Given at Our Court at Windsor, this Ninth day of July APP. IV, 1892 in the Fifty-sixth year of Our reign. WHEREAS by certain Letters Patent bearing date the Twenty- Preamble ninth day of April 1879 We did constitute, order, and declare that there should be a Governor and Commander-in-Chief (therein and herein-after called the Governor) in and over Our Colony of New South Wales and its Dependencies (which said Colony and its Dependencies are therein and herein-after called the Colony): Letters Patent of 29th April, 1879, consti tuting the Office of Governor. And whereas We did thereby authorize and command the Recites Governor to do and execute all things that belong to his said office, according to the tenor of Our said Letters Patent, and of such Commission as might be issued to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and according to such Instructions as might from time to time be given to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet or by Our Order in Our Privy Council or by us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, and to such Laws as were then or should thereafter be in force in the Colony. And whereas We did issue certain Instructions under Our Recites Sign Manual and Signet, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of Instructions April 1879; And whereas We are minded to give these further Instructions to Our said Governor : of 29th April, 1879. aforesaid Now know you that We do hereby revoke the aforesaid Revokes Instructions and We do by these Our Instructions under Our Instructions. Sign Manual and Signet direct and enjoin and declare Our will and pleasure as follows : I. In these Our Instructions, unless inconsistent with the context, the term 'the Governor' shall include every person for the time being administering the Government of the Colony. administered II. The Governor may, whenever he thinks fit, require any Oaths to be person in the public service to take the Oath of Allegiance, by Governor. together with such other Oath or Oaths as may from time to time be prescribed by any Law in force in the Colony. The Governor is to administer such Oaths or cause them to be administered by some Public Officer of the Colony. Instructions III. The Governor shall forthwith communicate these Our Governor to Instructions to the Executive Council, and likewise all such communicate others, from time to time, as he shall find convenient for Our to Executive Service to impart to them. Council. Governor to appoint a Senior mem preside. President. IV. The Governor shall attend and preside at the meetings of Governor to the Executive Council, unless prevented by some necessary or reasonable cause, and in his absence such member as may be appointed by him in that behalf, or in the absence of such member the senior member of the Executive Council actually present shall preside; the seniority of the members of the said ber to pre side in the absence of the Governor APP. IV. Council being regulated according to the order of their respective appointments as members thereof. and President. members. V. The Executive Council shall not proceed to the dispatch of Seniority of business unless duly summoned by authority of the Governor nor unless two members at the least (exclusive of the Governor or of the member presiding) be present and assisting throughout the whole of the meetings at which any such business shall be dispatched. Quorum. Governor to take advice of Executive Council. Constitution of the Legis. lative Council. VI. In the execution of the powers and authorities vested in him, the Governor shall be guided by the advice of the Executive Council, but if in any case he shall see sufficient cause to dissent from the opinion of the said Council, he may act in the exercise of his said powers and authorities in opposition to the opinion of the Council, reporting the matter to Us without delay, with the reasons for his so acting. In any such case it shall be competent to any member of the said Council to require that there be recorded upon the Minutes of the Council the grounds of any advice or opinion that he may give upon the question. VII. The Governor, with the advice of the Executive Council, is hereby authorized, from time to time, in Our name by an Instrument or Instruments under the Great Seal of the Colony, to summon to the Legislative Council of the Colony such person or persons as the Governor and Executive Council shall think Imperial Act, fit, in accordance with the provisions of an Act passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth years of Our Reign, intituled An Act to enable Her Majesty to assent to a Bill, as amended, of the Legislature of New South Wales 'to confer a Constitution on New South Wales, and to grant a Civil List to Her Majesty.' 18 & 19 Vict. C. 54, 1855. Schedule to the Imperial Act. Description of Bills not to be assented to. VIII. The Governor shall not, except in the cases hereunder mentioned, assent in Our name to any Bill of any of the following classes : 1. Any Bill for the divorce of persons joined together in holy matrimony. 2. Any Bill whereby any grant of land or money, or other donation or gratuity, may be made to himself. 3. Any Bill affecting the currency of the Colony. 4. Any Bill imposing differential duties (other than as allowed by the Australian Colonies' Duties Act, 1873). 5. Any Bill, the provisions of which shall appear inconsistent with obligations imposed upon Us by Treaty. 6. Any Bill interfering with the discipline or control of Our forces in the Colony by land or sea. 7. Any Bill of an extraordinary nature and importance, whereby Our prerogative, or the rights and property of Our subjects not residing in the Colony, or the trade and App. IV. shipping of the United Kingdom and its Dependencies, may be prejudiced. 8. Any Bill containing provisions to which Our assent has been once refused, or which have been disallowed by Us; Unless he shall have previously obtained Our Instructions upon such Bill through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, or unless such Bill shall contain a clause suspending the operation of such Bill until the signification in the Colony of Our pleasure thereupon, or unless the Governor shall have satisfied himself that an urgent necessity exists requiring that Powers in such Bill be brought into immediate operation, in which case urgent cases. he is authorized to assent in Our name to such Bill, unless the same shall be repugnant to the law of England, or inconsistent with any obligations imposed upon Us by Treaty. But he is to transmit to Us by the earliest opportunity the Bill so assented to, together with his reasons for assenting thereto. pardon. IX. The Governor shall not pardon or reprieve any offender Regulation without first receiving in capital cases the advice of the Executive of power of Council, and in other cases the advice of one, at least, of his Ministers; and in any case in which such pardon or reprieve might directly affect the interests of Our Empire, or of any country or place beyond the jurisdiction of the Government of the Colony, the Governor shall, before deciding as to either pardon or reprieve, take those interests specially into his own personal consideration in conjunction with such advice as aforesaid. Judges, &c. to be ap pointed pleasure. X. All Commissions granted by the Governor to any person to be Judges, Justices of the Peace, or other officers, shall, unless otherwise provided by law, be granted during pleasure only. during XI. The Governor shall not quit the Colony without having Governor's first obtained leave from Us for so doing under Our Sign Manual absence. and Signet, or through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, except for the purpose of visiting the Governor of any neighbouring Colony for periods not exceeding one month at any one Temporary time, nor exceeding in the aggregate one month for every year's absence. service in the Colony. leave of absence and from the Colony. XII. The temporary absence of the Governor for any period Governor's not exceeding one month shall not, if he have previously departure informed the Executive Council, in writing, of his intended absence, and if he have duly appointed a Deputy in accordance Interpreta. with Our said Letters Patent, be deemed a departure from the Colony within the meaning of the said Letters Patent. tion Clause. Signet. V. R. I. APP. IV. The Earl of Elgin and Kincardine appointed Viceroy and Governor General of India. III. INDIA WARRANT OF APPOINTMENT OF THE VICEROY AND GOVERNOR- VICTORIA R. & I. VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of 'To Our Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Cousin and Councillor, Victor Alexander, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Greeting. WHEREAS by an Act passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the twenty-first and twenty-second years of Our Reign, intituled 'An Act for the better Government of India,' it is enacted that the appointment of Governor-General of India shall be made by Us by Warrant under Our Royal Sign Manual: Now know that We, reposing especial trust and confidence in the Fidelity, Prudence, Justice, and Circumspection of you the said Victor Alexander, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, have nominated, made, constituted, and appointed you, the said Victor Alexander, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, to be Governor-General of India and of all and singular our Forts, Factories, Settlements, Lands, Territories, Countries, Places, and Provinces which now are or shall from time to time be subject to or under Our Government in the East Indies, and to execute all and every the powers and authorities committed, continued, or given to Our Governor-General of India, by or under or in virtue of a certain Act passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the third and fourth years of the Reign of his late Majesty King William the Fourth, chapter 85, and by or under or in virtue of any other Act or Acts of Parliament now in force, to take upon you, hold, and enjoy the said Office upon and from the death, resignation, or coming away of Henry Charles Keith, Marquis of Lansdowne, Governor-General of India, whichever of those events shall first happen, and to continue in the exercise of the said Office during Our Will and Pleasure, subject nevertheless to such Instructions and Directions as you, the said Victor Alexander, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, shall as Governor-General of India, or as Governor-General of India in Council, from time to time receive under the hand of one of Our Principal Secretaries of State. And We do hereby authorize and empower and require you, the said Victor Alexander, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, to execute and perform all and every the powers and authorities to the said Office of Governor-General of India appertaining. And We do hereby give and grant unto you, the said Victor APP. IV. Alexander, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Our said GovernorGeneral of India, and your Council, as the Governor-General of India in Council, the superintendence, direction, and control of the whole Civil and Military Government of all Our said Territories and Revenues in India, with full power and authority to superintend and control the Governors and Governors in Council respectively of all Our Presidencies in the East Indies in all points relating to the due administration of such Presidencies respectively; and also with all such powers and authorities jointly, severally, and respectively, and subject to all such restrictions and conditions as are given to them respectively or created by or under or by virtue of the said Act passed in the Session of Parliament holden in the third and fourth years of the reign of his said late Majesty King William the Fourth or any other Act or Acts of Parliament now in force. And We do hereby order and require all Our Servants, Officers and Soldiers in the East Indies, and all the people and inhabitants of the Territories under Our Government, and also all Our Governors and Councils of our respective Presidencies in the East Indies, to conform, submit, and yield due obedience unto you, the said Victor Alexander, Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, Our said Governor-General of India, and your said Council accordingly. Given at Our Court at Balmoral the 26th day of October in the year of Our Lord one thousand eight hundred and ninetythree, in the fifty-seventh year of Our Reign. By Her Majesty's Command, KIMBERLEY. IV. SOUTH AFRICA COMMISSION OF HIGH COMMISSIONER. COMMISSION passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, appointing the Governor and Commander-in-Chief or the Officer for the time being administering the Government of the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope to be High Commissioner for South Africa. VICTORIA R. August 1889. VICTORIA, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Dated 20th Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India: To Our Governor and Commander-in-Chief or other Officer for the time being administering the Government of Our Colony of the Cape of Good Hope, with its Territories and Dependencies, Greeting. |