ABGUMENT OF SAMUEL J. ELDER. 1477 



And the third paragraph : 



"(3) Responsible Ministers hold opinion that it is their duty to 

 this people to test validity of an arrangement apparently intended 

 to render nugatory law of Colony, and set aside its constitutional 

 rights. In reply to your telegram 8th August, Responsible Minis- 

 ters 10th August, referred His Majesty's Government to despatch 

 2Gth March, 1857, which declares consent of Newfoundland essen- 

 tial preliminary to any modification of territorial rights or mari- 

 time rights, and five days later Responsible Ministers dealt fully 

 with situation and suggested alternative to proposed modus vivendi. 



"(4) Object of Responsible Ministers in instituting legal proceed- 

 ings under Bait Act as custodians of rights and privileges of public 

 is to test validity of arrangement which, in their opinion, is infringe- 

 ment of constitutional rights of this Colony." 



JUDGE GRAY : Who are the " Responsible Ministers," as distin- 

 guished from others? 



MR. ELDER. I assume that it is the entire body of the Ministry. 



SIR CHARLES FITZPATRICK : That is a very well-known term. 



JUDGE GRAY : Is it ? 



SIR CHARLES FITZPATRICK: Oh, surely. The Responsible Minis- 

 ters of the King are the Ministers in office. 



JUDGE GRAY: I thought perhaps that the iteration of that phrase 

 was suggested by the despatch of Lord Elgin. 



SIR* CHARLES FITZPATRICK : The Responsible Ministers are the ex- 

 ecutive ; that is all ; the Cabinet or executive. 



JUDGE GRAY : Are they so spoken of as " Responsible Minis- 

 ters " in common parlance ? 



SIR CHARLES FITZPATRICK: The executive is made up of all the 

 Ministers 



JUDGE GRAY: Exactly. 



SIR CHARLES FITZPATRICK: The Responsible Ministers are the 

 Ministers of the King 



JUDGE GRAY : And they are spoken of in that way in common par- 

 lance? 



SIR CHARLES FITZPATRICK : Invariably. 



DR. DRAGO : And are they the only responsible ones ? 



MR. ELDER : Mr. Root calls my attention to the fact that the use of 

 this phrase indicates, where it is used in Great Britain, that the 

 opinion of the Responsible Ministers is being given rather than the 

 opinion of the King; and that where it is used in Newfoundland it 

 means the opinion of the Ministers, and not of the Governor. 



In a report of the 29th December, 1906, of Governor MacGregor 

 to Lord Elgin, as to the number of people employed, which it will 

 not be necessary to turn to (United States Counter-Case Appendix, 

 p. 366) it is stated that 653 Newfoundlanders shipped outside the 

 3-mile limit; 23 shipped at St. Pierre. 



