be subject, should be established in the said territories at an early period, and that such laws as may be applicable in common to all classes of the inhabitants of the said territories, due regard being had to the rights, feelings, and peculiar usages of the people, should be enacted, and that all laws and customs having the force of law within the same territories, should be ascertained and consolidated, and, as occasion may require, amended; be it therefore enacted that the said governor-general of India in council shall, as soon as conveniently may be after the passing of this act, issue a commission, and from time to time commissions, to such persons as the said court of directors, with the approbation of the said board of commissioners, shall recommend for that purpose, and to such other persons, if necessary, as the said governor-general in council shall think fit, all such persons not exceeding in the whole at any one time five in number, and to be styled-The India law commission, with all such powers as shall be necessary for the purposes hereinafter mentioned; and the said commissioners shall fully inquire into the jurisdiction, powers, and rules of the existing courts of justice and police establishments in the said territories, and all existing forms of judicial procedure, and into the nature and operation of the laws, whether civil or criminal, written or customary, prevailing and in force in any part of the said territories, and whereto any inhabitant of the said territories, whether European or others, are now subject; and the said commissioners shall, from time to time, make reports, in which they shall fully set forth the result of their inquiries, and shall from time to time suggest such alterations as may in their opinion be beneficially made in the said courts of justice and police establishments, forms of judicial procedure, and laws, due regard being had to the distinction of castes, difference of religion, and the manners and opinions prevailing among different races and in different parts of the said territories.

LIV. And be it enacted, that the said commissioners shall follow such instructions with regard to the researches and inquiries to be made and the places to be visited by them, and all those transactions with reference to the objects of their commission, as they shall from time to time receive from the said governor-general of India in council; and they are hereby required to make to the said governor-general in council such special reports upon any matters as by such instructions may from time to time be required; and the said governorgeneral in council shall take into consideration the reports from time to time made by the said India law commissioners, and shall transmit the same, together with the opinions or resolutions of the said governor-general in council thereon, to the said court of directors; and which said reports, together with the said opinions or resolutions, shall be laid before both houses of parliament in the same manner as is now by law provided concerning the rules and regulations made by the several governments in India.

LV. And be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for the governorgeneral of India in council to grant salaries to the said India law commissioners and their necessary officers and attendants, and to defray such other expenses as may be incident to the said commission, and that the salaries of the said commissioners shall be according to the highest scale of remuneration given to any of the officers or servants of the India company below the rank of members of council.

LVI. And be it enacted, that the executive government of each of the several presidencies of Fort William, in Bengal, Fort St. George, Bengal, and Agra, shall be administered by a governor and three councillors, to be styled "the governor in council of the said presidencies of Fort William in Bengal, Fort St. George, Bombay, and Agra, respectively," and the said governor and councillors respectively of each such presidency shall have the same rights and voices in their assemblies, and shall observe the same order and course in their proceed

ings, as the governors in council of the presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay now have and observe, and that the governor-general of India for the time being shall be governor of the presidency of Fort William in Bengal.

LVII. Provided always, and be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for the said court of directors, under such control as is by this act provided, to revoke and suspend, so often and for such periods as the said court shall in that behalf direct, the appointment of councils in all or any of the said presidencies, or to reduce the number of councillors in all or any of the said councils, and during such time as a council shall not be appointed in any such presidency, the executive government thereof shall be administered by the governor alone.

LVIII. And be it enacted, that the several persons who on the said twentysecond day of April, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-four, shall be governors of the respective presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay, shall be the first governors of the said presidencies respectively under the act; and that the office of governor of the said presidency of Agra, and all vacancies happening in the offices of the governors of the said presidencies respectively shall be filled up by the said court of directors, subject to the approbation of his majesty, to be signified under his royal sign manual, countersigned by the said president of the said board of commissioners.

LIX. And be it enacted, that in the presidencies in which the appointment of a council shall be suspended under the provision herein before contained, and during such times as councils shall not be appointed therein respectively, the governors appointed under this act, and the presidencies in which councils shall from time to time be appointed, the said governors in their respective councils, shall have all the rights, powers, duties, functions, and immunities whatsoever, not in any wise repugnant to this act, which the governors of Fort St. George and Bombay in their respective councils now have within their respective presidencies; and that the governors and members of presidencies appointed by and under this act, shall severally have all the rights, powers, and immunities respectively, not in anywise repugnant to this act, which the governors or members in council of the presidencies of Fort St. George and Bombay respectively now have in their respective presidencies; provided that no governor or governor in council shall have the power of making or suspending any regulations or laws in any case whatever, unless in cases of urgent necessity, the burden of the proof whereof shall be on such governor or governor in council, and then only until the decision of the governor-general of India in council shall be signified thereon; and provided also, that no governor or governors in council shall have the power of creating any new officer, or granting any salary, gratuity, or allowance without the previous sanction of the governor-general of India in council.

LX. Provided always, and be it enacted, that when and so often as the said court of directors shall neglect for the space of two calendar months, to be computed from the day whereon the notification of the vacancy of any office or employment in India in the appointment of the said court, shall have been received by the said court, to supply such vacancy, then and in every such case it shall be lawful for his majesty to appoint, by writing under his sign manual, such person as his majesty shall think proper, to supply such vacancy; and that every person so appointed shall have the same powers, privileges, and authorities as if he or they had been appointed by the said court, and shall not be subject to removal or dismissal without the approbation and consent of his majesty.

LXI. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the said court of directors to appoint any person or persons provisionally to succeed to any of the offices

aforesaid, for supplying any vacancy or vacancies therein, when the same shall happen by the death or resignation of the person or persons holding the same office or offices respectively, or on his or their departure from India with intent to return to Europe, or any event or contingency expressed in any such provisional appointment or appointments to the same respectively, and such appointments again to revoke; provided that every provisional appointment to the several offices of governor-general of India, governor of a presidency, and the member of council of India, by this act directed to be appointed from amongst persons who shall not be servants of the said company, shall be subject to the approbation of his majesty, to be signified as aforesaid, but that no person so appointed to succeed provisionally to any of the said offices, shall be entitled to any authority, salary, or emolument appertaining thereto, until he shall be in the actual possession of such office.

LXII. And be it enacted, that if any vacancy shall happen in the office of governor-general of India, when no provisional or other successor shall be upon the spot to supply such vacancy, then and in every such case the ordinary member of council next in rank to the said governor-general, shall hold and execute the said office of governor-general of India and governor of the presidency of Fort William in Bengal, until a successor shall arrive, or until some other person on the spot shall be duly appointed thereto; and that every such acting governor shall, during the time of his continuing to act as such, have and exercise all the rights and powers of governor-general of India, and shall be entitled to receive the emoluments and advantages appertaining to the office by him supplied, such acting governor-general foregoing his salary and allowances of a member of council for the same period.

LXIII. And be it enacted, that if any vacancy shall happen in the office of governor of Fort Saint George, Bombay, or Agra, when no provisional or other successor shall be upon the spot to supply such vacancy, then and in every such case, if there shall be a council in the presidency in which such vacancy shall happen, the member of such council who shall be next in rank to the governor, other than the commander-in-chief or officer commanding the forces of such presidency; and if there shall be no council, then the secretaries of government of the said presidency who shall be senior in the said office of secretary, shall hold and execute the said office of governor until a successor shall arrive, or until some other person on the spot shall be duly appointed thereto, and that every such acting governor shall, during the time of his continuing to act as such, receive and be entitled to the emoluments and advantages appertaining to the office by him supplied, such acting governor foregoing all salaries and allowances by him held and enjoyed at the time of his being called to supply such office.

LXIV. And be it enacted, that if any vacancy shall happen in the office of any ordinary member of council of India, when no person provisionally or otherwise appointed to succeed thereto shall be then present on the spot, then, and on every such occasion, such vacancy shall be supplied by the appointment of the governor-general in council; and if any vacancy shall happen in the office of a member of council of any presidency when no person provisionally or otherwise appointed to succeed thereto shall be then present on the spot, then, and on every such occasion, such vacancy shall be supplied by the appointment of the governor in council of the presidency in which such vacancy shall happen; and until a successor shall arrive, the person so nominated shall execute the office by him supplied, and shall have all the powers thereof, and shall have and be entitled to the salary and other emoluments and advantages appertaining to the said office during his continuance therein, every such temporary member of council foregoing all salaries and allowances by him held and enjoyed at the

time of his being appointed to such office; provided always, that no person shall be appointed a temporary member of council, who might not have been appointed by the said court of directors to fill the vacancy supplied by such temporary appointment.

LXV. And be it further enacted, that the said governor-general in council, shall have and be invested by virtue of this act with full power and authority to superintend and control the governors and governors in council of Fort William in Bengal, Fort Saint George, Bombay, and Agra, in all points relating to the civil or military administration of the said presidencies respectively, and the said governor and governor in council shall be bound to obey such orders and instructions of the said governor-general in council in all cases whatsoever. LXVI. And be it enacted, that it shall and may be lawful for the governors or governors in council of Fort William in Bengal, Fort Saint George, Bombay, and Agra, respectively, to propose to the said governor-general in council, drafts of projects of any laws or regulations which the said governor or governor in council respectively, may think expedient, together with their reasons for proposing the same; and the said governor-general in council is hereby required to take the same and such reasons into consideration, and to communicate the resolutions of the said governor-general in council thereon, to the governor or governor in council by whom the same shall have been proposed.

LXVII. And be it enacted, that when the said governor-general shall visit any of the presidencies of Fort Saint George, Bombay, or Agra, the powers of the governors of those presidencies respectively shall not, by reason of such visit, be suspended.

LXVIII. And be it enacted, that the said governors and governors in council of the said presidencies of Fort William in Bengal, Fort Saint George, Bombay, and Agra, respectively, shall, and they are hereby respectively required, regularly to transmit to the said governor-general in council, true and exact copies of all such orders and acts of their respective governments, and also advice and intelligence of all transactions and matters which shall have come to their knowledge, and which they shall deem material to be communicated to the said governor-general in council as aforesaid, or as the said governorgeneral in council shall from time to time require.

LXIX. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the said governorgeneral in council, as often as the exigencies of the public service may appear to him to require, to appoint such one of the ordinary members of the said council of India as he may think fit, to be deputy-governor of the said presidency of Fort William in Bengal, and such deputy-governor shall be invested with all the powers and perform all the duties of the said governor of the presidency of Fort William in Bengal, but shall receive no additional salary by reason of such appointment.

LXX. And be it enacted, that whenever the said governor-general in council shall declare that it is expedient that the said governor-general should visit any part of India unaccompanied by any member or members of the council of India, it shall be lawful for the said governor-general in council, previously to the departure of the said governor-general, to nominate some member of the council of India to be president of the said council, in whom, during the absence of the said governor-general from the said presidency of Fort William in Bengal, the powers of the said governor-general in assemblies of the said council shall be reposed; and it shall be lawful in every such case for the said governor-general in council, by a law or regulation for that purpose to be made, to authorise the governor-general alone to exercise all or any of the powers which might be exercised by the said governor-general in council, except the power of making laws or regulations; provided always that during the absence of the

governor-general no law or regulation shall be made by the said president and council, without the assent in writing of the governor-general.

LXXI. And be it enacted, that there shall not, by reason of the division of the territories not subject to the government of the presidency of Fort William in Bengal into two presidencies, as aforesaid, be any separation between the establishments and forces thereof respectively, or any alteration in the course and order of promotion and succession of the company's servants in the same two presidencies respectively, but that all the servants, civil and military, of the Bengal establishments and forces, shall and may succeed and be appointed to all commands and offices within either of the said presidencies respectively, as if this act had not been passed.

LXXII. And be it enacted, that for the purposes of an act passed in the fourth year of the reign of his late majesty King George the Fourth, intituled an act to consolidate and amend the laws for punishing mutiny and desertion of officers and soldiers in the service of the East India company, and to authorise soldiers and sailors in the East Indies to send and receive letters at a reduced rate of postage, and of any articles of war made or to be made under the same, the presidency of Fort William in Bengal shall be taken and deemed to comprise under and within it all the territories which by or in virtue of this act shall be divided between the presidencies of Fort William in Bengal and Agra respectively, and shall, for all the purposes aforesaid, be taken to be the presidency of Fort William in Bengal in the said act mentioned.

LXXIII. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for the said governorgeneral in council, from time to time to make articles of war for the government of the native officers and soldiers in the military service of the company, and for the administration of justice by courts-martial to be holden on such officers and soldiers, and such articles of war from time to time to repeal or vary and amend; and such articles of war shall be made and taken notice of in the same manner as all other laws and regulations to be made by the said governor-general in council, under this act, and shall prevail and be in force, and shall be of exclusive authority over all the native officers and soldiers in the said military service, to whatever presidency such officers and soldiers may belong, or whatsoever they may be serving; provided, nevertheless, that until such articles of war shall be made by the said governor-general in council, any articles of war relating to the government of the company's native force which at the time of this act coming into operation, shall be in force and use in any part or parts of the said territories, shall remain in force.

LXXIV. And be it enacted, that it shall be lawful for his majesty, by any writing under his sign manual, countersigned by the president of the said board of commissioners, to remove or dismiss any person holding any office, employment, or commission, civil or military, under the said company in India, and to vacate any appointment or commission of any person to any such office or employment; provided, that a copy of every such writing attested by the said president shall, within eight days after the same shall be signed by his majesty, be transmitted or delivered to the chairman or deputy-chairman of the said company.

LXXV. Provided always, and be it enacted, that nothing in this act contained shall take away the power of the said court of directors to remove or dismiss any of the officers or servants of the said company, but that the said court shall and may at all times have full liberty to remove or dismiss any of such officers or servants at their will and pleasure; provided, that any servant of the said company, appointed by his majesty through the default of appointment of the said court of directors, shall not be dismissed or removed without his majesty's approbation, as herein before is mentioned.