LABOUR AND THE CONSTITUTION, 471
But there are other difficulties in the way of giving the decisions of the
Council mandatory power. In the first place, the creation of a body
with such authority would make it, in effect, the legislating authority,
and legislation would virtually cease to be provincial. Instead of
being provincialised, legislation would have been taken away from
one form of Central Legislature and entrusted to another. Nor would
the change be for the better, for the new body would be less represent-
ative of the community as a whole than the old one, it would be less
able to assume responsibility for the administration of its own decrees,
and it could not be given the power of taxing public funds, so that
decisions that involve charges on these funds (and some charge is in-
separable from most labour laws) could hardly be mandatory. If
it is possible to keep legislation central, we consider the authority
finally responsible for legislation must be the Central Legislature.
Functions of the Council.

If, therefore, authority to legislate in labour matters were with-
drawn from the centre in whole or in part, the Council’s functions in
respect of such legislation could hardly exceed the preparation of legislative
proposals for the provincial legislatures and the exercise of such autho-
rity as may be delegated to them by legislative enactments. Legislative
proposals would be prepared either on the initiative of the Council or
on references to them by provincial Governments or Legislatures, and
they could be prepared for provincial or general application as the case
required. If, in respect of any proposal for the adoption of general
legislation, a resolution had the support of not less than two-thirds of
the Government representatives, it might be made obligatory for pro-
vineial Governments within a specified time to submit the proposals to
Sheir respective legislatures for a decision as to their adoption or rejec-
tion. We do not advise going further than this. The Council would
thus be able to overcome the- initial difficulties in the way of translating
its desires into action and its composition and outlook would, we hope,
make it a powerful influence on public opinion ; but the final voice
would rest with the members of the legislatures. We would emphasise
our view that, whether the Council is dealing with central or provincial
legislation, the assistance which it can render the Governments and the
community will depend, not on the results of votes but on the actual
discussion and on the extent to which members starting with different
outlooks can reach common conclusions. While voting may be neces-
sary on a number of occasions, the aim should be to avoid divisions
as far as possible. As a minor discouragement to endeavours on the
part of employers’ or workers’ representatives to vote down their
opponents with the aid of the other votes, we suggest that votes should
be recorded separately in three groups, one including employers’
representatives, one workers’ representatives and one the remaining
members.

Administration and Finance.
The Council will probably find it necessary to set up a small
committee for the administration of matters of importance relating to