convicted of felony or any infamous crime; and if they cease to be qualified in respect of property or residence. The Governor-General may fill vacancies by nomination, and an attendance of fifteen, including the Speaker (who is appointed and may be removed by the Governor-General), constitutes a quorum. A majority of voices decides; the Speaker has a vote in all cases, and, when the voting is equal, has a casting vote.

In Australia, the Senate of the Commonwealth is composed of six Australia. Senators for each State which was an original member of the Commonwealth and this number-as far as such original States are concerned-cannot be diminished, nor can the equality of senatorial representation be affected. Subject to this, Parliament can make laws increasing or diminishing the number of Senators. The members of the Senate are to be "directly chosen by the people of the State, voting, until the Parliament otherwise provides, as one electorate." [Sec. 7 of the Constitution]. [A special provision is made by this section as to the method of election of the Senators representing Queensland.]

Messrs. Quick and Garran* emphasize very clearly the importance of direct election of Senators. They point out that in the draft Bill of 1891 the United States precedent was followed, and it was provided that the Senators of each State should be elected by the Houses of Parliament of that State; but that in the Convention which drafted the Constitution only a small minority were in favour of this method of election, while not a single member supported a nominated Senate on the Canadian lines.

Sec. 7 also provides that Senators shall be elected for a term of six years, their names being certified by the Governor of each State to the Governor-General. This is modified by Sec. 13, which enacts that as soon as may be after the Senate first meets, and after each meeting of the Senate following a dissolution thereof, the Senate shall divide the Senators chosen for each State into two classes as nearly equal in numbers as practicable; and the places of the Senators of the first-class shall become vacant at the expiration of the third year, and the places of those of the second-class at the expiration of the sixth year, from the beginning of their term of service; and afterwards the places of Senators shall become vacant at the expiration of six years from the beginning of their term of service." [The dissolution" referred to in this section is that provided for by Sec. 57, which is fully dealt with in chapter V.] The qualifications of a Senator are the same as those of a member of the House of Representatives. [Vide Chapter IV, "Composition of Lower House."] (Sec. 16.)

The qualification of electors of Senators are the same as those prescribed by the Constitution or by Parliament [acting in accordance with its power under the Constitution to alter the Federal franchise] as the qualification of electors of members of the House of Representatives. "But in the choosing of Senators each elector

*Ann. Const. Aust. Comm., p. 418.

H

shall vote only once." (Sec. 8.) The provision as to voting only once is necessary to prevent an elector from voting in all the electoral divisions of any State in which he might be registered and to which he could travel on the polling day. The Commonwealth Parliament is given power to prescribe the method of choosing Senators, "but so that the method shall be uniform in all the States." Subject to this, the Parliament of each State has power to prescribe the method of choosing Senators for that State. The State Parliaments have also absolute power of making laws for determining the times and places of election of Senators for the State. [Sec. 9.) The words "method of choosing" in this section are explained by Messrs. Quick and Garran* as including the mode in which an elector can record his vote (e.g., "plumping" or single voting) and general regulations as to the conduct of elections. Sec. 10 of the Constitution also enacts that "until the Parliament otherwise provides, but subject to this Constitution, the laws in force in each State for the time being relating to elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament of the State shall, as nearly as practicable, apply to elections of Senators for the State."

Other sections provide for the election of a Senator to be President of the Senate and for his resignation or removal; for resignation of Senators; for their ceasing to be Senators upon absence for two consecutive months without permission; for the filling of vacancies, and for a quorum of at least one-third of the total number of Senators. Sec. 23 enacts that a majority of votes shall decide, that each Senator shall have one vote and that the President shall have a vote in each case in addition to a casting vote.

* Ann. Const. Aust. Comm., p. 426.

CHAPTER IV.

COMPOSITION OF THE LOWER HOUse.

I. Number of Members.-Mr. R. C. Baker's summary of the Constitutions of Switzerland, the United States and Canada in so far as they relate to the number of Members of the Lower House is as follows:

"The Constitution of the House of Representatives is one of the very few points concerning which the three modern Federal Republics-America, Canada, and Switzerland-essentially concur. In each case it is established

on a population basis, readjusted by a census every ten years, the population -not of the whole Federation, but of each separate Province-being the basis of representation.

"(1) In Switzerland, each 20,000 citizens in any one Canton are entitled Switzerland. to elect one member to the National Council. Fractions over 10,000 are considered as 20,000. No Canton is to have less than one member. Thus, prior to the last census, Nilderwald, with a population of 12,558, elected one member; Berne, with a population of 536,182, elected 27 members. The members are elected for three years. In 1889 there were 145 members.

"(2) In Canada it was provided that the House of Commons should con- Canada. sist of 131 members apportioned as therein provided, and that a decennial readjustment should take place on the basis that Quebec was to always have 65 members, and each other Province was to be entitled to such a number of members as should bear the same proportion to the number of its population as the number 65 would bear to the number of the population of Quebec. The members are elected for five years; there were in 1889 215 members. "In working out this sum any fraction over one-half of the number of electors entitled to return a member is to be considered as equal to a whole "(3) In America the Constitution states that :

"Representatives shall be apportioned amongst the States according to The their respective numbers.' United States.

"The number of representatives shall not exceed one for every 30,000, but each State shall have at least one representative.' In 1787 there was one representative for every 30,000, in 1880 one for every 154,325 of the population; total number of representatives in 1880, 330.

"The wording of the American Constitution has given rise to a great deal of trouble; it was soon found impossible to work out the problem set. If any given number of electors were decreed by Congress entitled to a representative, there was always a fraction, sometimes small, sometimes great, left over in each State, so that in fact there has never been any representation in each State apportioned in exact proportion to its numbers as the Constitution requires.* The Canadian plan has avoided the difficulty into which the American has fallen and lays down a rule by which the numbers of the House of Representatives cannot become unwieldy, which is not only selfacting, but which is also capable of being accurately applied."

* Story, 61.

658378

Australia.

The Australian
Quota.

The Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth follows the precedent of that of the United States in making the number of members of the House of Representatives proportionate to the population of each State, but it also provides a definitive method of working out the calculation. By Sec. 24 the number of members of the Lower House [who are "directly chosen by the people of the Commonwealth "] is to be "as nearly as practicable twice the number of the Senators." The method by which the number of Federal Representatives of each State is to be determined is as follows:

(i.) "A quota shall be ascertained by dividing the number of the people of the Commonwealth, as shown by the latest statistics of the Commonwealth, by twice the number of Senators.

(ii.) "The number of members to be chosen in each State shall be determined by dividing the number of people of the State, as shown by the latest statistics of the Commonwealth, by the quota; and if on such division there is a remainder greater than one-half of the quota, one more member shall be chosen in the State."

And "notwithstanding anything in this section, five members at least shall be chosen in each Original State."

The two elements of importance in this method of fixing the number of Representatives are, first, the provision that that number must be as nearly as possible twice the number of Senators, and, secondly, the method of working out the calculation based on the quota. The first of these is not subject to the discretion of the Federal Parliament. It is part of the Constitution and can only be altered by an amendment of the Constitution. Taken together, they make the number of Representatives depend on the number of Senators and thus "prevent an automatic or arbitrary increase in the number of members of the House of Representatives by which there would be a continually growing disparity between the number of members of that House and the Senate; and give some security for maintaining the numerical strength as well as the Constitutional power of the Senate."* As to the first, it may be pointed out that there are only two ways of increasing the number of Senators under the Constitution, i.e. (1), an act of the Federal Parliament increasing the number of Senators for each original State; and (2) an Act of the Federal Parliament admitting or establishing a new State or States, and thus introducing additional Senators. As to the second, Messrs. Quick and Garrant give a useful illustration of the method of arriving at the quota :

"The quota is that number of the aggregate population of the Commonwealth which, considered as a unit, is entitled to one member in the House of Representatives. It is obtained by dividing the population of the Commonwealth by twice the number of Senators. The population is that shown in the latest statistics. The number resulting from the division, the quotient, is called the quota. This is the ratio of representation, there being one representative for every quota of the population of the Commonwealth. The method of obtaining the quota may be shown as follows:

* " Annotated Constitution of Australian Commonwealth," p. 452. +"Annotated Constitution of Australian Commonwealth," p. 454.

"It seems clear that strict accuracy requires that the quota should be calculated out to an exact decimal fraction. To neglect the fraction might, in occasional instances, make the difference of a representative more or less. Thus, suppose that the exact quota were 50,000.4, and that the population of one of the States were 1,025,001. If the quota were taken at its integral value-50,000-the State would be entitled to 21 representatives-20 in respect of 1,000,000 inhabitants and one more in respect of the remainder of 25,001, which is greater than one-half of the quota. But if the quota is taken at its exact value, the remainder will only be 24,993, or less than one half of the quota, and the State will only be entitled to 20 representatives." For purposes of the first Parliament, the number of Representatives was fixed by Sec. 26 of the Constitution, the number being based on the figures returned by a Conference of Statisticians held on 21st February, 1900. This was necessary because it was nine years since the last census of Australia had been taken. Subject to the Constitution, the Federal Parliament may make laws for increasing or diminishing the number of Representatives. (Sec. 27.)

II. Qualification of Electors.-Sec. 30 of the Australian Constitu- Australia. tion enacts that "until Parliament otherwise provides, the qualification of electors of members of the House of Representatives shall be in each State that which is prescribed by the laws of the State as the qualification of electors of the more numerous House of Parliament of the State; but in the choosing of members each State shall vote only once."

The corresponding section of the American Constitution provides United States. that " the qualifications of the electors shall be the same, from time to time, as those of the electors in the several States of the most numerous branch of their own Legislatures"-thus giving the separate States power to fix the Federal franchise without any submission of that power to a subsequent enactment of the Federal Parliament. This unlimited power of the States Governments was abused, and is now subject to the provisions of the XIVth and XVth amendments. The XIVth amendment lays down the right of every male citizen of full age to vote for Federal purposes, and provides that if any State abridges that right " [except for participation in rebellion or other crime] the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens 21 years of age in that State." The XVth amendment defends the right of citizens of full age agair st abridgment " on account of race, colour, or previous condition of servitude," and gives Congress the power to enforce this by appropriate legislation.