80 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



The next great change in the constituency 

 of the House of Commons, was made by the 

 Reform Bill of 1867-68. By this Act England 

 and Wales were allotted 493 members and 

 Scotland 60, while the number for Ireland re- 

 mained unaltered, and household suffrage was 

 conferred on boroughs in England and Scot- 

 land. A still greater reform was effected by 

 the Representation of the People Act, 1884, 

 and the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885. 

 The former introduced a " service franchise," 

 extending to householders and lodgers in 

 counties the suffrages which in 1867 had been 

 conferred upon householders and lodgers in 

 boroughs, and placed the three Kingdoms on a 

 footing of equality as regards electoral qualifi- 

 cations ; while the latter made a new division 

 of the United Kingdom into county and borough 

 constituencies, and raised the total number of 

 members to 670, England receiving 6 new 

 members, and Scotland 12. 



All elections for members of Parliament 

 must be by secret vote by ballot, an Act being 

 passed annually to this effect. 



No one under twenty-one years of age can 

 be a member of Parliament. All clergymen of 

 the Church of England, ministers of the 

 Church of Scotland, and Roman Catholic 

 clergymen are disqualified from sitting as 

 members ; all Government contractors, and all 

 sheriffs and returning officers for the localities 

 for which they act, are disqualified both from 

 voting and from sitting as members. No Eng- 

 lish or Scottish peer can be elected to the 

 House of Commons, but non-representative 

 Irish peers are eligible. 



The executive government of Great Britain 

 and Ireland is vested nominally in the Crown ; 

 but practically in a committee of Ministers, 

 commonly called the Cabinet, whose existence 

 is dependent on the possession of a majority in 

 the House of Commons. 



The member of the Cabinet who fills the 

 position of First Lord of the Treasury is, as a 

 rule, the chief of the Ministry. It is on the 

 Premier's recommendation that his colleagues 

 are appointed ; and he dispenses the greater 

 portion of the patronage of the Crown. 

 . The Cabinet officers are as follows : 



Prime Minister and Secretary of State for 

 /}> if/n Affairs. 



Lord President of the Council. 



Lonl Iliijh Chancellor. 



Lord /'//>// Seal. 



Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. 



First Lord of the Treasury. 



Secretary of State for the Home Department. 



Chancellor -jf the Exchequer. 



Secretary of State for the Colonies. 



Secretary of State for War. 



Secretary of State for India. 



First Lord of tlir Admiralty. 



President of the Local Government Board. 



President of the Board of Trail' . 



Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 



Lord Chancellor of Ireland. 



Secretary for Scotland. 



First Commissioner of Works. 



President of the Board of Atjrii-ullnre. 



Local Government. England ttinl IC'i/.s. In cadi 

 county the Crown is represented ],y;i Lord Lieutenant, 

 who is generally also citsto* rotulontm, or keeper of the 

 records. He usually nominates persons whom lie con- 

 siders fit and proper persons to be justices of th 

 for his county, to be appointed by the Lord Chancellor. 

 His duties, however, are almost nominal. There is also 

 a sheriff, who represents the executive of the Crown, an 

 tinder-sheriff, a clerk of the peace, coroners, who are 

 appointed and paid by the County Councils, and other 

 officers. The licensing of persons to sell intoxicating 

 liquors, and the administration of the criminal law 

 except that which deals with some of the graver of- 

 fenses is in the hands of the magistrates. For tin- 

 purposes of local government, England and Wales are 

 divided into sixty-one administrative counties, includ- 

 ing the county of London, which differ slightly in area 

 from the geographical counties. 



For each administrative county there is a popularly- 

 elected Council, called a County Council, who co-opt a 

 prescribed number of aldermen, either from their own 

 body or from outside it. Aldermen are elected for six 

 years, half of them retiring every third year. A 

 councilor is elected for three years. The juris- 

 diction of the County Councils extend to (1) making of 

 county and police rates ; (2) borrowing money ; (3) super- 

 vision of county treasurer; (4) management of county 

 halls and other buildings; (5) licensing of houses for 

 music and dancing, and of race courses; (6) maintenance 

 and management of pauper lunatic asylums; (~. 

 tenance of reformatory and industrial schools ; v 

 agement of bridges and main roads; (9) icgulation ol 

 fees of inspectors, analysts, and other officers; (1th con 

 trol of oineers paid out of the county rate ; (11) coroner's 

 salary, fees, and district; (12) Parliamentary polling 

 districts and registration; (13) contagious di>. 

 animals, and various other matters. The control of the 

 county police is vested in a standing joint committee, 

 composed of an equal number of magistrates and mem- 

 bers of the County Council. The London police are, 

 however, under the control of the Home Secretary. 



The administrative counties, with the exception of 

 the County of London, are subdivided into "County 

 Districts,"" which are either Urban, or, Rural, as the 

 case may be. Generally speaking, an urban district 

 comprises a town or a small area more or less closely 

 populated, and a rural district takes in several country 

 parishes. Women may be elected to District Councils, 

 but may not sit on County Councils; and the chairman 

 of a District Council is, 'unless a woman, a magistrate 

 for the county by virtue of his ollice. The District 

 Councils administer tin* Public. Health and Highway 

 Acts, and also exercise some powers formerly exercised 

 by the justices out of session. 



In every civil parish in a "rural district" there is a 

 Parish Meeting, at which every parochial elector may 

 attend and vote. In such parishes of over ;><H) inhabit- 

 ants there is in addition a Parish Council. To these 

 latter bodies has been transferred all the civil power- 

 of the old Vestries, including the election of overseers, 

 and in addition very considerable powers over charities, 

 allotments, and other public matters. Where there is 

 no Parish Council some of these powers, including the 

 appointment of the overseers, arc exercised by tin- 

 Parish Meeting. Urban District Councils can, l>y peti- 

 tioning the Local (Jovernment Board winch is the 

 supreme Local Government authority obtain part or 

 all of the powers of a Parish Council. Only Parish 

 Meetings may have power to adopt the Public Libraries 

 Acts, tin- Baths and Wash-houses Acts, the Lighting and 

 Watching Acts, the Burials Acts, and the Public Im- 

 provements Acts. 



In the County of London local government is carried 

 on under the County Council by the Vestries, formed 

 under the Metropolis Management Acts, which exercise 

 powers similar but somewhat wider than urban district 



