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Leader (1850-1860), 7th July 1860, Edition 1 of 2, Page 643, Untitled Article

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      Lordships would not meddle with it—no , not so much as to give advice ; yet after you were pleased to declare that , you have voted in your Lordships ' ' House that it was most necessary and lit that matter of supply should have precedency of all other business ; aud this beino- done , your Lordships would freely join with them in all things concerning , matter of religion , propriety of goods , and liberty of Parliament . " On the same day the Lords resolved by the major part of the votes thus : ^— " That , by their Lordships first voting ( we are of opinion that the matter of His Majesty ' s supply should have

      precedency , and be resolved of , before any other matter whatsoever ) , was no breach of the privileges of the House of Commons . " The address of Mr . Pym is preserved in the journals , and will be Found in the Appendix ; and the same committee that had been directed to prepare the address , was , on the 2 d of May , ordered " to take into consideration the privileges mentioned in the last conference with the Lords , and to view such records as might any way concern the same , and to present the same to the judgment of the House , to consider what course to take for the preservation of the same

      that House alone , in Bills of Rates and Impositions on Merchandise , as to the matter , the measure , and the time . ** And , though their Lordships had neither reason nor precedents offered by the Commons to back that resolution ; but were told that this was a right so fundamentally settled in the Commons , that they could not give reasons for it , for that would be a weakening of the Commons'Right and Privilege ; " Yfit the Lords , in ; Parliament , upon , full consideration thereof , and of that whole conference , are come to this' resolution , nemine contradicente .-¦

      " That the power exercised by the House of Peers , in making the Amendments and Abatements in the Bill intituled 'An Act for an additional Imposition on several Foreign Commodities and for Encouragement of several Commodities and Manufactures of this Kingdom , ' both as to the Matter , Measure , and Time , concerning the Rates and Impositions on Merchandise , is a fundamental , inherent , and undoubted right of the House of Peers , from which they cannot depart . " Then follow the Lords' reasons , with the Commons' answer , which deserve special consideration . On the 22 d of April it was unanimously

      resolved" That the thanks of the House be returned to Mr . Attorney-General for his great pains and care in preparing and drawing up the reasons delivered to the Lords , in answer to their reasons , which was by him performed to the great satisfaction of this ^ House , in vindication of their privilege and just and undoubted right of the Commons of England . " And Mr . Speaker did accordingly deliver the thanks of the House to Mr . Attorney-General . " Parliament was prorogued the same day till the 16 th of April , 1672 . VIII . Even where the amendment is for the abatement of a duty , or merely a change in the inode of collecting it , the Commons have still insisted on their privilege .

      Thus , on the 24 th of July , 1689 , the Lords sent down amendments to a Bill for collecting the duty upon coffee , tea , and chocolate . Iii those amendments certain drawbacks appear to have been allowed upon the exportation of those . commodities . This House disagreed to them , nemine contradicente ; and they gave as part of their reasons that " they had always taken it for their undoubted privilege ( of which they have ever been jealous end tender ) , that in all aids given to the King by the Commons , the rate Qr tax ought not to be in any way altered by the Lords . " And they add , "As to the proviso which your Lordships have sent to the Commons , the Commons do disagree to it , and for that do refer to their first reason ; the proviso being an alteration and lessening of the grant made bv the Commons . " To this the Lords reply that they . "

      much surprised at the assertionof the Commons , that , in all aids given to the King by the Commons , tliatrrate or tax ought not to be in any way altered by the Lords , since they conceive it hath always been their undoubted rightr , in case of any aids given to the King , to lessen the rate or tax granted by the Commons . In the result , the Commons adhered to their former opinion , and negatived the amendments nemine contradicente . The same rule has been also applied not only where the charge' is in any way altered , but also where the Lords have endeavoured to change the mode of collecting it . Thus , on the 17 th of July , 1692 , when the Lords amended a Land-tax Bill , by providing that the ^ rates or taxes to which the JL * eers were liable should be receivedby coilMtoTs

      privileges . It does not appear from the journals of either House that anything further was done in the matter , Parliament having been dissolved on the 5 th of May . VI . The practice which had been settled * ith reference to the preamble in the year 1628 was confirmed at the Restoration . On that occasion the Commons took the earliest opportunity of asserting their privilege ; for on the 21 st of July , 1660 , when Sir Heneage Pinch , afterwards Lord Chancellor Nottingham , x-eported a Bill for continuance of the customs of tonnage and poundage , it was resolved that the first clause in this Bill be thus amended—namely , " The Commons assembled do give and grant to your Majesty the ¦ ubsidies hereafter following , most humbly praying your Majesty that it may be enacted , " etc . This Bill , having been read a third directed to

      " And , fourthly , that the gift ought to be presented by the Speaker of the Commons . " Bills of Supplt , and Tax Bills . Practice of the Commons where the Lords Amend . VII . In the 17 th century there are a few instances where the Lords have amended Bills of Supply and the Commons have agreed to such amendments . It is impossible in all cases to ascertain at this distance of time the exact nature of such amendments . In some , the amendments were made for the purpose of preserving to the Peers the ancient custom of assessing themselves by commissioners of their own ; in others , the amendments were made for the correction of clerical errors , or in furtherance of the intent and object of the Bill ; and in one or two cases the Commons agreed on special grounds , such as " the present necessity cast upon them by ,

      Commons are summoned to attend the Queen or the-Lords Cpmmissioners ; the Speaker presents it for the Royal assent . It is not unworthy of remark that the practice with regard to Bills of Supply as thus established is identical with the provisions of the Indemnity Ordinance in 1407 , as explained by the Attorney-General in the precedent of 1671 . "And as for the case of 9 Henry IV ., " he therein says , " called the indemnity of the Lords and Commons , these things are evidently proved by it . — - " First , that it was a grievance to the Commons and a breach of their liberties to demand a committee to confer with about aids . " Secondly , that the Lords ought to consider by themselves , and ihe _ CoinmonsJ > y-Jjieinselxfis _ apiu : bi ^—„ ~— , __—™_ " Thir lly , that no report shall be made to the King of what the Commons have granted and the Lords assented to till the matter be perfected ; so that a plain declaration is made , that the Commons grantan 1 the Lords assent .

      to be nominated by themselves , the Commons disagreed to such an amendment , stating as their reasons that the right " . of granting supplies to the Crown is in the Commons alone as an essential part of their constitution ; and the limitation of all such grants , as to the matter , manner , measure , and time , is only in them , which ^ is so well known to be fundamentally settled in them that to give reasons for it has been esteemed by our ancestors to be a weakening of that right . And the clause sent down by your Lordnhips is a manifest invasion thereof / ' To this the Lords reply , " They conceive thafc the making of amendments and abatement of rates in Bills of Supply sent up from the House of Commons ia a fundamental , inherent , and undoubted right of the House of Peers , from which their Lordships can never depurt . They have , therefore ,

      thought themselves obliged to assert it upon this occasion . But , considering that a difference between the two Houses upon this Bill may create such delays in the passing of it as would be of the most fatal consequence in the present conjuncture , the Lords have not thought convenient at this time to insist upon their provisoes . " It would bo needless to quote all the precedents where the Lords have interfered by amending Supply or Tax Bills . The year 1678 furnishes , as shown by the Journals of the House of Commons , a memorable resolution of the House on the" Rights of the Commons , in granting of money . " It is a report of a committee appointed from l ill

      the members who had managed the Conference on a " Suppy B for Disbanding the Forces , " which hud been returned with some amendments . They were ordered to " prepare and draw up a ' State of the Rights of the Commons in granting of money . '" This resolution , thus prepared , was agreed to by the House , and is as follows i—" That all aids and supplies- to JKia . Majoaty , ar . e .. the . J ? ole gift of the Commons ; and all J 3 ilU for the granting of any such aids and supplies ought to begin with the Commons ; and that ip w the undoubted and sole right of the Commons to direct , limit , and appoint in suoh BUIb the ends , purposes , considerations , conditions , limitations , and cfuaHiicationa of such grunts , which ought not tp be

      changed or altered by the House of Lords . " ( For other precedents enforcing jbhia rule , see Ap , p . No . 31 , 41 , 44 , 45 . ) IX . The Commons have ao steadily adhered to this rule that even

      the shortness of the session . " With these exceptions , it appears from the journals that this House has reserved to itself the exclusive power over such Bills by not allowing any alterations of a substantial character to be made in them . Thus , in the great precedent of the 13 th of April , 1671 , where the reasons drawn up by the Attorney-General , and adopted by the House , are stated so clearly that we have inserted them at length in the Appendix—amendments and clauses were sent from the Lords in a Bill for an imposition on foreign commodities . On that Bill being sent back to the Commons , this House resolved , nomine contradicente , " That in all aids given to the King by the Commons , the rate or tax ought not to be * nlterod by the Lords , ' ' ^ on-the third -conference with the Lords , held and reported to the House , it was resolved- — " That the Lords' reasons , and the answer of this House , be entered in the Journal of this House , which are as followoth , viz .: — -

      " Thursday , April 20 . " Thin conference was desired by their Lordships , upon the subject-matter of the last conferonce , concerning the Bill for Imposit ions on Merchandise , etc , wherein the Commons communicated to he Lords , as their resolution , that there is a fundamental right in

      time , was carried to the Lords , and Mr . Anriesley was " desire the Lords that , it being a Bill concerning money , it be sent back to the House when the Lords have passed it . " As soon as it had passed the Lords' House , it appears , from their journals , that a message was sent to the Commons "to deliver the Bill to them which their Lordships had passed ; '' and it further appears from the same journals that the Commons , by their Speaker , presented it to the King . From that time to this the practice with regard to Bills of Supply has been in conformity 7 with this precedent . The Commons alone are stated in the preamble to make the grant . When the Bill has passed their House , the Commpnsudesirfe the concurrence of the Lords , ; when it has passed the Lords a message is sent to the Commons , stating . ' that ' - the Lords have agreed to it . The Bill is afterwards returned to the Commons , and when the

      Untitled Article

      July 7 , i 860 . ] The Saturday Analyst and Leader . 643

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 7, 1860, page 643, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2355/page/19/