direct, and the electorates are many times larger than the old elec- torates. The vote has been given to about five millions of the adult male population. On account of the necessity for providing for the separate representation of different communities, classes and interests, the formation of constituencies and allotment of seats to the several communal or class groups has been a complicated and difficult business. The Act leaves these and other matters connected with the franchise to be settled by statutory rules. It merely prescribes the minimum strength of each Council and the proportions of official to elected members. Not more than 20 % of the members may be officials, and at least 70% must be elected. The rules fix the strengths of the several Councils as follow: Madras 127 mem- bers, Bombay in, Bengal 139, United Provinces 123, Punjab 93, Bihar and Orissa 103, Assam 53. In all the Councils the seats allotted to electorates exceed the prescribed minimum of 70 per cent. The Bengal Council for instance consists of 113 elected members, 20 officials and 6 non-officials nominated to represent special interests. A further analysis of the composition of the Bengal Council will show the extent to which the electorates are formed on a communal, class, or special interests basis. Of the 113 elected members 46 are returned by non-Mahommedan electorates, 39 by Mahommedan, 5 by European, I by an Anglo-Indian electorate, 5 by landholders, I by the university, and 15 by chambers of commerce and trade associations. The constituencies with few exceptions are ter- ritorial, the Mahommedan and the non-Mahommedan electors in each electoral area being placed on separate rolls and reckoned as separate constituencies. The franchise is based on a property quali- fication varying from province to province, such as the payment of a prescribed minimum of land revenue, or of income tax, or of municipal taxes; but in all provinces pensioned or discharged officers and men of the Indian army are entitled to a vote irrespective of the amount of their income or property. The rules further provide for the return of election expenses, and for the appointment by the governor of commissioners for the trial of election petitions, and define what shall be deemed to be corrupt practices. These provisions have been supplemented by an Act (The Indian Elections Offences Act r 1920) of the Indian Legislature. The governor is no longer a member and ex-officio president of the Legislative Council. But he is entitled to address it and for the first four years appoints the presi- dent. Thereafter the Council will elect the president from among its members. It elects from the outset the deputy-president. With regard to legislation the restrictions which debarred provincial Legislative Councils under the Morley-Minto scheme from making laws on certain subjects, except with the previous sanction of the Government of India, have in a measure been relaxed. But a fact of more consequence is that in the new Councils the elected members are in a great majority and that ministers, responsible to them, will initiate legislation. A large advance has been made in the matter of budget procedure. Under the Morley-Minto system the Legisla- tive Councils could only pass resolutions that were not binding on the Government. Now the proposals of the local Government for the appropriation of provincial revenues and other moneys are sub- mitted to the vote of the Legislative Council in the form of a de- mand for grants, and the Council may refuse its assent to a demand or reduce the amount. To this power there are important limitations designed to strengthen the hands of the executive. Certain heads of expenditure are not submitted to the Legislative Council, on the analogy of the Consolidated Fund, and power is given to the governor to restore grants asked for in respect of reserved subjects which have been refused, and to authorize expenditure in an emergency.
Duties and Powers of Governors of Provinces. The powers of the governor with regard to bills are important and somewhat intricate. He may stop proceedings on a bill by certifying that it affects the safety or tranquillity of his province or of another province. He may withhold his assent from a bill, or return the bill to the Council for reconsideration. Certain bills he is required by rule to reserve for the consideration of the governor-general, and others, as specified in the rules, he may so reserve. He may pass on his own responsibility a bill which the Legislative Council has refused to pass, if it relates to a reserved subject and he certifies that it is essential to the discharge of his responsibility. In accordance with the recommendation of the Joint Select Committee a bill so passed is subject to disallowance by His Majesty in Council. The governor of a province is thus the pivot on which the whole system of dual government turns. As Governor in Council he is the head of the official Government, and as such responsible together with his execu- tive council to the Secretary of State and Parliament, and subject to the authority of the Government of India. In administering re- served subjects he and his executive council have to live on terms with a Legislative Council in which elected members are in a large majority, and to deliberate with ministers who reflect the dominant views of that body. In acting with the ministers his duty is to assist them in their administration of transferred subjects and advise them with regard to their relations with the Legislative Council. He has to have regard to these relations and to the wishes of the people as expressed by their representatives in deciding whether to accept or dissent from a minister's advice. Further, the Instrument of In- structions which he receives on appointment, while requiring him to act in all things so that the people may soonest be fitted for self- government, specially charges him to see that the safety and Iran-
quillity of the province are maintained and religious and racL.
conflicts prevented; that minorities and depressed classes are not
oppressed or their interests overlooked; that no one is deprived
of rights and privileges hitherto enjoyed; that members of the public
service are safeguarded in the legitimate exercise of their functions
and justly treated; and that no monopolies or special privileges
against the common interest shall be established. The governor's
responsibility extends over the whole field of provincial government.
Constitution of Central Government. The decision that no measure of responsible government should be introduced into the central administration left only the question of the changes to be made in the structure and powers of the Indian Legislature. The Act of 1919 has substituted for the single Chamber known as the Imperial Legislative Council a bicameral Legislature consist- ing of a Council of State and a Legislative Assembly. The old Chamber consisted of 68 members of whom 36 were officials. Of the 32 non-official members some were nominated and others were elected by very restricted electorates and indirect methods of voting. The new Legislative Assembly consists of 144 members of whom 103 are elected. Of the 41 nominated members 26 are officials. The Upper Chamber or Council of State consists of 60 members of whom 33 are elected, and 27 nominated. Not more than 20 of the nominated members may be officials. The execu- tive Government is therefore not assured of a majority in either Chamber and it has been necessary to provide safeguards to enable it to pass essential legislation and to obtain supplies.
The Act leaves to statutory rules the apportionment of the elective seats of each Chamber among the provinces, the forma- tion of constituencies, the qualifications of the electors and the like. Rules have been made on these subjects. The apportion- ment of seats is arranged with regard to the relative size and importance of the several provinces. To the province of Bengal 17 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 6 seats in the Council of State have been allotted. Smaller provinces have a smaller representation. The Punjab and Assam, for instance, are given 1 2 and 5 seats respectively in the Legislative Assembly and 3 and 2 seats in the Council of State. The method of election to both Chambers is direct. The constituencies have been formed on the communal and special interests' lines adopted in creating electorates for the Provincial Legislative Councils, though they are necessarily larger in area and the property qualification of voters is substantially higher. The province of Bengal for instance is divided into .communal and special electorates whii return 6 non-Mahommedan and 6 Mahommedan members, Europeans, i representative of the landholders and i represen tive of Indian trade, to the Legislative Assembly. The province also returns to the Council of State 3 non-Mahommedans, 2 Mahommedans and i European by means of electorates which are similarly constituted, but which are very extensive in an and based on a restricted franchise.
The governor-general is not a member of, but may address, either Chamber. The members of his Executive Council appointed members of one or other Chamber as the governo: general sees fit, but may speak in either Chamber. The governoi general nominates the president of the Upper Chamber, as also for the first four years after the constitution of the Chamber tin president of the Legislative Assembly. After that period t Lower Chamber will elect its own president. The normal lifetime of the Council of State is five years and of the Legislative As- sembly three years, but either Chamber, or both simultaneously, may be dissolved at any time by the governor- general.
The Indian Legislature. The powers of the Indian Legislatur may now be considered. As regards the asking of questions and th moving and discussing of resolutions concerning matters of genen public interest the two Chambers of the Indian Legislature hayi substantially the same powers as their predecessor, the Imperial Legislative Council, and are subject to the same restrictions. But two minor enlargements may be mentioned. A supplementary question may be asked by any member of (he Chamber; and a motion for adjournment of the business of the Chamber for the purpose of discussing a matter of urgent public importance may be moved with the consent of the president. A resolution if passed, has, as before, effect only as a recommendation to the Governor- General in Council. But the political effect may now well be greater in view of the altered character of the Legislature. With regard to legislation the Indian Legislature is debarred, as its predecessor was,
