EKOLAUD 282 ENGLAND
1920 the voting strength of this house • was 709. istry of Labor, created under the Act of 1916, com« The House of Uommons consists of members repre- bines the powers and duties of the Board of Trade senting county, borough, and university constitu- imder the Conciliation Act (1896), the Labor Ex- encies in the three divisions of the United King- change Act (1909), the Trade Board Act (1909), dom. English or Scottish peers are ineligible for the National Insurance Unemployment Acts the House of Commons, but Irish peers can be (1911-18), and Part I of the Ministry of Munitions admitted. Under the Parliament (Qualification of of War Act (1915). In 1919 the Board of Agri- Women) Act, 1918, women are also eligible, and culture was reorganized into five departments: the first woman took her seat in December, 1919. Intelligence, Land and Supplies, Finance and Under the Parliament Act of 1911, all money Bills Economics, Fisheries, and Welsh. The first three
Eassed by the House of Commons, may become form the Minister's Administrative Council. The iw, even without the consent of the House of Home Office has five secretaries: the Home Secre- Lords, and any Bill introduced by the House of tary, the Foreign Secretaiy, the Secretary for War, Commons and passed three times may become law the Secretary for the Colonies, and the Secretary despite the, opposition of the House of Lords, for India, but legally they all share the same office. According to the Act of August, 1911, members and each can perform the duties of the others, of the House of Commons, mtherto receiving no There must always be one secretary in the metrop- salary for their services, now are paid. olis, and all sit in the cabinet. The Charity Com-
The Representation of the People Act, 1918, ex- missioners assist in carrying out the War Charity tended the franchise so that in 1920 over one-half Act (1916), and the Blind Persons Act (1920). A of the population (21,776,0(X)) qualified for regis- Ministry of Pensions was constituted in 1916 to tration, including 8,856,000 women. For every administer the pensions and grants awarded for 70,(X)0 of the population, a member is elected to disablement sustained in war service. In 1917 it the House of Commons, which now has a total took over from the statutory committee the direct membership of 707. The suffrage is given to aU administration of medical treatment. In 1919 a male electors twenty-one years of age or over. Ministry of Transport was set up to improve the and to women electors of thirty years of age or means of locomotion and transport, over. There is also the university franchise to Under the National Insurance Acts (1911 to 1920), be qualified, for which a man must be twentjr-one provision is made for compulsoiy insurance against and a woman thirty, and each must have taken a loss of health, for the prevention and cure of sick- degree, or in the case of a woman, have fulfilled ness, and for compulsory insurance against unem- the conditions which would entitle a man to a ployment. The National Health Insurance Act is degree. administered by the Ministry of Health in England
The unity of the Cabinet is expressed by the and Wales, and concerns all persons between the Prime Minister, although it is but a short time ages of sixteen and seventy, employed by the time (since January, 1906), that the existence of the or piece, and earning less than £250 a year, whether Prime Minister has been formally recognized, and or not they are British subjects. In 1919 fifteen special precedence accorded him. He is usually million and a half workers were insured; the total the leader of his party, and the cabinet members income in 1918-19 was about £30,500,000 (including chosen by him are chosen for their general political £8,500,000 contributed by the state), and the total importance, although each is responsible for the expenditure, £20,250,000. The Unemployment Act conduct of some department of the State, and ready is administered by the Board of Trade through to answer any questions or give any information Employment Exchanges, Trade Unions, and on any point of its administration, in the House Friendly Societies. By the Unemployment Acts of Commons and the House of Lords. A cabinet of 1920 and 1921 all persons insured under the defeated on an actual vote of the House of Com- National Insurance Acts except agricultural work- mons must resign or persuade the kins to dissolve ers, domestics, and outworkers, are compulsory in- Parliament. With the approval of the sovereign sured against unemployment. About twelve mil- the Prime Minister also nominates the Privy Coun- lion persons were insured under these Acts (8,500,- cil, which includes the following classes : All cabinet (XX) men and 3,500,000 women) . The total income ministers, ex-cabinet ministers, diplomatic corps. (1918-19) was £4,600,000 (including £1,100,(XX) from honorary members, as princes and bishops, learned state funds) ; total expenditure, £6(X),(X)0. Under and scientific men. the Lord Chancellor, Master the Old Age Pensions Acts (1908-19) there were of the Rolls, Lord Chief Justice, Judges of the in 1919, 920,198 pensions payable in the United Supreme Court, and Judge Advocate General. Kingdom: the estimated cost in 1920-21 was £25,- From it have developed the Ministry of Health 969,0(X). The Poor Law, which relieves paupers in and the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, also their homes, or in the workhouses, or poorhouses, the Board of Trade, and the Board of Education, is administered by the local government board The Privy Council possesses also judicial functions, through boards of guardians. A board of guardians being the Final Court of Appeals for the Colonies, is elected for each of the 653 poor law unions. The India, and the Ecclesiastical Courts of the country, amount expended in 1917-18 m England and Wales Its number is unlimited, at present about 300, but was £18,423,883.
at its meeting only a few members are present. For purposes of local government, England is usually members of the Government. The Ministry divided into sixty-two administrative counties, in- of Health, newly organized in 1919, has charge of eluding the county of London. Each county is the Poor Laws, the Unemployed Workingmen's governed by justices, and a popularly elected coim- Act, the Old A^e Pensions Act, and sanitary legis- cil, aided by a prescribed number of aldermen, lation; the National Treasury is imder a Commis- elected for six years. The county councillors, sion, consisting of the First Lord of the Treasury, elected for three years, are also the local educa- the ChanceUor of the Exchequer, and three Lords tional authorities. The counties, with the excep- Commissioners. tion of the County of London, are subdivided into
Since January, 1918, the Board of Trade has been county districts, which are either urban or rural ; organized in two main divisions: the Department each has a district council. In each civil paridi in of Commerce and Industry and the Department a rural district there is a parish meetinp;, or if the of Public Service and Administration, llie Min- town has over 300 inhabitants, a pansb coundl.
