CO885-(11-13) — Page 99

MY LORD,

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No. 794. (NATAL.)

LAW OFFICERS to COLONIAL OFFICE.

We were honoured with your Lordship's commands signified in Mr. Holland's

Temple, February 12, 1873. letter of the 8th February instant, stating that he was directed by your Lordship to transmit to us a

Confidential " pages 152, 166, we should find the case submitted to us in April last, upon the question paper printed for your department, in which at whether the existing charter of the Colony of Natal might be altered by a sup- plementary charter, and our report thereon, in which we advised that upon the assumption that nothing had taken place to alter the constitution of the Colony, since the Charter of 1856, and that that charter was then the governing charter of the Colony, it might be altered by Letters Patent without recourse to Imperial Legislation, and that—

2. In accordance with that opinion the supplementary charter, of which a copy would be found at pages 166, 167, of the accompanying paper, was passed and transmitted to the Colony, together with a despatch of the 20th May, which is set out at page 42.

3. That considerable opposition. as might be expected, was at first entertained to the measure, and doubts were expressed as to the right of the Crown to withdraw from the Legislature any portion of that power of the purse which had once been entrusted to them, and a question was also raised with respect to an alleged conflict between the provisions of the new charter and those of Law No. 1 of 1864, augmenting the salaries of certain officers and

4. That the Lieutenant-Governor referred the matter to the Attorney-General of the Colony, and his report would be found at pages 180, 182, of the coufidential paper. That it would be seen that though he raised an objection to the terms of paragraph 28 of the Despatch above referred to, in which a special direction was given as to the payment of the salaries of the judges, he concurred in the opinion expressed by us as to the validity of the supplemental charter. That

5. In reply to those objections the views of Her Majesty's Government were shortly stated in a Despatch which would be found at page 183 of the paper, and

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6. That a memorial to the Queen had since been transmitted from the Legislative Council of the Colony praying for the withdrawal of the new charter, in which memorial it is stated that "it is no wish of your Majesty's petitioners to raise legal objections as to the right of the Crown to use a power of revocation contained in a grant which is inconsistent with the grant itself, nor would we now insist upon the fact that the supplemental charter overrides laws passed by the Council, and confirmed by your Majesty, but we would respectfully call your Majesty's attention to the hitherto inviolate principles of the British constitution that the power of legislation once conferred upon your Majesty's subjects cannot be taken away, nor laws once enacted be repealed unless by consent of the people interested, or by the exercise of an extreme power on the part of the Imperial Legislature."

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7. That before arriving at any decision upon the memorial your Lordship desired to be informed whether the objections raised in the Colony to the validity of the Charter are in our opinion well founded.

8. That it would be seen that no further special grounds were urged in the memorial against the Charter, but, as stated in the Despatch of the 22nd October, it would appear that its validity is disputed on two different grounds.

First.-That Her Majesty had no power to withdraw from the Colonial Legislature

a power which had once been entrusted to them, and,

Secondly.That the charter is invalid as conflicting with Law No. 1 of 1864.

9. That as to the first objection Mr. Holland was pleased to say that he was directed to observe that it appeared to be covered by our report of the 27th April. No altera- tion had been made in the constitution of the Colony since 1856, and the Charter of 1856, was in 1872 the governing Charter of the Colony. It was apprehended, there- fore, that Her Majesty in issuing this new charter was acting within the rights expressly reserved to Her by the last clause in the Charter of 1856.

U 16978-891.

25.-5/86.

• No. 754.

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

EPERFIC.O. 885

11 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

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