New-York tribune., 1901-07-13

MI Courtney describes Win aQfDlfdDie Ciedi
ness the actual working of the British consti-
tuition He also traces the history of its vari-
Gus elements in very instructive way. and
makes many suggestive comments upon its pos
sible future development. This judicious COM
bination of historical explanation with the state
ment OF actual constitutional principles and
methods. makes the book, on the whole the most
helpful Of the manuals of its kind To Ameri-
cans especially, who are accustomed to judge
OF constitutional government by the analogy Of
their own the British system is scarcely intelli-
gible except in the light Of its development. The
Introductory chapters deal with the paramount
cy Of the House Of Commons. the sanction of its
authority Gts control of the national purse).
and the ways in which its authority can be con-
tested. Then follows an historical discussion of
constitutional development in England. Scot
land down to 1707) and Ireland down to the
union). The remainder Of the first part is de-
voted TO the House of Lords, the Privy Council
the army and navy, royal commissions, parties
and so The second part deals with institu-
tions subordinate to Parliament, particularly
the judiciary. In the third and concluding part
are considered the relations OF Parliament to
the empire and TO foreign powers.
An interesting feature of Mr.. Courtneys dis
cussion Of the powers Of the Commons is his ref
erence 10 colonial experiences as throwing light
constitutional forms. For example. can the
Crown refuse to dissolve Parliament when ad-
vised to do so by the ministers? THE Crown"
he says has never during the present Tjust
completedl reign, refused TO accept and act upon
such advice, but ii would be too much to declare
that it could not be declined" In support Of
this statement he cites the fact that In the self
governing colonies, where's the Governor bears
the same relation 10 his ministers that the Crown
bears to fits ministers ministerial advice 10 dis
solve the Assembly (the analogue OF the House
Of Commons) has often been rejected, the
ground Of the Governors action being his belief
that the recently elected Assembly represented
the Will Of the constituencies and that new
election was uncaIed for But what has hap
pened under constitutional ferns created by
Parliament might happen in Parliament itself
could similar circumstances" he says "arise
in the United Kingdom the Crown might be
found acting its vce-regents have acted; and
the fact that the Crown has not during the pres
ent reign, acted. may be due to this that
dissolution has never been advised except unde-
conditions making IT reasonable and proper"
OF course. in either case the refusal would be
successful only IL new ministers could be found
10 take the place Of those whose advice is de-
clined Another point OF the kind is whether
the Crown can dismiss ministry which has
majority in the House of Commons This was
apparently done in 1884, when William " dis
missed Lord Melbourne's government; but it
later appeared that the dismissal was in fact
suggested by Lord Melbourne himself Examina-
ton of colonial history reveals two cases where
such action taken by a Governor and She
cessfully for in one the Governor was supported
by the constituencies and in the other by the
Assembly. From this Mr.. Courtney argues that
similar action by the Crown is at least conceiv-
able
A more important question is that which re-
lates to the fundamental power of the Commons
over the purse. THE exclusive and conclusive
authority of the House of Commons over ex-
penditure." says Mr.. Courtney has long been
practically established IN the United Kingdom.
This historic truth may however be qualified by
the suggestion that it has not been disputed
because 1t has not been abused, and that the
dormant power Of the Lords might be invoked to
check abuse were it proposed" In support Of
this view he cites instances from colonial his
tory in which the second House. or Council has
freely exercised this power. He concludes. how.
ever that '-the discretion which has been de-
veloped in the past may be trusted to be main
tained in the future. The House of Commons
in the ordinary course exercises unqualified
authority over the amount and the destination
Of the expenditure OF the country, and II can in
the last resort exercise the supreme power of
NltnholGlng ali supplies, mus bringing the gov
eminent OF the country TO standstill The
House OF Lords may indeed refuse 10 concur
and the House Of Commons may refuse to ini-
tate; but these powers have rested, and may
long rest. entirely unused, weapons that may
conoeivably be employed but should never be
wanted" In fact while this Interpretation Of
the constitution by colonial experience is as has
been said, interesting. it may be questioned
whether IL is not more misleading than en-
tightening.
The chapter the House OF Lords contains
many points OF interest, but upon the vital ques-
tion Of the reconstruction Of that body Mr.
Courtney has little that is definite to say He
evidently does not anticipate any immediate re-
form. ''It may be said" he remarks of all pro-
posed reforms, that they require for their
adoption a popular resolution in their favor
which the Lords may be slow to provoke. The
public judgment may long tolerate a machine
which works without unnecessary friction al
though IL would not construct IL in the same
fashion IL 1t had to be for the first time de-
vised." The future of the British constitution
is most closely connected with the question of
imperial federation. and this Mr.. Courtney briefly
discussed in the concluding chapter That the
present organization Of the empire cannot be
permanent he evidently believes; nor does he
see any insuperable obstacle in the way of a
better form OF imperial organization which
would afford security Of imperial unity
of purpose under all chances" OF the difficult
matter OF imperial customs union he says:
mo attempts should at first be made TO estab-
iish common trade duties A union of the self
governing elements of the empire might be en-
tertained for the limited purpose OF establishing
a common army, common navy, common
government of dependencies and common con-
troll Of foreign relations" The greatest difficulty