III. The Legislative Power.— The two powers established by the constitutional laws have been accurately stated and defined by a combination of laws forming the real constitu tion.
1. The Ekction of Representatives. (a) The Chamber of Deputies.-- The application of universal suffrage was regulated by the laws of 20 Nov. 1875 and 13 Feb. 1889, both of which bear upon a great many points in the laws of 31 Max ,1850, and of 2 Feb. 1852. citizen over 21 years of age enjoying civil and political rights, domiciled for six months in a district and enrolled on the electoral lists, is entitled to vote, which right is, however, withheld from all military men actively engaged either on land or sea. Any citizen fulfilling the aforesaid conditions is eligible except in the cases pro hibited by law, i.e., where one is a member of an old •dynasty or holds a government office within his own province. Moreover, numerous incompatibilities prevent the cumulation of a public office and a legislative mandate. Ex ceptions are made in favor of ministers, prefects of the Seine and of police, chief magistrates of the high courts of Paris and professors of the University. All candidates must declare their candidacy at least five days before the voting so as to prevent one individual presenting him self as a candidate in more than one constitu ency, such plural candidates being forbidden by the law of 1889. The voting is by ballot, one deputy being named for each arrondisse ment; however, when an arrondissement has more than 100,000 inhabitants, it is divided into electoral districts. The law of 27 March 1914, has made some changes in the composition of the electoral districts so that the . number of deputies for the whole of France and her colonies is now 602. (The vote is by secret ballot on a white paper —Thulletino— folded and deposited in the ballot-box by the chair man of the voting bureau, who is always a municipal magistrate, assisted by four assessors, appointed by the electors at the opening of the poll; the hours of are from eight o'clock in the morning to six in the evening. A rough count by a comniittee of the electors themselves follows immediately on the close of the poll, before the official recount. This rough count consists in the exercise of the right of such a committee to open all the voting papers). The law prescribes two ballots at an interval of 15 days; to be elected on the first ballot, a candidate must have an absolute majority (half the votes plus one); on the second ballot, called ballotage, and brought into play only if the first ballot is inconclusive, a majority of votes cast suffices. Deputies are elected for four years, the full number of the chambers being elected on one and the same day (b) The Senate is composed of 3W mem bers, the number determined by the constitu tion. Since the amendment of. 1884 all senators are elected to office, the 75 life-senators ap pointed by the Senate and created by the con stitution, having been then suppressed. Sena tors are elected from each department, their number varying_ from 2 to 10 according to the population. The suffrage is called limited, the electoral body is formed of it: (1) the depart mental representatives (senators, deputies, gen eral councillors) ; (2) senatorial delegates elected from among the voting citizens of each township by the municipal council and varying from 1 to 24 according to the popu lation. These senatorial electors constitute a college that meets at departmental headquarters under the presidency of a civil magistrate. The election must end on the day of the third bal lot, the first two being cast to find, if possible, an absolute and the third failing an absolute majority for a majority of votes cast. Sena tors are elected for nine years some of their number being renewed every three years. Hence, the Chamber of Deputies represents the people as a whole and the Senate local bodies. Gambetta called the Senate the Great Council of the Communes of France 2. (a) The members of both Chambers enjoy the same personal prerogatives, inviolability from arrest and a fixed salary. A law dated 23 Nov. 1906, raised from 9,000 francs to 15,000 ($3,000), the fixed annual salary of each member of both Houses from 1 Jan. 1907. (b) They exercise the same legislative privileges; adopt their own rules and elect their own committees. Their essential privi lege consists, as in all other Parliaments, in introducing and voting laws. In this regard the only difference between the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies is that all finance laws must first be voted by the Deputies. All laws must be voted by each Chamber separately. Only the laws of amendinent to the constitu tion are voted on in another fashion; for these both Chambers combine and form a congress held at Versailles. (c) Both Chambers as sembled in congress at Versailles exercise an electoral privilege also, that of electing the President of the Republic. (d) The Senate alone enjoys the judiciary privilege and con stitutes itself a High Court to judge the Presi dent of the Republic and ministers arraigned by the Chamber of Deputies as also individuals accused of conspiring against the security of the state (the Boulanger affair in .1889 and the Deroulide in 1899). (e) Finally, each Cham ber exercises a similar power over the minis try through the right of question and inter pellation. The latter is especially important in
asmuch as the minister summoned is obliged to respond and the interpellation is followed by a vote, afterwhich, unless he receive a ma jority, he must retire. Interpellation is the practical mechanism through which the min isterial responsibility is exercised. Either Cham ber may further control the government by naming a commission of parliamentary in quiry (the Panama and Boulanger affairs, the condition of the navy, etc.). The Chambers, especially that of Deputies, exert a really dom inant influence over the French Government IV. The Executive Power.— The executive power is exercised by the President and his ministers. (1) The President is elected by Congress (Deputies and Senate combined) for seven years, being chosen from among its own members. His power is very extensive, as he can introduce, promulgate and execute laws, make appointments to all civil and military offices dispose of the armed forces and nego tiate and sign treaties. But since he can exercise it only through the medium of his ministers, this extensive power is practically reduced to that of appointing his ministers. Being polit ically irresponsible, he can only be summoned before the High Court for felony. He resides in the Palais de l'Elysee in Taris and receives a regular salary of 600,000 francs ($120,000), with as much more for expenses incidental to official entertaining. List of Presidents of the Republic: Thiers, 1871-73; MacMahon, 1873 79; J. Grevy, 1879-88 (the only one re-elected); Carnot, 1888-94; Casimir Perier, 1894-95 (the only one who resigned); F. Faure, 1895-99; E. Loubet, 1899-1906; A. Fallieres, 1906-13; R. Poincare, 1913-20. (2) The Ministers form a jointly respon'sible Cabinet under the direc tion of the President of the Council. The lat ter is appointed by the President of the Repub lic and is free to choose his colleagues: 12 ministers — Justice, the Interior, Foreign Af fairs, War, Navy, Colonies, Public Instruction, Commerce, Agriculture, Public Works, Finance, Labor — the last created in 1907. There was no change made in that list till 1915 when M. Briand became Prime Minister for the fifth time. Five Ministers of State were added to the list, without special portfolios. Under the sixth Briand Ministry the number of State Ministers was reduced to 10. The various de partments were the following: Foreign Affairs, Justice, Public Instruction and Fine Arts, In terior, Finances, War, Navy, Public Works, Transportation and Supplies, Commerce, In dustry, Agriculture, Labor, Postoffice and Tele graph, Colonies, Armaments and War Supplies. Ten under-secretaries of state were at the same time appointed, one to each ministry, They are the President's deputies, who in his stead sign or veto all executive documents. Their es sential character is their political responsibility. They are responsible for their acts to both Chambers, whose members, thanks to the right of interpellation, already defined, can put their actions to a vote which, if it place one or more in a majority, will entail his or their resigna tion. Such a consequence is not explicitly de clared in the constitution, but it follows in the logical order and from the practice of the government. In fact, in case of conflict be tween a minister and the majority, two solu tions may be resorted to; either the minister's resignation or the dissolution of the Chamber, which must be voted by the Senate. Through out the history of the Third Republic there is but one record of a like dissolution, which was that of 16 May 1876. President MacMahon had formed the conservative ministry of the Duc de Broglie in opposition to the liberal Chamber, which, by a majority of 353, refused to enter into relations with him. The Chamber was dissolved, the elections resulted in a ma jority of liberal votes, in face of which the conservative ministry had to submit and re sign. Since then, all ministers in the minority on a matter of confidence have tendered their resignations. During the first 20 years of the Republic ministerial instability was a veritable government defect, being due to the disintegra tion of parties and the impossibility of consti tuting lasting majorities. There were, however, ministries that lasted two and even three years as, for instance, the second Ferry ministry and the Maine ministry. But within the last 10 years this instability has disappeared in con sequence of the Dreyfus affair and of the new division of the parties into two blocs the radi cal-socialist and the conservative. The Wal deck-Rousseau and Combes ministries each lasted three years, the incumbents retiring vol untarily, Rouvier lasted two years. After the retirement of M. Clernenceau the following cabinets were formed without causing any marked change in the composition of political parties: 1st Briand cabinet, 24 July 1909; 2d Briand cabinet, 3 Nov. 1910; Monis, 2d March 1911; Caillaux, 27 June 1911; Poincare, 14 1912; 3d Briand cabinet, 18 Feb. 1913; arthou, 22 March 1913; Doumergue, 9 Dec. 1913; Ribot, 9 June 1914; 1st Viviani cabinet, 13 June 1914; 2d Viviani cabinet, 26 Aug. 1914• 5th Briand cabinet, 29 Oct. 1915; 6th Briand cabinet, 12 Dec. 1916; Ribot, 20 March 1917; 2d Clemenceau cabinet, November 1917.