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obligation, as I understand it, which comes within the purview of
the Courts of law. I do not mean to say it is something which
being of the same kind the courts of law are excluded from con-
sidering. It is a different sort of thing; it is in a different
region altogether. It is merely what I ventured to call a
political duty, using the word "political" in its proper original
sense. It is what any good Government would be expected to do
for its people, but the courts cannot examine it. Nobody can come
to the court and ask it whether the Government
any Government
had or had not performed what one
in any country I should think
may call for want of a better word its duty in that respect. That
confusion, that duplicate use of the word "duty", I think lies at
the bottom of the whole of the argument in this case and makes it
clear to my mind that the Plaintiffs case is based on a complete
fallacy. It is not a question of the Crown doing anything of the
kind which the Officers in the cases which I have been referred to
were found to have done.
It is said that what is done here is that they raised money
without the consent of Parliament. That is the way the position
is brought into line or is said to be brought into line with the
principle. But it has not been raising money. Of course, if
there was the duty which I have indicated then it might be said;
if there was a duty comparable to the duty of an officer, something
of that sort might be said. But get rid of that and there is
nothing left. What is called raising money is no more than render-
ing services. The charge has not been imposed as the price of
something which they were entitled to without a charge. In the
case of the officers the party was entitled to an unbiased
decision, a judicial decision I think it is called in one of the
cases, of the officer concerned. He had to pay for it in order
that it might be obtained. The Company here has nothing whatever
to say.
It cannot call for a decision in this court at all. It
cannot be recognised in this court that they can call for the
decision of the Crown upon the question of whether there should
be soldiers or sailors in ships or not at all, It is a mere
A.