The detailed account of the new Japanese Constitution, promulgated on
February 11th, the 2,548th anniversary of the birth of the founder of the dynasty, has at length arrived, and shows that the Constitution is the English one, with some modifications. The Upper House, for example, con- sists of " Dukes and Marquises" who sit of right, " Viscounts" who sit by election among each other, notables appointed by the Crown from among public servants or " men of erudition," and representatives of the fifteen largest taxpayers in each district. A more important departure from English precedentis, however, that all Ministers have right of seat and speech in both Houses, so that the choice of the Crown is not limited to Peers and men who can make themselves popular, but may extend to any competent Japanese. It is to be understood, moreover, that Ministers are not responsible to Parliament, but to the Crown alone, and that the monarch is to remain the actual head of the Executive, and not a mere standard-bearer. With this view, the power of the Diet has been seriously circum- scribed by a proviso that if for any reason the Budget should not be voted, the Budget of the previous year shall be legal for that year also.
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