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July 7, I860.] The Saturday'Analystand L...
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annexing 1 any clause or Clauses to a Bi...
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* For the authorities and rules on this ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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July 7, I860.] The Saturday'analystand L...
July 7 , I 860 . ] The Saturday ' Analystand Leader . 645
Annexing 1 Any Clause Or Clauses To A Bi...
annexing 1 any clause or Clauses to a Bill of Aid or Supply , the matter of which is foreign to , and different from , the said Bill of Aid or Supply , is unparliamentary , and tends to the destruction of the constitution of the Gtoveniment . *' In some cases they have not insisted on their Standing Orders ; in others they have insisted . ( See App . 68 , 192 . ) . Bills fob the Afpkqpbiatioit of Supplies . < XV . The appropriation * of Supplies to specified heads of expenditure was introduced in the reign of Charles II . ; and generally , though not in every instance , it was adopted by Parliament . The practice with regard to it assumed , substantially , its present form in . the reign of William III . ; and as the Bill by which the appropriation ic made enacts that the aids and supplies enumerated therein shall
not be issued or applied to any use , intent , or purpose , other than those which are mentioned in it , the constitutional usages with respect to these Bills are the same as those above adverted to with respect to Supply Bills ; it is prepared in the same way as the Act of the Commons only ; it is sent up to the Lords for their assent ; it is returned by that House into the charge of the Commons ; and when the Commons are summoned to attend Her Majesty or the Lords Commissioners in the House of Peers , it is carried , with the Supply Bills , to the bar of their House by the Speaker , and there presented by him for the Royal assent . Although the Lords have in some instances rejected Bills for specific appropriation of supplies , they appear to have uniformly passed the General Appropriation Bill at the end of the session without any amendment . Public Bills which operate as a Chaege on the People .
XVI . While the controversy was going on respecting Supply and Tax Bills , in the early part of the reign of Charles the Second , a question arose whether other Bills which were not strictly Bills oF Supply , or Tax Bills , but which would operate as a charge on the people , could or could not originate in the Lords . Thus , in the year 1661 , a Bill came down from the Lords to the Commons , entituled a Bill for paving , repairing , or amending the streets and highr ways of Westminster . But the House ¦ " ¦ observing that the said JBill was . to alter the course of law in part , and to lay a charge upon the people / and conceiving that it is a privilege inherent in this House that Bills of that nature ought first to be considered here , it vras ordered that the said Bill be laid aside , and that the Lords be acquainted therewithj and with the reasons inducing the House thereunto . - ¦ . ' ... . ¦ ¦ .. . '¦ ¦ . : . ¦" ¦«' : '¦ ' ¦; - . ' ¦ —/¦¦ ¦ ' ¦ :: — " i '"' ¦¦ ¦¦
Soy on the 17 th of May , 1 ( 362 * the Lords returned , with ^ amendments , a Highways Bill , " by inserting two provisoes concerning the erecting and repairing two bridges . These provisoes were disagreed to by the Commons ; and it was- ordered , " That it be insisted on for a reason of the dissent of this House to these provisoes ^ because the provisoes are to lay a . charge on the people , which ought not to begin with the Lords , but mthis House ; and although it be but a part of ^ the kingdom ^ yet , by the same reason , it may be extended to the whole . " Upon a conference the Lords gave way . ; So , on the 15 th of February , 1664 , an engrossed Bill , sent from the Lords , " for regulating and ordering of buildings and for amende
ing of highways in towns , " was ordered to be laid aside , " it appearing that the said Bill was to impose and continue a tax upon the people which ought to have begun in this House / ' _ . It was insisted on the part of' the Commons that all Bills which would operate as a charge on the people mugt as much begin in their House as Bills of ^ upply andTTax : Bills . The same principle was applied to pecuniary penalties or forfeitures , f <> r the Commons ^ have insisted that the Lords cannot originate or alter such penalties or forfeitures , or alter the application or distribution of them , or the quantum of aiiy toll or rate , or the disposition or duration of it , or the persons , commissioners , or collectors appointed to manage it .
The 5 th of January , 1690 , the Lords amended a Bill for susp ending during the war with France the Navigation and Corn Acts , by imposing , a penalty of . 10 / . on any person who should conceal , hide , or rescue a British seaman * The Commons disagreed on the ground of privilege ; several conferences took place , but they were interrupted by an adjournment , and afterwards by a prorogation , without any settlement of the matter in difference . Again , on the 20 th February , 1691 , the Commons , affcera conference , disagreed to amendments made by the Lords in a Bill for punishing mutineers and deserters , the reason assigned being "that it is the undoubted right of the Commons only to appoint pecuniary mulcts and the distribution of them . " The proceedings in this case , like the last , were interrupted by a prorogation . Several other cases of a similar kind occurred towards the latter end of the 17 th century , The Lords insisted on their right to
make such amendments , and the Commons denied it ; but , as the Commons would not agree to such amendments , the Bills were cither lost , or tho Lords ultimately gave way . ( See Appendix 75 , 78 , 79 , 80 , and tho cases referred to under tho next head . ) So with regard to tho mode in which duties were to be collected . On the 28 th of November , 1696 , the Lords amended a Bill " for xeguluting the Illstute of the Coin in the Kingdom , " by giving a Jonger time to receivers and collectors to pay into the Exchequer fcammot'od money . —The Commons disagreed , upon the ground that " the Lords could not make any amendment which is to he acharge ¦ upon the people . " The Lords did not insist on their amendment , and the Bill pussed . —( See also App . No . 115 . ) The same rule was also applied to fees as well as to penalties ; and that equally , whether Bills were of a public or a private nature . Latterly , indeed , that rule has been relaxed when the peualty relates to tho punishment or prevention of offeuces ; for , by the Standing
Order of the Commons made on the 22 nd of June , 1831 , it was ordered , * ' That if in any Bill which , having passed the House of Lords , shall be sent down to this House for their concurrence , or in any Bill which , having passed this House , shall be returned by the Lords with amendments , it shall appear that any pecuniary penalty . or forfeiture is . thereby imposed , varied , or taken away , the . Speaker shall , before the second reading of Such Bill or amendments , report to the House his opinion whether the objeet thereof is to iihpose > vary , or take away any pecuniary charge or burthen on the subject ; or whether the same relates only to the punishment or prevention of offences : aiid the House shall thereupon determine whether it may be expedient , in such particular case , to insist upon the exercise of their privilege to originate all such provisions respecting pecuniary penalties or forfeitures . "
By a more recent Standing Order , made on the 24 th of July , 1849 , a further amendment has been made in the rule upon which the House at present acts , for by that Standing Order it was ordered , " That with respect to any Bill brought to this House from the House of Lords , or returned by the House of Lords to this House , with amendments , whereby any pecuniary penalty , forfeiture , or fee shall be authorised , imposed , appropriated , regulated , varied , or extinguished , this House will not insist on its ancient and undoubted privileges in the following cases : — " 1 . When the object of such pecuniary penalty or forfeiture as to secure the execution of the Act , or the punishment or prevention of offences .
" 2 . Where such fees are imposed in respect of benefit taken or service rendered , under the Act , and in order to the execution of the Act , and are not made payable into the Treasury or Exchequer , or in aid of the public revenue , and do not form the ground of public accounting by the parties receiving the same , either in respect of deficit or surplus . " 3 . When such Bill shall be a private Bill for a local or personal Act . " Public Chaege Bilxs . Practice of the Commons when the Lords Amend , Postpone , or ¦ ¦• .. ¦ . ¦ ¦¦¦' . Reject . ' . ¦¦ . . ; . ' ¦ ¦ , ¦•
XVII . With regard to those Bills which operate as a charge on the people the practice of the Commons is substantially the same aa that which is observed in Bills of Supply and Tax Bills . The form of the Bill and the mode of procedure is different ; from that in Bills of Supply ; and the Lords may , without objectiojixfroin the Commons , make amendments in those provisions which- do not concern the charge , or the mode of levying it , or it ? duration or distribution , or the management or collection of it . In other respects the practice is identical in both classes of cases . As a general rule , when the Lords otherwise amend , the practice of the Commons has been either to postpone the consideration of such amend merits , or to disagree , and by disagreeing to invite reconsideration on the part of the Lords , or to lay aside the Bili , without taking any further proceedings upon it ; and , in some instances , when the Bill has been kid aside , the practice has been to bring in a new Bill , embodying or not embodying , as the case may bethe Lords ' amendments . , ' . ¦¦ ..
, The earlier practice was to disagree to the amendments , and to invite a reconsideration of them on the part of the Lords . Thus , on the 9 th . of December , 1692 , the Lords made amendments in the
^ occasional , Conformity .. Bill , Jby _ ali £ ^ Commons had irnposed . To these amendments the Commons disagreed j a conference was desired , and ohe of the reasons to be assigned by the Commons was , ' * Because ( though many other reasons might be offered from which the Commons can never depart ); yet , at this time , they think it sufficient to say that the penalties left out by your Lordships in this amendment are reasonable , and no more than what are necessary to make this Bill effectual . " The managers report " That they had given the Lords the reasons for disagreeing to the said amendments , and had left the Bill and amendments with the Lords . " The conference was held ; the Commons insisted on their disagreement ; and
in this , as in many other cases of a similar kind , no further proceedings were taken on the Bill , the differences having been sometimes terminated by the prorogation of Parliament ( see App . 77 , 78 , 79 , 88 , 83 , 85 , 89 , 90 , 91 , 101 , 104 , 105 , 121 ) , and in others , again , the Lords gave way . ( App . 81 , 116 , 120 , 122 . ) Latterly the Commons have occasionally disagreed to an amendment , on the sole ground of privilege , without offering other Teasons ; but the more usual practice has been to lay the Bill aside at once , of which the Poor-rate Bill in 1836 , and the County Bridges Bill in 1841 , may be cited as examples . ( See App . Nos . 112 and 119 . ) Not unfrequently when that has been done new Bills have been brought iu for carrying into effect the same object ( App . Nos . 95 , 99 , 100 , 106 , 111 , 112 , 117 , 118 , 119 ) , some of which embodied the Lords' amendments in whole or iu part . ( See
App . Nos . 92 , 112 . ) Pjbivate IJilis Involvin & a Chaboe . Practice of the Commons . XVIII . In part V . of the Appendix hereto , will be found a list of private-Bills , " which-involved or-related to soin © charge -on the people , and when the Lords have attempted to amend them , it will be seen that the practice of the Commons is strongly confirmatory of that right which they have always insisted upon of originating " , imposing , or in any way altering any of such charges . Ift But by a standing order , dated 27 th of July , 1858 , it is ordered tliat * ' thin House will not insist on its privileges with roguvd to any clauses in private Bills sent down from the House of Lords wliion refer to tolls and charges for services performed , and are not in tsne nature of u tax . "
* For The Authorities And Rules On This ...
* For the authorities and rules on this subject , see " HataeU , " toI . 8 , p . 208 , & c , and HaUam ' s Constitutional History , " chup . 15 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1860, page 21, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07071860/page/21/
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