In its final draft the Constitution of 1919 bears throughout the stamp of _compromises_, which had to be effected between the parties represented in the Assembly, on practically every problem attacked. On nearly every question which the Constituent Assembly had to solve, bargains were negotiated between the conflicting interests and theories of the parties opposed. If one takes these articles of the Constitution one after another, one can draw up the balance sheet of every party, and note the points on which it has won its cause and those on which it had to compromise. The Social Democrats wanted to substitute for the federal Empire a unitary State; whereas the Centre, whose co-operation was needed for the Social Democrats to remain in power, defended the federalist idea. The final result constitutes a marked victory for the Social Democrats. But on the question of the relation of Church and State, the Centre obtained a solution that is much nearer their desires than those of the Social Democrats. Sometimes problems of a non-constitutional nature were mixed into negotiations on the Constitution. It is known, for example, that the Social Democrats secured the signature of the Centre to the Treaty of Versailles only in exchange for Social Democratic consent to the compromise clauses on education. Nevertheless the product of these negotiations and these transactions constitutes a work whose essential characteristics are clearly enough indicated, and whose bold outline seems to respond to the demands which all constitutions of this kind make. From the point of view of legal technique the Constitution of Weimar is, on the whole, well made. Conscientiously, scientifically, the men who drew it up studied foreign Constitutions, subjected them to the most stringent criticism, tested them by the particular exigencies of the Reich and by the special character of its people. Here they imitated, there they initiated. Naturally, they were not wholly able to detach themselves from the judgments, preferences and prejudices that prevail in their country. Perhaps from the strictly German point of view it is better that it should be so. The work is strongly marked with their traits. It is logical and fine-spun, audacious, complicated and sometimes obscure, painstakingly conceived and solidly constructed. But whatever technical merit a legal document may present, it is worth little unless it accommodates itself to the realities for which it is created, unless, too, it is strong enough to resist the thrusts directed against it and to master them. Has the Constitution of Weimar resistance enough to withstand all the inevitable assaults which will be aimed at it, and can it guarantee to the German people a well-ordered public life and a stable government?