car. viii] RELATIONS OF THE HOUSES 597
Secretary of State the matter must rest on the terms of
the royal commission, which was, as Bourinot fails to
recognize,! an instrument under the Great Seal, and there-
fore of superior validity to a dispatch, especially when it
is perfectly clear that it was the intention of the Imperial
Government to provide by a formal instruction for a tenure
during pleasure which would practically, under informal
instructions, be a tenure for life. On the other hand,
while it is most clear that the Lieutenant-Governor could
dismiss every member of his Council and by new appoint-
ments call into being a Council which would support the
views of the Lower House, such an act would be gravely
unconstitutional. and should not be adopted save in the last
resort.
New Brunswick, which had two Chambers, retained the
nominee Upper Chamber for a time, but it was felt that
no useful purpose was served after Federation in maintaining
two Chambers, and eventually the Upper House was induced
to allow itself to be extinguished. An Act (c. 9) was passed in
1891 abolishing the Legislative Council from the end of
the then Parliament, and the Council came to an end with
the dissolution of 1892.
In the case of Prince Edward Island the second Chamber
also has disappeared, having been abolished by local Act
(c. 21) of 18932
In the case of Manitoba a bicameral legislature—the
Upper Chamber limited in number but nominee *—was
created by the Dominion Statute (33 Vict. ¢. 3) which
created the province, but it was definitely pronounced
against by the new Premier, Mr. Girard, in 1874: Bills to
* Governors are not now appointed by instruments under the Great Seal,
but: that is because there is permanent provision for the office of Governor
by permanent letters patent.
* From 1862 (c. 18) the Upper House was elective, and hence the Act of
1893 (now 1908, c. 1) does not abolish the distinction entirely, but causes
part of the members of the one Assembly to be elected on a small property
franchise, while the rest are elected on a manhood suffrage.
* It was first to have seven, and after four years not exceeding twelve
members ; see Provincial Legislation, 1867-95, pp. 806 seq.
