A SUMMARY OF THE HOME RULE BILL

New Zealand Tablet, 30 May 1912, Page 17

A SUMMARY OF THE HOME RULE BILL

$ The London correspondent of the Freeman's Journal gives the following summary of the Home Rule J Bill: The-Bill .. provides for the establishment of an Irish Parliament, consisting of two Houses—the Irish Senate and the Irish House of Commons. This nomenclature is an improvement on the Bills of 1886 and 1893. Mr. Gladstone, strange to say, always objected to the word ' Parliament'". and to the name ' Irish House of Commons.' The new Parliament shall have power to make all : laws necessary for the peace, order, and good government of Ireland, subject to the following restrictions, which are practically the same as in the former Home Rule Bills:-

.' The Parliament will have no power to deal with the question of the Crown, or the succession to the Crown, the making of peace or war, the army, navy, and territorial forces, the making of treaties with foreign States, dignitaries or titles of honor, treason, treason-felony, and naturalisation, coinage, and kindred subjects . ::,: ~ ' It will have no power to pass laws establishing or endowing any religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or giving a preference, privilege, or advantage, or imposing any disadvantage on account of that religious belief, or making any religious belief or. religious ceremony a condition of the validity of any marriage.' The executive power in Ireland shall be vested in an Irish Cabinet on the same lines as the Executive in England. The Irish Senate will consist of 40 Senators nominated in the first instance by the Imperial Government and subsequently by the Lord Lieutenant', on the advice of his Irish Cabinet. The term of office of the Senators shall be eight years, and one-fourth shall retire every second year. The Irish House of Commons shall consist of 164 ■members returned on the existing franchise and practically for the existing Irish constituencies. After three years the Irish Parliament may alter the qualification of electors and the constituencies and the distribution of members amongst the constituencies. Money Bills must originate in the Irish House of Commons and cannot be rejected or amended by the Senate. J With reference' to other Bills, if the Senate rejects a Bill passed by the House of Commons, and if in the next session the House of Commons again passed the Bill and the Senate rejects it again, there shall be at once a joint sitting of both bodies, when the Bill will become law if it secures a bare majority; Any peer either of the United Kingdom, Scotland, or Ireland shall be qualified to be a member of either House: Ireland shall continue to be represented in the Imperial Parliament to the number of 42 members, who shall sit for the constituencies set forth in the schedule of the Bill. The entire charge for Old Age Pensions present and future, the Insurance Act, Land Purchase, and the collection of taxes (pending the paying off of the deficit) to be borne, by the Imperial Exchequer.

Financial Arrangements. The Irish Exchequer will receive annually a slim equal to the proceeds of all the existing taxes of Ireland, and the proceeds of any new taxes imposed by Ireland, and the proceeds, of the Irish Post Office, which is handed over to the Irish Government. It is calculated that the proceeds of existing Irish ' taxes including Customs, Excise, and all other taxes, amount' roughly to ten millions, but all expenditure for Ireland, it is calculated, roughly amounts to twelve millions! The exact figures up to March 31 last are not. available and they may vary, but it is safe to put the excess of expenditure over income at from one to two millions. The Irish Exchequer will be charged with the cost of all Irish expenditure, except Old Age Pensions/Insurance, Land Purchase, and collection of revenue. It is provided that the sum to be received" annually by Ireland shall be such an amount as will cover the cost of all these charges, and, in addition, will provide for a surplus of half a million a year, to be subsequently in some years, reduced to a. limit of £200,000 when ''the country prospers. A joint Exchequer Board, consisting of two members appointed by the English Treasury two by the Irish Treasury, with a chairman appointed by the King, will have the duty of determining questions of fact arising from time to time under the financial provisions of the Bill.Customs and Excise. ' . The Imperial Parliament retains the power, technically, at any rate, of imposing Customs and Excise but as soon as these duties are fixed the Irish Parliament will have the newer of abolishing them altogether of reducing them, or of increasing them. It may increase the excise duties, customs duties on beer and spirits stamp duties, land taxes, miscellaneous taxes imposed' . - «•

by the Imperial Parliament to any extent it likes. Similarly it may reduce or abolish them. It may add to an extent not exceeding 10 per cent, to the income tax, death duties, or custom duties, other than duties on beer. and spirits, imposed by the Imperial Parliament. It may levy any new taxes, and it may reduce any taxes levied in Ireland. In other words, it comes to this—that Ireland will not be permitted to impose any excise or customs duty on any article that is not taxed in England, but, although the Irish customs and excise duties will in the first instance be imposed by the Imperial Parliament, the Irish Parliament will have the power of abolishing them, reducing them, or increasing them. The deficit between what Irish taxes produce and the cost of Irish administration is estimated at two millions a year, to which must be added the halfmillion surplus, making two and a-half millionsthe amount which England undertakes to provide to assist the Government of Ireland. It is provided that when, through the increased prosperity of the country, this deficit disappears, the Joint Exchequer Board shall prepare a scheme for revision of the financial arrangement, and a new arrangement will be arrived at by agreement between the two Governments and two Parliaments whereby, amongst other things, Ireland will take over the collection of all taxes except customs. It is provided that the Irish Parliament may at any time take over the administration of Old Age Pensions and National Insurance. ' The Imperial Parliament, in that event, would continue to pay the charge, and Ireland would be able to reap the advantage of any savings or economies that could be effected. - Judges and Police. , - The appointment of judges will rest in the hands of the Irish Government immediatelv. The control of the Dublin Metropolitan Police will pass at once to the Irish Government, and the control of

the Royal Irish Constabulary will similarly r»ass to the Irish Government after a period of six years. Existing Constabulary pensions are to be borne by Imperial funds. All questions of .'ultra vires ' will be decided by the Judicial Committee: of the Privy Council, as provided in Mr. Gladstone's Bills. The Lord Lieutenant will be appointed for six years. His salary and expenses shall be paid out of Imperial funds, except as to £SOOO, which will be provided by the Irish Parliament towards his salary. The position of. existing Civil Servants is carefully safeguarded. The Veto of the Crown. The veto of the Crown is the same as that proposed by Mr. Gladstone and the same as is to be found in all colonial legislatures. That is to say, the Royal Assent will be given by the Lord Lieutenant to Irish Bills on the advice of his Irish Cabinet, but there will be a power to reserve certain Bills for the King in Council, which is one of the chief safeguards against unjust or intolerant legislation, and which is to be found in the Constitution of every self-governing colony in the Empire.