CH. II. and lighthouses; and power to govern and maintain the discipline of the ships belonging to this service was given by an imperial Act of 18841. Under that Act the King in Council in case of war may direct that any vessel belonging to the service shall be under the command of the senior officer of the Royal Navy upon the station where the ship may be, and shall for that time be deemed a vessel of the Royal Navy. As respects land forces, the powers of the Sovereign are exercised through a commander-in-chief, and general and other officers holding commissions from the Sovereign for the purpose. What are termed the 'regular forces' are raised by the Crown in the United Kingdom, are bound to serve in any part of the world, and are governed by the imperial Army Act, formerly called the Mutiny Act, which is annually passed by Parliament. On the other hand the militia and volunteer forces raised in the United Kingdom are only bound to serve in the kingdom". The Sovereign has not constitutionally any power to raise a military force without the consent of Parliament; but when a force is raised with that consent can, subject to any enactment, regulate it in any manner that appears good. The same constitutional rule applies to a colony, but in the case of colonial forces the consent is given by the colonial legislature instead of by the imperial Parliament. The existence of such a force is distinctly recognized by s. 177 of the Army Act3, although that section appears to contemplate volunteers or militia rather than a permanent force. That section, however, enables a colonial force to serve outside the colony by providing for the discipline of it when so serving. This provision is made, first by extending the colonial Act to the 1 47 & 48 Vict. c. 38. See Ilbert, op. cit., p. 208. 2 Their members may volunteer for service elsewhere. See as to the Militia, 45 & 46 Vict. c. 49, s. 12, as amended by 61 & 62 Vict. c. 9, s. 2. 344 & 45 Vict. c. 58. It will be remembered that several colonies sent contingents to serve in South Africa in 1899 and subsequent years. military force wherever it may be, and secondly, by extending CH. II. to the force when serving with the regular forces the Army Act, with certain modifications. In most of the colonies the forces raised are militia or volunteers, serving only within the colony, but in others, e.g. New South Wales, colonial Acts have been passed authorizing the raising of forces of a rather different character. A New South Wales Act 1 authorizes the Governor on behalf of the Crown to engage such number of men as the New South Wales Parliament from time to time provides for. Each man so engaged is to bind himself to serve for a number of years, and is to be subject to the imperial Army Act in force for the time being, and to the King's regulations for governing the army. The command-in-chief in the Sovereign's name is vested in the Governor, who is empowered to appoint the officers and issue commissions under his hand and the seal of the colony, and to convene, and to delegate the power of convening, a court-martial 2. [In Canada the militia consists, according to the Militia Act of 1886, of all the male inhabitants of the age of eighteen years and upwards, and under sixty-not exempted or disqualified by law, and being British subjects by birth or naturalization; but His Majesty may require all the male inhabitants of Canada, capable of bearing arms, to serve in case of a levée en masse. The militia—or any part thereof— may be called out for active service either within or without Canada at any time when it appears advisable so to do by reason of war, invasion, or insurrection, or danger of any of them. In time of peace, 45,000 militia may be trained 1 No. 19 of 1871. 2 [As to the control of the Crown in military and naval matters in the colonies, see Todd, Parliamentary Government in the Colonies, 2nd ed., ch. xii, and, in particular, the proceedings fully described in that chapter as to the dismissal of Mr. Molteno by Sir Bartle Frere in 1877.] * [I have added here some information supplied to me by the Colonial Office as to the militia and similar forces in Canada, the Cape, and the Australasian colonies. C. P. I.] 4 49 Vict. c. II; Revised Statutes of Canada, ch. 41. CH. II. annually for a period not exceeding sixteen days or less than eight days in each year. The several corps are subject to such inspections from time to time as His Majesty may direct. In the Cape Colony the Burgher Force and Levies Act1 provides for all males between the ages of eighteen and fifty, with certain exemptions, being placed on a burgher list, and for the Governor assembling the men on this list or such of them as may to him appear expedient for inspection, or for inspection and rifle practice, when and where, within their respective divisions, he may direct. The Governor may, whenever it is necessary for the defence of the colony or any part thereof, call out the whole or part of the burgher force or levies for service within the colony or beyond the borders thereof. In South Australia the Defences Act of 18952 makes all British male inhabitants between the ages of eighteen and forty-five liable, with certain exemptions, to military service in any part of Australia or Tasmania, but not elsewhere, in case of actual invasion or the imminent prospect thereof, and to continue to serve until the Governor proclaims that the invasion or prospect thereof has ceased. The Governor is empowered to appoint officers to keep up a roll of persons liable to serve. The defence force in Queensland 3 consists of all male inhabitants, with certain exemptions, between the ages of eighteen and sixty, who are British subjects, and a roll of these inhabitants is required to be kept up. They can be called out to complete establishments which cannot be filled by volunteering, in case of war or invasion or imminent danger thereof, for service in any part of the Australian colonies. In Tasmania the Defence Act constitutes a defence force consisting of all male inhabitants, with certain exemptions, between the ages of eighteen and fifty-five, being British subjects, and provides for a roll of these inhabitants being kept up. They can be called out for service in the colony at 1 No. 7 of 1878. 2 Act No. 643. 4 49 Vict. No. 16 (1885). 3 Defence Act, 1884, 48 Vict. No. 27. any time, to complete establishments which cannot be filled CH. II. by volunteering, and are liable to serve in peace for three years, during which they may be trained for a period of not more than sixteen or less than five days in a year. In New Zealand, according to the Defence Act1, the militia consists of all male inhabitants, with certain exemptions, between the ages of seventeen and fifty-five, and a roll of such inhabitants is required to be kept up. The whole of the militia or any part thereof is to be trained as a military force for service in the colony, but no man is to be compelled to train more than seven days in the year. The compulsory powers contained in these Acts are not now actually enforced, and similar powers are not given by the military Acts of Natal, Western Australia, Victoria, and New South Wales.] Any colonial force of the kind described above would be a force such as is referred to in s. 177 of the imperial Army Act, and even though the men in it have engaged to serve in any part of the world, would not be part of the regular forces, but a distinct force. Consequently an officer of the regular forces would not, as such, have any command over the officers and men of the colonial force, nor would an officer or man of the colonial force have, as such, any command over an officer or soldier of the regular forces. And if the King were to grant commissions giving commands to officers of the regular forces over officers and men of a colonial force, this might be considered to be an increase of the regular forces made without the consent of Parliament. Portions of the regular forces of the United Kingdom were formerly maintained in several of the colonies, but since 1870 the troops have been gradually withdrawn, except so far as garrisons are required for certain naval stations, such as Halifax, or Simon's Bay in the Cape2. The fortifications 1 No. 17 of 1886. 2 [The present situation in South Africa had not arisen when this chapter was written.] CH. II. which had been erected by the Home Government or obtained by conquest, have also of late years been transferred to the colonies in which they are situate, a transfer authorized by an imperial Act 1. Subjects for exercise of imperial authority. Head (a). International relations. The land defence of every colony was thus left to the colonial Government, but undoubtedly if war should arise the Home Government would, to the extent of its ability, defend the colony by land as well as by sea, unless indeed the quarrel were one entered into by the colony against the will of the Home Government. The Home Government has pressed several colonies to erect fortifications for their own defence, and in some instances, where the fortifications were of general benefit to the empire for the purpose of naval defence, has made a contribution towards the expense of them. The various subjects in respect of which the authority of Parliament and the Crown can be exercised in a British possession may be summarized under the following heads:(a) The relations of the British possession with other communities, whether part of the British dominions or of foreign countries, including the defence of the British possession against foreign foes. 1 (b) The external affairs of the British possession, such for instance as trade, shipping, or matters of law and policy affecting the whole empire, and including the rights and duties of the inhabitants of the possession when outside that possession 2. (c) The judicial arrangements of the possession. (d) The supreme executive government of the possession. 40 & 41 Vict. c. 23. 2 [I have not ventured to alter the arrangement, but heads (a) and (b) seem to overlap each other. C. P. I.] |