CONSTITUTION AND LAWS. 17 



guardian of the law or of tlie Coustitiition;* (2) Cases where ho acts as 

 supreme guardian of the public interest;'' and (;J) Cases where ho 

 acts as the representative of the interests of the Imperial Governuioiit.' 

 In the event of his refusing to act on the advice of his Ministers in 

 matters of domestic concern, it will be incumbent on him, if his Minis- 

 ters should resign, to procure other Ministers who will accept the 

 political responsibility for his action/ 



Tlie Adminidratlce Beitartmvnts and tlie Piihlic Service. 



For the purposes of administration, the public l)usinessof the Colony- 

 is distributed between nine different departments, each of which is pre- 

 sided over by a responsible Minister, as head, and worked by a staff of 

 permanent officials. These Ministers are : — (1) The Colonial Secre- 

 tary;'' (2) The Colonial Treasurer; (3) The Attorney-General; (4) 

 The Secretary for Lands; (5) The Secretary for Public Works; (0) The 

 Minister of Justice ; (7) The Minister of Public Instruction ; (8) The 

 Secretary for Mines and Agriculture ; and (9) The Postmaster-General. 

 The functions of the departments respectively presided over by these 

 Ministers are fixed partly by statute and partly by Executive minute. 

 The Ministers or political heads of these departments arc technically 

 appointed by the Governor alone,*^ but are really selected on the recom- 

 mendation of the political leader who may be invited by the Governor 

 to form an administration, and who appears to possess the confidence 

 of the Assembly; they also retire or are dismissible from office on 

 political grounds. The appointment and tenure of other public officers 

 are now regulated, in the main, by the Public Service Act, 1895.^ This 

 Act was passed for the purpose of effecting a complete reorganiza- 

 tion of the Public Service, and of withdrawing both appointments and 

 promotions, as far as possible, from the sphere of political influence. 

 To this end the Act constitutes a Public Service Board, consistiug of 

 three Commissioners, who are appointed for a period of seven years, 

 and are irremovable during that period except by resolution of both 

 Houses, although they are liable to vacate their offices in certain 

 events specified by the Act.'' This Board is charged with the duty 

 of investigating both the organization and working- of each depart- 

 ment of the Pubhc Service, and of determining (subject to the 

 restrictions imposed by the Act) the number, grade, and salaries of 

 the officers employed.' The Boai'd is endowed with the poM-er of 

 making administrative regulations ; and is also required to furnish 

 an annual report on the state of the Public Service for presentation to 

 Parliament.J The officers of the Public Service are distributed into 

 five divisions — the special, professional, clerical, educational, and 



"" E.g., refusal to sanction the issue of public moneys in violation of statutory require- 

 ments : see Constitution Act, sec. 55 ; Todd, 628 et scq., 726. 



^ E.g., refusal to sanction any abuse of position, or wanton sacrifice of puV)lic to party 

 interests, by the Ministry in otiice ; Todd, 662, IZQct -v-q. 



'■ E.g., refusal to sanction an administrative act in violation of treaty obligations, 

 Todd, '819. 



'' Todd, 817 et seq. <^ This officer is now usuaMy termed the Chief Secretary. 



'' Constitution Act sec. 37. 



s 59 Vic. , No. 25 ; as to officers excepted from the operation of the Act, see sec. J. 



'' Ih., sees. 5, 6. i i «. 



' lb., sees. 7 to 15; the grayling and classiiication of officers must be renewed at 

 intervals of not more than 5 years. J lb., sees. IS to 20. 



