The Governments of Europe Part 50

(Conservative), July 12, 1889, to March 5, 1891; (2) that of Johannes Steen (Liberal), which lasted until April, 1893; (3) a second Stang ministry, to February, 1895; and (4) the coalition ministry of Professor Hagerup, to February, 1898. At the elections of 1897 the Liberals won a signal victory, carrying seventy-nine of the one hundred fourteen seats, and in February of the next year there was established a second Steen ministry, under whose direction, as has appeared, there was carried the law introducing manhood suffrage.

Steen retired in April, 1902, and another Liberal government, that of Blehr, held office until October, 1903. At the elections of 1903 the Conservatives and Moderates obtained sixty-three seats, the Liberals fifty, and the Socialists four. A second Hagerup ministry filled the period between October 23, 1903, and March 1, 1905, and upon its retirement there was const.i.tuted, under circ.u.mstances which involved temporarily the all but complete annihilation of party lines, a coalition ministry under Christian Michelsen, at whose hands was brought about immediately the separation from Sweden and the const.i.tutional readjustments of 1905.

[Footnote 819: Son of the earlier premier, Frederick Stang.]

*647. Party History Since the Separation.*--Following the subsidence of the excitement attending the separation the party alignments of earlier days tended rapidly to reappear. The old issues, however, had been disposed of, and in their place sprang up new ones, largely social and economic in character. At the elections of 1906 the subjects to which the Liberals gave most prominence were female suffrage, old age pensions, and sickness and unemployment insurance.

The Michelsen government, which was essentially Conservative, issued a moderate reform programme and, alleging that former party lines were obsolete, called upon the citizens of all cla.s.ses for support. The elections were notable chiefly by reason of the fact that the Social Democrats increased their quota in the Storthing to eleven. Despite attacks of the more radical Left, the Michelsen cabinet stood firm (p. 587) until October 28, 1907, when the premier, by reason of ill health, was obliged to retire. Lovland, the minister of foreign affairs, succeeded; but, March 14, 1908, on a vote of want of confidence, his ministry was overthrown. A new cabinet was made up thereupon by the Liberal leader, Gunnar Knudsen. At the elections of 1909--the first in which women partic.i.p.ated--this Liberal government lost the slender majority which it had possessed, and January 27, 1910, it resigned.

Prior to the elections there were in the Storthing fifty-nine Liberals, fifty-four Conservatives and Moderates, and ten Social Democrats. Afterwards there were sixty-three Conservatives and Moderates, forty-seven Liberals, eleven Social Democrats, and two Independents. The popular vote of the Social Democrats was much in excess of that at any former election, but it was so distributed that the party realized from it but a single additional legislative seat.

Upon the resignation of Knudsen the premiership was offered to Michelsen, whose health, however, precluded his accepting it. February 1, 1910, a Conservative-Moderate ministry was made up by Konow.

February 19, 1912, it was succeeded by another ministry of the same type, under the premiership of the former president of the Storthing, Bratlie. At the elections of November 12, 1912, the Government lost heavily to the Liberals and to the Social Democrats. The socialist quota now numbers twenty-three.[820]

[Footnote 820: A brief account of Norwegian political parties to 1900 will be found in Lavisse et Rambaud, Histoire Generale, XII., 266-274; to 1906, in Cambridge Modern History, XII., 280-290.

For additional references see pp. 578-579.]

V. THE JUDICIARY AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

*648. The Courts.*--For the administration of civil justice the kingdom of Norway is divided into 105 districts--eighty rural and twenty-five urban--in each of which there is a court of first instance composed of two justices chosen by the people. There are three higher tribunals, each with a chief justice and two a.s.sociates. At the top stands the Hoiesteret, or Supreme Court, consisting of a chief justice and six a.s.sociates. The decisions of the Supreme Court may be neither appealed nor reviewed. For the trial of criminal cases, as regulated by law of July 1, 1887, there exist two types of tribunals: (1) the Lagmandsret, consisting of a president and ten jurors and (2) the Meddomsret, consisting of a judge and two non-professional a.s.sistants chosen for each case. There are in the kingdom four Lagdommer, or jury districts, each divided into circuits corresponding, as a rule, to the counties.

The jury courts take cognizance of the more serious cases. "No (p. 588) one," the const.i.tution stipulates, "shall be tried except in accordance with law or punished except by virtue of a judicial sentence; and examination by means of torture is forbidden."[821] The members of the Lagthing, together with those of the Supreme Court, comprise the Rigsret, or Court of Impeachment. This tribunal tries, without appeal, cases involving charges of misconduct in office brought by the Odelsthing against members of the Council of State, the Supreme Court, or the Storthing.[822]

[Footnote 821: Art. 96. Dodd, Modern Const.i.tutions, II., 141.]

[Footnote 822: Arts. 86-87. Ibid., II., 139.]

*649. Local Government.*--For purposes of administration the kingdom is divided into twenty regions--the cities of Christiania and Bergen and eighteen _Amter_, or counties. At the head of each is an Amtmand, or prefect, who is appointed by the crown. The princ.i.p.al local unit is the _Herred_, or commune, of which there are upwards of seven hundred, mostly rural parishes. As a rule, the government of the commune is vested in a body of twelve to forty-eight representatives and a Formaend, or council, elected by and from the representatives and comprising one-fourth of their number. Every third year the representatives choose from among the members of the council a chairman and a deputy chairman; and, under the presidency of the Amtmand, the chairmen of the rural communes within each county meet yearly as an Amtsthing, or county diet, and adopt the budget of the county. Since the munic.i.p.al electoral law of 1910 members of the communal councils are chosen on a basis of universal suffrage for both men and women.

CHAPTER x.x.xII (p. 589)

THE GOVERNMENT OF SWEDEN

I. THE CONSt.i.tUTION--THE CROWN AND THE MINISTRY

*650. The Fundamental Laws.*--The const.i.tution of the kingdom of Sweden is one of the most elaborate instruments of its kind in existence. It comprises a group of fundamental laws of which the most comprehensive is the _regerings-formen_ of June 6, 1809, in 114 articles.[823]

Closely related are (1) the law of royal succession of September 26, 1810; (2) the law of July 16, 1812, on the liberty of the press; and (3) the law of June 26, 1866, providing for a reorganization of the legislative chambers. The organs and powers of government are defined in much detail, but there is nothing equivalent to the bill of rights which finds a place in most European const.i.tutions. The process of amendment is easy and minor amendments have been frequent. Amendments may originate with either the crown or the legislative houses, and any amendment which receives the a.s.sent of the crown is declared to be adopted if, after having been proposed or approved by one Riksdag, it is sanctioned by the succeeding one. Through the re-election of the lower chamber, which must intervene between the two stages, the people have some opportunity to partic.i.p.ate in the amending process.[824]

[Footnote 823: See p. 572.]

[Footnote 824: Arts. 81-82. Dodd, Modern Const.i.tutions, II., 240. In 1908 the ex-premier Staaff proposed that when the two chambers should disagree upon questions concerning the const.i.tution and general laws resort should be had to a popular referendum; but the suggestion was negatived by the upper house unanimously and by the lower by a vote of 115 to 78. The text of the Swedish const.i.tution, together with the supplementary fundamental laws of the kingdom, is contained in W. Uppstrom, Sveriges Grundlager och konst.i.tutionela stadgar jemte kommunallagarne samt Norges Grundlov (6th ed., Stockholm, 1903). An English version is printed in Dodd, Modern Const.i.tutions, II., 219-251, and a French one in Dareste, Const.i.tutions Modernes (3d ed.), II., 46-114. The best brief treatise upon Swedish const.i.tutional history is P. Fahlbeck, La const.i.tution suedoise et le parlementarisme moderne (Paris, 1905). The best description of the Swedish government as it was a quarter of a century ago is T. H. Aschehoug, Das Staatsrecht der vereinigten konigreiche Schweden und Norwegen (Freiburg, 1886), in Marquardsen's Handbuch. The princ.i.p.al treatise in Swedish is C. Naumann, Sveriges statsforfatningsratt (2d ed., Stockholm, 1879-1884).]

*651. The Crown and the Ministry.*--At the head of the state (p. 590) stands the king. The monarchy is hereditary, and the crown is transmitted in the male line in the order of primogeniture. It is required that the king shall belong invariably to the Lutheran Church and that at his accession he shall take an oath to maintain scrupulously the laws of the land. With the king is a.s.sociated a Statsrad, or Council of State, appointed by the crown "from among capable, experienced, honest persons of good reputation, who are Swedes by birth, and who belong to the pure, evangelical faith."[825]

By const.i.tutional requirement the Council is composed of eleven members, one of whom is designated by the king as minister of state and president of the council, or premier. Of the eleven eight are heads of the departments, respectively, of Foreign Affairs, Justice, Land Defense, Naval Defense, Home Affairs, Finance, Agriculture, and Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs. The president and two other members are ministers without portfolio.

[Footnote 825: Art. 4. Dodd, Modern Const.i.tutions, II., 220.]

*652. The Exercise of Executive Powers.*--The powers of the Swedish executive are large. A few are exercised by the crown alone; some by the crown in conjunction with a small specified number of ministers; the majority by the crown and entire ministry conjointly. The king acts independently as the commander-in-chief of the land and naval forces of the kingdom. He may conclude treaties and alliances with foreign powers, after having consulted the minister of state, the minister of foreign affairs, and one other member of the Council. But if he wishes to declare war or to conclude peace he must convene in special session the full membership of the Council and must require of each member separately his opinion. "The king may then," it is stipulated, "make and execute such a decision as he considers for the best interests of the country."[826] In other words, in such a matter the king is obliged to consult, but not necessarily to be guided by, his ministerial advisers.

[Footnote 826: Art. 13. Ibid., 223.]

In general, it may be affirmed that this is the principle which underlies the organization of the Swedish executive. After having been prepared by one or more of the ministers, projects are considered by the king in council; but the right of ultimate decision rests with the king. It is thus that appointments to all national offices are made, t.i.tles of n.o.bility are conferred, ordinances are promulgated, texts of new laws are framed, and questions of peace and war are determined.

Nominally, the ministers are responsible to the Riksdag for all acts of the Government. But the const.i.tution plainly states that after matters have been discussed in the Council "the king alone shall have the power to decide."[827] If the king's decision is palpably (p. 591) contrary to the const.i.tution or the general laws, the ministers are authorized to enter protest. But that is all that they may do. The ministers have seats in the Riksdag, where they partic.i.p.ate in debate and, in the name of the crown, initiate legislation. But their responsibility lies so much more directly to the king than to the legislature that what is commonly understood as the parliamentary system can hardly be said to exist in the kingdom.

[Footnote 827: Art. 9. Dodd, Modern Const.i.tutions, II., 221.]

II. THE RIKSDAG: ELECTORAL SYSTEM

*653. Establishment of the Bicameral System, 1866.*--Until past the middle of the nineteenth century the Swedish Riksdag, or diet, comprised still an a.s.semblage of the four estates of the realm--the n.o.bles, the clergy, the burghers, and the peasants. Throughout several decades a preponderating political question was that of subst.i.tuting for this essentially mediaeval arrangement a modern bicameral legislative system. In 1840 the Riksdag itself insisted upon a change, but the king, Charles XIV., refused to give his a.s.sent. During the reign of Oscar I. (1844-1859) several proposals were forthcoming, but none met with acceptance. It was left to Charles XV. (1859-1872), in collaboration with his able minister of justice, Baron Louis Gerhard de Geer, to effect the much-needed reform. In January, 1863, the Government submitted to the Estates a measure whereby there was to be const.i.tuted a Riksdag of two chambers--an upper one, which should be essentially an aristocratic senate, and a lower, whose members should be elected triennially by the people. In 1865 all of the four estates acted favorably upon the bill and, January 22, 1866, the measure was promulgated by the crown as an integral part of the fundamental law of the kingdom. September 1, 1866, there were held the first national elections under the new system. Since 1866 the upper chamber has represented princ.i.p.ally the old estates of the n.o.bles and clergy, and the lower has comprised the combined representatives of the townsmen and peasants. The one has been conservative, and even aristocratic; the other, essentially democratic. But the reform has contributed greatly to the breaking up of the ancient rigidity of the Swedish const.i.tution and has opened the way for a parliamentary leadership on the part of the commons which was impossible so long as each of four orders was in possession of an equal voice and vote in legislative business.

*654. The Upper Chamber.*--The membership of both houses of the Riksdag is wholly elective, that of the upper indirectly, and that of the (p. 592) lower directly, by the people. The upper house consists of 150 members chosen by ballot, after the principle of proportional representation, for a term of six years by the twenty-five Landsthings, or provincial representative a.s.semblies, and by the corporations of five of the larger towns--Stockholm, Goteborg, Malmo, Norrkoping, and Gafle. These electoral bodies are arranged in six groups, in one of which an election takes place in September of every year. The franchise arrangements under which they are themselves chosen are still determined princ.i.p.ally with reference to property or income, but they are no longer so undemocratic as they were prior to the electoral reform of 1909, and whereas the elections were previously indirect, they are now direct. No person may be elected to the upper chamber who is not of Swedish birth, who has not attained his thirty-fifth year, and who during three years prior to his election has not owned taxable property valued at 50,000 kroner or paid taxes on an annual income of at least 3,000 kroner.[828] A member who at any time loses these qualifications forthwith forfeits his seat. Members formerly received no compensation, but under the reform measure of 1909 they, as likewise members of the lower chamber, are accorded a salary of 1,200 kroner for each session of four months, and, in the event of an extra session, 10 kroner a day, in addition to travelling expenses.

[Footnote 828: These amounts were subst.i.tuted in 1909 for 80,000 and 4,000 respectively.]

*655. The Lower Chamber.*--As const.i.tuted by law of 1894, modified by the reform act of 1909, the lower chamber consists of 230 members chosen under a system of proportional representation in fifty-six electoral districts, each of which returns from three to seven deputies. The number of members to be chosen in each of the districts is determined triennially, immediately preceding the balloting. Prior to the franchise law of 1909 the suffrage was confined, through property qualifications, within very narrow bounds. The electorate comprised native Swedes twenty-five years of age or over who were qualified as munic.i.p.al voters and who possessed real property to the taxed value of 1,000 kroner, or who paid taxes on an annual income of at least 800 kroner, or who possessed a leasehold interest for at least five years of a taxable value of 6,000 kroner. In 1902 it was demonstrated by statistics that of the entire male population of the kingdom over twenty-one years of age not more than thirty-four per cent could meet these qualifications.

*656. Beginnings of the Movement for Electoral Reform.*--As early as 1895 insistent demand began to be made in many quarters for an extension of the franchise, and in the Riksdag of 1896 Premier Bostrom introduced a moderate measure looking toward that end and involving the introduction of proportional representation. The bill, (p. 593) however, was defeated. Agitation was continued, and in 1900 the Liberals made electoral reform the princ.i.p.al item of their programme.

In 1901 there was pa.s.sed a sweeping measure for the reorganization of the army whereby were increased both the term of military service and the taxes by which the military establishment was supported. Argument to the effect that such an augmentation of public burdens ought to be accompanied by an extension of public privileges was not lost upon the members of the Conservative Government, and at the opening of the Riksdag of 1902 the Speech from the Throne a.s.signed first place in the legislative calendar to a Suffrage Extension bill. March 12 the measure was laid before the chambers. The provisions of the bill were, in brief, (1) that every male citizen, already possessed of the munic.i.p.al franchise, who had completed his twenty-fifth year and was not in arrears in respect to taxes or military service, should be ent.i.tled to vote for a member of the lower national chamber; and (2) that every voter who was married, or had been married, or had completed his fortieth year, should be ent.i.tled to two votes. By reason of its plural voting features the measure was not well received, even though the plural vote was not made in any way dependent upon property. It was opposed by the Liberals and the Social Democrats, and members even of the Conservative Government which had introduced it withheld from it their support. Amidst unusual public perturbation the Liberals drew up a counter-proposal, which was introduced in the lower chamber April 16. It contemplated not simply one vote for all male citizens twenty-five years of age who possessed the munic.i.p.al franchise, but also a sweeping extension of the munic.i.p.al franchise itself. The upshot was the adoption by the Riksdag of a proposal to the effect that the Government, after conducting a thorough investigation of the entire subject, should submit, in 1904, a new measure based upon universal suffrage from the age of twenty-five.

*657. The Conservative Proposal of 1904.*--The issue was postponed, but agitation, especially on the part of the Social Democrats, was redoubled. February 9, 1904, the Government laid before the lower chamber a new suffrage bill embodying the recommendations of a commission appointed some months previously to conduct the investigation which had been ordered. The princ.i.p.al provisions of the measure were (1) that every male munic.i.p.al taxpayer who had attained his twenty-fifth year, and was not deficient in respect to his fiscal or military obligations, should be ent.i.tled to one vote for a member of the Chamber; and (2) that the 230 legislative seats should be distributed among thirty-three electoral districts, and should be filled by deputies chosen according to the principle of (p. 594) proportional representation. The introduction of this measure became the signal for the appearance of a mult.i.tude of projects dealing with the subject, most of which discarded proportional representation but imposed still fewer restrictions upon the franchise. In the upper house the Government's proposal, modified somewhat to meet the demands of the agrarian interests, was pa.s.sed by a vote of 93 to 50; but in the lower chamber the substance of it was rejected by the narrow margin of 116 to 108.

In view of the continued support of the upper house and the meagerness of the opposition majority in the lower, the Government, at the opening of the Riksdag of 1905, submitted afresh its suffrage bill without material modification. Again there was a deluge of counter-proposals, the most important of which was that introduced March 18 by Karl Staaff, in behalf of the Liberals, to the effect that every citizen in good standing of the age of twenty-four should be ent.i.tled to one vote, and that the Chamber should consist of 165 rural and 65 urban members, chosen in single-member const.i.tuencies. May 3 and 4 the Government's bill was carried in the upper house by a vote of 93 to 50, but lost in the lower by a vote of 114 to 109. Upon Staaff's project the lower house was almost equally divided.

*658. The Proposal of the Staaff Government, 1906.*--Upon the resignation of the Lundeberg cabinet, October 28, 1905, following the Norwegian separation, a Liberal ministry was made up by Staaff, and when, January 15, 1906, the Riksdag rea.s.sembled in regular session the new Government was ready to push to a conclusion the electoral controversy. February 24 Premier Staaff introduced an elaborate measure comprising an amplification of that which had been brought forward by him a year earlier. By stipulating that at the age of twenty-four every man of good character should have one vote the scheme proposed enormously to enlarge the quota of enfranchised citizens, and by apportioning representatives among the town and country districts in the ratio of 65 to 165 it promised to reduce materially the existing over-representation of the towns. It excluded from the franchise bankrupts, persons under guardianship, and defaulters in respect to military service; it required for election at the first ballot, though not at the second, an absolute majority; it stipulated that a rearrangement of const.i.tuencies, in accordance with population, should be made every nine years by the king. It gave no place to the principle of proportional representation which had appeared in the proposals of the Conservative ministries of 1904 and 1905; and while favorable mention was made of female suffrage, the authors of the measure avowed the opinion that the injection of (p. 595) that issue at the present moment would endanger the entire reform programme. Amidst renewed public demonstrations the usual flood of counter-projects, several stipulating female suffrage, made its appearance. The upper chamber, dominated by the Conservatives, held out for proportional representation, and, May 14, it negatived the Staaff proposal by a vote of 125 to 18. The day following the bill was pa.s.sed in the lower chamber by a majority of 134 to 94, and a little later proportional representation was rejected by 130 votes to 98.

*659. A Compromise Bill Adopted, 1907.*--Upon the Conservative Government of Lindman which succeeded devolved the task of framing a measure upon which the two chambers could unite. A new bill made its appearance February 2, 1907. Its essential provisions were (1) that the members of the lower chamber should be elected by manhood suffrage (with the limitations specified in the Liberal programme of 1906) and proportional representation; (2) that the number of electoral districts should be fixed at fifty-six, each to return from three to seven members; (3) that members of the upper chamber should be elected by the provincial Landsthings and the munic.i.p.al councils for six years instead of nine as. .h.i.therto, and by proportional representation; and (4) that the munic.i.p.al suffrage, which forms the basis of the elections to the Landsthing, should be democratized in such a manner that, whereas previously a wealthy elector might cast a maximum of 100 votes in the towns and 5,000 in the rural districts,[829] henceforth the maximum of votes which might be cast by any one elector should be forty. By the Liberals and Social Democrats this measure was denounced as inadequate, although on all sides it was admitted that the changes introduced by it were so sweeping as to amount to a positive revision of the const.i.tution. The spokesmen of the Liberal Union reintroduced the Staaff bill of 1906, and the Social Democrats brought forward a new measure which accorded a prominent place to female suffrage.

February 8 the two chambers elected a joint committee to investigate and report upon the Government's project. Various amendments were added to the bill, e.g., one whereby members of the upper chamber henceforth should receive an emolument for their services, and eventually, May 14, the measure was brought to a vote. Despite the apprehensions of the Government, it was carried. In the lower house the vote was 128 to 98; in the upper, 110 to 29.

[Footnote 829: Under the prevailing system, each elector in the towns had one vote for every 100 kroner income, subject to a limit of 100 votes; each one in the country had ten votes for every 100 kroner income, subject to a limit of 5,000 votes.]

*660. Final Enactment, 1909: Woman's Suffrage.*--The measure (p. 596) comprised a series of const.i.tutional amendments, and, in accordance with the requirements in such cases, it remained in abeyance until a newly elected Riksdag (chosen in 1908 and a.s.sembled in 1909) should have had an opportunity to take action upon it. In the Riksdag of 1908 ex-Premier Staaff introduced a measure granting female suffrage in parliamentary elections and extending it in munic.i.p.al elections. But both chambers negatived this and every other proposal offered upon the subject, preferring to support the Government in its purpose to keep the issue of woman's suffrage in the background until the reforms of 1907 should have been carried to completion. Early in the session of 1909 the "preliminary resolution" of 1907 was given the final approval of the chambers. The Liberals, being now interested princ.i.p.ally in the woman's suffrage propaganda, did not combat the measure, so that the majorities for its adoption were overwhelming.

The enactment of this piece of legislation const.i.tutes a landmark in Swedish political history. Through upwards of a decade the question of franchise reform had overshadowed all other public issues and had distracted attention from various pressing problems of state.

Denounced still by the extremists of both radical and conservative groups, the new law was hailed by the ma.s.s of the nation with the most evident satisfaction.[830] The question of woman's suffrage remains.

At the elections of 1908 the Liberal party emulated the Social Democrats in the incorporation of this project in its programme, and, April 21, 1909, the Const.i.tutional Committee of the Riksdag recommended the adoption of a measure whereby women should be accorded the parliamentary suffrage and eligibility to sit as members of either chamber. In May, 1911, the essentials of this recommendation were accepted by the lower chamber by a vote of 120 to 92, but by the upper they were rejected overwhelmingly. At the opening of the Riksdag of 1912 the Speech from the Throne announced the purpose of the Government to introduce a measure for the enfranchis.e.m.e.nt of women, and during the session the promise was redeemed by the bringing (p. 597) forward of a bill in accordance with whose terms every Swede, without distinction of s.e.x, over twenty-four years of age and free from legal disabilities, may vote for members of the lower chamber.

[Footnote 830: In the main, the scheme of proportional representation adopted in Sweden is similar to that in operation in Belgium (see pp.

542-545). Electors are expected to write at the head of their ballot papers the name or motto of their party. The papers bearing the same name or emblem are then grouped together, the numbers in each group are ascertained, and the seats available are allotted to these groups in accordance with the d'Hondt rule, irrespective of the number of votes obtained by individual candidates. The candidate receiving the largest number of votes is declared elected. The papers on which his name appears are then marked down to the value of one-half, the relative position of the remaining candidates is ascertained afresh, and the highest of these is declared elected, and so on. Unlike the Belgian system, the Swedish plan provides for the allotment of but a single seat at a time. Humphreys, Proportional Representation, 296-313.]

III. THE RIKSDAG IN OPERATION--POLITICAL PARTIES

*661. Organization and Procedure.*--By the Riksdag law of 1866 the king is required to summon the chambers annually and empowered to convene extraordinary sessions as occasion may demand. It is within the competence of the king in council to dissolve either or both of the chambers, but in such an event a general election must be ordered forthwith, and the new Riksdag is required to be a.s.sembled within three months after the dissolution.[831] The president and vice-presidents of both houses are named by the crown; otherwise the chambers are permitted to choose their officials and to manage their affairs independently. It is specifically forbidden that either house, or any committee, shall deliberate upon or decide any question in the presence of the sovereign. The powers of the Riksdag cover the full range of civil and criminal legislation; but no measure may become law without the a.s.sent of the crown. In other words, the veto which the king possesses is absolute. At the same time, the king is forbidden, save with the consent of the Riksdag, to impose any tax, to contract any loan, to dispose of crown property, to alienate any portion of the kingdom, to change the arms or flag of the realm, to modify the standard or weight of the coinage, or to introduce any alteration in the national const.i.tution. Measures may be proposed, not only by the Government, but by members of either house. The relations between the two houses are peculiarly close. At each regular session there are const.i.tuted certain joint committees whose function is the preparation and preliminary consideration of business for the attention of both chambers. Most important among these committees is that on laws, which, in the language of the const.i.tution, "elaborates projects submitted to it by the houses for the improvement of the civil, criminal, munic.i.p.al, and ecclesiastical laws."[832] Other such committees are those on the const.i.tution, on finance, on appropriations, and on the national bank.

[Footnote 831: Art. 109. Dodd, Modern Const.i.tutions, II., 249.]

[Footnote 832: Art. 53. Ibid., II., 234.]