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property of the wife, but cannot sell or convey it with out her joining in the deed. To save the separate prop erty of the wife from attachment for husband's debts, there must be an inventory of it on record.

Wisconsin. A married woman has all property rights the same as if single. She may buy and sell, lend and borrow, make conveyances, and have real estate conveyed to her, and all such business may be transacted between her and her husband as between strangers. to husband. Dower, life, interest in one third of all She may sue alone, but in being sued she must be joined husband's realty held during the marriage. Husband has wife's realty for life.

Wyoming.-A married woman may carry on business, make contracts, keep her own earnings, hold property, real or personal, receive the rents in her own name, sue and be sued, make a will, free from any con trol or interference of her husband, the same as if she were single. Her property is not liable for the debts of her husband. Women in this State have the right

to vote and hold office.

Canada. In the provinces of the Dominion, generally, a married woman nolds all her property and earnings, free from the control of her husband. It is liable for her debts before marriage, and her husband is not. She may manage it and bequeath it. She is entitled to dower, but there is no tenancy by curtesy. In the province of Quebec the law is modified by the French law. There all the personal property and gains of both parties are put together, and form the community property, which the husband administers. Each can bequeath only his or her interest, and the heirs of each inherit the interest of each.

THE BRITISH EMPIRE.

into two Houses of Legislature, the Lords and the Commons, dates from the middle of the fourteenth century.

The House of Lords consists of peers who hold their seats-(1) by hereditary right; (2) by creation of the sovereign; (3) by virtue of life-Irish peers; (5) by election for duration office-English bishops; (4) by election for of Parliament-Scottish peers.

The number of names on the Roll" was 401 in 1830; 457 in 1840; 448 in 1850; 458 in 1860; 503 in 1877; and 586 in 1898. About two thirds of the hereditary peerages were created in the present century. Exclud ing the royal and ecclesiastical peerages, the 4 oldest existing peerages in the House of Lords date from the latter part of the thirteenth century, while 5 go back to the fourteenth and 7 to the fifteenth century. There are besides 8 peeresses of the United Kingdom in their own right, and 2 Scotch peeresses, and 18 Scotch and 62 Irish peers who are not peers of Parliament.

The House of Commons has consisted, since 49 Hen. III., of knights of the shire, or representatives of counties; of citizens, or representatives of cities; and of burgesses, or representatives of boroughs, all of whom together.

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To the House of Commons, in the reign of Edward I., 37 counties and 166 boroughs each returned two representatives; but at the accession of Henry VIII., the total number of constituencies was only 147. The additions from Edward VI. to Charles II. were almost entirely of borough members. In the fourth Parliament of Charles I., the number of places in England and Wales for which returns were made, exclusive of counties, amounted to 210; and in the time of the Stuarts, the total number of members of the House of Commons was about 500. At the union of the English and Scottish Parliaments in 1707, 45 representatives of Scotland were added; and at the union of the British and Irish Parliaments in 1801, 100 representatives of Ireland. The average number of members was then about 650.

The supreme legislative power of the British Empire is by its Constitution given to Parliament. Parliament is summoned by the writ of the sovereign issued out of Chancery, by advice of the Privy Council, at least thirty-five days previous to its assembling. On a vacancy occurring in the House of Commons whilst Parliament is sitting, a writ for the election of a new member is issued upon motion in the House. If the vacancy occurs during the recess, the writ is issued at the instance of the Speaker. It has become customary of late for Parliaments to meet in annual session extending from the middle of February to about the end of August. Every session must end with a prorogation, and by it all Bills which have not been passed during the session fall to the ground. The royal proclamation which summons Parliament in order to proceed to business must be issued fourteen days before the time of meeting. A dissolution is the civil death of Parliament; it may occur by the will of the sovereign, or, as is most usual, during the recess, by proclamation, or finally by lapse of time, the statutory limit of the duration of the existence of any Parliament being seven years. Formerly, on the demise of the sover-population of less than 2,000 each, were eign, Parliament stood dissolved by the fact thereof; but this was altered in the reign of William III., to the effect of postponing the dissolution till six months after the accession of the new sovereign, while the Reform Act of 1867 settled that the Parliament in being at any future demise of the Crown shall not be determined by such demise.'

The present form of Parliament, as divided

By the Reform Bill of 1832, the number of English county constituencies was increased from 52 to 82; 56 boroughs, containing a

totally disfranchised, and 31 other boroughs, of less than 4,000 each, were required to send one representative instead of two. On the other hand, 22 new boroughs acquired the right to return two members, and 24 to return one member. In Scotland the town members were increased from 15 to 23-making 53 in all, while the Irish representatives were increased from 100 to 103.

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Secretary of State for India.
First Lord of the Admiralty.

President of the Local Government Board.
President of the Board of Trade.
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.
Lord Chancellor of Ireland.
Secretary for Scotland.

First Commissioner of Works.
President of the Board of Agriculture.

The next great change in the constituency of the House of Commons, was made by the Reform Bill of 1867-68. By this Act England and Wales were allotted 493 members and Scotland 60, while the number for Ireland remained unaltered, and household suffrage was conferred on boroughs in England and Scotland. A still greater reform was effected by the Representation of the People Act, 1884, and the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885. The former introduced a service franchise," extending to householders and lodgers in counties the suffrages which in 1867 had been conferred upon householders and lodgers in boroughs, and placed the three Kingdoms on a footing of equality as regards electoral qualifi-appointed and paid by the County Councils, and other cations; while the latter made a new division of the United Kingdom into county and borough constituencies, and raised the total number of members to 670, England receiving 6 new members, and Scotland 12.

All elections for members of Parliament must be by secret vote by ballot, an Act being passed annually to this effect.

No one under twenty-one years of age can be a member of Parliament. All clergymen of the Church of England, ministers of the Church of Scotland, and Roman Catholic clergymen are disqualified from sitting as members; all Government contractors, and all sheriffs and returning officers for the localities for which they act, are disqualified both from voting and from sitting as members. No English or Scottish peer can be elected to the House of Commons, but non-representative Irish peers are eligible.

The executive government of Great Britain and Ireland is vested nominally in the Crown; but practically in a committee of Ministers, commonly called the Cabinet, whose existence is dependent on the possession of a majority in the House of Commons.

The member of the Cabinet who fills the position of First Lord of the Treasury is, as a rule, the chief of the Ministry. It is on the Premier's recommendation that his colleagues are appointed; and he dispenses the greater portion of the patronage of the Crown.

The Cabinet officers are as follows:

Local Government.-England and Wales.-In each county the Crown is represented by a Lord Lieutenant. who is generally also custos rotulorum, or keeper of the records. He usually nominates persons whom he considers fit and proper persons to be justices of the peace for his county, to be appointed by the Lord Chancellor. His duties, however, are almost nominal. There is also a sheriff, who represents the executive of the Crown, an under-sheriff, a clerk of the peace, coroners, who are officers. The licensing of persons to sell intoxicating except that which deals with some of the graver ofliquors, and the administration of the criminal lawfenses-is in the hands of the magistrates. For the purposes of local government, England and Wales are divided into sixty-one administrative counties, including the county of London, which differ slightly in area from the geographical counties.

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For each administrative county there is a popularlyelected Council, called a County Council, who co-opt a prescribed number of aldermen, either from their own body or from outside it. Aldermen are elected for six years, half of them retiring every third year. diction of the County Councils extend to (1) making of councilor is elected for three years. The juriscounty and police rates; (2) borrowing money; (3) superhalls and other buildings; (5) licensing of houses for vision of county treasurer; (4) management of county music and dancing, and of race courses; (6) maintenance tenance of reformatory and industrial schools; (8) manand management of pauper lunatic asylums; (7) mainagement of bridges and main roads; (9) regulation of trol of officers paid out of the county rate; (11) coroner's fees of inspectors, analysts, and other officers; (10) consalary, fees, and district; (12) Parliamentary polling animals, and various other matters. The control of the districts and registration; (13) contagious diseases of county police is vested in a standing joint committee, composed of an equal number of magistrates and members of the County Council. The London police are, however, under the control of the Home Secretary. the County of London, are subdivided into County The administrative counties, with the exception of Districts," which are either Urban or, Rural, as the comprises a town or a small area more or less closely case may be. Generally speaking, an urban district populated, and a rural district takes in several country parishes. Women may be elected to District Councils, but may not sit on County Councils; and the chairman of a District Council is, unless a woman, a magistrate for the county by virtue of his office. The District Councils administer the Public Health and Highway Acts, and also exercise some powers formerly exercised by the justices out of session.

V Prime Minister and Secretary of State for and in addition very considerable powers over charities,

Foreign Affairs.

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In every civil parish in a "rural district" there is a Parish Meeting, at which every parochial elector may attend and vote. In such parishes of over 300 inhabitants there is in addition à Parish Council. To these latter bodies has been transferred all the civil powers of the old Vestries, including the election of overseers, allotments, and other public matters. Where there is no Parish Council some of these powers, including the appointment of the overseers, are exercised by the Parish Meeting. Urban District Councils can, by petitioning the Local Government Board-which is the supreme Local Government authority-obtain part or all of the powers of a Parish Council. Only Parish Meetings may have power to adopt the Public Libraries Acts, the Baths and Washhouses Acts, the Lighting and Watching Acts, the Burials Acts, and the Public Im

provements Acts.

In the County of London local government is carried on under the County Council by the Vestries, formed under the Metropolis Management Acts, which exercise powers similar but somewhat wider than urban district

Councils. These Vestries are elected on the same wide suffrage as district councilors. Married women, properly qualified, have votes, and may now sit on them, as well as single women. In all the great towns, including "county boroughs," local business is administered by a municipal Corporation, which derives its authority from a charter granted by the Crown. In 1835 the municipalities of the country were completely reorganized. A municipal Corporation consists of the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses, and acts through a Council elected by the burgesses-practically by the ratepayers. The councilors serve for three years, one third retiring annually; the aldermen are elected by the Council, and the mayor, who serves for one year, also by the Council. A municipal Corporation has practically all the powers of an urban district council, in addition to the privilege of electing a mayor and corporation, and in some cases municipal boroughs have a separate commission of the peace and maintain their own police force. As to Poor Law and School Board administration, see “Pauperism" and "InstrucScotland.-By the Local Government (Scotland) Act, 1894, a Local Government Board for Scotland was constituted, its President being the Secretary for Scotland. The Local Government Act, which was passed for Scotland in 1889, followed in its main outlines the English Act of the previous year. The powers of local administration in counties formerly exercised by the Commissioners of Supply and Road Trustees, were either wholly or in part transferred to the new Councils, which took over their duties and responsibilities in 1890. The Act of 1894 provided that a Parish Council should be established in every parish to take the place of the Parochial Boards, and to exercise powers similar to those of the Parish Councils in cost of administration. Such towns, having over 1,500 inhabitants, may be constituted urban sanitary districts.

tion."

The Isle of Man and the Channel Islands are not bound by Acts of the Imperial Parliament unless specially mentioned. The Isle of Man is administered in accordance with its own laws by the Court of Tynwald, consisting of the Governor, appointed by the Crown; the Council for Public Affairs, composed chiefly of ecclesiastical and judicial dignitaries appointed by the Crown, and the House of Keys, a representative assembly of 24 members chosen on a property qualification for seven years by the six "sheadings" or focal subdivisions, and the four municipalities. The Channel Islands are administered according to their own laws and customs, each by a Lieut. Governor, with judicial and other functionaries; and a "States" Assembly, partly elective. Jersey has a separate legal existence. Guernsey, Alderney, and Sark have a Lieut. Governor in common, but otherwise their governments are separate.

Justice.-England and Wales.-The principal courts having criminal jurisdiction are the petty sessional courts, the general or quarter sessions, the courts of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery, more popularly known as "assizes," and the Central Criminal Court. Two or more justices of the peace sitting in a petty sessional courthouse, the Lord Mayor or any alderman of the City of London, or any metropolitan or borough police magistrate or other stipendary magistrate sitting in a courthouse, constitute a petty sessional court. The courts of quarter sessions are held four times a year by the justices of the county. Similar courts can be held at other times, and are then called "general sessions." Two justices constitute a court, but usually a larger number attend. Certain boroughs have a court of quarter sessions, with similar jurisdiction to the county justices in quarter sessions assembled, in which the recorder of the borough is the judge. The assize courts are held four times a year in various towns throughout the country by "commissioners" nominated by the Crown. These commissioners are generally judges of the Queen's Bench Division of the High Court of Justice, but sometimes Queen's Counsel of good standing are appointed. The trial takes place before a single commissioner. The Central Criminal Court is the court of oyer and terminer and gaol delivery for the City of London and a large surrounding district. The sessions of this court are held at least twelve times a year, and more often if necessary. The Recorder and the Common Sergeant, and, if the number of the prisoners makes it necessary, the judge of the City of London Court, sit on the first two days, after which they are joined by the judges of the High Court on the rota, for whom the more serious cases are reserved. A petty sessional court deals summarily with minor

offenses. Cases of a more serious nature are usually investigated by a petty sessional court before being tried at the sessions or the assizes. To every session, assize, and to every sitting of the Central Criminal Court, the sheriff cites 24 of the chief inhabitants of the district, of whom not less than 12 and not more than 23 are sworn and constitute a grand jury. The grand jury examines the bill of indictment against the accused person, hears the evidence of witnesses for the prosecution, and if they think a prima facie case for trial is made out they indorse the bill "a true bill." All criminal trials, except those which come before a court of summary jurisdiction, take place before a judge and a petty jury of twelve men. Except on some highly technical point of procedure there is no appeal in criminal cases. No man can be tried again for the same crime after a petty jury has found him "not guilty." On a conviction the judge can, if he think fit, reserve a question of law (but not of fact) for the Court for Crown Cases Reserved. This Court is formed by five or more judges of the High Court, and can reverse, amend, or affirm the judgment. The only other method of securing the revision of a sentence is by the royal prerogative, exercised on the advice of the Home Secretary, by which a sentence can be modified or annulled. Nomínally all the judges are appointed by the Queen, but in practice the Lord Chancellor (who is a Cabinet minister, ex officio president of the House of Lords, and goes out with the ministry) and the Lord Chief Justice are appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister, and all the other judges on the recommendation of the Lord Chancellor.

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Scotland. The High Court of Justiciary is the supreme criminal court in Scotland. It consists of all the judges of the Court of Session, and sits more or less frequently, as the number of cases before it may require, in Edinburgh or in the circuit towns. judge can, and usually does, try cases, but two or more preside in cases of difficulty or importance. It is the only competent court in cases of treason, murder, robbery, rape, fire-raising, deforcement of messengers, and generally in all cases in which a higher punishment than imprisonment is by statute directed to be inflicted; and it has moreover an inherent jurisdiction to punish all criminal acts, both those already established by common law or statute, and such as have never previously come before the courts and are not within any statute.

The sheriff of each county is the proper criminal judge in all crimes occurring within the county which infer only an arbitrary punishment, and if the case is tried with a jury the High Court has no power of review on the merits. Even in cases indicted to the High Court the accused is, under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act of 1887, regularly asked to plead in the sheriff court, and minor objections to the indictment can be wholly or in part disposed of there. Borough magistrates and justices of the peace have jurisdiction in petty cases occurring within the burgh or county, and in a number of minor offenses under various statutes.

Ireland.-In Ireland persons charged with crime are first brought before the petty sessions court, which must consist of at least two ordinary justices of the peace, one of whom may be a stipendary-commonly called a resident magistrate. Then if the charge be trifling it may be disposed of, the prisoner, if convicted, having a right of appeal to the quarter sessions or recorder's. court (according as it is in a borough or in the county), provided he is fined more than twenty shillings or sentenced to a longer imprisonment than one month (Petty Sessions Act, sec. 24). If the charge be of a more serious character it must either be dismissed or sent for trial to the quarter sessions or recorder's court, or to the assizes, as in England. There is this difference, however, between quarter sessions in Ireland and in England: in England they are presided over by an unpaid chairman, who need not be a lawyer, and who is elected by his fellow justices of the peace for the county; while in Ireland they are presided over by a paid official, who must be a barrister, whose decision on points of law binds the court, who is appointed by the Crown, and who is also judge of the civil bill court of the county, which corresponds to the English county court. The assizes are presided over by one of the common law judges of the High Court of Justice. In the quarter sessions, recorder's court, and assizes the trial is by jury in all cases save appeals from petty sessions. Under the Crimes Act witnesses and persons suspected of crime may be interrogated before a secret court of inquiry; but admissions then made are not

evidence against the persons making them. Prisoners may be convicted before two resident magistrates specially appointed to hear cases under the Crimes Act, and

in cases where the sentence exceeds a month, convicted persons have a right of appeal to the county chairman at quarter sessions.

Territorial Extent of the British Empire.

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CANADA.

"The

passed in March, 1867, known as Constitution and Government.-As British North America Act 1867," which originally constituted the Dominion of Canada came into operation on the 1st July, 1867, by was composed of the Provinces of Canada- royal proclamation. The Act provides that Upper and Lower-Nova Scotia, and New the Constitution of the Dominion shall be Brunswick. They were united under the pro- "similar in principle to that of the United visions of an Act of the Imperial Parliament Kingdom"; that the executive authority shall

be vested in the Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland, and carried on in her name by a Governor General and Privy Council; and that the legislative power shall be exercised by a Parliament of two Houses, called the “Senate" and the " House of Commons." Provision was made in the Act for the admission of British Columbia, Prince Edward Island, the North-West Territories, and Newfoundland into the Dominion; Newfoundland alone has not availed itself of such provision. In 1869 the extensive region known as the North-West Territories was added to the Dominion by purchase from the Hudson's Bay Company; the province of Manitoba was set apart out of a portion of it, and admitted into the confederation on the 15th July, 1870. On 20th July, 1871, the province of British Columbia, and on the 1st July, 1873, the province of Prince Edward Island, respectively entered the confederation.

The members of the Senate of the Parliamènt of the Dominion are nominated for life, by summons of the Governor General under the Great Seal of Canada. By the terms of the Constitution, there are now 81 Senators namely, 24 from the Province of Ontario, 24 from Quebec, 10 from Nova Scotia, 10 from New Brunswick, 4 from Manitoba, 3 from British Columbia, 4 from Prince Edward Island, and two from the Territories. Each senator must be 30 years of age, a born or naturalized subject, and reside in, and be possessed of property, real or personal, of the value of 4,000 dollars within, the province for which he is appointed. The House of Commons of the Dominion is elected by the people, for five years, unless sooner dissolved, at the rate at present of one representative for every 22,688, the arrangement being that the province of Quebec shall always have 65 members, and the other provinces proportionally according to their populations at each decennial census. On the basis of the census of the Dominion taken in April, 1891, and in accordance with a redistribution bill passed in 1892, the House of Commons consists of 213 members - 92 for Ontario, 65 for Quebec, 20 for Nova Scotia, 14 for New Brunswick, 7 for Manitoba, 6 for British Columbia, 5 for Prince Edward Island, and 4 for the NorthWest Territories.

The members of the House of Commons are elected by constituencies, the electors of which are supplied by franchises under the control of the several provincial assemblies, an Act having been passed to that effect in the session of 1898. The qualifications for voting at provincial elections vary in the several provinces. Voting is by ballot.

The Speaker of the House of Commons has a salary of 4,000 dollars per annum, and each member an allowance of 10 dollars per diem, up to the end of 30 days, and for a session lasting longer than this period the sum of 1,000 dollars, with, in every case, 10 cents per mile for traveling expenses. The sum of 8 dollars per diem is deducted for every day's absence of a member, unless the same is caused by illness. There is the same allowance for the members of the Senate of the Dominion.

Dominion Executive Officers.-
Governor General.

Premier and President of Privy Council.
Minister of Public Works.
Minister of Customs.

Minister of Militia and Defense.
Minister of Agriculture.
Minister of Finance.
Minister of Justice.

Minister of Marine and Fisheries.
Minister of the Interior.

Minister of Railways and Canals.
Minister without Portfolio.
Secretary of State.
Postmaster-General.

Rulers since 1867.

Lord Monck, Governor General. 1867-1868. Lord Lisgar, Governor General. 1868-1972. Earl Dufferin, Governor General. 1878.

Marquis of Lorne, 1878-1883.

1872

Governor General.

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Earl of Minto, Governor General. Each of the ministers has a salary, fixed by statute, of 7,000 dollars, or 1,4001. a year, with the exception of the recognized Prime Minister, who has 8,000 dollars, or 1,600l. and the Ministers of Customs and Inland Revenue, who The body of have each 5,000 dollars a year. ministers is officially known as the "Queen's Privy Council of Canada."

The Governor

General has a salary of 10,000l. per annum.

Provincial Government.-The seven provinces form ing the Dominion have each a separate Parliament and administration, with a Lieutenant Governor at the head of the executive. They have full powers to regulate their own local affairs and dispose of their revenues, provided only they do not interfere with the action and policy of the central administration. The Lieutenant Governors are appointed by the Governor General. Quebec and Nova Scotia have each two Chambers (a Legislative Council and a Legislative Assembly) and a responsible Ministry. In New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island there is only one Chamber (the Legislative Assembly) and a responsible Ministry. The members of the Legis

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