The problem is therefore to institute in a Republic what now exists only in parliamentary monarchies, that is, a chief of state sufficiently powerful to act as a balance to the Parliament and to control the latter in the name of the people without, however, giving him such a power as, in abusing it, would enable him to dominate or annihilate the rights of the Parliament and to establish an anti-democratic rule. Let us see how the German Constitution has solved this problem. 2.--THE ELECTION OF THE PRESIDENT AND THE LENGTH OF HIS TERM. To give the President of the Reich the authority and the independence which it deemed necessary, the National Assembly insured him a very strong personal position. To this end the Constitution declares first of all that he shall be elected by the whole German people (Article 41); that is, the plebiscite. The President is elected by the same electors as Parliament itself. Thus, President and Reichstag issue from the same source, the pure popular will. Thus, there is the certitude that if one of these two organs rejects the direction desired by the people or deviates from the direction desired by the people, the other organ will immediately be able to apply the necessary corrective. The President can be the sought-for counter-balance to the authority of the Reichstag, for he is truly the man entrusted by the people, delegated by them to rule with the Reichstag. This system is not without danger. We have seen it in Germany itself when in March, 1920, the rumour spread that Marshal Hindenburg would be a candidate for the presidency of the Reich, a candidacy expressly approved by the former Emperor, one which seemed to open the way for a monarchical restoration. The Social Democrats thereupon declared that the election of the President by the whole people was an institution republican only in appearance; that it was in reality much more monarchical than republican; that the President elected by the people could arrogate to himself a power which would weigh heavily on the functioning of the governmental machinery; that to institute the election of a President by the people would subject his person to disputes and attacks which would leave his dignity seriously compromised. They, the Social Democrats, foresaw the possibility of supporting again a proposition which they had already made during the discussion on the Constitution, but which they had withdrawn, according to which the President would have to be elected by the Reichstag. The Democrats, alarmed by the prospect of a conflict that could arise between the Reichstag and a President elected by the people, seemed ready to support such a proposition. The Centre abstained from a decision on this matter. But nothing could be done without the Centre, for since this was a matter of constitutional amendment a majority of two-thirds of the National Assembly was indispensable, and it could not be obtained without the Centre. The _coup d’état_ of Kapp and