CHAP. 1] THE DOMINION OF CANADA 697 
Court of the Dominion in 1874, as had been held in cases 
decided by the Privy Council, that without legislation the 
Legislature had no power to punish the action of a member 
of the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia who had charged the 
Provincial Secretary of the day with having falsified a record, 
as the only power possessed by a mere legislature other 
than the Parliament of the United Kingdom was to punish 
such matters as actually obstructed business. Nova Scotia 
legislated in 1876 to secure the privileges, and this Act was 
allowed to remain in operation, the Privy Council 1 deciding 
in 1896, in a case which had been given against the power 
of the Legislature by the Lower Courts, that the Act was 
intra vires. In that case the Legislature had provided for 
the punishment of contempts such as refusal to attend 
when summoned by the House, and the plaintiff having 
refused to attend, had been taken in custody, and released 
under a writ of habeas corpus, when he proceeded to bring 
an action for assault and imprisonment. The difficulty 
which arose was, of course, due to the fact that the Dominion 
alone has the control of the criminal law, and that the Act 
purported to make the two Houses in matters of privilege 
Courts of Record. The Judicial Committee recognized that 
the Legislature could not set up criminal courts with new 
powers, but they held that the powers given by s. 92 were 
ample to cover an Act for the protection of the proceedings 
of the Legislature. It was true that the action to be punished 
might also amount to a criminal offence, but that was not 
relevant, Accordingly the validity of the provincial privilege 
Acts must be regarded as definitely settled. 
(n) Naturalization and Aliens 
The division of powers is also neatly illustrated by the 
control of the Dominion over naturalization and its relation 
to the provincial general powers of legislation. Thus the 
P vy Council? has decided that the ‘British Columbia 
Provincial Elections Act (Rev. Stat., 1897, c. 67),8. 8 of which 
on Fielding v Thomas, [1896] A. (L600. See Payson v. Hubert, 348. CB. 
- Cunninaham v. Tomey Homma, [19031 A, C. 151.