s being convoked by the crown at the same date, all members
repair to the royal palace to hear the Speech from the Throne, which
is delivered by the king in person or by an especially appointed royal
commissioner.[702] The lower chamber then passes upon the validity of
the election of its members, though by law of 1899 the actual exercise
of this jurisdiction is committed in large part to the Royal High
Court.[703] The president and vice-president of the Chamber of
Magnates are appointed by the king from the members of that house; the
secretaries are elected by the house from its own members, by secret
ballot. The lower house elects, from its members, all of its
officials--a president, two vice-presidents, and a number of
secretaries. The presidents of the two houses are chosen for the
entire period of the parliament; all other officials are chosen
annually at the beginning of a session.

[Footnote 702: King Francis Joseph I. has been
absent upon this important occasion but once since
1867. Apponyi, in Alden, Hungary of To-day, 166.]

[Footnote 703: Ibid., 166-175.]

Each house is authorized, at its first annual session after an
election, to adopt an order of business and to make the necessary
regulations for the maintenance of peace and propriety in its
deliberations. The president, with the aid of sergeants-at-arms, is
charged with the strict enforcement of all such rules. Sittings of the
two houses are required to be public, but spectators who disturb the
proceedings may be excluded. The maximum life of a parliament was
raised, in 1886, from three years to five. It is within the power of
the king, however, not only to extend or to adjourn the annual
session, but to dissolve the lower chamber before the expiration of
the five-year period. In the event of a dissolution, orders are
required to be given for a national election, and these orders must be
so timed that the new parliament may be assembled within, at the most,
three months after the dissolution. And there is the further requirement
that, in the event of a dissolution before the budget shall have (p. 499)
been voted for the ensuing year, the convocation of the new parliament
shall be provided for within such a period as will permit the
estimates for the succeeding year to be considered before the close of
the current year.

*551. The Powers of Parliament: the Parliamentary System