131 



BILL IX PARLIAMENT. 



BILL IN' PARLIAMENT. 



131 



111 modern lima* a bill doe* not differ in form from an act, oxeupt 

 Uut when tint brought in, it often presents blank* (or date*, sum* of 

 money, to., which are filled up in its [image through the house. 

 When printed, also, which (with the exception only of naturalisation 

 and name-bills, which are not printed) it i* always ordered to be, either 

 immediately after it ha* been read a first time, or at aome other early 

 stage of it* progress, a portion of it, which may admit of being dis- 

 joined from the rest, U *ometime* distinguished by a different type. 

 But most bills are several times printed in their passage through the 

 two houses. A bill, like an act, ha* its title and its preamble, usually 

 netting forth the reason* upon which it professes to be founded, and con- 

 cluding " Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's moat excellent Majesty, 

 by and with the adrioe and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, 

 and Commons, in this present Parliament n Mumbled, and by the 

 authority of the same as follows;" after which come the enacting 

 clause* in their order. The advantage of this is that a bill becomes a 

 law at once on receiving the royal assent. 



Originally, the bills passed by the two houaes were introduced in the 

 form of petitions, and retained that form when they came to receive 

 the royal assent. The whole of those passed in one session were then, 

 after tie parliament rose, submitted to the judges, to be by them put 

 into the proper shape of a law. But it was found that in undergoing 

 Uiis proceed the acts, as passed by the parliament, were frequently both 

 added to and mutilated. Indeed a great deal of the power of making 

 the law was thus left in the hand* of the judges, and of the royal 

 authority, in so far as these learned personages might be under its 

 influence. To remedy this evil it was arranged in the reign of Henry 

 V., that the statute roll of the session should always lie drawn up 

 before the parliament roue. In the following reign, that of Henry VI., 

 the bill came a* now to be prepared in the form of an act. 



Bills are either public or private. In the introduction of a public 

 bill the first motion made in the Houae of Lords is that the bill be 

 brought in ; but in the House of Commons the member who purposes 

 to introduce the bill must first move that leave be given to bring it in. 

 If that motion is carried, the bill is then either ordered to be brought 

 in by certain members, generally not more than two, of whom the 

 mover is one. A select committee is sometimes appointed for that 

 IHirpose. When the bill in ready, which it frequently is as soon on the 

 motion for leave to bring it in has been agreed to, it is presented at 

 the bar by one of those members, and afterwards, upon an intimation 

 from the speaker, brought up by him to the table. The next motion is 

 that it be read a first time ; and this motion is most frequently made 

 immediately after the bill has been brought up. This being carried, a 

 day is appointed for considering the question that the bill be read a 

 second time. The second reading being carried, it is next moved that 

 the bill be committed, that is, that it be considered clause by clause 

 either in a committee of the whole house, or, if the matter be of less 

 importance, in a select committee appointed for the purpose. When 

 the committee have finished their labours they make their report 

 through their chairman; and the next motion is that the report lie 

 received. Besides modifying the original clauses of the bill, it is in 

 the power of the committee, if they think proper, both to omit certain 

 "]*wm. and to add. others. Sometimes a bill is ordered to be re- 

 committed, that it may undergo further consideration, or that addi- 

 tional alterations may be made in it. The report of the committee 

 having been received, the next motion is that the bill be read a third 

 time, and when that is carried, there is still a further motion, that the 

 Kill ,1., jnM. When a bill has passed the House of Lords, it is sent 

 down to the House of Commons, usually (since the abolition of the 

 office of master of chancery,) by the clerk assistant, or reading clerk, 

 sometimes by the Queen's Sergeant, and occasionally, in the case of 

 measure* of great importance, by one or more of the judges, who 

 make three obeisance* as they advance to the speaker, and, after 

 one of them has read the title of the bill, deliver it to him, desiring 

 that it may be taken into consideration, When a bill, on the other 

 hand, is sent up from the Commons to the Lords, it in sent by several 

 member* (the ipeaker being frequently one), who, having knocked at 

 the door of the Lords' house, are introduced by the usher of the black 

 rod, and then advance to the bar, making three obeisances. The 

 speaker of the bouse, who is usually the lord chancellor, then comes 

 down to the bar, and receive* the bill, the member who delivers it to 

 him stating its title, and informing him that it is a bill which the 

 Common* have passed, and to which they desire the concurrence of 

 their lonUhips. A bill thus received by the one house from the 

 other is almost always read at least a first time ; but it does not appear 

 to be a matter of course that it should be so read. It then goes again 

 through the same stages as in the other house. 



The bill may be debated on any one of the motions which we have 

 mentioned, and it commonly is so debated more than once. It 1* 

 usual, however, to take the debate upon the principle of the proposed 

 measure either on the motion for leave to bring in the bill, or on that 

 for the second reading ; the detail* are generally discussed in the com- 

 mittee. Amendments upon the bill, going either to it* entire rejection, 

 or to it* alteration to any extent, may be proposed on any occasion on 

 which it is debated after it ha* been brought in. Before it is com- 

 mitted also certain instruction* to the committee may be moved, upon 

 which the committee mutt act. 

 Bills were formerly engrossed after th report of the committee, on 



rolls of parchment, and in the same shape sent to the other house, 

 and after the royal assent enrolled as statute* ; clauses added being 

 engrossed on separate sheets, and attached to the bill a* ritleri. This 

 system was discontinued in 1849, and printing substituted. 



Bills of all kinds may originate in either house, except what are 

 called money bills, that i, bills for raising money by any specie* of 

 taxation, which must always be brought first into the House of 

 Commons. The Commons also will reject any amendment made upon 

 a money bill by the Lord*. The Lord* again have a standing order 

 against proceeding with any bill for restitution in blood which shall 

 not have originated in their own House. 



When a bill has passed the Commons and is to be sent up to the 

 Lords, the clerk writes upon it Soil bailU aux Seigoettn ; and upon one 

 which lias passed the Lords and is to be sent down to the Commons, 

 the clerk of the Lords writes Soil baUlt atue Cummuiu. If it is afterwards 

 pissnd by the Common*, the clerk writes upon it Lei Comma nt out 

 ntttuim. All bills of supply, after being passed by the Lords, are 

 returned to the House of Commons, in which they had originated, and 

 there remain till they are brought to the House of Lords by the 

 speaker to receive the royal assent : all other bills are deposited with 

 the Lords till the royal assent is given to them. 



A bill, after it has been introduced, may be lost either by the royal 

 assent being refused (of which, however, there is no instance in recent 

 times), or by a motion for its rejection being carried in any of its 

 stages in its passage through either bouse, or by any of the motions 

 necessary to advance it on its progress being dropped or withdrawn. 

 The rejection of the bill may be effected by the motion in its favour 

 being simply negatived, or by a counter-motion being carried to the 

 effect that the next reading be deferred till a day by which it is 

 known that parliament will have been prorogued (generally till that 

 day six months, or that day three months), or by the carrying of an 

 amendment entirely opposed to the measure. The motion for carrying 

 it forward on any of its stages may be dropped either by the House 

 not assembling on the day for which the order made respecting that 

 motion stands, or simply by no member appearing to make the motion. 

 When a motion has once been made, it can only be withdrawn by 

 consent of the House. 



If a bill has been lost in any of these ways, the rule is that the same 

 measure cannot be again brought forward the same session. " It 

 however appears," says Mr. Hatsoll, in treating of this subject in his 

 ' Precedents,' " from several of the cases under this title, as well as 

 from every day's practice, that this rule is not to be so strictly and 

 verbally observed as to stop the proceedings of the house : it is rather 

 to be kept in substance than in words ; and the good sense of the 

 House must decide, upon every question, how far it come* within the 

 meaning of the rule." In fact there are several remarkable examples 

 of the regulation being entirely disregarded. And sometimes a short 

 prorogation has been made merely to allow a bill which had been 

 defeated to be again introduced. 



When a bill which has passed one house has been amended in the 

 other, it must be returned, with the amendments, to be again con- 

 sidered in the house from which it had come ; and it cannot be 

 .-iilniiittod for the royal assent until the amendments have been agreed 

 to by that house. In case of a difference of opinion between the two 

 houses, the subject is frequently ordered to be discussed in a 

 rence. [AMKNUMKNT.] 



According to the standing orders of the House of Commons, no lull 

 relating to religion, or trade, can be brought into the House until the 

 proposition shall have been first considered and agreed to in a com- 

 mittee of the whole house ; and the house will not proceed upon any 

 petition, motion, or bill for granting any money, or for releasing or 

 compounding any sum of money owing to the crown, but in a com- 

 mittee of the whole house. No bill also can pass the house affecting 

 the property of the crown or the royal prerogative, without the royal 

 consent having been first signified. 



Private bills are such as directly relate only to the concerns of 

 private individualx, or bodies of individuals, and not to matters of state 

 or to the community in general. In some cases it might be doubtful 

 whether an act ought to be considered a public or a private 01, 

 in these cases a clause is commonly inserted at the end of the act to 

 remove the doubt. Private bills in passing into laws go through the 

 same stages in both bouses of parliament with public bills; but ivl.itiu^ 

 as they do for the most part to matters as to which the pulilii- attention 

 is not so much alive, various additional regulation* are established with 

 regard to them, for the purpose of securing to them in their progress 

 the observation of all whose interests they may affect. No priv 

 in the first place, can be introduced into either house except \ijxm a 

 petition stating its object and the grounds upon which it IB sought. 

 Nor can such petitions be presented after a certain day in each session, 

 which i always fixed at the commencement of the notion, and i* 

 usually within a fortnight or three weeks thereafter. In all cases the 

 necessary documents and plans must be laid before the house before it 

 will proceed iu the matter, and it must also have evidence that suffi- 

 cient notice in every respect has been given to all parties interested in 

 the measure. To a certain extent the consent of these parties is 

 required before the bill can be passed. For the numerous rules, how- 

 ever, liy which these objects are sought to be secured, we must refer 

 ling Orders themselves, which prescribe most minutely the 



