THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DOMINIONS 251
used in Canada, but it was employed in 1928 over the Chapter
question of Old Age Pensions, not without utility. The
principle is recognised in the Irish Free State con-
stitution.
The mode of enacting Acts is formally expressed to
be by the King with the advice and consent of the two
houses, though the Commonwealth omits "advice and
consent" as needless. In Newfoundland, New Bruns-
wick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, South Aus-
tralia, and Tasmania the Governor takes the place of
the King; in New Zealand the General Assembly, which
includes the Governor-General, enacts. But in all cases
the effect is the same. Assent may be given in person,
or by commission, or at the Government Offices; in
most cases the Acts are signed by the representative
of the Crown. In the Union and Canada the Governor-
General is not bound to sign the English rather than
the French or Dutch or Afrikaans version. In this case
the signed copy decides which version prevails if there
be discrepancy; there is no rule in Canada, but in
Quebec it has been laid down that harmony with the
context and, in the case of a consolidation, the lan-
guage of the original can be taken into consideration.
In the Irish Free State the Governor-General may
sign either version, but in fact the Irish rendering is
made from the English original, as the members of the
Parliament are not yet as a rule competent to debate
in the neo-Irish speech.
(5) The privileges of Parliament have played a con-
siderable part in Dominion political and legal history.
Save in the Commonwealth, it is normal for the Speaker
still to ask for them as in the British Parliament. But
there is the essential difference that in the United