#ID: 1860-11-12_article_3
#DATE: 1860-11-12
#TYPE: article
#HEADER: The Chiltern Hundreds.
#TEXT: ;;; The Chiltern Hundreds.;;; It is a singular fact that a member of the British House of Commons, if he wishes to withdraw from legislative duties, cannot resign.;;; His seat may be vacated in either of the following ways, but not by his personal resignation: 1.;;; By death; 2.;;; By succeeding to a seat in the House of Lords; 3.;;; By being created a Peer; 4.;;; By a committee of the House of Commons reporting that he had been elected by bribery or any other corrupt means, or by a majority composed of persons not duly qualified to vote; 5.;;; By being expelled for misconduct; 6.;;; By being made a bankrupt, and not paying his creditors in full in one year; 7.;;; By accepting an office of profit under the Crown.;;; This last cause must be taken with a little qualification, because, although his seat is vacated by such an act, he is eligible for immediate re-election, and it re-elected may retain both the office and a seat in Parliament.;;; No. 1 is not a pleasant expedient for a discontented member, desirous of evading the cares of State.;;; Nos. 2 and 3, if not open to objection, are not always open to uneasy members.;;; Nos. 4, 5, and 6 are intended for a different class.;;; Therefore No. 7 is the only ordinary mode of relief.;;; A rather roundabout one it is, too. In the southern part of the county of Buckinghamshire is a range of chalk hills, embracing a tract of country fifteen or twenty miles wide, which are called the "Chiltern Hills." The country was once covered with forests, which were infested by robbers, to suppress whose depredations the office of "Stewards of Chiltern Hundreds" was established by the Crown.;;; There are three of these stewardships.;;; The duties of the office are now merely nominal, and the pay only forty shillings a year.;;; The office is at the disposal of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and is retained only as a convenience for the members of the House of Commons.;;; When a member wishes to vacate his seat he writes to the Chancellor, asking for an appointment as Steward for Chiltern Hundreds; and when the appointment is completed, a member of Parliament, usually connected with the government, moves that a writ of election be issued to choose a new member.;;; In addition to the stewardships of Chiltern Hundreds, there is another sinecure, the "Escheatorship of Munster," which is usually conferred upon Irish members desirous of resigning.;;; To expel a member of our Congress requires a two-thirds vote of the branch to which he belongs.;;; In the British House of Commons a majority vote is sufficient.;;; The act of expulsion, however, is a measure which has rarely been resorted to.;;; Some other peculiarities of British office holding are thus stated by the Philadelphia Press, from which we derive the above facts.;;; "A first commission in the army or navy vacates a seat in the Commons; subsequent commissions do not. There are numerous government appointments, not conferred directly by the Crown but by heads of the several departments, acceptance of which does not vacate a member's seat.;;; Of this number are certain of the British Ministers accredited to foreign Courts, and some of the Deputy Secretaries of State.--Numerous persons are disqualified, by various causes, from sitting in the House of Commons.;;; Among these are persons concerned in the management of taxes created since 1692, or holding places of profit under the Crown created since 1718,";;;