** Appoint- ment of
Deputies to Governor."
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the office of Governor and Commander-in-Chief, as pro- vided in these Our Letters Patent:
Provided that the Governor or the person appointed as aforesaid, when visiting any neighbouring territories in the exercise or discharge of any powers or duties by these Letters Patent or otherwise conferred or imposed upon him by Us, or through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, shall not be regarded as absent from the Colony for the purposes of this Article.
Any such person as aforesaid shall not continue to administer the Government after the Governor or some other person having a prior right to administer the same has notified that he is about to assume the administration.'
"XVII.A. In the event of the Governor having occasion at any time to be temporarily absent for a short period from the seat of Government, or, in the exercise or discharge of any powers or duties by these Letters Patent or other- wise conferred or imposed upon him by Us, or through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, to visit any neighbouring territories, he may by an Instrument under the Public Seal of the Colony appoint any person or persons to be his Deputy or Deputies within the Colony or any part or parts thereof during his absence from the seat of Govern- ment or from the Colony, as the case may be, and in that capacity to exercise, perform and execute for and on behalf of the Governor during such absence, but no longer, all such powers and authorities by these Letters Patent or otherwise vested in the Governor as shall in and by such Instrument be specified and limited, but no others. Every such Deputy shall conform to and observe all such Instruc- tions as the Governor shall from time to time address to him for his guidance. By the appointment of a Deputy or Deputies as aforesaid the power and authority of the Governor shall not be abridged, altered, or in any way affected otherwise than We may at any time hereafter think proper to direct.'
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II. We do hereby reserve to Ourselves. Our heirs and successors, full power and authority from time to time to revoke, alter, or amend these Our Letters Patent as to Us or them shall seem fit.
III. And We do direct and enjoin that these Our Letters Patent shall come into operation on a date to be fixed by the Governor by Proclamation in the Hong Kong Government Gazette, and shall be published in the said Gazette, and shall be read and proclaimed at such place or places within the Colony as the Governor may think fit.
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In Witness whereof We have caused these Our Letters to be made Patent.
Witness Ourself at Westminster this twenty-ninth day of June, 1939, in the Third year of Our Reign.
By Warrant under The King's Sign Manual.
Schuster.
(3932-7) Wt.
-Pk. 49 73 7/39 P. St. G. 416
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