National Republican., 1886-08-01

of Parliament" says Sir Edward Coke, "is
so transCendent and absolute that it cannot
be confined, either for causes or persons,
within any bounds" The sovereign is the
head of the Parliament; he alone can
summon Parliament, and no Parliament
save on demise of a sovereign, can as
semble of its own accord.
AS the army bill and the supplies are only
granted for a year, the crown, since the revo-
luton, is compelled to summon a Parlia-
ment annually. by ancient right and
usage, lying at the foundation of the con-
stitution, the House eofCommons has the ex-
elusive control over taxation, and at its
will may grant or refuse supplies to the
crown.
The present form of Parliament, as di-
vided into two houses of legislature, the
lords and commons, dates from the middle
of the fourteenth century, and it has been,
except during the period of the Common
wealth, fundamental principle of the con-
stitution that every Parliament shall con-
sist of an upper and lower house of legis-
lature.
The upper house consists OF peers who
hold their seats-(l) BY virtue eofhereditary
right; (2) By creation of the sovereign (;
O3) BY virtue of oniCe-English bishops (;
az BY election for life-lrish peers; (5) BY
election for duration of Parliament-SCot-
tish peers,
1t has been long held that every heredi-
tary peerage of England confers the right of
seat in the upper house. Hereditary peers
may, by standing order of the upper
house, take their seats without further pre-
liminary; peers newly created or orsummoned
have to be introduced.
The House of Lords, in the session of 1885,
consisted of $40 members, of whom were
peers of the blood royal, . arChbshops, %
dukes, 20 marqueses, is earls, 2SviscOunts,
2i bishops 277 barons, l6 Scottish represen-
tative peers, and % Irish representative
peers. OF these peers l2 are minors.
The number of names on the Roll was
i0l in 1850, 457 in 1910, AS in 1850, 45S in
1860 and 503 in 1877. About two-thirds of
these hereditary peerages were created in
the present century. Excluding the royal
and ecclesiastical peerages, the four oldest
existing peeragesin the House of Lords date
from the latter part of the thirteenth CEN
tury, while 90 back to the fourteenth,
and 10 to the fifteenth century. In 1885, I
new peerages were created. There are be-
sides peeresses in their own right, and 2l
Scotch and 81 Irish peers who are not peers
of Parliament.
The lower house of legislature represents,
in constitutional theory, call the commons
of England" There were in session, in 1885
$50 members of the House of Commons
excluding the dislranchised boroughs OF
| those that have had their writs suspended
The reform bill of 1884 and the redstrbu-
| tion of seats act of 1855 raised the total
number of members to go. The represen.
tative act of 1854 placed the three king
doms on footing of equality as regards
electoral qualifications. The redistribution
bill of 1885 has added about two and hal
millions of electors to the roll, and there is
now one elector to every six of the popua
tion. The total number of votes received
was 3,3O7 200, or 81 per cent. of the electo
rate.
Under an act passed in 1872 all elections
for members of Parliament must be by
secret vote and ballot.
The sole qualification required to be G
member of Parliament is to have attained
the age of 81. But all priests and deacons
of the Church of England ministers of the
| Church of Scotland, and Roman Catholic
clergymen, all government contractors, and
all sheriils and returning officers for the 10.
calities for which they act, are disqualified
both from voting and from sitting as mem.
bers. No English or Scottish peer can be
elected to the house of commons, but Irish
peers are eligible.
The union of Ireland with England was
carried into effect January |, 1900, and the
Parliament which sat the same month is
styled the first imperial Parliament.
The powers of Parliament are politically
omnipotent with the United Kingdom and
its colonies and dependencies. The Parlia-
mentary authority extends to all ecclesias-
tical, temporal, civil, or military matters, as
well as to altering orJnangNug TIE constith.
tion of the realm. lprliameipNs The highest
court Of law.