has
long been accustomed to state at the introduction
of a public bill whether in his judgment the rights
or privileges claimed by the House of Commons in
respect to finance had been infringed. If he were
of the opinion that there had been infringement, it
remained for the House to determine whether it
would insist upon or waive its privilege Ilbert,
Parliament, 207.]

*116. Provisions Relating to Other Public Bills.*--The second
fundamental stipulation is that any other public bill (except one to
confirm a provisional order or one to extend the maximum duration of
Parliament beyond five years) which is passed by the House of Commons
in three successive sessions, whether or not of the same parliament,
and which, having been sent up to the House of Lords at least one (p. 113)
month, in each case, before the end of the session, is rejected by
that chamber in each of those sessions, shall, unless the House of
Commons direct to the contrary, become an act of Parliament on the
royal assent being signified thereto, notwithstanding the fact that
the House of Lords has not consented to the bill. It is required that
at least two years shall have elapsed between the date of the second
reading of such a bill (i.e., the first real opportunity for its
discussion) in the first of these sessions of the House of Commons and
the final passage of the bill in the third of the sessions. To come
within the provisions of this act the measure must be, at its initial
and its final appearances, the "same bill;" that is, it must exhibit
no alterations save such as are rendered necessary by the lapse of
time. And a bill is to be construed to be "rejected" by the Lords if
it is not passed, or if amendments are introduced to which the House
of Commons does not agree, or which the House of Commons does not
suggest to the House of Lords at the second or third passage of the
bill.

*117. Effects of the Act.*--By the provisions which have been enumerated
the co-ordinate and independent position which, in law if not in fact,
the British upper chamber, as a legislative body, has occupied through
the centuries has been effectually subverted. Within the domain of
legislation, it is true, the Lords may yet exercise influence of no
inconsiderable moment. To the chamber must be submitted every project
of f