COMMISSION 



COM MI SSI ON A I I IKS 



888 



re. The members of these are nominated in 

 terms of special acts of parliament. 



Oilier permanent commissions are the Charity 

 Commission, created 1833 (of four members, one 

 of whom is unpaid ), to examine into all the charities 

 ami the management of them, in England and 

 Wales ; tin- Commission for the management of the 

 National Debt; the Ecclesiastical ami Church 

 Kstates Commission; the Land Commission of 

 Kn.u'land ; the Public Works Loan Commission ; 

 the Thames Conservancy Commission ; and the 

 Commission for the adjustment of Cases under 

 Income-tax Assessments. These are all IxMlies com- 

 missioned to execute certain specified functions, 

 more or less administrative, and partaking to some 

 extent of the character of public departments. 



In law, a commission may be issued by mandate 

 of a court to take evidence from parties residing 

 abroad or incapacitated from appearing in person. 

 A Commission in Bankruptcy is issued for tne pur- 

 pose of taking charge of the effects of an insolvent 

 for behoof of his creditors. A Commission in 

 Lunacy is appointed by the Court of Chancery to 

 inquire into the mental condition of an alleged 

 lunatic whose property may be in question. There 

 are now permanent commissioners in lunacy whose 

 duties include visitation and supervision of asylums. 

 In governmental relations, commissions are some- 

 times constituted where Britain exercises protect- 

 orate but has not formed complete colonial estab- 

 lishments, as in Cyprus, South Africa (see CAPE 

 COLONY ), New Guinea, and some islands of the 

 western Pacific. The commission in such cases 

 is a delegation, with certain limitations, of the 

 authority of the crown. In India (q.v.) the 

 administrative head of a province is sometimes 

 called chief-commissioner (assisted by district com- 

 missioners), who is responsible to the viceroy of 

 India. Sometimes commissions are international 

 i.e. composed of representatives of various 

 nations for international purposes. A conspicu- 

 ous example of such was the commission in 1871 

 on the Alabama question (see ALABAMA); more 

 recent was the commission for Eastern Roumelia, 

 appointed under the Treaty of Berlin of 1878. 



Again, a commission may take the form of a 

 temporary embassy for certain specific purposes. 

 The appointments are then made bv the prime- 

 minister and cabinet, as when Mr Gladstone was 

 sent to the Ionian Islands in 1858, or Lord 

 Dutferin to Egypt in 1883. Somewhat different 

 in character was the commission given to Mr 

 Chamberlain in 1887 to proceed to America, to 

 confer with delegates of Canada and the United 

 States upon matters in dispute concerning the 

 fisheries. 



In its parliamentary sense, a commission may be 

 either Special or Royal. In the former case it is 

 appointed usually, and in the latter case invariably, 

 in response to a motion in one or other of the 

 Houses. A royal commission is appointed only 

 by the crown ; but a special commission may be 

 appointed by a department of state. The expenses 

 of a commission of this kind are usually defrayed 

 by the parties requiring it, but those of a royal 

 commission are included in the estimates for the 

 current year. The commissioners may be paid 

 by fees regulated by government. When a com- 

 mission sits in London, it has the power of author- 

 ising the payment of witnesses on the scale recog- 

 nised in courts of law ; but when a commission 

 sits in the country, witnesses are not paid. 



A royal commission is appointed oy motion in 

 parliament, and is issued oy a royal warrant 

 nominating certain ' trusty and well-beloved 

 cousins and counsellors ' to undertake a specified 

 inquiry. Of such was the royal commission to 

 inquire into the condition of tne crofters (1882), 



which was a wholly different Udy from that 

 appointed by act of parliament in 1886 to carry 

 out certain legislative decrees. The former wan 

 one of inquiry ; the latter, one of administration. 

 The royal commissions appointed to inquire into- 

 the causes of the depression of trade (1886-87), 

 and into the recent changes in the relative values 

 of the precious metals ( commonly called the Silver 

 Commission), also in 1883, are among the most 

 prominent of recent appointments of this kind. 



When a royal commission is nominated by royal 

 mandate, a secretary is appointed, and such clerical 

 assistance as may be necessary is provided out of 

 some of the departments. The commissioners are 

 empowered to call arid hear evidence (although not 

 on oath), to examine documents, localities, &c. 

 The evidence is reported in extenso question and 

 answer duly numl>ered and is submitted, along 

 with the formal report, to the sovereign and to- 

 parliament. The whole is then incorporated in a 

 blue-book. The multiplication of royal and special 

 commissions has become rather a legislative 

 nuisance and a financial burden. Royal commissions 

 always include members of the House of Lords or of 

 the House of Commons, or of both. 



The cost of parliamentary and royal commissions 

 varies much. In 1896-97 the Charity Commission 

 cost 42,869 (a small decrease on the preceding year), 

 the Civil Service Commission 39,700 (decrease). 

 In 1888 the figures for all were : 



Charity Commission 36,701 



Civil Service Commission 44,477 



Land Commission of England 12,210 



Lunacy Commission of England 15,217 



Scotland 6,990 



Public Works Loan Commission 9,533 



National Debt Commission 15,071 



Wreck Commission 12,64*0 



Crofters Commission 6,831 



Land Commission of Ireland 45,912 



Endowed Schools Commission 700 



Temporary Commissions 33,404 



Another kind of commission is that sometimes 

 given to two or more judges to inquire into certain 

 alleged crimes, such as the commission ( 1867-69 > 

 to inquire into the Sheffield trades-union outrages, 

 and that (1888-90) of three judges appointed by 

 act of parliament, to inquire into the ' charges 

 and allegations' brought in the Times newspaper 

 against Mr Parnell and others. 



It should be added that the sovereign, who- 

 nominally presides over the annual deliberations of 

 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, 

 delegates the duty to a Scotch peer as Lord High. 

 Commissioner, a fresh commission being issued 

 every year. For the ecclesiastical court created by 

 Queen Elizabeth, see HIGH COMMISSION. 



Commission Agent, or MERCHANT, is a 

 person employed to sell goods consigned or delivered 

 to him by another who is called his principal, for a- 

 certain percentage, commonly called nis commission 

 or factorage. See BROKER. 



Commissionaires is a name given a class of 

 attendants at continental hotels, who perform cer- 

 tain miscellaneous services. Employed to attend 

 at the arrival of railway trains anil steanilx>ata to 

 secure customers, they wait to take charge oT lug- 

 gage, see it passed through the hands of the custom- 

 house officers, and send it on to the hotel ; for all 

 which service they charge a fee. 



In 1859 the Corps of Commissionaires was estab- 

 lished by Sir Edward Walter in England, with 

 divisions in London, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds, 

 Liverpool, Manchester, and other large cities in the 

 United Kingdom. The corps has recently extended 

 its operations to the principal cities of Australia, 

 and purposes to continue its further development 

 throughout the colonial empire. The corps is com- 

 posed of picked men from every branch of Her 



