the Privy Council are now made; or that the examination of witnesses upon oath takes place. But the practice has always prevailed, and still continues, of referring particular questions, or whole classes of subjects, to such. committees. Some of these committees are standing and permanent bodies, as, for example, the committee for trade, the committee on education, and the judicial com- Standing mittee. Of these, the committee for trade has become, com both in fact and in name, a separate department of state. The committee on education, and the judicial committee, are still connected with the Privy Council Office, at least through their subordination to the Lord President. commit tees. The judicial committee of the Privy Council has juris- Judicial diction in appeals from all colonial courts. It is also the commitsupreme court of maritime jurisdiction, and the tribunal wherein the crown exercises its judicial supremacy in ecclesiastical cases. Since the establishment of responsible government in most of the British Colonies, the supreme interpretation and application of the law upon appeal to the mother-country, is wellnigh the sole remaining exercise of power retained by the crown over the dependencies of the empire; and it is one which the Colonies have hitherto shown no disposition to throw off." But the several Lords President have uniformly declined to recommend her majesty to refer abstract questions of law to the judicial committee.' 6 The Attorney and Solicitor-General are bound to attend at meetings of committees of the Privy Council when required, as assessors, to advise the committee on points of law, or to act as counsel for the crown.' If any difference of opinion arises between the members of a committee of council upon the matter referred to them, no reasons can be promulgated by the dissentient • Commons Papers, 1854, vol. xxvii. p. 254. See Macpherson's Practice of the Judicial Committee, 1860. Edin. Rev. January, 1869, p. 63. • Votes and Proceedings of Leg. Assembly of Victoria. Second Session, 1866, vol. i. C. No. 8, p. 13. And see post, p. 759. f Campbell, Chancellors, vi. 101. Reports. Suggestion that committees of Council might be used for minority, because, by Privy Council practice, the advice agreed upon by the majority is submitted to the sovereign as the report of the whole committee. In view of the difficulty experienced by successive administrations in framing a new Reform Bill which should meet with acceptance from Parliament, it was suggested by Earl Grey that resort should be had to this ancient and other pub- undoubtedly constitutional machinery. He proposed that lic purposes. the queen should nominate a committee of her Privy Council, to consist of members taken from different political parties, to consider and report upon a measure of Reform. If necessary, prominent party leaders might, with great propriety, be made Privy Councillors, for the purpose of enabling them to serve on this committee. Should the committee, or a majority of them, concur in a report recommending a plan of Reform, suited to the public requirements, this report, after being approved of by the queen in council, upon the advice of ministers, might be made the basis of a Bill to be submitted to Parliament. Earl Grey cited a precedent for such a proceed ing in the case of the Australian constitutions, the consideration of which was referred, in 1850, to the full committee of Council on Trade and Plantations, but with the difference that this committee was exclusively com posed of members of the administration, and their political supporters. This proposal was undoubtedly valuable, but it was not generally approved; the objections to it were thought to be very formidable, sufficiently so, perhaps, to outweigh the obvious advantages of the plan. The question of parliamentary reform has since been disposed of, by the joint action of the Ministers of the Crown and Parliament. Meanwhile, in a new edition of his essay, published in 1864, Earl Grey reiterated and enforced his proposition by additional arguments. He Edinb. Rev. vol. cxxi. p. 170. These objections were stated, with great force, in the Edinb. Review, vol. cviii. p. 275. further recommended, in view of the notorious inability of ministers of the crown to find leisure for the due preparation of measures to be submitted to Parliament for the amendment of existing laws, that the Privy Council should be systematically employed in preparing business for Parliament. Committees of the Privy Council, presided over by a Cabinet minister, might undertake, with peculiar advantage to the public interests, much of the work which has hitherto been done by less formal departmental committees, or by royal commissions, provided a sufficient number of men of experience and ability were appointed Privy Councillors, with annual salaries to compensate for the time and labour to be expended in such a service. This suggestion, as proceeding from a statesman of Earl Grey's experience, is, at any rate, deserving of serious consideration. If it be necessary to conduct enquiries at a distance Public enfrom the metropolis, for governmental purposes, it is quiries. customary for persons to be sent to conduct the same by an order of the Lords of the Council; as, for example, medical enquiries in respect to quarantine; or enquiries into the merits of applications for municipal charters, under the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act.' By the Public Health Act of 1858, the Privy Council Public was charged with certain duties and responsibilities for health. the encouragement of the practice of vaccination throughout the empire; with the oversight and direction of local authorities throughout the kingdom, in matters affecting the preservation of the public health; and generally to make enquiries and regulations for the furtherance of that object amongst all classes of the community, especially amongst those who are engaged in industrial pursuits. The interference of government in matters affecting the public health dates from the calamitous visitation of the cholera throughout the United Kingdom, in the summer of 1831. A Central Board of Health was formed at Grey, on Parl. Govt. New ed. 1 Commons Papers, 1854, vol. pp. 270, 323. xxvii. p. 254. Veterinary depart ment. President of the Council. that time by the authority of the Privy Council, which operated most beneficially in the enforcement of proper sanitary regulations. Since then experience has suggested a vastly superior organisation for the furtherance of this desirable object, whereby the health and morals of the people have been greatly improved, and the average duration of life considerably prolonged. The Public Health Act of 1858 is now administered by a permanent sub-division of the Privy Council, known as the Public Health department, which may consist of any three of the Lords of the Council, the Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education being one. These functionaries are authorised to appoint an officer, styled the Medical Officer of the Privy Council, who is required to report annually to the Privy Council upon the subjects above mentioned. His reports are directed to be transmitted to Parliament; and will be found in the series of sessional papers. They are exceedingly important, and abound in practical suggestions of great value. Under the Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act of 1867, a new department has been recently organised, styled the Cattle Plague or Veterinary department. This Act provides that the powers of the Privy Council, so far as regards the issuing and revocation of licenses under an order of Council, may be exercised by any two' of the members of the Privy Council.TM The office of Lord President of the Council is one of great dignity and importance. It was created in the reign of Henry VIII." The Lord President presides over the department of the Privy Council, and has the patronage of the entire establishment appertaining thereto. He sits next the sovereign at the council-table, to propose the business to be transacted, and to take the royal pleasure thereon. He has the general superintendence and control m 30 & 31 Vict. c. 125, sec. 4. Hans. Deb. vol. clxxxix. p. 999. And see Civil Service Estimates 1868-9. Class II. p. 36. See Palgrave, on the King's Council, p. 98. of the education department. Besides his duties at the education office, which usually take up a comparatively small part of his time, he has duties in connection with the preservation of the public health, and in framing minutes of Council upon subjects which do not belong to any other department of state to prepare. He is also responsible for appointing and summoning such special committees of Council as may be required from time to time, and for receiving their reports. The Lord President is usually, though not necessarily, the leader of the government in the House of Lords, when, as is generally the case, he is a member of that Chamber." His salary is 2,000l. per annum, and his tenure of office dependent upon that of the ministry of which he is a member. tablish The clerks of the Council were formerly two in official esnumber, but a vacancy occurred in 1859 which has not ment. - since been filled up. The clerk's salary is 1,400l. per annum. He is ex-officio secretary of all committees of Council, even when the duties are exclusively performed by assistant secretaries. He is appointed under the Great Seal, and holds office during pleasure. He is assisted by a deputy and a small staff of clerks. The general duties of the department consist in attendance upon councils and committees, in framing minutes, orders, and proceedings of Council, and in conducting the official correspondence." There are separate establishments, subordinate to the Privy Council Office, in relation to public health, the cattle plague, and quarantine. |