than four chairmen any one of whom presides over the Council in the absence of the President and Deputy President.

After considering the state of business of the Council, the Governor at the commencement of each session allots days for the business of non-official members and on those days their business has precedence; on other days Government business has precedence. When non-official business has precedence, Bills have precedence over motions to amend the Standing Orders, and the latter over Resolution, though the President may give priority to any item of such business.

A list of business for the Session, containing every item of business on which a motion may be moved is despatched to each member three clear days before the session commences.

The rules of debate and the moving of amendments need not be here specified. The mover of a motion has the right of reply at the end of the debate; and the member of Government in charge of the Department concerned has the right of speaking after the mover has replied even if he had not previously spoken in the debate. To cut short a debate, a member may request the President to put the question and if the President deems it necessary, he puts it and the Council by means of votes, decides whether the debate is to be closed or continued.

The President decides all points of order which may arise and his decision is final. He has also the right of directing a member to discontinue his speech in case of its irrelevance or tedious repetition, or even to withdraw immediately from the Council if the member's conduct appeared to him grossly disorderly; or finally, the President, in the case of grave disorder arising in the Council suspends the sitting for a specified time.

Language of the Council.

126. In the Reformed Councils there will be a large number of members-especially the rural members and those representing the backward classeswho will be ignorant of the English language. The use of the vernaculars therefore, in the Councils, ought to be encouraged for their benefit, for the improvement of the vernaculars themselves, and for the larger consideration of making politics a living reality to the masses who have been enfranchised. The last point must be specially emphasised. A redistribution of provinces on the linguistic basis has been allowed with the same object in view. As Mr. Curtis says "In India the official and political classes both incline to talk as though the progress of India towards responsible government depended on training Indians to the work of Ministers, Legislators, and Officials. But it really depends upon training electorates to a real understanding of the questions at issue, and to a habit of recording conscious decisions upon them. Such training will not begin in any real sense except in so far as provincial business is transacted and discussed in a language the people at large understand." But the Government of India pointed out a practical difficulty in the use of the vernacular. There would be, henceforward, three groups of members in the Councils; (1) The Official members; (2) The Rural members; (3) Representatives of the educated classes. Only the last enjoys the advantage of a fluent knowledge of both the languages, and it is possible at least that they may be tempted to turn such a position to their advantage in various ways which it would be easy to suggest. As a provision against this possibility, the rules say:- The business of the Council shall be transacted in English; but any member who is not fluent in English may address the Council in any recognised vernacular of the province, provided that the President may call on any member

to speak in any language in which he is known to be proficient.

127. The Functions of the Council can be conveniently grouped under three heads. (1) Interrogatory. (2) Legislative. (3) Deliberative: a Motion for adjournment. b Moving of resolutions c Discussion of the budget.

Functions of

the Council.

tions.

Interpella

128. The right of asking questions was first conferred by the Act of 1892, and extended by the Act of 1909. In practice, however, many questions were disallowed on the ground that they were not in public Interest, and the information supplied was often of no value. This right of interpellation has generally been regarded as a powerful weapon in the hands of the members for checking the day-to-day acts of the executive.

Ten clear days' notice must be given for the asking of a question and the President may disallow a question or part of it on the ground that it relates to a matter which is not primarily the concern of the local Government. The Standing Orders prescribe certain conditions which a question ought to satisfy, and no discussion in respect of a question or answer is permitted. A period of one hour is made available at every meeting for the asking and answering of questions.

The Rules provide that no question shall be asked in regard to any of the following subjects:

(i) Any matter affecting the relations of His Majessty's Government, or of the Government of India, or of the Governor, or Governor in Council, with any foreign State.

(ii) Any matter affecting the relations of any of the foregoing authorities with any Prince or Chief under the suzerainty of His Majesty, or relating to the affairs of any

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such Prince or Chief, or to the administration of the territory of any such Prince or Chief; and

(iii) Any matter which is under adjudication by a Court of Law having jurisdiction in any part of His Majesty's dominions.

The decision of the President on the point whether any question is or is not within the restrictions imposed by the above rule is final. In matters which are or have been the subject of controversy between the Governor-General in Council or the Secretary of State and the Local Government, no question is to be asked except as to matters of fact, and the answer is to be confined to a statement of facts.

Any member may put a supplementary question for the purpose of further elucidating any matter of fact regarding which an answer has been given. But the President may disallow any supplementary question if, in his opinion, it infringes the rules as to the subject matter of questions, and in that case the question shall not appear on the record of the proceedings of the Council.

Legislation.

129. Here we need only refer to the procedure which a Bill has to follow in the Council. The Rules under the Act provide that, in special circumstances, a Bill might be published in the official Gazette although no motion has been made for leave to introduce it. A private member must give notice for leave to introduce a Bill-of 15 days if the Bill referred to a transferred subject, and of one month if the Bill referred to a reserved subject, and if his Bill required the previous sanction of the Government of India under the Act, he must attach a copy of such sanction to the proposed Bill.

In addition to these Rules, the Standing Orders lay down the following procedure-First of all the leave of the

Council for introducing the Bill must be obtained. If it is given, the Bill is introduced on any subsequent day available for business of the kind.

After a Bill has been introduced, the Bill, with the Statement of Objects and Reasons is translated into the Vernaculars and published in the Gazette.

Every Bill must be read three times, and if the motion of any reading is not carried, it is to be regarded as dropped, and can not be reintroduced within a period of six months from the date of rejection.

First Reading-on the first reading the principle of the Bill and its general provisions may be discussed; at this stage the detailed provisions shall not be discussed or any amendments moved.

If the first reading of a Bill is passed, the member in charge or any member may make one of the following motions

(a) That it be read a second time either at once or on some future day to be then stated.

(b) That it be referred to a Select Committee composed of such members of the Council as he may specify in his motion.

(c) That it be published for the purpose of eliciting opinion thereon within a specified interval.

If the Bill is referred to a Select Committee, the latter is to contain the Member of Government in charge of the Department concerned or the member who introduced the Bill generally as the chairman. The Committee may hear expert evidence and representatives of special interests. affected by the measure before them; it must report upon it within two months from the date of reference and the report and dissenting minutes if any must be published in the Gazette and then presented to the Council by the