3. Colonies possessing a partly elected legislative council, the constitution of which provides for an official majority: Jamaica and Leeward Islands. 4. Colonies possessing a legislative council nominated by the Crown: British Honduras, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Trinidad and Tobago." [Oxford Survey of the British Empire. America, p. 333.] “But the trend of history in the West Indies was in the direction rather of restricting than of extending self-government. This was the inevitable result of the plantation system and the multiplication of slaves. The white men became more and more small oligarchies in the midst of a population which had no rights of citizenship, and the imperial act of slave emancipation was the strongest possible exercise and evidence of imperial control. Still, Barbados at the present time retains in the hands of its elected representatives complete power over the local revenues, and, except that the appointment of most of the higher executive officers rests with the Home Government, the Barbadians are for all practical everyday purposes a small self-governing community, with unbroken tradition of English liberty and English constitutional rights. In Jamaica the constitution has been changed more than once." [Lucas, The British Empire, pp. 175-176.] "The constitution of Jamaica may be described as a modified Crown colony system, the people enjoying to some extent direct representation. The original constitution granted by Charles II in 1662 was a representative one, consisting of a governor, a privy council, and legislative council, and an assembly of 47 members; but the depression caused by the abolition of slavery led to a series of grave constitutional crises, the assembly refusing time after time to vote supplies. In 1839 Lord Melbourne's government introduced a bill into Parliament for a suspension of the constitution, but it was defeated." It was not until 1866 that the governor and legislature surrendered the constitution which the island had enjoyed for over 200 years. "By an order in council dated May 19, 1884, and amended in October, 1895, a legislative council was constituted, consisting of the governor and five ex officio members, and of such other persons, not exceeding 10 in number, as the Crown might from time to time appoint, or as the governor from time to time might provisionally appoint, and 14 persons to be elected. A privy council, with the usual powers and functions of an executive council, was also provided for. The order in council. laid it down, however, that the votes of the nominated members were not to be recorded against the unanimous votes of all the 14 elected members on any question, unless the governor declared that, in his opinion, the decision of such question in a sense contrary to the votes of the elected members was 'of paramount importance to the public interest.'" [Oxford Survey of the British Empire. America, pp. 336-338.] BULGARIA (1878-1908). 1. INTERNATIONAL STATUS. Vassal state subject to the suzerainty of Turkey. 1878, March 3.-Treaty of San Stefano, between Russia and Turkey. Created Bulgaria, previously a Province of the Ottoman Empire, an autonomous and tributary principality under the suzerainty of the Turkish Sultan. 1878, July 13.-Treaty of Berlin, between Great Britain, Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Turkey. Modified the treaty of San Stefano and confirmed the status of Bulgaria as an autonomous principality. [Martens, N. R. G., 2d Ser., III, 449; Holland, the Eu ropean Concert, p. 277.] On September 18, 1885, Bulgaria annexed Roumelia by proclamation, the territory henceforth bearing the name of Southern Bulgaria. 1908, October 5.-Bulgaria declared her independence of Turkey, which was recognized by the powers. 2. EXTENT OF AUTONOMY. a. Organization of Government. Art. I (treaty of Berlin, July 13, 1878). "Bulgaria is constituted an autonomous and tributary principality under the suzerainty of His Imperial Majesty the Sultan; it will have a Christian Government and a national militia." Art. III. "The Prince of Bulgaria shall be freely elected by the population and confirmed by the Sublime Porte, with the assent of the powers. No member of the reigning dynasties of the great European powers may be elected Prince of Bulgaria. "In case of a vacancy in the princely dignity, the election of the new prince shall take place under the same conditions and with the same forms." Art. IV. "An assembly of notables of Bulgaria, convoked at Tir- "The provisional régime shall not be prolonged beyond a period of nine months from the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty." b. Powers of Government. Restrictions imposed. Protection of subject peoples. Art. IV. "In the districts where Bulgarians are intermixed with Turkish, Roumanian, Greek, or other populations, the rights and interests of these populations shall be taken into consideration as regards the elections and the drawing up of the organic law." Art. XII. "Mussulman proprietors or others who may take up their abode outside the principality may continue to hold there their real property, by farming it out, or having it administered by third parties." Religious freedom. Art. V. "The difference of religious creeds and confessions shall not be alleged against any person as a ground for exclusion or incapacity in matters relating to the enjoyment of civil and political rights, admission to public employments, functions, and honours, or the exercise of the various professions and industries in any locality whatsoever. "The freedom and outward exercise of all forms of worship are assured to all persons belonging to Bulgaria, as well as to foreigners, and no hindrance shall be offered either to the hierarchical organization of the different communions, or to their relations with their spiritual chiefs." Fiscal limitations. Art. IX. "The amount of the annual tribute which the Principality of Bulgaria shall pay to the suzerain court-such amount being paid into whatever bank the Porte may hereafter designate-shall be fixed by an agreement between the powers signatory of the present treaty at the close of the first year of the working of the new organization. This tribute shall be calculated on the mean revenue of the territory of the principality. "As Bulgaria is to bear a portion of the public debt of the Empire, when the powers fix the tribute they shall take into consideration what portion of that debt can, on the basis of a fair proportion, be assigned to the principality." Consular jurisdiction. Art. VIII. "The immunities and privileges of foreigners, as well as the rights of consular jurisdiction and protection as established by the capitulations and usages, shall remain in full force so long as they shall not have been modified with the consent of the parties concerned." Military restrictions. Art. XI, "All the old fortresses shall be razed at the expense of the principality within one year, or sooner if possible; the local government shall immediately take steps for their demolition, and shall not construct fresh ones." Trade restrictions. Art. VIII. "The treaties of commerce and of navigation as well as all the conventions and arrangements concluded between foreign powers and the Porte, and now in force, are maintained in the Principality of Bulgaria, and no change shall be made in them with regard to any power without its previous consent. "No transit duties shall be levied in Bulgaria on goods passing through that principality. "The subjects and citizens and commerce of all the powers shall be treated in the principality on a footing of strict equality." Succession to contracts. Art. X. "Bulgaria takes the place of the Imperial Ottoman Government in its undertakings and obligations toward the Rustchuk-Varna Railway Company, dating from the exchange of the ratifications of the present treaty. The settlement of the previous accounts is reserved for an understanding between the Sublime Porte, the government of the principality, and the administration of this company. "The Principality of Bulgaria likewise, so far as it is concerned, takes the place of the Sublime Porte in the engagements which the latter has contracted, as well toward Austria-Hungary as toward the company, for working the railways of European Turkey, in respect to the completion and connection, as well as the working of the railways situated in its territory." Treaty-making competency. The Bulgarian constitution, adopted April 16, 1879, in accordance with Article IV of the treaty of Berlin, provided for the right to declare war and to conclude peace, and the right to enter into treaties with foreign nations. The right to declare war and conclude peace was exercised in 1885, when Bulgaria made war upon Serbia. The right to enter into treaties was exercised in a striking form in 1904, when Bulgaria concluded a treaty with its suzerain, Turkey, relative to the pacification of Macedonia. Diplomatic relations. the The Bulgarian constitution of 1879 provided for the exercise of the right of legation. More significant still of the completely autonomous position of Bulgaria is the fact that in 1899 Bulgaria sent delegates to the Hague peace conference. In spite of the protest of Turkey, Bulgarian delegates were admitted, and, although seated after Turkey, nevertheless voted independently of Turkey, signing without reservation conventions which Turkey signed with reservation. (Mérignhac, Conference de la Paix, Introduction, sec. 6.) Autonomous colony. CANADA, DOMINION OF. 1. INTERNATIONAL STATUS. 1867, March 29.-British North America act. United the Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into the Dominion of Canada and provided for the subsequent admission of other Provinces (Newfoundland alone now remaining outside the Dominion). Provided for a "Constitution similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom." |