PARLIAMENT ACT 



5986 



Parliament Act. ~ Statute, 

 enacted Aug. 18, 1911, limiting the 

 power of the House of Lords 

 and making other constitutional 

 changes. The rejection of the budget 

 by the Lords in Nov., 1909, opened 

 an acute controversy on the powers 

 of the Upper House over money 

 bills, and on the relations between 

 the two Houses. The general elec- 

 tion which followed the dissolution 

 of Jan., 1910, reduced the Liberal 

 government's majority from 334 to 

 124. The Commons passed resolu- 

 tions introduced by the premier, 

 H. H. Asquith, declaring that the 

 House of Lords ought to have no 

 power to reject or amend money 

 bills, that other bills passed thrice 

 by the Commons should become 

 law irrespective of the vote of the 

 Lords, and that the maximum 

 duration of a parliament should be 

 reduced from seven to five years. 

 A bill embodying these resolutions 

 was dropped owing to the death of 

 Edward VII. 



After an abortive conference, the 

 general election of Dec., 1910, gave 

 the Government a majority of 126. 

 The Parliament Bill, introduced, 

 Feb. 21, 1911, was passed by the 

 Commons, and accepted by the 

 Lords with certain amendments 

 which the Government rejected. On 

 July 21 Asquith intimated that the 

 king would use his prerogative of 

 creating enough peers to carry the 

 bill through the Lords substan- 

 tially in its original form. It was 

 accordingly passed by the Lords 

 by 131 to 114, and became law. 



The Act as passed differed little 

 from the resolutions of 1910. The 

 Lords can at the most delay a 

 money bill for one month ; such 

 bills are defined with some pre- 

 cision, and the Speaker is the au- 

 thority who decides doubtful cases. 

 An ordinary bill, if passed by the 

 Commons in three successive ses- 

 sions, will become law at the ex- 

 piration of that time even if re- 

 jected by the Lords. Two years, 

 however, must elapse between its 

 second reading on its first intro- 

 duction and its final acceptance by 

 the Commons, and it must be sent 

 to the Lords a month or more 

 before the end of a session. The 

 preamble of the Act referred to the 

 necessity of reforming the House of 

 Lords. See Commons, House of; 

 Lords, House of ; Parliament. 



Parliamentary Agent. Person, 

 usually a solicitor by profession, 

 and acquainted with the details 

 of parliamentary procedure, em- 

 ployed to assist the promoters of 

 private bills by canvassing mem- 

 bers of parliament, securing in- 

 formation, and generally facili- 

 tating the drafting and passing 

 of bills. 



Parliament Hill, Hampstead Heath. View from the summit or the hill, 

 looking toward London 



Parliament Hill and Fields. 



London open space. Situated near 

 to the Hampstead border of St. 

 Pancras, the hill is 319 ft. in height, 

 and has a chain of ponds, over one 

 of which the roadway is carried by 

 a handsome viaduct. Since 1889 

 the hill and fields, covering 267 

 acres, have formed an integral part 

 of Hampstead Heath, being ac- 

 quired for the public at a cost of 

 301,000. The level ground near 

 Gospel Oak and Highgate is main- 

 tained for cricket, lawn tennis, 

 football, and other outdoor games. 



The name Parliament Hill is sup- 

 posed to connect the spot with an 

 ancient folk-moot, or with the 

 planting of cannon here by the 

 Parliamentary forces for the de- 

 fence of London during the Civil 

 War. Its alternative name of 

 Traitors' Hill is associated with 

 the legend that here the confeder- 

 ates of Guy Fawkes assembled to 

 witness the blowing up of the 

 Houses of Parliament. The tumulus 

 popularly known as Boadicea's 

 Tomb was explored in 1894, when 

 it yielded the rival theories that 

 it was an ancient burial mound of 

 the early bronze period, or that it 

 was originally raised as a Roman 

 boundary mark. ^- See Municipal 

 Parks, Gardens, and Open Spaces 

 of London, J. J. Sexby, 1898. 



Parma. Prov. of N. Italy, in 

 Emilia. It is bounded N. by Cre- 

 mona, S. by Massa e Carrara and 

 Genoa, E. by ,^ w . 

 Bergamo, and W. 

 by P i a c e n z a. ' 

 Mountainous in 

 the S., it slopes in 

 a N.E. direction 

 fr'om the Ligurian 

 Apennines to the 

 river Po, which 

 forms its N. 

 boundary. The 

 Parma, Baganza, 

 and Taro, all 

 tributaries of the 

 Po, are the chief 

 rivers watering 

 the province. 

 Cereals, wine, oil, 

 cheese, and fruit 

 are produced. 



Cattle rearing and silk manufacture 

 are important industries. There 

 are many mineral springs, the most 

 famous being that at Salsomag- 

 giore. The capital is Parma. Area, 

 1,258 sq. m. Pop. 340,000. 



Parma. City of Italy, capital of 

 the prov. of Parma. It stands on 

 both banks of the river Parma, 

 75 m.- by rly. S.E. of Milan. An 

 ancient and handsome city, sur- 

 rounded in part by ramparts, its 

 streets are straight and wide, while 

 the old Aemilian Way traverses the 

 city from E. to W. Its Lombard- 

 Romanesque cathedral, built about 

 1059-1106, with later additions, 

 has a lofty campanile and an octag- 

 onal dome, containing a fresco of 

 the Assumption, one of Correggio's 

 greatest works. The Romanesque 

 baptistery, with a Gothic upper 

 storey, 1196-1302, built of marble, 

 is one of the finest in Italy. 



There are about 60 other churches. 

 The most notable are three Renais- 

 sance churches, Our Lady, 1521- 

 39, S. John the Evangelist, 1510- 

 1614, with frescoes in the dome by 

 Correggio, and the Annunciation, 

 1566-1632. The ducal palace, or 

 Palazzo della Pilotta. has art 

 galleries with paintings by Cor- 

 reggio and other masters ; a li- 

 brary containing over 300,000 vol- 

 umes and 4,500 MSS. ; and a mu- 

 seum of antiquities. The university 

 dates from 1482. The convent of 

 San Paolo contains the celebrated 



Parma, Italy. 



Cathedral and 13th century campanile, 

 Irom the south-east 



