III. Appendix.
A. The Character of Political Unions.
PERMANENT political unions are commonly classified as Confederation, Incorporation (or Consolidation), and Federation. The nature of Confederation as a type of political union is simple, though the name is not unfrequently applied to organizations, which, in fact, belong to one of the other classes, as when we speak of the Confederation of Canada or the Confederacy of the Swiss Republic. It is an alliance of States, in which the central power “represents only the governments of the several members of the union; its powers consist simply in issuing requisitions to the state governments, which, when within the limits of the federal authority, it is the duty of those governments to carry out.” The purposes for which requisitions may be made are those, which the parties have submitted to the “federal power”; they may be few or many, and might conceivably extend to everything upon which sovereign power can operate. But so slight a tie will not bear the pressure of many or indefinite requisitions. Defence against external aggression, probably the conduct of foreign affairs, and the determination of disputes between the States, which, by disturbing internal tranquillity, expose the Confederacy to the danger of attack from without—these are the objects to which a system of Confederate States is likely to be confined. But “confederate” elements may be found in the closer unions. In the Empire of Germany, which, perhaps, from its monarchic government and the mode of its establishment, as much as from the scope of the central authority, is often regarded as a consolidation rather than a federation, the Bundesrath —an upper chamber which overshadows the lower—is distinctly confederate. Its constitution might easily mislead us as to its character. The States are unequally represented; their membership roughly corresponds with their population and importance; it therefore suggests a national democratic organization. But its true nature
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is thus accurately described by Mr. Laurence Lowell: “It is not an international conference, because it is part of a constitutional system and has power to enact laws. On the other hand, it is not a deliberative assembly, because the delegates vote according to instructions from home. It is unlike any other legislative chamber, inasmuch as the members do not enjoy a fixed tenure of office, and are not free to vote according to their personal convictions. Its essential characteristics are, that it represents the governments of the States and not their people, and that each State is entitled to a certain number of votes, which it may authorize one or more persons to cast in its name, those persons being its agents, whom it may appoint, recall, or instruct at any time. The true conception of the Bundesrath, therefore, is that of an assembly of the sovereigns of the States, who are not indeed actually present, but appear in the persons of their representatives.”note
Incorporation differs from Confederation in that it substitutes a new state for several states, in every case at any rate where the incorporation does not consist merely in the absorption by one state of part of another state. The state possesses a government, which may or may not be sovereign, but which, in one form or another, pervades the whole territory of the state, and is capable of affecting all its subjects. If there be governments of parts of the state—what are called local governments—they will commonly derive their existence and authority from the central government, and, in any case, they will be subject to its regulation, and will rely upon its organs for their support. Complete unification would seem to imply such a homogeneity of the institutions of the state, as would remove all the marks of the former separateness of the component parts, which would become mere geographical areas. But such an unification would hardly contribute to the stability and durability of the state, and the new state will act wisely to seek and retain the ancient landmarks. In practice, consolidation does not in fact obliterate the original lines of division; and the retention of these lines furnishes what are called the federal elements of an incorporated union. From one point of view, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland is a perfect incorporation or consolidation; it is one state whose government—the Imperial Parliament—unlimited in scope, supreme in authority, and unitary in action, is rightly regarded as a type of sovereignty in its simplest and most direct form. But the constitution of both Houses of Parliament, and the separate administrative and jural systems, are the legal recognition of the three kingdoms as separate units, and are the federal elements in the union. To say that these “federal elements” exist by virtue of the law, and therefore by the sufferance of the state, is to say no more than may be said of every part of every federation. The popular description “legislative union” expresses
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the condition of the United Kingdom better than any other term which can be applied to it.
Federal union differs from Confederation in this, that it creates a new political organism, a state possessing all the attributes of sovereignty. It is universal in scope, exclusive of every other power, and of necessity supreme over, and acting upon, all persons and things within its territory. To distinguish the “federal state” from the “unitary state” is a much more difficult task. The distinction lies, not in the nature of the state itself, but in the organization of government. In every “federal state” the government consists of central and local parts, neither owing its existence to the other, nor capable of destruction by the other. The central government in matters within its sphere extends over the whole territory and population of the state; the local government is restricted in area. But, while this may be said of every state called federal, the same may be said of states regarded as unitary, where local institutions are directly established by the constitution. Seeleynote denies altogether that there is any fundamental difference between the unitary and the federal state, and adopts these terms merely as “marking conveniently the great difference which may exist between states in respect of the importance of local government.” Even the preponderance of the local government, which Seeley regards as the mark of the federal state, can hardly be regarded as essential. In Canada, the residuary power of government lies in the central and not in the provincial power, and the control which the Dominion Government may exercise over the provincial in every department warns us, that the doctrine of the independence of the governments in their respective spheres must not be pushed too far. Neither in the United States nor in Germany can we truly speak of the preponderance of local government. On the whole, we must be content with some vague description as that the independence of the local government surpasses anything which can fairly come under the head of municipal freedom,note or we may adopt Lewis'snote description of a subordinate government as one which possesses powers and institutions applicable to every purpose of government, and which would thus be capable of governing the district subject to it, if the supreme government were altogether withdrawn.
To say no more than this, is to describe very imperfectly any federal union that now exists or has ever existed. But the organisms, which go by the name of Federations, present so great a diversity that, beyond the characteristics named, there is hardly anything that may be deemed essential save agreement. In general, the new state has
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been formed by the coalescence of several states, which preserve their existence as units, and maintain a large part of their previous organization and functions as the “local part” of the government of the new state, and, as units, are the basis of the organization of the central government. This, with the fact that the functions that they discharge are not enumerated, while those of the central government are, gives them the appearance of an independent existence, which leads to such statements as, that there is a “residuary sovereignty in the state” (meaning the component state), that a federation is a “union of sovereign states,” and that a federal state differs from other states by the fact that it is one state and several states.
In a complex political organism, where law and politics are necessarily entwined, the importance of a clear appreciation of these matters cannot be over-rated. “It requires patient and successful discrimination to attain a point of view from which it is clearly seen that there can be no such thing as residuary sovereignty; that sovereignty is entire or not at all; and that what is left by the state to the local organizations, in this manner of distribution, is only the residuary power of government.”note
But the coalition of separate states is not the only way in which a federal state may be established. The experience of the Dominion of Canada has disproved the doctrine of Freeman, that “a federal union, to be of any value, must arise by the establishment of a closer tie between elements which were before distinct, not by the division of members which have been hitherto more closely united.”note Without going so far as Mr. Goldwin Smith, who speaks of that union as the creature of deadlock,note we must recognize that the immediate occasion of the accession of Upper and Lower Canada to the Confederation, proposed by the Maritime Provinces, was the perception of the leading men of both parties, that Confederation offered an escape from the embarrassment of a legislative union, which had proved too close a tie. The very general interest in federation at the present day is due to the belief, that it offers an escape from the dangers of over-centralization in large states.
The complete and separate equipment of the central and local governments for the discharge of the three governmental functions— legislative, executive, and judicial—might well be considered essential to the federal form. But a rigid adherence to this test would raise the question of the federal character of the German Empire, where executive power practically rests on the arm of Prussia, and where, as to judicial power, the organization of the Courts of the States is controlled by Imperial legislation. In Canada, the judges of the
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provincial courts are appointed, paid, and, should the occasion arise, removed, by the Dominion Government.
The division of powers in a Federal State between central and local organs, implies some machinery for confining each to its sphere. But no one method for enforcing those limitations can be deemed essential. The power of the Courts, as an incident of ordinary judicial duties, to interpret the Constitution and prevent the other organs from exceeding their powers, belongs fundamentally neither to a written constitution nor to federalism, for both may and do exist without it. It is in some respects, even, the contradictory of federalism and its separation of powers. Its origin is in the unity and universality of the English Common Law and the jealousy of the Common-Law Courts. For the source of what has been to so many Englishmen the mythical power of the Supreme Court of the United States, we must look rather to the conflicts of Coke and Bacon than to the letter of the constitution of the United States.
If there be no essential difference in the scope even of a Confederation and an Incorporation, if the former may embrace every subject over which governmental power can be exercised, we are not likely to find the true test of federalism in the purposes of union. So great an authority as Freeman, however, has said, “The true and perfect Federal Commonwealth is any collection of States in which it is equally unlawful for the Central Power to interfere with the purely internal legislation of the several members, and for the several members to enter into any diplomatic relation with other powers.”note This may describe, with some approach to accuracy, the principle of the United States Constitution; but, in neither of these elements, does it truly describe the Constitution of the German Empire, and it is wholly inapplicable to such unions of dependent communities as constitute the Dominion of Canada and the Commonwealth of Australia. “All must be subject to a common power in matters which concern the whole body of members collectively,”note still leaves one question: What are such common matters? The answer can only be, those which the parties have declared to be common.
Comparing the existing political unions with the three types, we find that no actual union does more than approximate to a type, and that it must be placed in one class or another, according to the preponderance of one or the other elements in it. The Confederacy of the United States did not operate wholly upon governments; the government of the present union contains elements national, federal, and confederate. As has been pointed out, the German Empire is sometimes regarded as a unitary State, sometimes as federal, but it contains at anyrate one mark of confederation. The incorporate
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union of Great Britain and Ireland has federal features in its government, and the “confederation” of Canada produced an organism without confederacy, and, with a government, which, in many of the matters commonly associated with the federal form, exhibits the marks of unitary rather than of federal government. In the formation of every political organism the only rule can be political expediency.
B. Constitutional Documents.
(A.) Commonwealth of Australia.
1. Proclamation of the Commonwealth of Australia.
BY THE QUEEN.
A PROCLAMATION.
VICTORIA R.,
WHEREAS by an Act of Parliament passed in the sixty-third and sixty-fourth years of Our reign, intituled “An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia,” it is enacted that it shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by Proclamation that on and after a day therein appointed, not being later than one year after the passing of this Act, the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, and also, if Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia.
And whereas We are satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed thereto accordingly.
We, therefore, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council, have thought fit to issue this Our Royal Proclamation, and We do hereby declare that on and after the first day of January One thousand nine hundred and one the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of The Commonwealth of Australia.
Given at Our Court at Balmoral this seventeenth day of September in the year of Our Lord One thousand nine hundred and in the sixty-fourth year of Our Reign.
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN!
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2. LETTERS PATENT passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, constituting the Office of Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Victoria, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India: To all to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting:
noteWHEREAS, by an Act of Parliament passed on the Ninth day of July, 1900, in the Sixty-fourth year of Our Reign, intituled “An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia,” it is enacted that “it shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by Proclamation that, on and after a day therein appointed, not being later than one year after the passing of this Act, the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and also, if Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia. But the Queen may, at any time after proclamation, appoint a Governor-General for the Commonwealth”:
note noteAnd whereas We did on the Seventeenth day of September One thousand nine hundred, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council, declare by Proclamation that, on and after the First day of January One thousand nine hundred and one, the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and also Western Australia, should be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia: And whereas by the said recited Act certain powers, functions, and authorities were declared to be vested in the Governor-General: And whereas We are desirous of making effectual and permanent provision for the Office of Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our said Commonwealth of Australia, without making new Letters Patent on each demise of the said Office: Now know ye that We have thought fit to constitute, order, and declare, and do by these presents constitute, order, and declare, that there shall be a Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief (herein-after called the Governor-General) in and over Our Commonwealth of Australia (herein-after called Our said Commonwealth), and that the person who shall fill the said Office of Governor-General shall be from time to time appointed by Commission under Our Sign Manual and Signet. And We do hereby authorize and command Our
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said Governor-General to do and execute, in due manner, all things that shall belong to his said command, and to the trust We have reposed in him, according to the several powers and authorities granted or appointed him by virtue of “The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900,” and of these present Letters Patent and of such Commission as may be issued to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and according to such Instructions as may 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 shall hereafter be in force in Our said Commonwealth.
II. There shall be a Great Seal of and for Our said Commonwealth which our said Governor-General shall keep and use for sealing all things whatsoever that shall pass the said Great Seal. Provided that until a Great Seal shall be provided, the Private Seal of our said Governor-General may be used as the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Australia.
noteIII. The Governor-General may constitute and appoint, in Our name and on Our behalf, all such Judges, Commissioners, Justices of the Peace, and other necessary Officers and Ministers of Our said Commonwealth, as may be lawfully constituted or appointed by Us.
noteIV. The Governor-General, so far as We Ourselves lawfully may, upon sufficient cause to him appearing, may remove from his office, or suspend from the exercise of the same, any person exercising any Office of Our said Commonwealth, under or by virtue of any Commission or Warrant granted, or which may be granted, by Us in our name or under Our authority.
noteV. The Governor-General may on Our behalf exercise all powers under the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900, or otherwise in respect of the summoning, proroguing, or dissolving the Parliament of Our said Commonwealth.
noteVI. And whereas by “The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900,” it is amongst other things enacted, that We may authorise the Governor-General to appoint any person or persons, jointly or severally, to be his Deputy or Deputies within any part of Our Commonwealth, and in that capacity to exercise, during the pleasure of the Governor-General, such powers and functions of the said Governor-General as he thinks fit to assign to such Deputy or Deputies, subject to any limitations expressed or directions given by Us: Now We do hereby authorise and empower Our said Governor-General, subject to such limitations and directions as aforesaid, to appoint any person or persons, jointly or severally, to be his Deputy or Deputies within any part of Our said Commonwealth of Australia, and in that capacity to
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exercise, during his pleasure, such of his powers and functions as he may deem it necessary or expedient to assign to him or them: Provided always, that the appointment of such a Deputy or Deputies shall not affect the exercise by the Governor-General himself of any power or function.
VII. And we do hereby declare Our pleasure to be that, in the event of the death, incapacity, removal, or absence of Our said Governor-General out of our said Commonwealth, all and every the powers and authorities herein granted to him shall, until Our further pleasure is signified therein, be vested in such person as may be appointed by Us under Our Sign Manual and Signet to be Our Lieutenant-Governor of Our said Commonwealth; or if there shall be no such Lieutenant-Governor in Our said Commonwealth, then in such person or persons as may be appointed by Us under Our Sign Manual and Signet to administer the Government of the same. No such powers or authorities shall vest in such Lieutenant-Governor, or such other person or persons, until he or they shall have taken the oaths appointed to be taken by the Governor-General of Our said Commonwealth, and in the manner provided by the Instructions accompanying these Our Letters Patent.
noteVIII. And We do hereby require and command all Our Officers and Ministers, Civil and Military, and all other the inhabitants of Our said Commonwealth, to be obedient, aiding, and assisting unto Our said Governor-General, or, in the event of his death, incapacity, or absence, to such person or persons as may, from time to time, under the provisions of these Our Letters Patent, administer the Government of Our said Commonwealth.
noteIX. And We do hereby reserve to Ourselves, Our heirs and successors, full power and authority from time to time to revoke, alter, or amend these Our Letters Patent as to us or them shall seem meet.
noteX. And We do further direct and enjoin that these Our Letters Patent shall be read and proclaimed at such place or places as Our said Governor-General shall think fit within Our said Commonwealth of Australia.
In Witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent. Witness Ourself at Westminster, the twenty-ninth day of October, in the Sixty-fourth Year of Our Reign.
By Warrant under the Queen's Sign Manual.
MUIR MACKENZIE.
Letters Patent constituting the Office of
Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the
Commonwealth of Australia.
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3. INSTRUCTIONS passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet to the Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth of Australia.
VICTORIA R.I.
noteInstructions to our Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over our Commonwealth of Australia, or, in his absence, to our Lieutenant-Governor, or the Officer for the time being administering the Government of our said Commonwealth.
Given at our Court at Saint James's, this Twenty-ninth day of October, 1900, in the Sixty-fourth year of our reign.
note noteWHEREAS by certain Letters Patent bearing even date herewith, We have constituted, ordered, and declared that there shall be a Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief (therein and herein-after called the Governor-General), in and over Our Commonwealth of Australia (therein and hereinafter called Our said Commonwealth). And We have thereby authorised and commanded Our said Governor-General to do and execute in due manner all things that shall belong to his said command, and to the trust We have reposed in him, according to the several powers and authorities granted or appointed him by virtue of the said Letters Patent, and of such Commission as may be issued to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and according to such instructions as may 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 shall hereafter be in force in our said Commonwealth. Now therefore, We do, by these Our Instructions under Our Sign Manual and Signet, declare our pleasure to be as follows:
noteI. Our first appointed Governor-General shall, with all due solemnity, cause Our Commission, under Our Sign Manual and Signet, appointing Our said Governor-General, to be read and published in the presence of Our Governors, or in their absence of Our Lieutenant-Governors of Our Colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia, and such of the members of the Executive Council, Judges, and members of the Legislatures of Our said Colonies as are able to attend.
note noteII. Our said Governor-General of Our said Commonwealth shall take the Oath of Allegiance in the form provided by an Act passed in the Session holden in the thirty-first and thirty-second years
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of Our Reign, intituled “An Act to amend the law relating to Promissory Oaths,” and likewise the usual Oath for the due execution of the office of Our Governor-General in and over Our said Commonwealth, and for the due and impartial administration of justice, which Oaths Our said Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Our Colony of New South Wales, or, in his absence, our Lieutenant-Governor or other officer administering the Government of Our said Colony, shall and he is hereby required to tender and administer unto him.
III. Every Governor-General, and every other officer appointed to administer the Government of Our said Commonwealth after Our said first appointed Governor-General, shall, with all due solemnity, cause Our Commission, under our Sign Manual and Signet, appointing our said Governor-General, to be read and published in the presence of the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, or some other Judge of the said Court.
note noteIV. Every Governor-General, and every other officer appointed to administer the Government of Our said Commonwealth after Our said first appointed Governor-General, shall take the Oath of Allegiance in the form provided by an Act passed in the Session holden in the thirty-first and thirty-second years of Our Reign, intituled “An Act to amend the law relating to Promissory Oaths,” and likewise the usual Oath for the due execution of the office of Our Governor-General in and over Our said Commonwealth, and for the due and impartial administration of Justice, which Oaths the Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia, or some other Judge of the said Court, shall and he is hereby required to tender and administer unto him or them.
noteV. And We do authorise and require Our said Governor-General from time to time, by himself or by any other person to be authorized by him in that behalf, to administer to all and to every person or persons, as he shall think fit, who shall hold any office or place of trust or profit in our said Commonwealth, the said Oath of Allegiance, together with such other Oath or Oaths as may from time to time be prescribed by any laws or statutes in that behalf made and provided.
noteVI. And We do require Our said Governor-General to communicate forthwith to the Members of the Executive Council for Our said Commonwealth these Our Instructions, and likewise all such others, from time to time, as he shall find convenient for Our service, to be imparted to them.
note noteVII. Our said Governor-General is to take care that all laws assented to by him in Our name, or reserved for the signification of Our pleasure thereon, shall, when transmitted by him, be fairly abstracted in the margins, and be accompanied, in such cases as
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may seem to him necessary, with such explanatory observations as may be required to exhibit the reasons and occasions for proposing such laws, and he shall also transmit fair copies of the Journals and Minutes of the proceedings of the Parliament of our said Commonwealth, which he is to require from the clerks or other proper officers in that behalf, of the said Parliament.
VIII. And We do further authorize and empower Our said Governor-General, as he shall see occasion, in Our name and on Our behalf, when any crime or offence against the laws of Our Commonwealth has been committed, for which the offender may be tried within Our said Commonwealth, to grant a pardon to any accomplice in such crime or offence, who shall give such information as shall lead to the conviction of the principal offender, or of any one of such offenders, if more than one; and further, to grant to any offender convicted of any such crime or offence in any Court, or before any Judge, Justice, or Magistrate, within Our said Commonwealth, a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions, or any respite of the execution of the sentence of any such offender, for such period as to Our said Governor-General may seem fit, and to remit any fines, penalties, or forfeitures which may become due and payable to Us. Provided always, that Our said Governor-General shall not in any case, except where the offence has been of a political nature, make it a condition of any pardon or remission of sentence that the offender shall be banished from or shall absent himself from Our said Commonwealth. And We do hereby direct and enjoin that Our said Governor-General shall not pardon or reprieve any such offender without first receiving in capital cases the advice of the Executive Council for Our said Commonwealth, 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 Our said Commonwealth, Our said Governor-General 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.
noteIX. And whereas great prejudice may happen to Our service and to the security of Our said Commonwealth by the absence of Our said Governor-General, he shall not, upon any pretence whatever, quit Our said Commonwealth without having first obtained leave from us for so doing, under Our Sign Manual and Signet, or through one of our principal Secretaries of State. V. R. I.
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4. COMMISSION passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, appointing the Right Honourable The Earl of Hopetoun, P.C., K.T., G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., to be Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth of Australia.
VICTORIA R.
noteVictoria, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India; To Our Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Cousin and Councillor, John Adrian Louis, Earl of Hopetoun, Knight of Our Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle, Knight Grand Cross of Our Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order, Greeting.
noteWE do, by this Our Commission under Our Sign Manual and Signet, appoint you, the said John Adrian Louis, Earl of Hopetoun, to be, during Our pleasure, Our Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over our Commonwealth of Australia, with all the powers, rights, privileges, and advantages to the said Office belonging or appertaining.
noteII. And we do hereby authorize, empower, and command you to exercise and perform all and singular the powers and directions contained in Our Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the Twenty-ninth day of October, 1900, constituting the said Office of Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, or in any other Our Letters Patent adding to, amending, or substituted for the same and according to such Orders and Instructions as you may receive from Us.
noteIII. And We do hereby command all and singular Our Officers, Ministers, and loving subjects in Our said Commonwealth, and all others whom it may concern, to take due notice hereof, and to give their ready obedience accordingly.
Given at our Court of Saint James's this Twenty-ninth day of
October, 1900, in the Sixty-fourth year of Our Reign.
By Her Majesty's Command,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
COMMISSION appointing
The Right Honourable the Earl of Hopetoun, P.C., K.T.,
G.C.M.G., G.C.V.O., to be Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth of Australia.
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(B.) The States.
[The following instruments were issued in relation to the State of Victoria. Similar instruments were issued in relation to each of the other States.]
Victoria.
note1. LETTERS PATENT passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom constituting the Office of Governor of the State of Victoria and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia.
Victoria, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India: To all to whom these presents shall come, Greeting.
note note note note note noteWHEREAS, by certain Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the Twenty-first day of February, 1879, We did constitute the Office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Colony of Victoria as therein described, and its Dependencies: And whereas, in virtue of the provisions of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, 1900, and of Our Proclamation issued thereunder, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council on the Seventeenth day of September, 1900, We have by certain Letters Patent under the said Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing even date herewith, made provision for the Office of Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over our Commonwealth of Australia: And whereas it has become necessary to make permanent provision for the Office of Governor in and over Our State of Victoria and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia, without making new Letters Patent on each demise of the said Office. Now know ye that We do by these presents revoke and determine the said first-recited Letters Patent of the Twenty-first day of February, 1879, and everything therein contained, from and after the proclamation of these our Letters Patent as hereinafter provided: And further know ye that We do by these presents constitute, order, and declare that there shall be a Governor in and over Our State of Victoria (comprising the territories bounded on the west by Our State of South Australia, on the south by the sea, and on the east and north by a straight line drawn from Cape Howe to the nearest source of the River Murray, and thence by the course of that river to the Eastern Boundary of Our State of South
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Australia) and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia (which said State of Victoria and its Dependencies are hereinafter called the State), and that appointments to the said Office shall be made by Commission under Our Sign Manual and Signet.
II. We do hereby authorize, empower, and command Our said Governor to do and execute all things that belong to his said Office, according to the tenor of these Our Letters Patent and of such Commission as may be issued to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and according to such Instructions as may 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 are now or shall hereafter be in force in the State.
III. We do also by these Our Letters Patent declare Our will and pleasure as follows:—
note note noteIV. Every person appointed to fill the Office of Governor shall with all due solemnity, before entering on any of the duties of his Office, cause the Commission appointing him to be Governor to be read and published at the seat of Government, in the presence of the Chief Justice, or some other Judge of the Supreme Court of the State, and of the Members of the Executive Council thereof, which being done, he shall then and there take before them the Oath of Allegiance, in the form provided by an Act passed in the Session holden in the Thirty-first and Thirty-second years of Our Reign, intituled an Act to amend the Law relating to Promissory Oaths; and likewise the usual Oath for the due execution of the Office of Governor, and for the due and impartial administration of justice: which Oaths the said Chief Justice or Judge is hereby required to administer.
noteV. The Governor shall keep and use the Public Seal of the State for sealing all things whatsoever that shall pass the said Public Seal: and until a Public Seal shall be provided for the State the Public Seal formerly used in Our Colony of Victoria shall be used as the Public Seal of the State.
noteVI. There shall be an Executive Council for the State, and the said Council shall consist of such persons as were, immediately before the coming into force of these Our Letters Patent, Members of the Executive Council of Victoria, or as may at any time be Members of the Executive Council for Our said State in accordance with any Law enacted by the Legislature of the State, and of such other persons as the Governor shall, from time to time, in Our name and on Our behalf, but subject to any Law as aforesaid, appoint under the Public Seal of the State to be Members of Our said Executive Council for the State.
noteVII. The Governor, in Our name and on Our behalf, may make
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and execute, under the said Public Seal, grants and dispositions of any land which may be lawfully granted and disposed of by Us, within the State.
VIII. The Governor may constitute and appoint, in Our name and on Our behalf, all such Judges, Commissioners, Justices of the Peace, and other necessary Officers and Ministers of the State as may be lawfully constituted or appointed by Us.
note note note noteIX. When any crime or offence has been committed within the State against the laws of the State, or for which the offender may be tried therein, the Governor may as he shall see occasion, in Our name and on Our behalf, grant a pardon to any accomplice in such crime or offence who shall give such information as shall lead to the conviction of the principal offender, or of any one of such offenders if more than one; and further, may grant to any offender convicted in any Court of the State, or before any Judge or other Magistrate of the State, within the State, a pardon, either free or subject to lawful conditions, or any remission of the sentence passed on such offender, or any respite of the execution of such sentence for such period as the Governor thinks fit; and further may remit any fines, penalties, or forfeitures due or accrued to Us: Provided always that the Governor shall in no case, except where the offence has been of a political nature unaccompanied by any other grave crime, make it a condition of any pardon or remission of sentence that the offender shall absent himself or be removed from the State.
noteX. The Governor may, so far as We Ourselves lawfully may, upon sufficient cause to him appearing, remove from his office, or suspend from the exercise of the same, any person exercising any office or place under the State, under or by virtue of any Commission or Warrant granted, or which may be granted, by Us, in Our name, or under Our authority.
noteXI. The Governor may exercise all powers lawfully belonging to Us in respect of the summoning, proroguing, or dissolving any Legislative Body, which now is or hereafter may be established within Our said State.
note note note note noteXII. In the event of the death, incapacity, or removal of the Governor, or of his departure from the State, Our Lieutenant-Governor, or, if there be no such Officer in the State, then such person or persons as We may appoint, under Our Sign Manual and Signet, shall during Our pleasure, administer the Government of the State, first taking the Oaths hereinbefore directed to be taken by the Governor, and in the manner herein prescribed; which being done, We do hereby authorize, empower, and command Our Lieutenant-Governor, and every other such Administrator as aforesaid, to do and execute during Our pleasure all things that
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belong to the Office of Governor according to the tenor of these Our Letters Patent, and according to Our Instructions as aforesaid, and the Laws of the State.
XIII. In the event of the Governor having occasion to be temporarily absent for a short period from the Seat of Government or from the State, he may in every such case, by an Instrument under the Public Seal of the State, constitute and appoint Our Lieutenant-Governor, or, if there be no such Officer, or if such Officer be absent or unable to act, then any other person to be his Deputy during such temporary absence, and in that capacity to exercise, perform, and execute for and on behalf of the Governor during such absence, but no longer, all such powers and authorities vested in the Governor, by these Our Letters Patent, as shall in and by such Instrument be specified and limited, but no others. Provided, nevertheless, that by the appointment of a Deputy as aforesaid, the power and authority of the Governor shall not be abridged, altered, or in any way affected, otherwise than We may at any time hereafter think proper to direct.
noteXIV. And We do hereby require and command all our Officers and Ministers, and all other the inhabitants of the State, to be obedient, aiding, and assisting unto the Governor, or to such person or persons as may from time to time, under the provision of these our Letters Patent, administer the Government of the State.
noteXV. And We do hereby reserve to Ourselves, our heirs and Successors, full power and authority from time to time to revoke, alter, or amend these our Letters Patent as to Us or Them shall seem meet.
noteXVI. And We do direct and enjoin that these Our Letters. Patent shall be read and proclaimed at such place or places within Our said State as the Governor shall think fit.
In Witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent. Witness Ourself at Westminster, this Twenty-ninth day of October, in the Sixty-fourth year of Our Reign.
By Warrant under the Queen's Sign Manual.
MUIR MACKENZIE.
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2. INSTRUCTIONS passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet to the Governor of the State of Victoria and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia.
VICTORIA R.I.
noteINSTRUCTIONS to Our Governor in and over Our State of Victoria and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia, or to Our Lieutenant-Governor, or other Officer for the time being administering the Government of Our said State and its Dependencies.
Given at Our Court at St. James's, this Twenty-ninth day of October, 1900, in the Sixty-fourth year of Our Reign.
note noteWHEREAS by certain Letters Patent bearing even date herewith, We have constituted, ordered, and declared that there shall be a Governor in and over Our State of Victoria and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia (which said State of Victoria and its Dependencies are therein and hereinafter called the State):
And whereas we have therein authorized and commanded the 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 may be issued to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and according to such Instructions as may 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 are now or shall hereafter be in force in the State:
noteAnd whereas We did issue certain Instructions under Our Sign Manual and Signet to Our Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Colony of Victoria and its Dependencies bearing date the Ninth day of July, 1892:
noteNow know you that We do hereby revoke the aforesaid Instructions, and We do by these Our Instructions under Our Sign Manual and Signet direct and enjoin and declare Our will and pleasure as follows:—
noteI. 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 State, and the term “the Executive Council” shall mean the members of Our Executive Council for the State who are for the time being responsible advisers of the Governor.
noteII. The Governor may, whenever he thinks fit, require any person in the public service to take the Oath of Allegiance, together with such other Oath or Oaths as may from time to time be prescribed by any Law in force in the State. The Governor is to
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administer such Oaths or cause them to be administered by some Public Officer of the State.
III. The Governor shall forthwith communicate these Our Instructions to the Executive Council, and likewise all such others, from time to time, as he shall find convenient for Our service to impart to them.
note note note noteIV. The Governor shall attend and preside at the meetings of 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 Council being regulated according to the order of their respective appointments as members thereof.
noteV. The Executive Council shall not proceed to the despatch 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 despatched.
noteVI. 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.
noteVII. 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 State.
4. Any Bill the provisions of which shall appear inconsistent with obligations imposed upon Us by Treaty.
5. Any Bill of an extraordinary nature and importance, whereby Our prerogative or the rights and property of Our subjects not residing in the State, or the trade and shipping of the United Kingdom and its Dependencies, may be prejudiced.
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6. Any Bill containing provisions to which Our assent has been once refused, or which have been disallowed by Us;
noteUnless 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 State of Our pleasure thereupon, or unless the Governor shall have satisfied himself that an urgent necessity exists requiring that such Bill be brought into immediate operation, in which case 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.
noteVIII. The Governor shall not pardon or reprieve any offender without first receiving in capital cases the advice of the Executive 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 State, 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.
noteIX. All Commissions granted by the Governor to any persons to be Judges, Justices of the Peace, or other officers shall, unless otherwise provided by law, be granted during pleasure only.
note noteX. The Governor shall not quit the State without having first obtained leave from Us for so doing under Our Sign Manual and Signet, or through one of our Principal Secretaries of State, except for the purpose of visiting the Governor of any neighbouring State or the Governor-General, for periods not exceeding one month at any one time, nor exceeding in the aggregate one month for every year's service in the State.
noteXI. The temporary absence of the Governor for any period not exceeding one month shall not, if he have previously informed the Executive Council, in writing, of his intended absence, and if he have duly appointed a Deputy in accordance with Our said Letters Patent, be deemed a departure from the State within the meaning of the said Letters Patent. V.R.I.
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3. COMMISSION passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, appointing Sir John Madden, K.C.M.G., Chief Justice of Victoria, to be Lieutenant-Governor of the State of Victoria and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia.
VICTORIA R.
noteVictoria, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland Queen, Defender of the Faith, Empress of India: To Our Trusty and Well-beloved Sir John Madden, Knight Commander of Our Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Greeting.
noteWE do, by this Our Commission under Our Sign Manual and Signet, appoint you, the said Sir John Madden, to be during Our pleasure Our Lieutenant-Governor of Our State of Victoria and its Dependencies, in the Commonwealth of Australia, with all the powers, rights, privileges, and advantages to the said Office belonging or appertaining.
note note noteII. And further, in case of the death, incapacity, or removal of Our Governor of Our said State, or of his departure from Our said State, We do hereby authorize and require you to administer the Government thereof, with all and singular the powers and authorities contained in Our Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the Twenty-ninth day of October, 1900, constituting the Office of Governor in and over Our said State of Victoria and its Dependencies, in Our Commonwealth of Australia, or in any other Our Letters Patent adding to, amending, or substituted for the same, and according to such Instructions as Our said Governor for the time being may receive from Us, or through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, and according to such Laws as are now or shall hereafter be in force in Our said State.
noteIII. And We do hereby appoint that this Our present Commission shall supersede Our Commission under Our Sign Manual and Signet bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of April, 1899, appointing you the said Sir John Madden to be Lieutenant-Governor of Our Colony of Victoria and its Dependencies.
noteIV. And We do hereby command all and singular Our Officers, Ministers, and loving subjects in Our said State and its Dependencies, and all others whom it may concern, to take due notice hereof, and to give their ready obedience accordingly.
Given at Our Court at Saint James's, this Twenty-ninth day of October, 1900, in the Sixty-fourth year of Our Reign.
By Her Majesty's Command,
J. CHAMBERLAIN.
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