Telegram-herald., 1891-04-06

o1ly9 80 S4An4<e48 Va ot4&1SD - tx>ex
. nv election He may adlcarn shsu
for any time noe sxoscdlng . Oonsh. bus
he cannot sx9rciss sals power more than
twice In tho same session The deputies
ars elected by ballot u the electors Of
the rspabhc. . successful candi late
must have. As IN Rhode Island, q ma
jorisy Of all the votes cast, and this num-
Der mast be sqasi to one-forrth Of the
elecsurs On the roll The French bod
their general elections on Sunday.
An odd custom IL theirs Il. in case Of
. tie vote between two candidates, to
give the election 10 the elder The sen
ators are elected by sort Of electoral
college. composed Of tbs dspaties repre-
kntiag that department or province,
msnbsxs Of the general council, council
ors Of the reimbursement and delegates
chosen By municipal council This is
very much like giving into the hands Of
the representatives from Illinois. the
members Of tbs legislature and delegates
selected by the city councils or boards
Of aldermen tho election OF . United
States senasor-a queer method, surely.
Senators are elected for nine years,
though there arc still some life senators.
In France they have committees. IS we
DO. and their pablo sessions Usually be-
gin ct o'clock in tho afternoon. Their
debates are often bitter and personal.
and il tho ex-speaker happens upon q
particularly lively session he viii no
doubt be reminded Of some Of his own
experiences ct home. French Legislators
draw annual salaries Of 1900 francs, or
about 81 600.
The German parliament is = somewhat
complicated institution. IL has two
houses-the bundesrath, or federal conn
Gil, and the reichstag, or diet, OF the
realm. In the former are represented
tho individual states of Germany,
twenty-six in number, consisting of four
kingdoms, six grand duchies, five duch-
les, seven principahties, the three free
towns of Hamburg, Lubeck and Bre-
men and the province Of Alsocc-L Lorraine.
Each Of these states has parliament of
its own. rs has each Of our states. The
fifty-eight members of the bundesrath,
which is presided over by the federal
chancellor formerly Bismarck), are ap-
pointed BY the governments Of tho states;
the 307 members Of the rcichstag are
elected for terms Of three years by popu-
lar ballot. Depaties have no salary, but
during tho session they have the right of
travelling free Oh the government rail-
wars. The federal council usually meets
two or three months before the deputies.
In AustriA-Hunsary the governmental
conditions are little peculiar. Austria
has one parliament and Hungary an
other, each consisting Of two chambers.
The sovereign. the army, navy and diplo-
matte service arc common to both. In
addition to these two legislatures there
Is another, known a. tho delegations,
consisting OF 100 members, who arc also
members Of the other pariiaments. The
Austrian parliament sends sixty of its
members to the delegations-forty from
the lower house and twenty from the
upper-and the Hungarian parliament
does precisely the same thing. The leg
islation Of the two parliaments is purely
local in each case. The delegations leg
islate for the whole empire-the army,
navy, diplomatic service, etc. Bills are
proposed by the ministers, and il tbs
bills are rejected the ministers resign.
Belgium has n parliament composed
Of the senate and the chamber Of repre-
sentativcs. To be q senator one must
have attained the age of forty years and
pay tax Of at least 2,116 francs yearly.
In those provinces where tho list of
citizens paying this sum does not reach
to the proportion Of ono in 5000 Of tho
population. the names Of those citizens
are added who pay the largest amount
Of direct taxes, so as to bring the num-
Der up to the required portion. The
effect, however, Is to place the right to
sit in the senate solely within reach Of
the rich.
In Italy the chamber Of deputies con-
sists of SOS members, elected from tho
people. all citizens Of twenty -one years
who can read and write, and who have
paid taxes to tho amount Of nineteen
lire, being voters. The senate consists
Of an unlimited number of like mem
bers. nominated by the king. They must
DO above forty years of age. and must
have attained certain degree OF emf
hence in the service Of the state or tho
church or in the professions. Besides
these, the princes OF the royal family
who are twenty years Of age are SEN
ators by right of birth. and Deputies who
have sat in three parliarnents, as we'll as
I'll persons who have for three years paid
taxes annually to the amount Of 5000
lire. are eligible. Neither senators nor
deputies are paid salaries, but they are
entitled to FREQ passes over all the rail-
ways in the kingdom
The new japanese parliament. Mr..
Smith points ont, Is quite similar to the
Italian. Power rests almost entirely in
the hands CT the emperor, since he has
the appointment Of the members Of tho
senate, who sat for life, and while the
hozse Of representatives Is elected by the
people all elections must be approved
by the sovereign. Eligible candidates
ruuss have paid income tax for three
years and direct tax Of ct least fifteen
dollars a year.
Every nation IN Europe. Russia alone
excepted, has parliament of two houses.
NE upper branch or senate being partly
or wholly within control Of the sovereign
and tho nobility. while the lower branch
il generally controlled BY the wealthy
cisizena WALTER WILLIAM.
Progress.
It 10 very important in this age of