348 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

representatives of the Princes, and 250 seats for members from
British India; eighty-two of the latter will be reserved for Muham-
madans, with smaller reservations, both for the communities so
protected in the Council, and for representatives of landowners,
commerce and industry, and labour. The British India repre-
sentatives will not be elected by the ordinary voter directly, but by
"Electoral Colleges", composed of groups of members of the
Legislative Assembly of each Province, Chambers of Commerce,
and labour organisations.

The Council will never be dissolved, but one-third of its
members will retire every three years; the Assembly is comparable
to the House of Commons, in that it cannot last longer than five
years, and may be dissolved at any time by the Governor-General.
Bills dealing with finance can be begun in the Assembly alone,
but in other respects the two Houses have equal power, and all
Bills must be passed by both of them in order to become law.
Should they disagree, there is provision for a joint sitting, at
which a majority vote would decide the matter. Each House can
arrange its own procedure, but the Governor-General is to see
to it that they do not discuss foreign affairs without his permission,
nor raise any matters concerned with the personal conduct of
Indian Princes.

Nature of tfie Federal Proposals. In addition to the powers
already mentioned, the Governor-General, if he "is satisfied that
a situation has arisen in which the Government of the Federation
cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of this
Act", can set aside the Federal legislature, and rule autocratically
by Proclamation. His power to do this can be continued by
successive annual resolutions of both Houses of the British
Parliament.

It is dear that the Federation will not possess responsible
Government such as exists in Britain, and the majority of Indian
opinion is not anxious to see the Federation established. A serious
criticism is that the Indian States will have much greater
representation than their population warrants. Both Houses will