The first order of the legislative body created by the 1886 Bill
consisted of 103 members, of whom 75 were elected members and 28
peerage members. The elected members were to be chosen under a
restricted suffrage, and the peerage members were to be the
representative Irish Peers. The second order was to consist of 204
members, elected under the existing franchise.
All this was rather complicated and confusing, and was, perhaps
rightly, brushed aside by the framers of the 1893 Bill. They
constituted the Irish Legislature on the model of an ordinary Colonial
Parliament with two Chambers--a Legislative Assembly and a Legislative
Council. The Legislative Council was to consist of 48 members, elected
by large constituencies voting under a L20 property franchise. The
Legislative Assembly was to consist of 103 members, elected by the
existing constituencies under the existing franchise. In cases of
disagreement between the two Houses, it was proposed that, either after
a dissolution or after a period of two years, the Houses were to vote
together, and that the majority vote should decide the matter. Since
1893 that provision, in almost precisely the same form, has been
adopted by the Australian Commonwealth, and, in a more progressive
form, by, the South African Parliament.
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