Of all topics relating to the theory of representative government,
none have been the subject of more discussion, especially on the
Continent, than what is known as the question of the Two Chambers. It
has occupied a greater amount of the attention of thinkers than many
questions of ten times its importance, and has been regarded as a sort
of touchstone which distinguishes the partisans of limited from those
of uncontrolled democracy. For my own part, I set little value on any
check which a Second Chamber can apply to a democracy otherwise
unchecked; and I am inclined to think that if all other constitutional
questions are rightly decided, it is of comparatively little
importance whether the Parliament consists of two Chambers or only of
one.
If there are two chambers, they may either be of similar or of
dissimilar composition. If of similar, both will obey the same
influences, and whatever has a majority in one of the houses will be
likely to have it in the other. It is true that the necessity of
obtaining the consent of both to the passing of any measure may at
times be a material obstacle to improvement, since, assuming both the
houses to be representative and equal in their numbers, a number
slightly exceeding a fourth of the entire representation may prevent
the passing of a bill; while, if there is but one house, a bill is
secure of passing if it has a bare majority. But the case supposed is
rather abstractedly possible than likely to occur in practice. It will
not often happen that, of two houses similarly composed, one will be
almost unanimous, and the other nearly equally divided; if a majority
in one rejects a measure, there will generally have been a large
minority unfavorable to it in the other; any improvement, therefore,
which could be thus impeded, would in almost all cases be one which
had not much more than a simple majority in the entire body, and the
worst consequence that could ensue would be to delay for a short time
the passing of the measure, or give rise to a fresh appeal to the
electors to ascertain if the small majority in Parliament corresponded
to an effective one in the country. The inconvenience of delay, and
the advantages of the appeal to the nation, might be regarded in this
case as about equally balanced.
I attach little weight to the argument oftenest urged for having two
Chambers--to prevent precipitancy, and compel a second deliberation;
for it must be a very ill-constituted representative assembly in which
the established forms of business do not require many more than two
deliberations. The consideration which tells most, in my judgment, in
favor of two Chambers (and this I do regard as of some moment), is the
evil effect produced upon the mind of any holder of power, whether an
individual or an assembly, by the consciousness of having only
themselves to consult. It is important that no set of persons should
be able, even temporarily, to make their _sic volo_ prevail without
asking any one else for his consent. A majority in a single assembly,
when it has assumed a permanent character--when composed of the same
persons habitually acting together, and always assured of victory in
their own House--easily becomes despotic and overweening if released
from the necessity of considering whether its acts will be concurred
in by another constituted authority. The same reason which induced the
Romans to have two consuls makes it desirable there should be two
Chambers--that neither of them may be exposed to the corrupting
influence of undivided power even for the space of a single year. One
of the most indispensable requisites in the practical conduct of
politics, especially in the management of free institutions, is
conciliation; a readiness to compromise; a willingness to concede
something to opponents, and to shape good measures so as to be as
little offensive as possible to persons of opposite views; and of this
salutary habit, the mutual give and take (as it has been called)
between two houses is a perpetual school--useful as such even now, and
its utility would probably be even more felt in a more democratic
constitution of the Legislature.
But the houses need not both be of the same composition; they may be
intended as a check on one another. One being supposed democratic, the
other will naturally be constituted with a view to its being some
restraint upon the democracy. But its efficacy in this respect wholly
depends on the social support which it can command outside the House.
An assembly which does not rest on the basis of some great power in
the country is ineffectual against one which does. An aristocratic
House is only powerful in an aristocratic state of society. The House
of Lords was once the strongest power in our Constitution, and the
Commons only a checking body; but this was when the barons were almost
the only power out of doors. I can not believe that, in a really
democratic state of society, the House of Lords would be of any
practical value as a moderator of democracy. When the force on one
side is feeble in comparison with that on the other, the way to give
it effect is not to draw both out in line, and muster their strength
in open field over against one another. Such tactics would insure the
utter defeat of the less powerful. It can only act to advantage by not
holding itself apart, and compelling every one to declare himself
either with or against it, but taking a position among the crowd
rather than in opposition to it, and drawing to itself the elements
most capable of allying themselves with it on any given point; not
appearing at all as an antagonist body, to provoke a general rally
against it, but working as one of the elements in a mixed mass,
infusing its leaven, and often making what would be the weaker part
the stronger, by the addition of its influence. The really moderating
power in a democratic constitution must act in and through the
democratic House.
That there should be, in every polity, a centre of resistance to the
predominant power in the Constitution--and in a democratic
constitution, therefore, a nucleus of resistance to the democracy--I
have already maintained; and I regard it as a fundamental maxim of
government. If any people who possess a democratic representation are,
from their historical antecedents, more willing to tolerate such a
centre of resistance in the form of a Second Chamber or House of Lords
than in any other shape, this constitutes a stronger reason for having
it in that shape. But it does not appear to me the best shape in
itself, nor by any means the most efficacious for its object. If there
are two houses, one considered to represent the people, the other to
represent only a class, or not to be representative at all, I can not
think that, where democracy is the ruling power in society, the second
House would have any real ability to resist even the aberrations of
the first. It might be suffered to exist in deference to habit and
association, but not as an effective check. If it exercised an
independent will, it would be required to do so in the same general
spirit as the other House; to be equally democratic with it, and to
content itself with correcting the accidental oversights of the more
popular branch of the Legislature, or competing with it in popular
measures.
The practicability of any real check to the ascendancy of the majority
depends henceforth on the distribution of strength in the most popular
branch of the governing body; and I have indicated the mode in which,
to the best of my judgment, a balance of forces might most
advantageously be established there. I have also pointed out that,
even if the numerical majority were allowed to exercise complete
predominance by means of a corresponding majority in Parliament, yet
if minorities also are permitted to enjoy the equal right due to them
on strictly democratic principles, of being represented proportionally
to their numbers, this provision will insure the perpetual presence in
the House, by the same popular title as its other members, of so many
of the first intellects in the country, that without being in any way
banded apart, or invested with any invidious prerogative, this portion
of the national representation will have a personal weight much more
than in proportion to its numerical strength, and will afford, in a
most effective form, the moral centre of resistance which is needed. A
second Chamber, therefore, is not required for this purpose, and would
not contribute to it, but might even, in some degree, tend to
compromise it. If, however, for the other reasons already mentioned,
the decision were taken that there should be such a Chamber, it is
desirable that it should be composed of elements which, without being
open to the imputation of class interests adverse to the majority,
would incline it to oppose itself to the class interests of the
majority, and qualify it to raise its voice with authority against
their errors and weaknesses. These conditions evidently are not found
in a body constituted in the manner of our House of Lords. So soon as
conventional rank and individual riches no longer overawe the
democracy, a House of Lords becomes insignificant.
Of all principles on which a wisely conservative body, destined to
moderate and regulate democratic ascendancy, could possibly be
constructed, the best seems to be that exemplified in the Roman
Senate, itself the most consistently prudent and sagacious body that
ever administered public affairs. The deficiencies of a democratic
assembly, which represents the general public, are the deficiencies of
the public itself, want of special training and knowledge. The
appropriate corrective is to associate with it a body of which special
training and knowledge should be the characteristics. If one House
represents popular feeling, the other should represent personal merit,
tested and guaranteed by actual public service, and fortified by
practical experience. If one is the People's Chamber, the other should
be the Chamber of Statesmen--a council composed of all living public
men who have passed through important political office or employment.
Such a Chamber would be fitted for much more than to be a merely
moderating body. It would not be exclusively a check, but also an
impelling force. In its hands, the power of holding the people back
would be vested in those most competent, and who would then be most
inclined to lead them forward in any right course. The council to whom
the task would be intrusted of rectifying the people's mistakes would
not represent a class believed to be opposed to their interest, but
would consist of their own natural leaders in the path of progress. No
mode of composition could approach to this in giving weight and
efficacy to their function of moderators. It would be impossible to
cry down a body always foremost in promoting improvements as a mere
obstructive body, whatever amount of mischief it might obstruct.
Were the place vacant in England for such a Senate (I need scarcely
say that this is a mere hypothesis), it might be composed of some such
elements as the following: All who were or had been members of the
Legislative Commission described in a former chapter, and which I
regard as an indispensable ingredient in a well constituted popular
government. All who were or had been chief justices, or heads of any
of the superior courts of law or equity. All who had for five years
filled the office of puisne judge. All who had held for two years any
cabinet office; but these should also be eligible to the House of
Commons, and, if elected members of it, their peerage or senatorial
office should be held in suspense. The condition of time is needed to
prevent persons from being named cabinet ministers merely to give them
a seat in the Senate; and the period of two years is suggested, that
the same term which qualifies them for a pension might entitle them to
a senatorship. All who had filled the office of commander-in-chief;
and all who, having commanded an army or a fleet, had been thanked by
Parliament for military or naval successes. All governors general of
India or British America, and all who had held for ten years any
colonial governorships. The permanent civil service should also be
represented; all should be senators who had filled, during ten years,
the important offices of under-secretary to the Treasury, permanent
under-secretary of State, or any others equally high and responsible.
The functions conferring the senatorial dignity should be limited to
those of a legal, political, or military or naval character.
Scientific and literary eminence are too indefinite and disputable:
they imply a power of selection, whereas the other qualifications
speak for themselves; if the writings by which reputation has been
gained are unconnected with politics, they are no evidence of the
special qualities required, while, if political, they would enable
successive ministries to deluge the House with party tools.
The historical antecedents of England render it all but certain that,
unless in the improbable case of a violent subversion of the existing
Constitution, any second Chamber which could possibly exist would have
to be built on the foundation of the House of Lords. It is out of the
question to think practically of abolishing that assembly, to replace
it by such a Senate as I have sketched or by any other; but there
might not be the same insuperable difficulty in aggregating the
classes or categories just spoken of to the existing body in the
character of peers for life. An ulterior, and perhaps, on this
supposition, a necessary step, might be, that the hereditary peerage
should be present in the House by their representatives instead of
personally: a practice already established in the case of the Scotch
and Irish peers, and which the mere multiplication of the order will
probably at some time or other render inevitable. An easy adaptation
of Mr. Hare's plan would prevent the representative peers from
representing exclusively the party which has the majority in the
peerage. If, for example, one representative were allowed for every
ten peers, any ten might be admitted to choose a representative, and
the peers might be free to group themselves for that purpose as they
pleased. The election might be thus conducted: All peers who were
candidates for the representation of their order should be required to
declare themselves such, and enter their names in a list. A day and
place should be appointed at which peers desirous of voting should be
present, either in person, or, in the usual Parliamentary manner, by
their proxies. The votes should be taken, each peer voting for only
one. Every candidate who had as many as ten votes should be declared
elected. If any one had more, all but ten should be allowed to
withdraw their votes, or ten of the number should be selected by lot.
These ten would form his constituency, and the remainder of his voters
would be set free to give their votes over again for some one else.
This process should be repeated until (so far as possible) every peer
present either personally or by proxy was represented. When a number
less than ten remained over, if amounting to five they might still be
allowed to agree on a representative; if fewer than five, their votes
must be lost, or they might be permitted to record them in favor of
somebody already elected. With this inconsiderable exception, every
representative peer would represent ten members of the peerage, all of
whom had not only voted for him, but selected him as the one, among
all open to their choice, by whom they were most desirous to be
represented. As a compensation to the peers who were not chosen
representatives of their order, they should be eligible to the House
of Commons; a justice now refused to Scotch peers, and to Irish peers
in their own part of the kingdom, while the representation in the
House of Lords of any but the most numerous party in the peerage is
denied equally to both.
The mode of composing a Senate which has been here advocated not only
seems the best in itself, but is that for which historical precedent
and actual brilliant success can to the greatest extent be pleaded. It
is not however the only feasible plan that might be proposed. Another
possible mode of forming a Second Chamber would be to have it elected
by the First; subject to the restriction that they should not nominate
any of their own members. Such an assembly, emanating, like the
American Senate, from popular choice only once removed, would not be
considered to clash with democratic institutions, and would probably
acquire considerable popular influence. From the mode of its
nomination, it would be peculiarly unlikely to excite the jealousy of,
or to come into hostile collision with the popular House. It would,
moreover (due provision being made for the representation of the
minority), be almost sure to be well composed, and to comprise many of
that class of highly capable men who, either from accident or for want
of showy qualities, had been unwilling to seek, or unable to obtain,
the suffrages of a popular constituency.
The best constitution of a Second Chamber is that which embodies the
greatest number of elements exempt from the class interests and
prejudices of the majority, but having in themselves nothing offensive
to democratic feeling. I repeat, however, that the main reliance for
tempering the ascendancy of the majority can be placed in a Second
Chamber of any kind. The character of a representative government is
fixed by the constitution of the popular House. Compared with this,
all other questions relating to the form of government are
insignificant.