PART IV. RULES AND REGULATIONS FOR HER MAJESTY'S COLONIAL SERVICE. The revised Edition of the Rules and Regulations for Her Majesty's Colonial Service has been compiled by the Secretary of State's directions, and is now printed for the information and guidance of the Governors of Her Majesty's Colonies, and of all Her Majesty's Officers subordinate to them. Canada LIST of the BRITISH COLONIES-MODES and DATES of ACQUISITION. COLONY. NORTH AMERICA: MEDITERRANEAN AND AFRICAN POSSESSIONS: Gibraltar Malta Cape of Good Hope . Cession, 1763. Capitulation, 1803 Ditto, 1797 Natal. St. Helena. } Lieutenant Governor. Governor aud Com.-in-Chief. Capt.-Gen. and Gov.-in-Chief. Governor and Com.-in-Chief. Governor and Com.-in-Chief. Lieutenant Governor. Governor and Com.-in-Chief. Lieutenant Governor. Administrator of the Govt Governor and Com.-in-Chief. President. President. Governor and Com.-in-Chiet. Separated from Cape, Letters Patent, May 1844. Governor and Com.-in Chief. Governor and Com.-in-Chief. South Australia. Victoria Western Australia New Zealand‡ Fiji OTHER COLONIES: Mauritius and its Dependencies§. Ceylon Hong Kong Straits Settlements!] Separated from N.S. Wales, Dec. 10, 1859. Ditto, 1836 Governor and Com.-in-Chief. Separated from N.S. Wales, July 1, 1851 Governor and Com.-in-Chief Settlement, 1829 Governor and Com-in-Chief Settlement and Treaty, 1840 Governor and Com.-in-Chief. Cession, 1874. Governor and Com.-in-Chief. Heligoland Now incorporated in the Dominion of Canada, by Order in Council of the 26th June, 1873. Incorporated in the Dominion of Canada, by Order in Council of the 16th May, 1871. The Act 26 Vict. c. 23, annexes to New Zealand all Islands lying between 1620 E. long. and 1739 W. long. and etween the 33° and 35° of S. lat. These Dependencies are (1) the Seychelles Islands, 34 in number; (2) the Amirantes Islands, 11 in number; (3) the Detached Islands, 12 in number; and (4) the Oil Islands. consisting of 11 islands or groups of islands. The "Straits Settlements" consist of Penang or Prince of Wales' Island, the Island of Singapore, and the Town and Port of Malacca, and their dependencies. They formed part of the Territories of the East India Company which were vested in the Crown as a part of India in 1858. The Straits Settlements were placed under the Government of the Crown as part of its Colonial Possessions on 1 April 1867. CHAPTER I. CLASSIFICATION OF COLONIES [This classification is largely obsolete: for more recent information see the Introduction to Part II.-Ed. C. O. L.] 1. British Colonies may be divided into three classes: : 1. Crown Colonies, in which the Crown has the entire control of legislation, while the administration is carried on by public officers under the control of the Home Government. 2. Colonies possessing Representative Institutions but not Responsible Government, in which the Crown has no more than a veto on legislation, but the Home Government retains the control of public officers. 3. Colonies possessing Representative Institutions and Responsible Government, in which the Crown has only a veto on legislation, and the Home Government has no control over any public officer except the Governor. 2. In Gibraltar, St. Helena, and Heligoland, Laws may be made by the Governor alone, and in other Crown Colonies by the Governor with the concurrence of a Council nominated by the Crown. In some Colonies, acquired by conquest or cession, the authority of this Council rests on the will of the Crown. In others, chiefly those acquired by Settlement, the Council is created by the Crown under authority of some Imperial or Local Law. Crown Councils of the former Class exist in the following Colonies: 4. Labuan. 5. Trinidad. 6. St. Lucia. Crown Councils of the latter or Statutory Class exist in the following Colonies: 1*1. Jamaica. 2. Straits Settlements. 3. Sierra Leone. 4. Gambia. 5. Gold Coast and Lagos.§ *6. Grenada. 7. Falkland Islands. *8. Honduras. Laws may also be made by Order in Council in all the above Colonies, except those marked with an asterisk. 3. In Colonies possessing Representative Institutions without Responsible Government, the Crown cannot as a general rule legislate by Order in Council, and laws are made by the Governor with the concurrence of one or two Legislative bodies, of which one at least is wholly or for the most part Representative. In the following Colonies there are a Council and Assembly. The Council is nominated by the Crown, the Assembly elective: — In the following there is a single Legislative Chamber partly elective, partly nominated by the Crown:*1. British Guiana. 5. Western Australia. In British Guiana and Malta the Crown has reserved the right to legislate by Order in Council, and in Natal has reserved the right to revoke or alter the Constitution. The legislature of British Guiana is peculiar, it being differently composed for ordinary legislation and for financial business. 4. Under Responsible Government the Executive Councillors are appointed by the Governor alone with reference to the exigencies of Representative Government, the other Public Officers by the Governor on the advice of the Executive Council. In no appointments is the concurrence of the Home Government requisite. The control of all public departments is thus practically placed in the hands of persons commanding the confidence of a representative Legislature. Hence such of the following regulations as relate to subordinate public officers have comparatively little application, except by way of example, to Colonies in which Responsible Government exists, which are the following:New South Wales. **Victoria. Queensland. Canada. **Cape of Good Hope. Newfoundland. The following provinces are subject **Tasmania. to the authority of the general Legislature of the Dominion, Colony or Group, to which they belong, but possess a provincial Legislature of their own. The Constitution of Mauritius was altered by Letters Patent dated 16th September, 1885. (See Part II.) (c) 17. Anguilla ... Composite Council Colony to which Province is Leeward Islands. Mauritius. St. Kitts and Leeward Islands. In Colonies or Provinces marked with two asterisks, the Council or Upper Chamber is clective. the rest it is nominated by the Crown. In CHAPTER II. THE GOVERNOR. § I. The different Classes of Governors, &c., the duration of their Office, &c. 5. The Officer appointed by the Crown to administer the Government of a Colony is usually styled Governor, or Governor and Commander-in-Chief, or Captain-General. The titles of Governor-in-Chief and Governor-General have been at different times given to Governors whose commissions have comprised several distinct Colonies. 6. A Governor-in-Chief administers the Government of every Colony comprised within his Command whenever he is present therein; but the administration of a Colony during his absence is intrusted to an officer appointed by the Crown, with the title of Lieutenant-Governor; or (in some cases) Administrator of the Government, or President of the Council. The following are Governments in Chief: 1. The Dominion of Canada, which includes the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Manitoba, N.-W. Territories, British Columbia, Vancouver's Island, and Prince Edward Island. Gold Goast. 5. The West Africa Settlements, composed of, ¶ Sierra Leone. Gambia. Lagos 7. Of these Officers, Governors are appointed under the Sign Manual and Signet. Every such person is appointed during Her Majesty's pleasure, but his tenure of office is as a rule confined to a period of six years from the assumption of his duties. If, through death, absence, or otherwise, he should become incapable of acting, the Government devolves on such Officer or person as may have been designated for that purpose in the Charter of Government or in the Letters Patent constituting the office of Governor. 8. By the Act 26 & 27 Viet. c. 76, it is enacted, that Letters Patent shall not take effect in any Colony until published there, and that appointments by Letters Patent shall become void unless so published within a specified period. 9. By the Act 1 Will. IV. c. 4, it is enacted, that all Patents, Commissions, or other Authorities for the exercise of offices in the Colonies held during pleasure, shall continue in force until the expiration of eighteen months from the demise of the Crown. § II. Authority of the Governor in relation to Her Majesty's Troops. 10. The Governor of a Colony, though bearing the title of Captain-General or Commander-in-Chief, is not, without special appointment from Her Majesty, invested with the Command of Her Majesty's Regular Forces in the Colony. He is not therefore entitled to receive the Allowances annexed to that Command, or to take the immediate direction of any Military Operations, or except in case of urgent necessity, to communicate officially with subordinate Military Officers, without the concurrence of the Officer in Command of the Forces. Any such exceptional communication must be immediately notified to that Officer. 11. Except in the case of invasion or assault by a Foreign Enemy, it is the duty of the Governor to determine the objects with which and the extent to which Her Majesty's Troops are to be employed. He will therefore issue to the Officer in Command of the Forces directions respecting their distribution and their employment on Escort and other duties required for the safety and welfare of the Colony. In all these matters, however, the Governor will consult as far as possible with the Officer in Command, and will incur special responsibility, if he shall direct the Troops to be stationed or employed in a manner which that Officer shall consider open to Military objection. + St. Kitts and Nevis are now united into one Presidency. (See Part II.) By Letters Patent dated the 2nd of October, 1884, British Honduras was constituted a separate Colony, with a Governor and Commander-in-Chief. By Her Majesty's Charter of 17th March, 1885, Barbados was constituted a separate Government, and as will be seen from Part II, Tobago has been united to Trinidad. By Her Majesty's Charter of the 24th of July, 1874, the Gold Coast and Lagos were separated from the West Africa Settlements, and formed a separate Colony, under the style of the Gold Coast Colony. By Charter dated 14th Jan, 1886, Lagos, and by Charter of Dec., 1888, Gambia, have been constituted separate Governments.-ED. C. O. LIST. 12. The Governor, as the Queen's Representative, will give the "word" in all places within his Government. 13. On the other hand, the Officer in Command of the Forces will determine all Military details respecting the Distribution and Movement of the Troops and the composition of the different detachments, taking care that they are in conformity with the general directions issued to him by the Governor. 14. The Officer in Command of Her Majesty's Land Forces is alone charged with the superintendence of all details connected with the Military Department in a Colony, the Regimental duty and discipline of the Troops, inspections, and summoning and holding courts-martial, garrison or regimental, and the granting leave of absence to subordinate Military Officers. 15. He carries into execution, on his own authority, the Sentences of Courts-martial, excepting Sentences of Death, which must first be approved, on behalf of the Queen, by the Officer administering the Civil Government. 16. He makes the Officer administering the Civil Government Returns of the state and condition of the Troops of the Military departments, of the Stores, Magazines and Fortifications within the Colony and furnishes duplicates of all such Returns of this nature as he may be required or may see occasion to send to the Military Authorities at home, or to any Officer under whose general Command he is placed. 17. On the receipt of the annual Mutiny Act, the Officer in Command of Her Majesty's Land Forces communicates to the Civil Authority the "General Orders" in which it may be promulgated. 18. And in the event of the Colony being invaded or assailed by a Foreign Enemy, and becoming the scene of active Military Operations, the Officer in Command of Her Majesty's Land Forces assumes the entire Military Authority over the Troops. 19. The above Regulations will hold good, though the Governor may be a Military Officer senior in rank to the Officer in Command of the Forces. 20. If several Colonies are comprised in one Military Command, the Officer in Command of the whole may transfer Troops from one Colony to another on an application from the Governor of the Colony to which the Troops are sent, transmitted to him either through the Governor of the Colony in which he is serving, or through the Officer commanding the Forces in the Colony for which Troops are required. But the Officer in command must in all cases consult with the Governor of the Colony from which the Troops are sent, and will incur a special responsibility if he sends them away without that Governor's consent. 21. Except in the case of the North American Colonies, Colonies comprised under one Government in Chief are to be treated, for Military purposes, as a single Colony. Natal, for the same purpose, will be considered part of the Government of the Cape of Good Hope. § III. General Powers of an Officer appointed to conduct a Colonial Government. 22. The powers of every Officer, administering a Colonial Government, are conferred, and his duties for the most part defined in Her Majesty's Commission and the Instructions with which he is furnished. The following is a general outline of the nature of the powers with which he is invested, subject to the special law of each Colony : : 23. He is empowered to grant a pardon or respite to any criminal convicted in the Colonial Courts of justice. 24. He may pardon persons imprisoned in Colonial Gaols under sentence of a Court-martial; but this not to be done without consulting the Officer in command of the Forces. 25. He has in general the power of remitting any fines, penalties, or forfeitures, which may accrue to the Queen, but if the fine exceeds 507., he is in some Colonies only at liberty to suspend the payment of it until Her Majesty's pleasure can be known. 26. The Moneys to be expended for the Public Service are issued under his Warrant, as the law may in each particular case direct. 27. The Governor of a Colony has usually the power of granting licenses for marriages, letters of administration, and probate of wills, unless other provision be made by Charter of Justice or local law. He has also, in many cases, the presentation to benefices of the Church of England in the Colony, subject to rules hereinafter laid down. (See Ch. 4, sec. 1, par. 81.) 28. He has the power, in the Queen's name, of issuing writs for the election of Representative Assemblies and Councils, of convoking and proroguing Legislative Bodies, and of dissolving those which are liable to dissolution. 29. He confers appointments to Offices within the Colony, either absolute, where warranted by local laws, or temporary and provisional, until a reference has been made to Her Majesty's Government. 30. In Colonies possessing responsible Government, he has, with his Council, the entire power of suspending or dismissing public servants who hold during pleasure. In other Colonies he has the power of suspending them from the exercise of their functions under certain regulations, which must be strictly observed, and a limited power of dismissal. 31. He is empowered to administer the appointed oaths to all persons, in Office or not, whenever he may think fit, and particularly the oath of Allegiance provided by 21 and 22 Vict. c. 48, s. 1. 32. He has the power of granting or withholding his assent to any Bills which may be passed by the Legislative bodies. 33. But he is required, in various cases, by his Instructions, to reserve such Bills for the Royal Assent, or to assent to them only with a clause suspending their operation until they are confirmed by the Crown. These cases are not defined alike in all Instructions; but they comprise, generally speaking, matters touching the Currency, the Army and Navy, Differential Duties, the effect of Foreign Treaties, and any enactments of an unusual nature touching the Prerogative or the rights of Her Majesty's Subjects not resident in the Colony. 34. If anything should happen which may be for the advantage or security of the Colony, and is not provided for in the Governor's Commission and Instructions, he may take order for the present therein. 35. He is not to declare or make war against any foreign State, or against the subjects of any foreign State. Aggression he must at all times repel to the best of his ability; and he is to use his best endeavours for the suppression of piracy. (c) x 2 |