CONSTITUTION AND LA WS. 



The Office of Governor. 

 The office of Governor is constituted by Letters Patent from the 

 Crown nnder the Great Seah The present Letters Patent In-ar date 

 the 29t]i April, 1879. The powers and duties annexed to the office 

 are conferred partly by this instrument/ and partly by Imperial or 

 local statute."' The permanent Instructions, also, provide a standing 

 body of rules for the guidance of the Governor in the exercise of the 

 duties conferred on him. The present Instructions bear date the 'Jtli 

 July, 1892. They may, however, at any time be supplemented by 

 particular or further instructions issued by the Secretary of State. 

 The duties of the office, as thus constituted, may be discharged either 

 either by the Governor himself, by the Lieutenant-Governor, or by an 

 Administrator of the Government ; a separate commission being pro- 

 vided for each of these officers. The Governor himself is appointed by 

 the Crown, on the recommendation of the Secretary of State, and holds 

 office at the pleasure of the Crown, although the usual tei-ni of office is six 

 years.'= His salary is at present fixed at £7,000 a year, this sum being 

 charged on the Consolidated Fund. The commission of the Lieutenant- 

 Governor is usually issued to the Chief Justice of the Colony, but is only 

 operative'' in the event of the Governor dying or becoming incapable or 

 departing from the Colony. It is also usual to issue a third commis- 

 sion to the President of the Legislative Council or some other high 

 official, authorising him to administer the government in the event 

 of both Governor and Lieutenant-Governor being unable to act. But 

 both these commissions may at any time be superseded by a special 

 commission issued to any other person. The Governor is the connect- 

 ing link between the Imperial and local authorities. His functions 

 may be roughly grouped under three heads : — (1) Those attaching to 

 him as the local representative of the Imperial Government. Here 

 he acts not as a local constitutional ruler but as an Imperial officer 

 subject to the Secretary of State for the Colonics.'" In this capacity 

 he is the medium of communication between the Imperial and local 

 authorities ; and exercises also certain powers of reservation in regard to 

 colonial Bills. (2) Those attaching to him as the titular head of the 

 Colonial Government. In this capacity he is charged with a multitude 

 of functions relating alike to legislation, administration, and judica- 

 ture. These functions he is required to exercise, for the most part, on 

 the advice of his Ministers, who are in their turn responsible to the 

 Legislature. Even here, however, he is invested with some discre- 

 tionary power, the nature of which will be referred to hereafter. 

 (3) Those attaching to him as the representative of the Crown, in its 

 august capacity. These functions are for the most part of a formal or 

 ceremonial kind, and their exercise depends on his own judgment and 

 discretion. It is at this point that the Imperial and local aspects of 

 his office blend, and it is hard to say which predominates. 



a ,S'ce Letters Patent, cl. 2, 5, 8 to 11. , ri i 



^ Constitution Act, sees. 2, 7, 9, 37, 54, 55. There are also a vast number of local 

 statutes which confer administrative powers on tlie Governor, to be exercised ou the 

 advice of the Executive Council. 



"^ Colonial Office Regulations, 1894, No. 7. 



'^ Except for the purposes of precedence. 



« On this subject generally, see Todd, Government of the British Colonies, ch. xviii. 



