Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1911-01-11

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measure to turn the majority
against it in the House of Lords
into minority. Such is the sit
uation with the present 'unrcform-
ed" House of Lords. When it shall
have reformed by the abolition of
the hereditary principle and the
veto power. things will run even
more smoothly. and this will soon
come to pass. j.
There is coming to be strong
sentiment in this country in favor
of the referendum. All have heard
of this method Of direct legislation
Of Switzerland. But it is. as far
as practical results 60, a part now
of the British policy. The resolu-
tion which Lord Tansdowne intro
duced into the House Of Lords last
spring and whose adoption in that
body led to the dissolution of Par.
lament was to the effect that the
Lords did not feel that they could
approve of such a radical and revo-
lutionary measure as the budget
without first referring it to the
nation for a direct and express
judgment on the same.
Just as there is no fixed term for
Parliament, so there are no fixed
election days, and in any one elec-
tion not all parts of the United
Kingdom vote at the same time.
l left England on Saturday. Nov.
II; the new Parliament met the
next Monday; it was already dis
solved when l reached America; an
election, extending over three
weeks. has already been held.
In Great Britain man need not
reside in the district from which
he is elected to Parliament. A
member may live in one part of the
country and stand for Parliament"
I'VE run for Congress here) from
that or any other district. Thus all
parties get their leaders into Par
Lament by nominating them IN
their strongest constituencies.
And if candidate is defeated in
one, he may rise and "stand"
again in some other district which
has election at later date. Thus
the present Home Secretary. MIR.
Winston Churchill. was defeated in
his former constituency; but was
returned to Parliament few days
later bv an out-of-the- way district
up in the mountains If Wales. I
believe. The members of Parlia-
ment receive no salary from the
state. Either they themselves or
! their friends must paw the expenses
Of their residence in London.
Norway has written constitu-
tion. adopted May II, 1914. But
it is very easily amended. The
only difference between an ordinary
statutory enactment and a constitu-
tional amendment is that the latter
must be proposed by one Storthing
or Parliament and be approved by
a subsequent one, a general election
Intervening. The Norwegian Stor-
thing is unique among legislative
bodies in that it consists of only
one chamber. All members are
elected in the same way. For con-
venience of deliberations the men,
hers divide themselves into two
bodies, the Odelthing and Lag
thing. But a majority of both on
a joint ballot passes anv bill. The
king of Norway, like his English
brother-in-law reigns, but does not
govern" There as in England.
the ministry is the responsible
body.
Norway has the distinction of be-
ing the only Independent and sover-
eign nation in which men and wo-
men have the suffrage on perfect
Equality On May 13 last year, the
Storthing passed an amendment to
the constitution granting unre-
stricted vote to all female citizens
in all elections. national as we'll as
local. The strange thing is that
there was very little ''votes for wo.
men" agitation in Norway as COM
pared with some other parts of the
world where it has not yet been Sc
cured. The measure was adopted
by vote in the Storthing of seven
to one. The only member Of the
ministry, which is Conservative,
who declined to support the bill
was Arctander. brother of our for.
mer fellow-townsman. John w.,
and he resigned. The women now
rule in Norway, for they are in the
majority; there are eleven women
for every ten men. In Christiania,
with a population Of 240, 900. there
are over 20, 900 more women voters
than men. The women seem to
take it with good grace, and every
one regards it in a very mat.
ter f-course way. no one is dis.
turbed, homes are not DESTROYED.
children neglect d, etc., and the
women regard it not only as a
right, but as duty. In the com.
munal elections held while was in