predominant. There are in all 9 urban seats in the Legislative Assembly; and if to that we add the representation of Europeans and the commercial element, as being largely urban interests, we find the aggregate urban representation to be 22, against a rural representation of 81, including the landholders, Sikhs and general constituencies. The qualifications for the two sets vary slightly, as already shown above.

The nominated members have 26 officials and 15 others. This element in the two chambers combined will have a total strength of 68 out of a total joint membership of 204, or just exactly, with about 46 of them being officials. Of the officials, some members of the Governor-General's Executive Council have seats in the Assembly. The President of the Assembly is in the first instance nominated by the GovernorGeneral for a period of 4 years, on a salary of Rs. 5,000 per month; but shall be elected by the members of the Assembly from among themselves after the expiry of the term of office of the first President, and on such a salary as may be prescribed by a vote of the Assembly. His election, like that of the Speaker of the House of Commons as also of the Deputy President, must be approved by the Governor-General. The Governor-General has the same connection and rights with the Assembly as with the Council of State. The Assembly is elected only for three years; and will ordinarily be in session for that period, unless sooner dissolved. The period, however, may be extended by the Governor-General, if, under special circumstances, he thinks fit to do so; while not more than six months-or not more than nine months with the special sanction of the Secretary of State-must elapse between the dissolution of one Assembly and the coming together of its

successor.

V. The Business of the Central Indian Legislature. The business ordinarily coming before the Indian Legislature may be classified in four main groups, viz. :

(A) Law-making, including amendment and repeal of existing laws.

(B) Financial control of the Administration.

(C) General scrutiny of the everyday administration, usually by means of questions addressed to the Executive.

(D) Initiation of new policy, or criticism or condemnation of the policy actually pursued usually by means of definite resolution.

(A) Law making.

As regards the first, the Central Indian Legislature is. authorised, by S. 65 of the consolidating act, to make laws :

(a) for all persons, places, courts and things in British

(b) for all subjects and servants of the Crown within other parts of India; and

(c) for all native Indian subjects of the King-Emperor without and beyond as well as within British India.

(d) for the government officers, soldiers, airmen and army-followers, wherever they are serving, in so far as they may not be under the Army Act.

(e) for all persons employed or serving in the Royal Indian Marine.

(f) for repealing or altering any law for the time being in force in British India.

We have already noted the limitations to the authority of the Indian Legislature elsewhere, when discussing the nonsovereign characteristic of that body.

The Course of a Legislative Measure through the Indian

Legislature.

Legislative measures usually take the form of Bills which may be introduced in the first instance in either chamber of the Legislature, subject to the proviso that the annual Budget is in the first instance presented to the Legislative Assembly, and the Finance Bills, originating therefrom, must similarly be first brought before the lower House. We shall discuss the procedure and peculiarities governing the passage of the Indian Budget through the Legislature in the next section. As a rule the first stage of a Bill in the Legislature is by a motion for leave to introduce that bill, followed by publication in the official gazette of the text of the Bill and a full statement of its objects and reasons. For such a preliminary motion notice of a month must be given in advance, or not more than two months if the Governor-General has directed an extension of the time; while the previous sanction of the Governor-General, should the nature of the Bill demand it, must also be obtained. This corresponds to the First Reading stage of a Bill in the British Parliament. At the next stage, the motion of which at least three clear days' notice must be given, takes the form that the Bill be taken into consideration. If allowed, the discussion at this stage can only effect the principle of the Bill and its general provisions, as in the Second Reading stage of a Bill in Parliament. After such a discussion, or in place of it, the Bill may, at the next stage of its career, be referred to a Select Committee of the originating chamber, or to a Joint Committee of both the chambers. It is in the Select Committee that the details of the Bill are finally shaped into provisions of a law of the land. When finally settled by the select committee, or Joint Committee of both chambers, or by the whole chamber itself, as the case may be, the Bill may still further be considered and dis cussed in the chamber of origin; and any amendments or alteration may be moved according to the Standing Orders in that behalf. This will complete all the stages of a Bill in

the chamber it originated in.

When passed by the originating chamber, the Bill is sent to the other chamber, where it may be either (a) agreed to without amendment, in which case an intimation to that effect from the other chamber to the originating chamber will complete the passage of the Bill through the Legislature. When the assent of the GovernorGeneral has been signified to it, such a Bill becomes law, unless disallowed by the Crown on the advice of the Secretary of State. Or (b) the Bill might be considered and amended by the other chamber. The Bill is then returned to the original chamber. If such amendments are agreed to by the originating body, a message to that effect to the other chamber will complete the passage. (c) If no agreement between the two chambers is arrived at as regards the amendments, original or subsequent, on the Bill, and the Bill is not allowed to lapse, a joint session of the two chambers must be convened by the Governor General, under the chairmanship of the President of the Council of State. A majority of the total votes at the joint session will be regarded as enough to carry the Bill. But apart from the Joint Session, there is provided a means for settling such differences of opinion between the two chambers by means of conferences on such differences of an equal number of members from either House. If future differences are sought to be avoided from the beginning, there is the further mechanism of a Joint Committee of both Houses to consider and settle the details of the Bill. A Bill finally passed and agreed to by both Houses of the Indian Legislature does not become law all at once. It must receive the assent of the Governor-General, and must not be disallowed by the crown within a period of two years. In Britain, the right of the crown to veto bills passed by Parliament is so utterly obsolete that no one pays any regard to the nominal existence of this power in the theory of the constitution. In India the Viceregal veto is a most potent, and living force. The Governor-General has powers of intervention at every stage in the passage of a Bill. (a) If, for example, at the very start of a Bill, he certifies that the Bill, or any clause or

amendment of it affects the safety or tranquillity of British India or any part of it, and directs that no proceedings shall be taken on such a measure, the whole measure must be abandoned. (b) Even when a Bill is duly passed by both Houses, if the Viceroy disagrees with any part of it, he can return the Bill for recommendation by the chambers or either of them. (c) In the event of the two chambers disagreeing on a Bill, it is the Governor-General who puts into motion the device of a joint session for bringing about an agreement. (d) When the Governor-General is unable to assent all at once to a Bill passed by both the Houses, and does not yet want to withhold his assent, he may reserve the Bill for the signification of His Majesty's pleasure thereon, (e) which is quite different from the final Royal veto on an Indian Bill in the shape of disallowance thereof. Of the Bills that must be reserved, an analogy is provided in the case of Bills passed by a Governor's Legislative Council, which include such

matters as :

(a) Religion or religious rites of any class of British Indians.

(b) Regulating the constitution or function of any University;

(e) Attempting to include matters of Reserved Subjects into Transferred Subjects.

(d) Providing for construction or management of a light railway, other than a municipal tramway.

(e) Affecting the Land Revenue of a Province, either so as to (i) prescribe a period within which any temporarily settled estate may not be reassessed, or (ii) limit the extent to which land revenue assessment on such estates may be made or enhanced, or (iii) modify materially the general principles of land revenue, if such a change appears to the Governor as likely seriously to affect the public revenues of his province.