The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-11-29
Nv.

Tho system OF committees In the 10
q much moro important matter. Each Of tho
French Chambersi is divided into sections called
b,treatr, Of which there are nine in the Senate
and eleven in the Chamber Of Deputies. Tho
bureau1 are Of equal size. and every member of
the Chamber belongs to one and only one of
them, the division being made afresh every
month by lot. This distribution by lot Is q very
old institution In France. q relic of q time before
parliamentary government had been thought
of; for not only do we find 1t In tho
Assembly Of Notables and the States-Gen-
eral that met on tho eve Of tho revolution.
but 1t existed in tho ecclesiastical assemblies,
and To some extent In tho States-General, at
a much earlier date. Mr.. Lowell points out
that the use of tho lot Is. In truth. q survival
from the middle ages. when It was a common
method OF selecting officials. To return to the
bureaux OF the Chambers In our time, we OBJ
serve that these meet separately and have three
functions. The first is that Of making q pre-
liminary examination OF tho credentials of
members of tho Chamber. which are divided
among them for tho purpose. Tho second Is
that OF holding a preliminary discussion on bills
brought into the Cham Der before they are re-
ferred to q committee. This discussion, how
ever, IL perfunctory. and Is limited to finding
out, in n general way, what members of a bu-
reau favor or oppose the bill. Tho third and
most important function OF the bureanx is the
election Of committees; for. with rare excep-
lions, all the committees of both Chambers are
selected in the same way. Each OF the
bureaux chooses ono at least of its own mem-
bers. and the persons so elected constitute the
committee. In the case Of the more important
committees 1t is sometimes desirable to have o
larger number of members. aud. IL SO, the bu-
reauK choose. in like manner. two or even three
members apiece, tho Chamber. In each case.
directing. by its rules or by special vote, tho
number of members to be elected. Thus tho
Committee on the Budget, which is the most
important one. and remains unchanged for q
year. consists OF three member chosen by each
Of the bureaux In tho Chamber OF Deputies. and
contains. therefore. thirty-three members:
while the corresponding committee in the Sem
ate contains eighteen members. or two from
each bureau. What is tho effect of this
mode of selecting committees on the work
ing of Parliamentary government Mr..
Lowell quotes from tho work of NJ. Du-
priez on the Ministers in tho principal
countries of Europe and America, TO show how
great are the evils of the French system Under
It the Ministers have but little influence with
the committees, who often regard them almost
as the representative of q hostile power in tho
State. While. on the one hand. tho Ministers
have no right to be present at committee meet
lnRs. ana are invited 10 attend only whom they
wish to express their We've. the committees. on
tho other hand, claim q right to examine the
administrative Offices, insist on seeing books
and papers, aud volunteer advice. So lit
tie respect. indeed. do the committees
pay to tho opinions OF the Cabinet,
and SO freely do they amend its bills,
that, as NJ. Duprlez remarks. tho Govern
ment and the committees are never in perfect
accord, except when the former submits to the
latter. He says. moreover. that. when q bill
comes up for debate, the reporter of the COM
mitteo is q rival who has great influence with
the Chamber. whereas the Deputies arc in
clined to regard the Minister'S with jealousy
and defiance. Nor do the woes of tho Cabinet
end here, for its authority Is reduced to so low q
point that it's bills are quite freely amended
during the debates on the motion of Individual
Deputies. In a word. while the French scheme
of committees has some features that might be
useful under another form of government, as,
for example. the Presidential, 1t Is clearly in
compatible with the Parliamentary system.