The universal geography : earth and its inhabitants

GOVERNMENT AND ADMINISTRATION OF SWEDEN. 163old. During the session, which legally lasts four months, they receive a grant of£67 (1,200 crowns) , besides travelling expenses. The Presidents and Vice- Presidentsof both Houses are chosen by the King from the respective bodies. All mattersproposed for discussion are previously prepared by committees named in equalnumbers by each of the Chambers.The 2,354 Swedish rural communes as well as the 95 boroughs have themanagement of their local affairs. Each possesses a Municipal Council variouslydesignated according to the rank of the commune, and chooses its own president,except in Stockholm, where the governor (Orer Stat-Hallare) is ex officio presidentof the communal assembly. The four cities of Stockholm, Goteborg, Malmo,and Norrkoping, with populations exceeding 25,000, are detached from thejurisdiction of the Councils General, and administered by their Municipal Councils.The present Swedish code has been less affected by Roman right than mostothers in Europe, being mainly traceable to the common law and pagan usagesmodified by the influence of Christianity. These laws, whose oldest texts datefrom the beginning of the thirteenth century, are supposed to have been writtenin Runic characters on balkar, or detached wooden tablets, whence the term balkis still applied to the various sections of the civil code.Several were composed inverse under the form of couplets, with a view to their more easy retention in thememory. To the traditional laws of the rural districts were added the civiccodes, more or less inspired by those of "Wisby and other Hanseatic towns. In1442 laws and customs alike, the old fandskapslagar, were revised and fused intoone general code under the name of landslag. This code was again modified in17o4, and since then it has been several times retouched. The military andecclesiastics are governed by special laws.The press enjoys a large share of liberty in Sweden, where, however, questionsdangerous to established religious, political, or social interests are seldom broached.In cases of actions for libel against the press, juries of nine are appointed, three bythe defendant, three by the plaintiff, and three by the court, six votes being requiredfor a verdict of guilty.The tribunals of first instance are composed, in the towns, of the burgomasterand his assessors; in the 108 rural districts, of a district judge, assisted by twelveproprietary peasants. The judge alone decides, but when all the jury differ fromhim their opinion prevails. Three royal courts—those of Stockholm for NorthSweden, Jonkoping for Gbtaland, and Christianstad for Scania and Blekinge—hearcases of appeal, revise sentences of death pronounced by the judges of first instance,and deal with all errors committed by the judges and functionaries in the exerciseof their duties. A High Court sitting in Stockholm is composed of sixteen judges,divided into two tribunals, and in cases involving the military two superior officersare added.Moreover, the King possesses two votes in this court, whenever he seesfit to take part in the proceedings. On very rare occasions a Court of the Realmis constituted to hear cases against members of the Council of State or of the HighCourt.