FEDERAL CONVENTION.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8529, 1 April 1891, Page 5

FEDERAL CONVENTION.

THE CONSTITUTION BILL.

IMPORTANT PROVISIONS. Press Association.-—Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.

v Sydney, March 31. The National Convention resumed its sittings at half-past* three this afternoon.

:■ Mr. ; W. McMillan (New South Wales) feelingly referred to the death of Mr. J. M. Macrossan, one of the Queensland delegates, which tooic place last night, and moved a motion recording the great loss Australia and the Convention had sustained. ■■ , ' - '

: Sir S. Griffith (Premier of Queensland) said no man had a wider knowledge of the subject of federation than the deceased gentleman, whose death was a national loss. The motion was carried.

Sir S. Griffith brought up the report and appendices of the Constitutional Committee, and moved that the report and Bill be referred to a committee of the whole Convention. He explained the reasons which had led tliern to the framing of the Bill with the title of Commonwealth, which he thought would be regarded as a most natural and proper name. The committee had decided upon the name of the State in order to indicate the component parts of the Commonwealth.

The Bill provides that the short title shall bo the Commonwealth of Australia. Her Majesty thoQueen has power to proclaim the Commonwealth no> later than six months after the passing of the Bill. The Federal Council Act is repealed, and legislative power vested in the Queen, Senate, and House of Representatives. The GovernorGeneral is to be appointed by the Crown at a salary of not less than £10,000 per annum, and is not to be diminished during his term, of office. The Governor-General is empowered to fix the time of the first and every session of Parliament, and to prorogue or dissolve Parliament. The first Parliament must bo called together not later than six months after the establishment of the Commonwealth. Annual sessions are to be held and members of both Houses are to have the immunities enjoyed by members of the House of Commons until the Federal Parliament defines the immunities. The Senate shall consist of eight members from each State, and chosen by the Legislatures in session, each senator to have one vote, and to be elected for six years. The failure of any State to provide for its representation in the Senate is not to affect the latter's power and despatch of business. The senators from each State are to be divided into two classes, the first class to retire after two years' service, and the second class at the end of the sixth year, so that one-half may be chosen every third year. In the event of a vacancy occurring during the recess, the Governor in State has power to nominate a senator till Parliament meets, and such senator to fill the vacancy only to sit for the unexpired time. The qualification for the Senate is five years' residence, and no person shall be eligible who shall not have attained the age of 30 years. Onethird of the members is to form a quorum in the Senate, and all questions arising in that Chamber are to be determined by a majority of votes, and when the votes are equal on the question the President shall pass the negative. The Bill enacts that the members of the House of Representatives are to be elected for a term of three years, and that the minimum number of representatives of each colony shaH be four. The qualification of members is to bo the same as at present exists. When in any State the people of any race not entitled by law to vote at elections are more numerous than those entitled to vote for the House of Representatives, the State representation of that State in the House of Representatives shall be reduced in a proportion to which the number of the people of the race in the State bears to the whole number of people in the State. When upon the appointment of representatives it is 1 found after dividing the number of people in the State by the number of members to which it is entitled there remains a surplus greater than one-half such number, such State shall have one additional member. The apportionment of the representation and fresh apportionments must be made after each census, which is to be taken at intervals of not more than ten years. The electoral divisions are to ba determined by the different States. The qualification for" a member is that he bo of the age of 21, and an elector. A Senator is disqualified from sitting in the House. One third, of the members is to constitute a quorum, and in rases of equal voting the Speaker is to have a casting vote. Part 4 of the Constitution Bill makes provisions relating to both branches of the Legislature. Members of both Houses are to be paid £iSOO per annum. The remainder of the section defines the nature of the disqualifications and penalties, and gives power to both Houses to pass standing orders. Part 5 defines the power of Parliament with the exception of money Bills and appropriation Bills (which are separately dealt with specially), and are the same as those contained in the report of the Finance Committee previously telegraphed, with the addition of the following :—Fisheries in Australian waters beyond territorial limits ; census statistics ; naturalisation of aliens ; status in the Commonwealth of foreign corporations and of corporations formed in any State ; marriage and divorce; service execution; civil aed criminal process ; judgments of the Court, one State in another State; recognition of laws and public records ; judicial proceedings one State in inothor State ; emigration, immigration ; influx of criminals; external affairs and treaties ; relations of the Commonwealth to the islands in the Pacific ; control of railways with respect to transport for purposes of the Commonwealth, Parliament also to have exclusive powers of legislation respecting affairs of any race, such legislation not being applicable to the general community or to aboriginal races ; the Government of any territory which may surrender any State and acceptance of Parliament to become the seat of the Government Commonwealth, and exercise like authority over all places required by the Commonwealth with the consent of the Parliament of the State in which the place is situated, for the construction of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, quarantine stations, or for any other purposes of general, concessions matters relating to any department or departments of the public service, control of which is transferred to the Executive Government of the Commonwealth ; money Bills (appropriating revenue imposing taxation) which originate in the House, the Senate to have equal power to the House in respect to all proposed laws, except laws imposing taxation and laws appropriating necessary supplies for the ordinary annual services of the Government, which the Senate may affirm or reject, but the Senate may not amend any proposed law in such manner as to increase any proposed change or burden on the people. Laws imposing taxation shall deal with the imposition of taxation only. Laws imposing taxation, except laws imposing duties, of Customs on imports, shall deal with one 1 subject of taxation only. Expenditure for services other than ordinary annual services of the Government

shall not be authorised by the same law as that which appropriates supplies for such ordinary annual services, bub' shall, be authorised .by \ separate'."law or laws. In ■'■;' the case of a , proposed law which 7 the .Senate may not amend the Senate may at any stage return it to the House with a message requesting the omission or amendment of any items or provisions therein, and the . House may, - if it think fit, make such omissions or amendments, or any of them with or without notifications as not lawful for the House to pass. Any vote, resolution, or law for the appropriation of any part of the public revenue, or of the produce of any tax or impost to any purpose that haa nob been first recommended to the House by message from the Governor-General in session, in which the vote, resolution, or law is proposed, the Governor-General may return any law sent him for the Queen's assent with the amendment which he may desire to be made. Parliament may deal with such amendments as it thinks fit. The Executive Governor-General is vested with the power to eppoint officers to administer the departments of State, such officers to hold office during the pleasure of the Go-vernor-General, and capable of being chosen and of sitting as members of either Houße, and "such Ministers not to exceed seven in j number, and their total salaries not to j amount in the aggregate to over £15,000 annually. The appointment and removal of civil servants is vested in the Governor-Gencral-in-Council. The control of the following departments of the public service is to be at once assigned and assumed to be taken over by the Executive Government, and the Commonwealth shall assume the obligations of all or any State or States with respect of such matters :—Customs and excise, postal, telegraph, military and naval defence, ocean beacons and buoys, ocean lighthouses and lightships, and quarantine. The powers under the existing laws are to be exercised by the GovernorGeneral with or without the advice of the Executive Government as the case may be. The Judicature Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth is to have power to establish a Court, to be called the Supreme Court of Australasia, to consist of Chief Justices and so many other Justices, not less than four, as Parliament from time to time prescribes. Parliament may also from ; time to time, subject to the provisions of this constitution, establish other Courts. The | Queen may in any case in which the public interests of the Commonwealth or of any State or other part of the Queen's dominion concerned, grant leave to appeal to herself in council against any Judge of \»he Supreme Court of Australia, as regards judicial power- The report of the judiciary, previously telegraphed, holds good, with the exception of the admission of counsel to practise in courts of any State about which no mention is made. In the report respecting finance and trade, all duties and revenues from the consolidated fund are appropriated for the public service. The Commonwealth shall have power to levy duties, also maki transfer of officers, transfer of lands and buildings, collection of customs and excise, freetrade on the establishment of a uniform tariff, disposal of surplus revenue, and make consolidation of the public debts on the lines laid down in the financial report. Parliament is granted the power of prohibiting or annulling any law or regulation by any State derogatory to the freedom of trade. A chapter is devoted to the States, and provides for the conservation of the existing powers of the colonies not vested by the present Bill in the Commonwealth. All laws in force in the colonies relating to any matters declared by this Constitution to be within the legislative powers of the Parliament of the Commonwealth shall, except as otherwise provided by this Constitution, continue in force in the States respectively, and may be repealed or altered by the Parliaments of the States until other provisions are made on that behalf by the Parliaments or the Commonwealth. When the law of the State is inconsistent with the law of the Commonwealth the latter is to prevail. The powers of the present Governors of the colonies are to be preserved as far as possible. The Governor of each State is provided for, but the appointment is left for each State. Members of the Senate or House of Representatives cannot sit in the State Legislature, and the Parliament of a State is made to cede any part of the State to the Commonwealth. The State shall not impose taxes or duties on imports or exports except such as are necessary for executing inspection laws of the States, and the net produce of taxes and duties shall be for the use of the Commonwealth, and any such inspection laws may be annulled by tho Commonwealth. The State shall nob without consent of the Commonwealth impose tonnage dues or raise or maintain a military or naval force, or impose a tax on land or other property belonging to the Commonwealth. The State shall not loan money nor make anything but gold or silver coin legal tender in payment of debts. They shall make no law prohibiting the free exercise of any religion, and shall not infringe the - privileges of the citizens of any other States, or deny any person within its jurisdiction equal protection of tho law. Full faith and credit are to be given by each State to the laws and public acts, records, and principal proceeds of every other State. The Commonwealth shall protect every State against invasion, and on the application of the executive Government of a State, against domestic service. Every State is to make provision for the detention and punishment in its prisons of persons accused and convicted of offences agaiust the law of the Commonwealth, and the Parliament of the Commonwealth may make laws to give effect to this provision.* Chapter 6 is devoted to new States, and provides that any existing colonies may upon adopting this constitution be admitted to the Commonwealth, and Parliament shall have power to admit new States and make and impose conditions and representations as ib may think fit. The Commonwealth may make laws for the provisional government of- the territories placed by the Queen under the authority of the Commonwealth, and the latter may, with the consent of the States, alter the limits of the States. A new State shall not be formed by separation or union of two States withoub the consent of all concerned. The capital is to be decided by the Commonwealth v and until such is done, the majority of the Governments of the different States are to determine the place of meeting. Any law for tho amendment of the Constitution must be passed by an absolute majority of the Senate and the House, and then submitted to a convention elected by the electors of the several States. If the proposed amendments are approved at the convention by a majorityof the States, they shall become law, subject to the Queen's assent, but amendment by which the proportionate representation of any State in either House of the Commonwealth is diminished shall not become law without the consent of the convention of that State.

After Sir S. Griffith had finished his explanation the Convention adjourned until to-morrow morning. '