The constitution of the University of Oxford rests on a much wider basis than that of most American or Colonial Universities. All graduates who have kept up their connexion with the University through their respective Colleges, whether resident in Oxford or not, and who have taken the degree of Master of Arts, have a voice in the government of the University, constituting the body known as _Convocation_. It is the members of Convocation who elect the two University representatives in the House of Commons. The majority of these graduates are not in residence at Oxford, so that in actual working practice and under normal conditions Convocation is almost identical with _Congregation_. This body is composed of all resident members of Convocation, together with certain _ex-officio_ members. The ordinary routine of University government is transacted by means of standing Committees of Congregation, known as _Delegacies_. All University legislation must originate with and in the _Hebdomadal Council_, no proposition can even be discussed by the large governing bodies of the University unless sanctioned by a majority of the members of this Council. This consists of the three executive officers of the University and eighteen other members elected by Congregation, six each from the Heads of Colleges, University Professors, and University graduates—Masters of Arts—of at least five years’ standing, respectively. A new statute framed by the Council is then ‘promulgated’ in Congregation, where it may be rejected or passed with or without amendment. If passed by Congregation, the statute is submitted to Convocation, which must confirm or reject the measure in toto; it cannot amend.[50] It may be said, in passing, for the benefit of those who are labouring under the impression that reform from within is impossible at Oxford, that, strange as it may seem, the non-resident graduates are often, if not generally, the most conservative. [Sidenote: The College.] [Sidenote: Admission.] [Sidenote: Non-Collegiate Delegacy.]