COMMONWEALTH 361

the succession to the Throne requires the consent of the Dominion
Parliaments as well as that of the United Kingdom. This provision
came into operation at the Abdication of Edward VIII. To this
extent the Sovereignty of the Westminster Parliament is limited,
and the Statute may be regarded as the beginning of a written
Constitution for the Commonwealth. It is ariguable in law that
the Parliament which passed this Statute has power to repeal it,
but in fact no such attempt would be made. Except for certain
points expressly mentioned in the Statute, the Dominions possess
complete power of self-Government*

CANADA.

After the discovery of the New World, Britons and Frenchmen
settled on the eastern fringe of Canada, and after the Seven
Years War (1756-1763) both communities were brought under
British rule. There was further migration from Britain, and when
the Thirteen Colonies proclaimed their independence, and became
the United States, a number of people who wished to remain
under British rule entered Canada. New Provinces, each with its
form of Government prescribed by the British Parliament, were
created. Disputes between Protestant Britons and Catholic
Frenchmen hindered co-operation between the Provinces, though
there was an obvious need for combined effort to develop the
untouched regions of the West. Accordingly, the British North
America Act, 1867* set up a Federal Constitution for the Dominion
of Canada, whose boundaries now reach to the Pacific. Each
Province was guaranteed certain rights, and provision was made
against the passing of laws which should interfere with the
religious liberties of the French minority. The powers of the
Provinces, however, are small, and over all matters that the Act
does not definitely assign to them, the Dominion Government has
power; the latter can also disallow any Acts passed by the Legis-
latures of the Provinces. In technical language, Canada is a
Federal State, granting "residual powers" to the Federal Authority
and having a rigid constitution, Viz.: the British North America