11. PARLIAMENT. The British Parlia ment has its roots deep in the past. It has legislated continuously for a period of more than 600 years, a record unapproached in the history of the world. It has been developed by successive stages from the Great Council of the Norman and Angevin kings. Much of its ceremonial dates from Plantagenet times. The foundations of this procedure are imbedded in Elizabethan journals. It holds its sittings in a royal palace, which, though for the most part modern in its structure, is venerable in its associations. The new palace yard, through which members of the House of Commons hurry to their daily duties, is the yard of the new palace which William Rufus built, and which is still represented by Westminster Hall. There is scarcely a feature of Parliament which can be adequately described without long his torical explanations. The present form of Parliament, as divided into two Houses of legislature, dates from the middle of the 14th century.
Parliament consists of the King, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons, or, as described in the enacting formula of acts of Parliament, the King's most excellent Majesty, the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and the Commons. These are not as is often, but erroneously, supposed, the three estates of the realm. The clergy, who once counted as a separate estate from the Lords and Commons, have long ceased to do so. The two arch bishops (Canterbury and York) and 24 bishops sit, as Lords Spiritual, in the House of Lords. The inferior clergy are for purposes of repre sentation, merged in the laity, and represented in the Commons. An image of the full Parlia ment, as it existed in Plantagenet times, may still be seen when the king in person formally opens Parliament at the beginning of a session. The king sits on his throne, attended by his great officers of state. The benches of the House of Lords are occupied by the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and by the peeresses. The judges, summoned as attendants, sit on their woolsacks in the middle. The Commons, as beseems their humbler station, find such room as they can, in or about the bar, with their speaker at their head.
The king, acting on the advice of his minis ters, summons, prorogues and dissolves Parlia ment. He communicates with the two Houses by speech from the throne, commission, mes sage and otherwise. He gives his assent to bills by commission. But he does not take part in, or attend, the deliberations of either House. Since Charles I attempted to arrest the five members no king or queen has been seen in side the House of Commons. Charles II sought amusement in listening to debates of the House of Lords, but his example has not been followed.
The House of Lords consisted in March 1918 of 692 members, including three princes of the Blood Royal— the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Connaught and the Duke of Albany; 2 archbishops, 21 dukes, 29 marquesses, 128 earls, 57 viscounts, 24 bishops, 384 barons, 16 Scot tish and 28 Irish representative peers. There
are, besides, 19 peeresses of the United Kingdom and 4 Scottish peeresses in their own right and 19 Scottish and 57 Irish peers who are not members of the House of Lords. Rep resentatives of the Scottish and Irish peerage are elected by their peers, Scottish peers for each Parliament, Irish peers for life. But many of the peers of Scotland and Ireland are also peers of the United Kingdom and sit as such. Of the barons a few hold life peerages, as being, or having been, Lords of appeal; the other Lords Temporal hold hereditary peerages.
The House of Commons consists of 670 members, 461 for England, 34 for Wales, 72 for Scotland and 103 for Ireland. Single-mem ber constituencies are the general rule, but in a few cases one constituency returns two mem bers. Every male householder who has resided in his constituency for a year, and has paid or compounded for his rates, is entitled to be reg istered, and, when registered, to vote as a par liamentary elector for that constituency. This is the most general franchise, but there are others, including the occupation of lodgings rented at i10 a year, and the ownership or occupation of land or buildings of a certain value. Eight universities return nine members elected by their graduates. [Under the provi sions of the Representation of the People Act (6 Feb. 1918), to take effect at the first subse quent general election, 31 new boroughs are to be created and 44 old ones extinguished. The number of members will be increased by 37, making a total of 707, provided there is no withdrawal or diminution of the Irish represen tatives in the interval. The basis of represen tation is at the rate of one member for every 70,000 of the population in Great Britain and one for every 43,000 in Ireland. The residen tial qualification for voters is reduced to six months. The register will receive 8,000,000 new voters, of whom 6,000,000 are women, voting for the first time in parliamentary elec tions. It is estimated that the new register will contain 16,000,000 voters, or one in every three of the population.] Subject to disqual ifications arising from peerage, holding of office, bankruptcy, and conviction of treason or felony, every British subject who is of full age is eligible as a member of the House of Commons. A peer of the United Kingdom or of Scotland is not eligible, but a peer of Ireland is eligible for any but an Irish seat. For instance Lord Palmerston was an Irish peer. Where a member of the House of Commons is described as a lord, he is either an Irish peer, or, more frequently, a commoner holding a courtesy title as son of a peer. In the latter case the baptismal name is used, e.g., Lord Hugh Cecil—a son of the Marquess of Salisbury. Members of the permanent civil service, and most judges, are ineligible. All clergymen of the Church of England, ministers of the Church of Scotland, and Roman Catholic clergymen are disqualified.