There are milestones such as Magna Charta, the Petition of Rights, the Habeas Corpus Act, the Act of Settlement, and the other landmarks which measure the way towards constitutional liberty; but as with the Union Jack, so, too, with the liberties of the British form of government, the story of the combinations is not the record of a revolution, but the gradual process of a reasoning evolution.
When, at the end of the eighteenth century, our neighbours in the United States framed their new constitution, they based it on the information and usages of that day when responsible government was almost unknown. Creating an elective King under the name of President, they endowed him with distinct and executive powers, which, as then, he still exercises, largely of his own private will, or only in consultation with a Cabinet which is nominated by and is responsible only to himself, whose members are not members of the House of Representatives, nor are they elected by the people.
How entirely he acts of his own motion, without the instructions or the initiation of Congress, was only too evidently shown in the recent Venezuela-Guiana incident,[163] when President Cleveland's message was promulgated with all the individual vehemence of an autocrat, and if it had not been for the temperate forbearance of the British Cabinet, war would have resulted.
The President of the United States, having been elected for a definite term of years, represents the opinion which prevailed at the time of his election; and no matter how much the opinion of the nation may change in the interval, or his policy be objected to, he continues to rule until his allotted term of four years shall have expired, even though he and his Cabinet be in absolute conflict with the expressed will of the people, as indicated in the elections which are constantly in progress.[164]
[164] In the United States the members of the Senate are elected by the Legislatures of the States, one for each State, and sit for six years. The members of the House of Representatives are elected by popular vote of the electors, the number for each State being determined by its proportional population, and each sits for a fixed term of two years.