R
31884.
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
PC.O. 885
15 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
SIB,
No. 53.
(AUSTRALIA.)
LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL, OFFICE,
Royal Courts of Justice,
September 29, 1900. WE were honoured with your commands gignified to us in Mr. C. P. Lucas's letter of the 21st instant, stating that, with reference to our Report of the 20th August,” he was directed by you to state that the Queen's Proclamation for uniting the Australian Colonies in a Federal Commonwealth was approved by the Queen in Council on the 17th instant, and that he was to transmit to us a Draft of Letters Patent to be passed under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom constituting the Office of Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Commonwealth of Australia under the provisions of the "Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act," and of the Proclamation above referred to, together with a Draft of Royal Instructions to accompany the same, which it was proposed to submit for the approval of the Queen in Council; and of a Commission to be passed under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet appointing the Right Honourable the Earl of Hopetoun, P.C., K.T., G.C.M.G., to be Governor-General and Commander-in- Chief of the Commonwealth of Australia.
That Mr. Lucas was also to transmit to us a Draft of Letters Patent constituting the Office of Governor of the State of New South Wales and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia on and after the 1st day of January, 1901, together with a Draft of Royal Instructions to accompany the same, which it was also proposed to submit for the approval of the Queen in Council, and Drafts of Commissions (1) for the appointment of a Governor of the State of New South Wales and its Dependencies in the Commonwealth of Australia on and after the 1st day of January, 1901, (2) for the appointment of Sir Frederick Matthew Darley, K.C.M.G., Chief Justice of New South Wales, to be Lieutenant-Governor, and (3) a Dormant Commission appointing the President of the Legislative Council for the time being of New South Wales to be Administrator of the Government of the State of New South Wales in the event of the death, incapacity, or absence of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor.
That Mr. Lucas was to state that similar instruments (mutatis mutandis) to those proposed to be issued in the case of the State of New South Wales would be issued for the other five States mentioned in the Act, namely, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, and Western Australia.
That Mr. Lucas was to request that we would be good enough to take these Drafts into our consideration, and that we would favour you with our opinion whether they were right and proper for the purpose intended, or required any additions or alterations.
We have taken the Drafts in question into our consideration, and in obedience to your commands have the honour to
Report --
That, as altered and initialled by us, we approve of the above-mentioned eight Drafts, which are, in our opinion, right and proper for their intended purpose.
We have, &c.,
The Right Honourable Joseph Chamberlain, M.P..
&c.,
&c.,
&c.
R. B. FINLAY. EDWARD CARSON.
The alterations made by the Law Officers in the Draft Instruments submitted to them are as shown below :— LETTERS PATENT CONSTITUTING THE OFFICE of Governor-General and COMMANDER- IN-CHIEF OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.
Clause V. Summoning, proroguing, or dissolving the Commonwealth Parliament. "The Governor-General may on Our behalf exercise all powers under The Common-
6864-25-10/1900 Wt 324 D&S $
* No. 47.