Adjournment. This does not put an end to the existence or to a session of Parliament, but postpones the further transaction of business for a specified time, and is effected in either House by resolution.

The Crown has no power to compel either House to adjourn, but where both Houses stand adjourned for more than fourteen days, it can compel their meeting at an earlier date by proclamation. (d)

Parliamentary Officials.

The Speaker of the House of Lords. The prolocutor or Speaker of the House of Lords is the Lord Chancellor, when that office is filled, (e) but in case a vacancy occurs the Lords may choose their own Speaker. In order to officiate as Speaker the Lord Chancellor need not necessarily be a peer, though he almost invariably is so; an instance to the contrary, however, occurring in 1830, in the case of Mr. Brougham. (f) The Lord Chancellor as Speaker sits upon the woolsack, and in his absence his duties are performed by a deputy Speaker.

The duties of the Speaker of the House of Lords are not so extensive as those of the Speaker of the House of Commons; he has no power to rule on points of order, and generally his powers are the same as those of an ordinary member, his duties being confined to merely formal acts, such as signifying the approval of the Crown to the election of the Speaker of the House of Commons, reading the royal speech and messages from the Crown, desiring the attendance of peers as witnesses, appointing tellers, and putting questions and the like. In addressing the House the Lord Chancellor has precedence by courtesy.

The Speaker of the House of Commons.-This official is appointed at the commencement of a new Parliament, in the manner described above, (g) and his office lasts for the whole

(d) 39 & 40 Geo. III. c. 14, amended by 33 & 34 Vict. c. 81.
(e) Standing Order No. 9.

(f) See May's Parl. Pract., p. 185.

(g) Ante, p. 54.

Parliament. His principal duties are to act as the representative and mouthpiece of the House collectively upon all occasions, to preserve order in the House and in debates, and to rule upon points of order; he admonishes or reprimands members, issues warrants of commitment, and desires the attendance of witnesses. The Speaker puts the questions, and declares the result of a division, and in case of an equality of votes, he has a casting vote, though otherwise he never votes. On entering and leaving the House, and on State occasions, the mace is borne before him by the Serjeant-at-arms as the symbol of his authority.

Other Parliamentary officials are-The Gentleman Usher of the black rod in the House of Lords, who is appointed by the Crown by letters patent. He desires the attendance of the Commons at the opening and proroguing of Parliament, and when the royal assent is given to bills, and executes orders of commitment. The clerk of Parliaments in the House of Lords and the clerk of the House of Commons are appointed by letters patent from the Crown; their duties are principally to make entries and keep the records of either House.

The Serjeants-at-arms in either House are appointed by the Crown by letters patent, they attend the Speakers of either House with the mace, and the Serjeant-at-arms of the House of Commons (whose duties are more extensive than those of the Serjeant-at-arms in the Lords) executes warrants of commitments, brings prisoners to the bar, attends to the service of messages and orders, sees to the withdrawal of strangers, and maintains order in lobbies and passages, together with various other duties. (h)

(h) For the duties of the various officials see May's Parl. Pract., p. 193 et seq.

CHAPTER II.

THE HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Classification of the Franchise. Since the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885, the number of members of the House of Commons has remained fixed at 670, distributed between the three kingdoms as follows:

The Parliamentary Franchise, or the right to vote for the return of members, is not uniform for the three kingdoms, or for counties and boroughs; it may be classified generally under three heads, the qualifications for England being regulated principally by the Representation of the People Acts, 1832 (known as the Reform Act), 1867, and 1884: (1) Property qualification franchises applying to English counties, and Scotch and Irish counties and boroughs, and differing in the three kingdoms. (2) The occupation, the inhabitant occupier (or household), the lodger, and the service franchises, which are uniform for all counties and boroughs in the United Kingdom. (3) Certain ancient franchises reserved by the Representation of the People Act, 1832, (a) which apply to boroughs in England only. (4) Franchises for the Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and London.

(1) Property Qualifications.

England. (Counties only, not boroughs.)

(1) Freeholds of inheritance of 40s. clear annual value. (b)

(a) 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 45, commonly known as the Reform Act.
(b) 8 Hen. VI. c. 7.

(2) Freeholds not of inheritance of 40s. clear annual value

if in occupation, or acquired by marriage settlement, devise, or promotion to any benefice or office, or belonging to persons before the passing of the Representation of the People Act, 1832. (c)

(3) Freeholds not of inheritance, or acquired as above, of £5 clear annual value. (d)

(4) Persons seised at law or in equity of lands of freehold, copyhold, or any other tenure for life, or for the life of any other person or persons, or for any larger estate, of the clear yearly value of not less than £5. (e)

(5) The person entitled as lessee or assignee to lands of any tenure for the unexpired residue of a term created originally for not less than sixty years, and of the clear yearly value of £5, (f) or created. originally for not less than twenty years, if of the clear yearly value of £50. (g)

Sub-lessees, or assignees of an underlease, are not to have the right to vote unless in actual occupation. (h)

Scotland. The property qualifications in Scotland are as follows:

In counties and boroughs.

(1) The owners of heritable subjects of the yearly value of £10.

In counties only.

(2) The owner of lands and heritages of the yearly value of £5 appearing in the valuation roll.

(3) The owner in possession as tenant for life, or under a lease of fifty-seven years or upwards, of an interest in lands or heritages of £10 clear yearly value, or

(g) 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 45, s. 20.

(h) 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 45, s. 2. This provision is not inserted in the 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102, with regard to leases created originally for not less than sixty years, but is incorporated into the Act by ss. 56-59. See Chorlton v. Stretford Overseers (1871), L. R. 7, C. P. 201.

as tenant for nineteen years of the yearly value of £50. (i)

Ireland. In Ireland the corresponding qualifications

are

(1) In counties and in cities, and towns being counties of a city or counties of a town.

Any person entitled as lessee or assignee to lands of any tenure for the unexpired residue of a term created originally for not less than sixty years, and having a beneficial interest therein of not less than £10. Or for the unexpired residue of a term created originally for not less than fourteen years with a beneficial interest of not less than £20. (k)

(2) In counties.

Any person entitled to an estate, legal or equitable, in fee simple, fee tail, or for his own life, or to an estate of freehold for lives renewable for ever, or to an estate quasi in tail of such freehold, and rated to the poor rate at the annual value of £5, provided he is in possession or in receipt of the rents and profits. (1)

(2) The Occupation, Household, Lodger, and Service Franchises.

These are uniform for all counties and boroughs in the United Kingdom, and are as follows:

(1) The occupier as owner or tenant on the 15th of July in any year and for the preceding twelve months, of lands and tenements of the clear yearly value of £10, (m) provided the premises have been rated to the poor rate and the rates paid up to the 20th of July. (n)

(i) See as to the Scotch Franchise Green's Encyclopædia of Scots Law, vol. vi. p. 46 et seq.

(k) 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 88, ss. 1, 5.

(2) 13 & 14 Vict. c. 69, s. 2.

(m) Representation of the People Act, 1884 (48 & 59 Vict. c. 3, s. 5). (n) 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102, s. 6, incorporated into the Representation of the People Act, 1884, by s. 5. Personal payment of the rate by the occupier is not required so long as the rate has been paid by some one. See Rogers on Elections, vol. i. p. 129.