'ग य 'ग
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O.885
13 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
In obedience to your Lordship's commands we have the honour to
Report
(1.) That having fully considered the memoranda now brought to our notice, we are still of opinion that the "most-favoured-nation" clauses do operate to prevent the establishment of a Customs Union, whereby a Foreign State obtains privileges as to goods sent into British territory which are denied to nations whose treaties with Great Britain contain such clauses.
(2.) In our opinion the limitation of the effect of such Customs Union to goods imported overland does not remove the objection founded upon these clauses.
We note that in the case of the commercial treaty between China and France for the grant of more favourable terms in respect of goods imported by land through Cochin-China than were in force as to goods imported by sea,' the Board of Trade made objection that this concession violated the "most-favoured-nation" clauses, and the Foreign Office only refrained from pressing such objection on the ground that the matter was not of practical importance.
We do not express an opinion as to how far the small value of the trade of the independent state which it is proposed to admit to the union may render it probable that no exception to the measure will be taken by Germany, but we think it desirable that the principle we have laid down should be maintained, even if, in some trifling cases, its strict application may be dispensed with.
The Right Hon. Lord Knutsford, G.C.M.G.,
&c.
&c.
&c.
We have, &o..
(Signed) RICHARD E. WEBSTER.
EDWARD CLARKE.
5965.
No. 143.
(SIERRA LEONE-GAMBIA.)
LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.
MY LORD,
Royal Courts of Justice, WE were honoured with your Lordship's commands signified in Mr. Wingfield's
March 21, 1889. letter of the 12th instant, stating that he was directed by your Lordship to inform us that on the 23rd of October 1877 an Order was made by Her Majesty in Council constituting the Supreme Court of the Settlement of Sierra Leone a court of record to receive, hear, and determine appeals from the court of civil and criminal justice of the Settlement on the Gambia.
That the Settlements of Sierra Leone and the Gambia were at that time combined under one Government as the "West Africa Settlements.'
17
That by Letters Patent under the Great Seal, passed on the 28th of November 1888, the Government of the West Africa Settlements had been abolished, and that Sierra Leone and the Gambia had been erected into separate Colonies.
That the question had now been raised whether by this alteration in their constitution the Order in Council of 1877 had become inoperative.
That the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone consisted of the Chief Justice of that Colony, and that the court of civil and criminal justice at the Gambia consisted of a single judge, whose title was Chief Magistrate.
That Mr. Wingfield was to refer us to our Report of the 26th January 1887 on the subject of an appeal court from the Supreme Courts of the Gold Coast and Lagos, and to the fourth section of the British Settlements Act, 1887, which was passed subsequently to the date of that Report.
That your Lordship would be glad to be furnished with our opinion-
(1.) Whether the Order in Council of 1877 had been invalidated by the Letters Patent constituting Sierra Leone and the Gambia separate Colonies? and
(2.) Whether, if so, a similar Order might now be made under section 4 of the British Settlements Act 1887?
We have taken the matter into our consideration and, in obedience to your Lordship's commands, have the honour to
Report
1. That in our opinion a question may be raised as to whether the Order in Council of 1877 is applicable to the altered state of circumstances, in consequence of the Letters Patent constituting Sierra Leone and the Gambia separate Colonies, and it is therefore desirable that a fresh Order be made so that there may be no doubt as to the jurisdiction of the court.
2. An Order can now be made under section 4 of the British Settlements Act, 1887, creating the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone a court of appeal from the court in Gambia.
We have, &c.,
The Right Hon. Lord Knutsford,
&c.
&c.
&c.
(Signed)
RICHARD E. WEBSTER. EDWARD CLARKE.
67014.-14. 25-3/09.