by a third. It may be noted that
there is a possibility of a small non-elective element in the Senate.
According to the terms of the constitution, the sons of the king, or
if there be none, the Belgian princes of the branch of the royal
family designated to succeed to the throne, shall be by right senators
at the age of eighteen, though without deliberative vote until the (p. 539)
age of twenty-five.[755] Prior to his accession to the throne, in
1909, the present sovereign Albert I., nephew and heir-presumptive of
Leopold II., was entitled to a senatorial seat. There is at present no
representative of royalty who is eligible.

[Footnote 755: Art. 58. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
I., 135.]

All elective senators must be Belgian citizens and Belgian residents,
at least forty years of age, and in the unrestricted enjoyment of
civil and political rights. Senators elected by the provincial
councils are subject to no property qualifications,[756] but those
elected directly by the people must be drawn from either payers of as
much as 1,200 francs of direct national taxes or proprietors or
lessees of Belgian real estate of an assessed income of at least
12,000 francs. In provinces, however, where the number of eligible
persons falls short of the proportion of one for every 5,000
inhabitants, the list is completed by the addition of such a number of
the heaviest taxpayers of the province as may be necessary to
establish this proportion.[757] Save passes on the national railways,
senators receive no salary or other emolument.

[Footnote 756: They may not be, and may not have
been within two years preceding their election,
members of the assembly which returns them.]

[Footnote 757: Art. 56. Dodd, Modern Constitutions,
I., 135.]

*594. The House of Representatives: Earlier Electoral
Arrangements.*--The lower legislative chamber consists of deputies
elected directly by the voters of the kingdom. The number of seats is
determined by law, under the general provision that it may not exceed
the proportion of one for 40,000 inhabitants. Prior to 1899 it was
152; to-day it is 186. The term is four years. Half of the membership
retires every two years, though in the event of a dissolution the
house is entirely renewed.[758] The qualifications which the
constitution requires of deputies are those of cit