But in
order to determine through what channel this general control may
most expediently be exercised, and what portion of the business of
government the representative assembly should hold in its own hands,
it is necessary to consider what kinds of business a numerous body
is competent to perform properly. That alone which it can do well it
ought to take personally upon itself. With regard to the rest, its
proper province is not to do it, but to take means for having it
well done by others.
For example, the duty which is considered as belonging more
peculiarly than any other to an assembly representative of the people,
is that of voting the taxes. Nevertheless, in no country does the
representative body undertake, by itself or its delegated officers, to
prepare the estimates. Though the supplies can only be voted by the
House of Commons, and though the sanction of the House is also
required for the appropriation of the revenues to the different
items of the public expenditure, it is the maxim and the uniform
practice of the Constitution that money can be granted only on the
proposition of the Crown. It has, no doubt, been felt, that moderation
as to the amount, and care and judgment in the detail of its
application, can only be expected when the executive government,
through whose hands it is to pass, is made responsible for the plans
and calculations on which the disbursements are grounded.
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