Of course in framing a new constitution to meet at once the legitimate national aspirations of the Irish people and the requirements of the Imperial power, we cannot pedantically follow any existing model or precedent, or drive any analogy too far. It is not intended, by drawing attention to the fact that the local rather than the Dominion Legislatures constitute the better models, in any way to impair the prestige of the future Irish Parliament, or to lessen the readiness to meet all reasonable demands of the Irish party and people, or to withhold powers necessary to make self-government a success. But it is essential to bear in mind that the primary condition of permanent success is a measure that will work with the least possible friction on both sides while satisfying legitimate Irish demands.
With these points in view, it is therefore proposed to examine shortly the constitutions of the three dominions already referred to, with the object of showing what are the powers reserved by them for the Federal Governments and what are those attributed to the different States comprised in the federations, in order to deduce from them some parallel applicable to the case of Ireland—of course, as already indicated, with such modifications as may be rendered necessary by special circumstances.
It will be well to begin with the Canadian Constitution as the oldest, dealing afterwards with the Constitutions [pg 416] of the Australian Commonwealth (1900) and of the South African Union (1909).
The British North America Act, 1867, expressly sets forth the classes of subjects which can be dealt with by the Federal Parliament “for greater certainty, but not so as to restrict the generality of the foregoing terms of this section,” that is to say, the liberty given to the Central Parliament “to make laws for the peace, order and good government of Canada, in relation to all matters not coming within the classes of subjects by this Act assigned exclusively to the legislatures of the provinces.” Thus, in Canada, the “residuary” or unspecified classes of subjects are reserved for the Central or Federal Parliament.
Section 92 provides that in each province the legislature may exclusively make laws on the following subjects:
The amendment of the Constitution of the Province, except as regards the office of Lieutenant-Governor;
Direct taxation within the province for provincial purposes;
The borrowing of money on the sole credit of the province;
The establishment and tenure of provincial offices, and the appointment and payment of provincial officers;
The management and sale of the public lands;