embraces three nationalities-German, French, Italian. The original nucleus of the State, however, was German, and even now three-fourths of the population are German. The twenty-two distinct states are federated under one president elected annually, and the Federal Assembly of two chambers. The Upper House (the Ständerath) consists of 44 members, two coming from each canton irrespective of its size (exactly in the same way as the Senate in the United States is composed of two members from each of the thirty-eight American States), and, like the Upper House of the federated German empire, these members represent not population, but states federated. The Lower (or 'Nationalrath') House consists of 145 members elected every three years by universal suffrage of all males over twenty, one member for every 20,000 inhabitants. The public revenue of the confederation is derived almost entirely from customs, and from the post and telegraphs. A great part is afterwards divided, and paid back in proportions from the central authority to supplement the local revenues of the various cantons. The total revenue is a little under 2 million pounds, the population is nearly 3 millions. Each of the cantons is sovereign and independent, and has its own local parliament, scarcely any two being the same, but all based on universal suffrage. Each canton has its own budget of revenue and expenditure, and its own public debt. Their local revenues are raised by income-tax, and in some few cases from excise, but 58 per cent. by indirect taxation.

IV. Passing from the Old to the New World, we go from the smallest and oldest instance of federated government to that of the youngest and the largest. We will take the youngest first. In 1867 the provinces of Ontario and Quebec (which up to that time had been called Upper and Lower Canada), together with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, were federated by act of the Imperial British Parliament at Westminster as the Dominion of Canada. These four provinces were joined by British Columbia in 1871, Prince Edward Island in 1873, and the rest of British North America (except Newfoundland) in 1880. The territory of this Federal Dominion is over 3 million square miles in extent, and is at present divided into seven distinct and independent colonies, the united population of which is 4 millions; at the present rate of increase it doubles itself every twenty-five years. The federal parliament consists of two Houses, called the Senate and the House of Commons. The Senate consists of 77 members nominated by the crown for life, but they may resign; (viz. 24 from Ontario, 24 from Quebec, 12 from Nova Scotia, 12 from New Brunswick, 3 from British Columbia, 4 from Prince Edward Island, and 3 from Manitoba); they must all be over thirty years of age. The House of Commons is elected practically by universal suffrage at the rate of one member for every 17,000 inhabitants; they sit for five years. The number of members allotted to each province

is adjusted by the census; at present there are 213 members (88 from Ontario, 65 from Quebec, 21 from Nova Scotia, 16 from New Brunswick, 4 from Manitoba, 6 from British Columbia, 6 from Prince Edward's Island). The members of the Senate, and of the House of Commons, are each paid 21. every day they attend, with travelling expenses. The Governor-General of the Dominion, representing the Queen, as head of the executive, has a salary equal to that of the President of the United States. He has a cabinet of thirteen ministers, who are called the 'Privy Council of Canada;' they are the ministers of the interior or home affairs (who is prime minister), of railways and canals, of finance, of justice (the attorney-general), of militia and defence, of marine and fisheries, of agriculture, of public works, of customs, of inland revenue, of post, and two others without portfolios. The revenue of the federated Dominion in 1882 was over 11 million pounds (one-eighth that of the United Kingdom, and half of that of the Australasian colonies); it is drawn chiefly from customs, excise, post-office, and railways, the first, however, amounts to three-fifths of the whole. In tonnage of vessels Canada stands fourth among the nations of the world; Germany being fifth, and Italy sixth.

The local and provincial parliaments are distinct in each one of the seven free and independent colonies that are thus federated. Ontario (with a population under 2 millions) has only one chamber, called the Legislative Assembly, consisting of 82 members, one for each of eighty-two districts, and all elected for four years. Quebec, whose population of 1 million is nearly all French and Roman Catholic, has two elective chambers; the Upper one contains 24 members, one from each of twenty-four electoral districts, and the Lower contains 65 members, all elected for four years. New Brunswick, with 440,000 inhabitants, has also an Upper and Lower House; the first of 20, and the second of 41 members; Nova Scotia, with her 321,000 inhabitants, has a Lower House of 38 members, but the Upper is nominated by the Lieutenant-Governor. Prince Edward Island has also two Houses, both elective, the Upper contains 13, and the Lower 30 members (ten from each of three counties), but British Columbia (like Ontario and Manitoba) is at present content with one House of 24 members. Each province has its own lieutenant-governor, nominated by the Governor-General of the Dominion, and possesses full powers to regulate its own local affairs, dispose of its local revenues, and make such laws for its own internal matters as it deems best as regards the land, education, public worship, railways and canals, &c., under its own provincial and responsible ministry.

The immediate effect of this confederation has been to facilitate the settlement of questions which were before sources of angry recrimination. Each provincial legislature, relieved of the more general subjects of legislation and debate, is now vigorously pursuing the policy of development-extending education, promoting colonisation and

immigration. Here we have before us within the Queen's own realms not only a precedent for federation, but also a demonstration of the ease with which it can be adopted and the benefits accruing therefrom.

V. The constitution of the United States, like all the rest, is coloured, only perhaps in stronger measure, throughout by the political ideas of English origin, and is in reality simply an adaptation to federal uses of the British Constitution as it presented itself to an observer between 1760 and 1787.

The President has most of the powers that belonged to King George III. He has a suspensory veto on all bills passed by Congress; when he vetoes a bill he sends it back to the House whence it originated, with his objections to it in writing. If the bill is again passed by a majority of two-thirds of the members in each House it then ipso facto becomes law. Even with this limit to his veto, however, and even without the power of proroguing or dissolving either of the federal Houses, the President enjoys far more personal power than now belongs to the Crown of Great Britain. He is commanderin-chief of the army and navy; he prepares any treaties he pleases with foreign powers, but cannot conclude one without the consent of two-thirds of the Upper House or Senate; all the appointments he makes also must receive the approbation of two-thirds of the Senate. He thus nominates his own ministers, and they are responsible only to him. There are seven of them-foreign affairs, treasury, war, navy, postmaster, home affairs, and attorney-general. Their salaries are each 1,600l. The President can dismiss them as he wills, and the House of Commons or Representatives has no voice in the matter. Neither may any minister sit in either House. The President thus reigns and rules for four years, though he is not of regal birth, over 50 millions of English-speaking people, or rather more than at present exist in Great Britain, Canada, and Australasia combined. But as 10 millions of these are German, 1 million Scandinavian, and 7 millions negroes, the majority of the Anglo-Saxon race are still under the sway of the Queen of Great Britain.

The Senate and House of Representatives are our Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament, only without the hereditary principle. Combined they form Congress,' and must meet every year; they usually come together in December.

6

The members of the Senate or Upper House are elected for six years; two from each of the thirty-eight separate states of the Union, irrespective of population. They are chosen by the local parliaments of each state. There are thus 76 members in all; each Senator must be over thirty years of age, and an inhabitant of the state from which he is chosen. One-third vacate their seats every two years; usually, however, the Senator whose term of office is about to expire is re-elected by his state legislature.

The House of Representatives or Commons is elected for two years by all male citizens over twenty-one years of age who possess the franchise in their particular states. Each member must be over twenty-five years of age, and resident in the state he represents. The number of members to which each state is entitled by its population is determined by Congress on the basis of the census taken every ten years. The total number of representatives for the 4 millions of people in 1789 was 69, about one for every 50,000. There are in 1884, for the 50 millions of people, 325 members, or about one for every 150,000 inhabitants. The electoral districts, each with one member only, are as far as possible conterminous with the counties of the various states. Each senator, since 1874, receives from imperial funds a salary of 5,000 dollars, or 1,000l. per annum, with his travelling expenses besides, once up to Washington and once home again by most direct route; and each member of the Lower House has also a salary of 1,000l. per annum besides his travelling expenses. But no member of either house can hold any government office or post whatsoever in the United States, being a paid member of the legislature. They may, however, be at the same time members of their own local legislatures and of the imperial parliament."

The Imperial Houses of Parliament in Congress have power to levy and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises (all duties, imposts, and excise are uniform throughout the Union), to pay the debts and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States; to regulate commerce with foreign nations and among the several states; to establish uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies; to coin money and fix the standard of weights and measures; to manage the post-office, grant patents, declare war, raise and support army and navy, to suppress insurrections and repel invasions. New states may be admitted to the Union by Congress, but may never be carved out of other states already in union without the consent of the legislatures of those states.

The district of Columbia, ten miles square (ceded by Maryland and Virginia for this purpose), on which stands the city of Washington, the centre and the seat of the Imperial Government, has no state rights, being extra-provincial.

The imperial revenue of the United States is derived chiefly from two sources-customs and excise. It amounts in all to 72 million pounds; the expenditure is only 52 millions, chiefly in army and navy, pensions, and civil service; the surplus is available for reducing the national debt incurred during the civil war of 1861 to 1865.

The founders of the United States did not scruple to use this adjective' imperial,' in the same way as in England we speak of the imperial parliament or the imperial pint, and in the Act of Settlement' of the imperial crown of Great Britain. Mr. Goldwin Smith objects to the term, and from a catchword makes an argument: For an empire you must have an emperor.'

immigration. Here we have before us within the Queen's own realms not only a precedent for federation, but also a demonstration of the ease with which it can be adopted and the benefits accruing therefrom.

V. The constitution of the United States, like all the rest, is coloured, only perhaps in stronger measure, throughout by the political ideas of English origin, and is in reality simply an adaptation to federal uses of the British Constitution as it presented itself to an observer between 1760 and 1787.

The President has most of the powers that belonged to King George III. He has a suspensory veto on all bills passed by Congress; when he vetoes a bill he sends it back to the House whence it originated, with his objections to it in writing. If the bill is again passed by a majority of two-thirds of the members in each House it then ipso facto becomes law. Even with this limit to his veto, however, and even without the power of proroguing or dissolving either of the federal Houses, the President enjoys far more personal power than now belongs to the Crown of Great Britain. He is commanderin-chief of the army and navy; he prepares any treaties he pleases with foreign powers, but cannot conclude one without the consent of two-thirds of the Upper House or Senate; all the appointments he makes also must receive the approbation of two-thirds of the Senate. He thus nominates his own ministers, and they are responsible only to him. There are seven of them-foreign affairs, treasury, war, navy, postmaster, home affairs, and attorney-general. Their salaries are each 1,600l. The President can dismiss them as he wills, and the House of Commons or Representatives has no voice in the matter. Neither may any minister sit in either House. The President thus reigns and rules for four years, though he is not of regal birth, over 50 millions of English-speaking people, or rather more than at present exist in Great Britain, Canada, and Australasia combined. But as 10 millions of these are German, 1 million Scandinavian, and 7 millions negroes, the majority of the Anglo-Saxon race are still under the sway of the Queen of Great Britain.

The Senate and House of Representatives are our Upper and Lower Houses of Parliament, only without the hereditary principle. Combined they form Congress,' and must meet every year; they usually come together in December.

6

The members of the Senate or Upper House are elected for six years; two from each of the thirty-eight separate states of the Union, irrespective of population. They are chosen by the local parliaments of each state. There are thus 76 members in all; each Senator must be over thirty years of age, and an inhabitant of the state from which he is chosen. One-third vacate their seats every two years; usually, however, the Senator whose term of office is about to expire is re-elected by his state legislature.