the upper house is appointed by
the crown from among the members for the period of one session. The
corresponding officer of the lower house is similarly appointed from a
list of three members submitted by the chamber. Each house appoints,
from non-members, its clerk and such other officials as may be
required; each examines the credentials of its newly elected members
and renders final verdict upon their validity; and each regulates the
details of its own procedure. Except when one-tenth of the members of
a chamber request the closing of the doors, or the president deems
such a step necessary, sessions are public. Neither house may take
action upon any matter unless at least half of its members are
present, and final action upon all propositions is taken by an
absolute majority of the members present. A portion of the business of
the States-General is transacted in joint sessions of the two houses.
In joint session the two are regarded as one chamber, under the
presidency of the president of the upper house. For the changing (p. 529)
of the order of royal succession or the appointment of an heir to the
throne, the constitution requires that the membership of each chamber
be doubled. In such an event there is added to the regular members of
each house an equal number of extraordinary members, elected in the
same manner as the regular members.[736]

[Footnote 734: Art. 73. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
II., 94.]

[Footnote 735: Art. 103. Ibid., II., 100.]

[Footnote 736: Art. 83. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
II., 96.]

In the proceedings of the States-General the lower chamber enjoys a
distinct preponderance. The upper chamber, indeed, is commonly
regarded as constitutionally the weakest body of its kind in Europe.
It possesses neither the power to initiate legislation, general or
financial, nor power to amend projects of law. Any measure which comes
before it must be accepted or rejected as it stands. Bills may be
originated either by the Government or by members of the lower
chamber, and it is required that the sovereign shall send all
recommendations, whether pertaining to laws or to other matters, to
the lower house, in a written message or by committee.[737] The
projects of the general financial laws must be presented annually to
the lower house in the name of the crown, immediately after the
opening of the regular ses