the sign manual and signet or through the secretary of state detail the procedure of the executive and legislative councils, reserve certain subjects on which legislation cannot take place without the sanction of the Crown in Council, and define the relations of the governor and the judiciary.

Colonies with Representative Governments. Group III.This comprises ten colonies to which representative legislatures have been granted, the Crown retaining only the right of veto except in cases where its right of legislation has been specially reserved. The public officers in these colonies are, however, under the control of, and responsible to, the Crown acting through the colonial secretary, and such colonies are therefore said to enjoy representative, but not responsible, governments.

In colonies with responsible governments, on the other hand, the chief public officers or ministers are responsible, as in England, primarily to the local legislature, and ultimately to the Crown. In the colonies comprised in Group III. the executive is composed of a governor and an executive council appointed by the Crown or the governor, and generally containing some ex-officio, or official members.

In three colonies the legislature consists of the governor and two chambers, a legislative council nominated by the Crown, and an elected legislative assembly. These three colonies are— The Bahamas,

Barbados (one of the Windward Islands, but separated from the latter and made a distinct government by letters patent in 1885),

Bermuda ;

and in these the Crown cannot legislate by Order in Council. In five colonies there is one legislative chamber only, composed partly of members nominated by the Crown, or of ex-officio or official members, and partly of elected members. These areBritish Guiana.

Jamaica.

The Leeward Islands. (b)

Malta.

Mauritius.
Ceylon.

Fiji.

(b) Comprising Antigua, Dominica, St. Christopher (St. Kitts) and

Colonies with Representative and Responsible Governments.-Group IV. comprises the most important of all our colonies, to which full representative and responsible polities have been granted, modelled on the lines of the English constitution itself, the governor representing the Crown, the executive council corresponding to the English Privy Council, whilst the English Cabinet is represented by the Ministry, or those members of the executive council selected by the governor, and who are always the principal public officers, and enjoy the confidence of the representative chamber. The governor, the executive council, and the Ministry or Cabinet form the members of the executive, whilst the legislature consists of the governor and two legislative chambers corresponding to the Lords and Commons.

In three colonies the upper legislative chamber is composed of members nominated by the governor, whilst the lower chamber is elected. These are

Canada. (c)

New Zealand.
Newfoundland.

In one colony the upper chamber (or senate) is composed partly of members chosen by the governor-general, and partly of elected members, the lower legislative chamber (or House of Assembly) being composed entirely of elected members: viz.The Union of South Africa.

In one colony the legislature consists of the governor and two elected legislative chambers: viz.

The Commonwealth of Australia.

Three of these, viz. Canada, the Union of South Africa, and Australia, are federations of several colonies or provinces, each province enjoying a separate local responsible government, with lieutenant-governors (or administrators in the case of South Africa) and representative legislatures. These local Nevis, Montserrat, and the Virgin Islands, to which the island of Sombrero was added in 1904. The constitution depends upon the Leeward Islands Act, 1871 (34 & 35 Vict. c. 107), as amended by Federal Act, No. 1, of 1899, and letters-patent of the 2nd of October, 1902 (St. R. & O., 1902, p. 596), by which the Crown's power of nominating members of the legislative council was delegated to the governor-general, and various provisions made with regard to the local governments.

(c) In Canada and South Africa the upper chamber is termed “the senate," those of the other colonies "legislative councils."

governments are subordinate to the central federal government, and the local constitutions vary, except in South Africa, where they are all similar.

In the Dominion of Canada

Quebec
Nova Scotia

Ontario

have a legislative council nominated by the lieutenant-governor for life, and an elected legislative assembly.

In the Union of South Africa all the provinces, viz.—

The Cape of Good Hope
Natal

The Transvaal

The Orange Free State

have a legislative council elected

for three years, and an executive committee composed of the Administrator and four members elected by the provincial councils.

Privileges of Colonial Parliaments.-With regard to the privileges of colonial Parliaments, the lex et consuetudo Parliamenti have been held to apply exclusively to the lords and commons, and not to colonial Parliaments; and therefore the legislative council of Tasmania had no power to commit for contempt. (d) But in the case of Victoria, whose constitution depends on a colonial Act of 1854, ratified by Imperial Act, (e) the colonial legislature was given power to define its own powers and immunities, which were not to exceed those enjoyed by the House of Commons in England. A Victorian Act (f) accordingly gave the legislative assembly the same powers and immunities as the House of Commons, and therefore the assembly was held to have power to commit for contempt. (g) The same provisions have been made with regard to Canada (h) and Western Australia. (i)

Colonial Governors.

ap

Constitutional Position. Colonial governors are pointed by commission from the Crown, and their powers are limited and defined by the letters patent which constitute the office of governor, and by the instructions which are given to them on appointment. Where the commission extends to more than one colony, as in Australia or Canada, they are termed governors-general or governors-in-chief. (k)

In Crown colonies the powers of the governor are strictly defined, but within the limits of his authority he has absolute discretion. In self-governing colonies, on the other hand, though his powers are nominally wider, the governor takes the place of a constitutional monarch, and must act on the advice of his ministers. An example of this occurred in New Zealand in 1892, when the nominated upper chamber continually refused to support the measures of the premier with a large Parliamentary majority. The Ministry demanded (d) Fenton v. Hampton (1858), 11 Moo. P. C. 347, following Kielley v. Carson (1842), 4 Moo. P. C. 63.

(e) 18 & 19 Vict. c. 55.

(f) 20 Vict. No. 1.

(g) Dill v. Murphy (1864), 1 Moo. P. C. (N. S.) 487.

(h) 38 & 39 Vict. c. 38, s. 1.

(i) Western Australia Constitution Act, 53 & 54 Vict. c. 26, s. 36. (k) See the Interpretation Act, 1889.

an increase in the numbers of the upper house sufficient to give the Government a majority. This the governor refused, but on application to the colonial office he was instructed that where no Imperial interests were at stake, and where the constituencies were at one with the Ministry, he must accept the advice of his ministers.

In Canada lieutenant-governors are appointed not directly by the Crown, but by the governor-general in council, as representing the Crown. (1)

The governor, with the advice of his council, exercises the executive powers conferred upon him by the terms of his commission. The members of the executive council, in colonies which have not responsible Governments, are appointed from amongst the principal officers of the colony, sometimes with unofficial members, by the governor's instructions, or by warrant from the Crown on the advice of the secretary of state. They can be dismissed only by the Crown, the governor having, however, a power of suspension.

In colonies with responsible Governments, the governor appoints or removes members of the executive council, whilst in analogy to the formation of an English Cabinet he also summons those members of the executive council who enjoy the confidence of the representative chambers to form the Ministry corresponding to the English Cabinet; and it is upon the advice of the Ministry, who confer separately (in the same way that a Cabinet Council confers in the absence of the Crown in England), that the governor acts, and not upon the advice of the executive council itself, which, like the Privy Council in England, meets only to transact formal business matters. (m)

It is through the instructions given to the governor that the system of ministerial responsibility has come to be a recognized constitutional doctrine in the colonies. The governor is responsible to the Crown only, and in certain matters, such as Imperial policy, he is the only person who

(1) Such a mode of appointment is not unconstitutional, for the governor and council are merely exercising the delegated authority of the Crown. Per Lord Watson in Liquidators of the Maritime Bank of Canada v. Receiver-General of New Brunswick, [1902] A. C. at p. 443.

(m) See Todd's Parliamentary Government in the British Colonies, p. 37 et seq.