The other jurists emphasize the characteristics of the States which bring them nearer in nature to states properly so called. The Constitution has recognised that if sovereignty in the Reich emanates from all the people, sovereignty in the states also emanates directly from the people of those states. From this it follows as a logical consequence that this power is exercised within the states, in the matters within their jurisdiction and through the organs of the states on the basis of their Constitution. The Constitution has admitted that the states have their own proper territory since the territory of the Reich is composed of the territories of the state. The latter have also their own individual legislative and administrative organizations. It need only be added that if the Reich disappeared the states could still subsist and continue to live according to their Constitutions, which proves that their sovereignty belongs to them and is not surrendered to the Reich. Finally, and this is the essential argument, in the Reichstag the states are represented as such and as such they participate in the formation of the will of the Reich. This makes it, therefore, a federated state.[16] The National Assembly did not want to take a position on this question and of its own accord adopted an entirely colourless declaration on it which left the doors open to all opinions. While the individual states were called in the Constitution of 1871 “federated states,” they were thereafter called “republics” in the Preuss draft, “member-states” in the draft submitted by the government and finally “länder” in the draft of the constitutional commission and in the definitive text. Actually, however, it is difficult to understand the interest in this question. What difference does it make whether the states are states or provinces, so long as their powers and obligations are strictly defined by the Constitution? From their names alone we can deduce nothing practically informative about their nature. It is an academic question which has not progressed one step in three generations, which one studies but does nothing about, for there is no reality in it. In fact it is not possible to indicate a precise and material criterion according to which one should differentiate between a state and an autonomous province which is not entitled to the name of state. There are no clearly defined categories which one can label once for all and among which one can distribute the different state and provincial collectivities.