466 MISCELLANEOUS 



several colonies of Australia, New Zealand, and the Cape of Good 

 Hope. 



It was in the year 1855 that responsible government was granted 

 to this colony. Under and by virtue of the constitution then granted 

 to us, we, in common with those other colonies possessing responsible 

 government, enjoy the privilege of supreme authority within the 

 limits of the colony to provide for the peace, order, and good gov- 

 ernment thereof. We possess unreserved powers to deliberate and 

 determine absolutely in regard to all matters of local concern, and 

 complete powers or legislation. We are free to regulate our own 

 commercial policy as we deem best, subject only to the proviso that 

 we may not use this liberty to the direct injury of British commerce, 

 nor infringe upon obligations incurred by the Mother Country in 

 her treaties with other nations. Todd, one of the best authorities 

 upon parliamentary government in the colonies, says that " in grant- 

 ing these high and important privileges the Crown did not divest 

 itself of its supreme authority over the colonies, but that authority 

 is exercised only in the appointment and control of a governor as 

 an imperial officer, and in the allowance, or disallowance, in certain 

 cases, of the enactments of the local legislature." 



All statutes assented to by the governor of a colony go into force 

 immediately, unless they contain a clause suspending the opera- 

 tion until the issue of a proclamation of approval by the King in 

 Council, or some other specified provision to the contrary, but the 

 governor is required to transmit a copy of all statutes to the Secre- 

 tary of State for the Colonies, and the King in Council may, within 

 two years after the receipt of the same, disallow such act. All co- 

 lonial enactments are submitted to the scrutiny of counsel by the 

 Department of the Secretary of State, and unless they are repug- 

 nant to the law of England, or inconsistent with any treaty obliga- 

 tion of the Crown, or prejudicial to the rights and property of 

 British subjects residing outside of the colony, or prejudicial to the 

 trade and shipping of the United Kingdom or its dependencies, the 

 extreme measure of disallowing colonial acts is seldom resorted to. 

 In fact, the veto of the Crown has for many years fallen into dis- 

 use, and when acts have appeared to His Majesty's Government to 

 be objectionable they have formed the subject of correspondence 

 with the colony concerned in order that the legislature thereof may 

 apply the remedy. 



Now, then, having briefly reviewed our rights and privileges un- 

 der responsible government, and also the limitations that the Crown 

 has placed upon the same, I would observe that if we, as colonists, 

 had been guilty of asserting rights which do not attach to us and had 

 persisted in disregarding solemn obligations contained in treaties, 

 or in setting at nought imperial acts of Parliament, then we should 

 have forfeited our rights under the constitution and have deserved 

 to be overridden. But even under such conditions any curtailment 

 or suspension of pur laws could, I submit, only take place at the 

 hands of the Parliament of Great Britain, for Parliament alone has 

 the power to limit or annul the laws of this colony when once ap- 

 proved by the Crown. If this is not the correct position, and His 

 Majesty's Ministers have the power by a diplomatic arrangement to 

 set aside the statutes of this colony and to dispose of its resources, 

 then the constitution of which we have been so proud is something 



