The Realm shall support the principle of international regulation of the legal rights of workers, with the object of securing a uniform minimum of social rights to the working cla.s.ses of mankind.

ARTICLE 163.

Every German is morally bound, without prejudice to his personal liberty, to make such use of his intellectual and physical capacities as shall be required by the common good.

Every German shall be given the possibility of earning his living by economic labour. In so far as suitable employment cannot be found for him, provision shall be made for his necessary maintenance. Acts of the Realm shall make further provision.

ARTICLE 164.

Legislative and administrative measures shall be taken to encourage the independent middle cla.s.s in agriculture, industry, and commerce and protect it against exploitation and extortion.

ARTICLE 165.

Workers and employees are called on to co-operate with the employers on a basis of equality, in regulating wage and work conditions and in furthering the general economic development of the forces of production. The organisations of either side and their agreements shall be recognised.

Workers and employees shall, for the prosecution of their social and economic interests, receive legal representation in Works Councils, and also in District Workers' Councils organised by economic spheres, and in a Central Workers' Council.

District Workers' Councils and the Central Workers' Council shall be combined with the employers' representatives and local representatives in District Economic Councils and in a Central Economic Council, for the execution of their economic functions and for joint enforcement of the Socialisation Laws. District Economic Councils and the Central Economic Council shall be so const.i.tuted as to include representatives of all important professional groups in proportion to their economic and social importance.

Bills on social and economic questions of fundamental importance must be submitted by the Government of the Realm to the Central Economic Council for consideration before being introduced. The Central Economic Council is ent.i.tled itself to initiate such bills, and if the Government of the Realm objects, it must, nevertheless, submit such draft to the Reichstag with an explanation of its views. The Central Economic Council may appoint one of its members to support the bill in the Reichstag.

Functions of control and of administration may be transferred to Workers' and Economic Councils within the spheres a.s.signed to each.

The organisation and objects of the Workers' and Economic Councils, and their relations to other social autonomous bodies, are exclusively in the jurisdiction of the Realm.[43]

TEMPORARY CLAUSES AND FINAL CLAUSES.

ARTICLE 166.

Until the Supreme Administrative Court has been const.i.tuted, the Supreme Court shall appoint to the Court of electoral revision.

ARTICLE 167.

The provisions of Clauses 3 to 6 of Article 18 shall only come into force two years after proclamation of the const.i.tution.

ARTICLE 168.

Until the act of the Realm referred to in Article 63 is promulgated, but at most for one year, the Prussian votes in the Reichsrat may be exercised by members of the Government.

ARTICLE 169.