CHAMBERS'S INFORMATION FOR THE PEOPLE. 



of the two sets of figures referring to population 

 and revenue, we should have for England 494 

 members, for Scotland 75, for Ireland 89. 



Functions of Parliament. Sir Edward Coke 

 says ' the power and jurisdiction of parliament is 

 so transcendent and absolute, that it cannot be 

 confined, either for causes or persons, within any 

 bounds.' The sovereign is the head of parlia- 

 ment, and can alone summon, prorogue, or dis- 

 solve it. No parliament, save on the death of the 

 sovereign, can assemble of its own accord. The 

 legal limit to the duration of a parliament is seven 

 years. Parliament is assembled by summons of 

 the sovereign issued through the Lord Chancellor, 

 at least thirty-five days previous to its assembling. 

 In the reign of William and Mary, it was enacted 

 that parliament must be summoned once in three 

 years at least ; but now, as the vote of supply for 

 the army and the budget is only granted to the 

 executive for a single year, parliament must be 

 summoned annually, and of late this has always 

 been done. Every session ends with the proroga- 

 tion of parliament by the sovereign personally, 

 or through royal commissioners, or by proc- 

 lamation ; and this quashes all bills not car- 

 ried through, and all pending parliamentary pro- 

 ceedings, save impeachments and appeals and 

 writs of error in the Lords. Should the term of 

 prorogation elapse, and no summons to meet be 

 issued by the sovereign, parliament cannot as- 

 semble of its own accord, and the summons must 

 be issued six days before the time of meeting. 

 Adjournment of parliament is merely the continu- 

 ance of the session from one day to another, 

 whereas dissolution is the civil death of parliament. 



Both Houses of Parliament have high privileges 

 for maintaining their authority and protecting 

 their members. The Speaker or president of the 

 House of Commons claims the privilege of free 

 speech from the sovereign at the opening of a 

 new parliament for members of the Lower House ; 

 but a member may be severely punished for con- 

 tempt by the Speaker, if he abuse this privilege. 

 Courts of law cannot inquire into or review cases 

 of persons committed to prison for breach of the 

 privileges of parliament, and even yet the publica- 

 tion of the debates of the House is a breach of 

 privilege, though of late the privilege has been 

 waived, save where the reports were maliciously 

 perverted. Members of both Houses are, whilst 

 parliament is sitting, free from arrest or im- 

 prisonment in civil matters ; so are peeresses 

 by creation, in their own right or by marriage. 

 Parliamentary witnesses are also free from arrest. 

 Persons not members or officials of the House 

 have no right to be present at its debates. 

 The two Houses with the sovereign pass laws, 

 impose taxes, superintend the administration of 

 public affairs, and though they cannot direct or 

 control the conduct of the executive, they can 

 watch and criticise it ; and the Lower House, if it 

 finds its remonstrances unheeded, can always 

 force the executive to listen to its demands, by 

 exercising its privilege of withholding the sup- 

 plies, and refusing to vote the Mutiny Act, or act 

 legalising the standing army and thus bring the 

 whole machinery of government to a dead-lock, 

 till its demands are conceded. Indeed, what 

 gives the Lower House preponderating influence 

 is, that all bills relating to money for the public 

 service must originate with the Commons, the 



180 



Lords merely being able to give their formal 

 assent, and not having power to alter or modify 

 them. No act of the two Houses becomes valid 

 till it is ratified by the sovereign. In the Lower 

 House, the president is called the Speaker be- 

 cause he is the medium of communication be- 

 tween the House and the sovereign, and ranks 

 as first commoner in Great Britain. In the 

 Lords, the president is the Lord Chancellor, or 

 premier judge of England. The Speaker is elected 

 by the House ; the Chancellor presides in the Lords 

 ex officio. All proposals must come before either 

 House in the fonn of a bill this being the title 

 given to an act of parliament when it is under dis- 

 cussion. Permission must first be got to intro- 

 duce it Then it is read and considered twice by 

 the House. If it pass the second reading, it is 

 considered the House is committed to the principle 

 of the bill, and it is then scrutinised in detail by 

 the whole House sitting as a committee, in which 

 each member may speak as often as he likes, 

 whereas in regular sittings he can only speak 

 once except to explain wherein any of his first 

 statements have been misrepresented or mis- 

 understood. Having passed through committee, 

 the bill is then read for the third time ; and if it 

 has originated in the Commons, when it passes 

 the third reading, it is sent to the Lords, where it 

 goes through precisely similar stages of discussion 

 and consideration. If it passes the Lords, it is sent 

 to the sovereign for ratification, and then, when 

 ratified by royal assent, it becomes a law of the 

 land. Should either House make alterations on 

 the bills passed by the other, they must be 

 reported to the House wherein the bill originated. 

 If the two cannot agree to the modification sug- 

 gested, or if they cannot arrive at a compromise 

 which satisfies both parties, the bill falls to the 

 ground. The royal assent is never refused in 

 modern times. No cabinet would hold office 

 unless with the assurance of getting the assent 

 of the crown to any bills they passed, and as the 

 sovereign cannot reign without a ministry, and a 

 ministry cannot exist without the support of par- 

 liament and of the Commons, who hold the supplies 

 under control, the royal veto is never exercised. 

 Votes by proxy are not allowed in the Commons. 



Until 1873, the Upper House exercised judicial 

 functions as a supreme court of tribunal, its law 

 members forming a judicial committee, that gave 

 final decisions in all appeals from judgments 

 given in all inferior courts of law in the three 

 kingdoms. The appellate jurisdiction of the 

 House of Lords was finally reconstituted in 1867, 

 and transferred to a professional tribunal, con- 

 sisting of the Lord Chancellor and the Lords of 

 Appeal in Ordinary. (There is no appeal in 

 criminal cases from the Scottish Court of Justi- 

 ciary.) The Lords try offenders impeached by 

 the House of Commons. Questions concerning 

 the privileges or rights of either House must be 

 settled in that House, and nowhere else e.g., the 

 Commons decide finally as to the validity of the 

 election of a member of the Lower House. The 

 speaker of the House of Commons does not vote 

 or speak. In case of equality, however, he gives 

 the casting vote. In the Lords, the Speaker or 

 Chancellor votes and takes part in debates, but 

 has no casting vote ; and if there be an equality, 

 the ' non-contents ' or ' noes ' are held to prevail 

 over the ' contents ' or ' ayes." 





