Amendments ment of the Constitution, this right was withdrawn from the Federal Court. Although its jurisdiction is both original and appellate, it differs from the High Court of Australia or the Supreme Court of Canada in that it is not a court of appeal in cases where the citizens of one State only are affected. The judges are rendered independent of political influence in the customary way, i.e., they continue to hold their office during good behaviour, and the remuneration cannot be diminished during their term of office. V.—AmendmENT OF THE CONSTITUTION. The Constitution of the United States is already effected. emphatically "rigid." Although provision is made for amendment, yet it is so difficult to secure the necessary compliance with stated conditions, that in 120 years the Constitution has been modified on three or four occasions only. The first ten amendments are known as the Bill of Rights, and, as they were added immediately after the Constitution, they may be considered as part of the original measure. These amendments safeguard the liberty of citizens. They secure for them religious freedom, freedom of speech and of the press, freedom to assemble and petition, freedom from having soldiers forcibly quartered on them in time of peace, trial by jury, etc. Of the re maining five amendments, three were accepted in the years immediately following the Civil War, by which slavery was abolished, and the franchise extended to all, regardless of race or colour. The difficulty of amendment lies in The difficulty of the degree of unanimity required. Amend- Amendment. ments may be proposed by a two-thirds. majority of both Houses, or by a Convention called together as the result of an application of the Legislatures of two-thirds of the States. The proposed alterations must be ratified by at least three-fourths of the States through their Legislatures or Conventions. The proposals are not submitted directly to the people. No amendment infringing the right of a State to equal representation in the Senate can be passed without the consent of the State concerned. CHAPTER XIII. Canada 1763 1840. THE DOMINION OF CANADA. Canada was originally a French colony, but as a result of the Seven Years' War, its administration passed into English hands in 1760. For the first fourteen years it remained under military rule; then in 1774 the Quebec Act was passed, by which the the French Canadians were allowed to retain their own civil law, Roman Catholicism became the officially recognised religion of the land, and the executive power was placed in the hands of a Governor, assisted by a nominated Assembly. General satisfaction with this Act accounted for Canadian loyalty during the American War of Independence, as well as for the great stream of immigration of the U.E. (United Empire) loyalists from the United States. These new-comers settled down partly in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, * but principally in Ontario. Since they were of British nationality, their advent disturbed the homogeneous character of the people of *Nova Scotia had received a bicameral legislature in 1758, Prince Edward Island in 1773, and New Brunswick in 1784. Canada, and necessitated a further constitutional change. This was effected by the Canada Act of 1791, by which Upper Canada (Ontario) and Lower Canada (Quebec) were constituted separate colonies. Increased legislative powers were given to each through the introduction of elective Assemblies. "England in this way recognised that Canada contained two nations which could not as yet amalgamate." * The administrative powers powers remained still with the nominated council; in other words, legislative powers without responsible government had been granted by this Act. The friction that arose between the popular assemblies and the non-representative executives which the former could not in any way control, together with racial antagonisms and land troubles, resulted in the rebellions of 1837, and the despatch from England of Lord Durham as High Commissioner to investigate the trouble. Acting on his advice, the British The Outcome of Government took two important steps: (1) Lord Durham's Report. the two Canadas were politically re-united by the Re-union Act of 1840, and given a common Legislature; (2) the colony was granted within the course of the next few years the full measure of responsible government. The nominated executive was transformed into an * Woodword, "Expansion of the British Empire," p. 253. British North 1867. executive Ministry, dependent on the Legislative Assembly, and thus arose "that form of complete self-government under which the unity of the Empire is reconciled with the practical independence of its daughter communities." * The recurrence of racial trouble between the settlers of Upper and Lower Canada, together with the growth of other settlements, showed clearly that the last word on constitutional arrangements had not been spoken. Complete unification proved very unsuitable, and in 1867 the Imperial Parliament, acting on the America Act expressed desire of the Canadians themselves, passed the British North America Act. By this, Ontario and Quebec were first separated into two distinct provinces, and then, together with New Brunswick and Nova Scotia (which had received responsible government in 1848), were re-united in federal bonds. "The Federation of Canada was due . . to the desire of the people united in one of the component colonies to separate, or at any rate to be less closely united." The remaining portions of British North America (with the exception of Newfoundland, which prefers to remain unattached) have since been admitted into Federation-Manitoba in 1870, the * Wood word, "Expansion of the British Empire," p. 256. + Teece. A Comparison between the Federal Constitution of Canada and Australia, p. 5. |