The Washington herald., 1910-12-04

! y nan. Al the upper enc. ana II possible
Oh 8 raised dais. are placed three tables,
for the returning officer, the undersher-
| if or town clerk. and the chief counting
assistant The candidates are admitted
and all their duly appointed agents as
well as the returning officers assistants
and clerks. Hitler are brought the vot-
I ing papers from all the stations. The
numbers are verified and the contents OF
the various boxes are mixed together be-
fore the count IS proceeded with. AS
soon as the latter is completed decla-
ration Of the poll Is made by the return
| ing officer. usually from a balcony or
window OF the hall in which the count
has taken place.
The returning officer. again within the
space OF a stipulated number OF hours.
sends TO the clerk Of the Crown his GER
tifeate OF the return, along with the poll
| books. and thereupOn the victorious can
didate has nothing more TO do but TO
await the meeting OF the new Parliament
and the ceremony OF swearing him in in
order 10 become a fuil-hedged legislator.
But the returning officers OF parlia-
mentary constituencies Of the House of
Commons are not the only persons who
receive wrlts from the clerk Of the
Crown. The latter az the same time when
he dispatches the Writs for the Commons
| likewise issues summOnses requiring at
| tendance at the new Parliament OF the
date appointed by the royal proclamation
10 all temporal peers of England and
| Wales who do not happen 10 be minors
or undischarged bankrupts; TO what are
known as the representative peers OF Ire
land. twenty-eight iu number. 10 the
spiritual lords Of PaFliament-that is 10
say, 10 the aTchbishOps of Canterbury
and OF York-and TO twenty-six of the
bishops Of English and Welsh dIoceses
occupying seats as such in the upper
house. and to the Judges OF the high
) court not being peers.
The judges attend the House OF Lords
merely in an advisory capacity. do not
rank as peers. have no votes as such.
and take their places on a WoOlsack
more remote from the throne than that
occupied by The lord high chancellor.
For. contrary to general belief. there are
several so-called woolsacks In the House
of Lords
Differ from Judges.
The archbishops and bishops differ
from the judges. in that they possess a
vote in the House Of lords. though they
do not rank as peers. They are amenable
TO the jurisdiction Of the ordinary courts
and cannot demand trial by the House of
Lords. They cannot vote or even take
their seats In the house unless robed in
their ecclesiastical vestments, with rocket.
lawn sleeves. and mortar board com
plete Their presence, however, is in
dispensable TO legislation. For whereas
! the House Of Lords can dispense with the
presence of the judges OF the Supreme
Court. at least one prelate is necessary
TO make up a quorum.
| The Scotch representative peers are
/ summoned in an entirely distinct man
ner and do not receive any individual
royal writ. The procedure is as follows:
| Whenever a new Parliament is sum-
moned a special royal proclamation is
posted up at the Market Cross in Edin-
/ burgh and IN all the county towns OF
Scotland ordering the election within
! given numberu@f days OF the sixteen peers
Of Scotland by whom the latter Is repre-
scented in the House Of Lords at West
minister
/ The election takes place at Holyrood
Palace. Edinburgh, the meeting OF all the
/ peers Of Scotland who are OF age. who
/ are not bankrupt, and Who are not aliens,
/ being presided over by the lord clerk
register. as the principal judicial digni-
/ tRry of Scotland Three al least of the
/ peers entitled to vote are OF foreign
/ birth. namely. Lord Fairfax. who was
I formerly and American; Lord Reay, who
was for many years a member OF the
/ Dutch diplomatic service and Lord New
/ burgh, who was born as an Italian. All
/ three owe their Scotch peerages 10 in
| heritanee. For since the union OF Eng
land and Scotland go years ago. the
Crown has been debarred from creating
any new Scotch peerages.
Names and Proxies.
Names and proxies are handed in at
the voting at Holyrood, and then the lord
clerk register declares the result OF the
election. and makes his return 10 the
clerk OF the Crown at Westminster and
through him 10 the clerk of the House OF
/ Lords. The representative peers of Scot
! land are. therefore, not summoned by
writ, as are the peers of the sister king
/ dom, and, moreover, hold their seats in
the House OF Lords merely for the dura-
/ ton and the life OF the Parliament for
which they are elected.
! With regard to the representative peers
/ of Ireland. they are elected whenever
/ there is a vacancy in the following fash
/ ion: The lord high chancellor of Eng
/ land on receiving a certificate from two
! temporal peers communicating 10 him
the deeease Of representative peer OF
Ireland. directs a writ. under the great
seal of the realm 10 be issued TO the
/ lord chancellor Of Ireland. containing
| the Kings commands for the election OF
a new representative peer of ireland.
There is no meeting of the Irish peers for
/ the purpose. as in the case OF the repre-
| sentatives of the peerage of Scotland at
| Hollywood Palace. Ireland's peers. in re-
| Spouse TO the invitation of the lord chan
cellOr OF Ireland. address their votes In
/ duplicate by mail to the clerk OF the
Crown at Dublin one OF the duplicates
| Is retained BY the crown Office in Dublin.
while the other. duly certified. is dis
/ patched to the clerk OF the House of
| Lords, and the election is complete.
| Only once In the history Of Ireland has
the electoral race for the Office OF repre-
sentative peer of Ireland resulted in a
| dead heat, namely, a couple Of years ago
/ when Lord Ashtown and Lord Farnham
obtained identically the same number of
votes The question was determined by
the drawing of lots, Lord Ashtown win
ming. The Office is held for life or until
invalidation through bankruptcy.
What lis Going On.
The above notes will convey some idea
of what is going on Just at present in
! Great Britain and OF the manner in
which the great political issues al stake
will be decided by the nearly 100000 Of
registered electors at the polls during the
next twelve days. The average number
OF votes cast at a general election is 70
| per cent of the entire electorate-that is
10 say. nearly 5.0o0o00
If they sustain the present Asquith adj
ministration it means that the House of
Lords will either submit 10 the p-o.ls-
/ ions of the government veto bill or else
that the sovereign. in compliance with