[p. 590]
|590| the estates resolve money contributions under the name of Roman months. It has been shown by the accounts of these, of the German funds of the Imperial War-Operations Treasury, that about half of what was resolved has come in; in the last months of the war, before the opening of the Congress of Rastatt, the public announcements of what was in hand in the treasury gave the sum as 500, in the next month as 300 gulden, etc., and if in other states the balance of the war chest is indeed not made known monthly, this announcement in the case of Germany has no influence on the hostile operations against the operations of the Empire in war.
A more important side, however, is the principles that prevail and come to light in this. For it is in accordance with the laws of the Empire that in matters of imperial taxes in general the minority is not bound by the majority of votes, with the restriction namely, if the minority is Protestant. But even without this restriction Brandenburg does not pay the increased chamber instalments, because it is in general undecided whether the majority has binding force; it has also already been mentioned above that in the levying of Roman months resolved by the majority in the last times of the war many estates did not engage, on account of other connections. One sees that, if Germany were a state, such principles would be utterly impossible.
Formerly there was also, in regard to finances, rather a state power; but these revenues of the emperor, tolls, levies of the imperial cities, were universally regarded as the property of the emperor; those times were wholly remote from the concept of a universal, of a state, of a power of it; the emperors sold and, what is still more incomprehensible, the estates bought and took them as a pledge – later made irredeemable – just as the immediate public power too was bought or taken in pledge. A stronger trait of the barbarism of a people is not to be found.
It is not to be denied, however, that the need to create finances for Germany has been felt from time to time and proposals have been made to increase the sources of money of the Empire. Because at the same time the estates were not disposed to bring about this money power through laws for contributions, both had to be united, to find a lasting fund for the state and not to burden the estates. Because the latter circumstance stands out chiefly in the disposition, there is no doubt that one who made the wish that a mountain of gold might grow up in Germany, from which every
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