CO885-(16-18) — Page 410

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

سلسا

C.O.

Reference :-

•885

17 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

Falkland Islands,

Gambia,

Gold Coast,

Grenada,

Hong Kong,

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Nyasaland Protectorate,

St. Lucia,

St. Vincent,

Seychelles,

Sierra Leone,

Southern Nigeria,

Straits Settlements, Trinidad.

In all the above Councils, except British Honduras, the constitution provides for an official majority.

The Legislative Councils of Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Southern Nigeria have power to legislate for the following Protectorates respectively :—

Gambia Protectorate,

Sierra Leone Protectorate, Southern Nigeria Protectorate.

(v) Colonies and Protectorates without a Legislative Council :-

Ashanti,

Basutoland,

Bechuanaland Protectorate,

Gibraltar,

Northern Nigeria,

Northern Territories of the Gold Coast,

St. Helena,

Somaliland,

Uganda,

Weihaiwei,

Islands included under the Western Pacific High Commission.

In all Crown Colonies and Protectorates, except Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, British Honduras, and the Leeward Islands, the Crown has the power of legislating by Order in Council.

The territories in South Africa which are under the control of the British South Africa Company are not included in the above classification.

§ 2. The Governor.

2. In the case of Colonies, the officer appointed by the Crown to administer the Government is styled either :—

Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief, Governor and Commander-in-Chief, or Captain General and Governor-in-Chief.

In the case of Protectorates the officer appointed by the Crown to administer the Government is styled either :--

Governor and Commander-in-Chief,

High Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief, High Commissioner,

Commissioner and Commander-in-Chief, or Commissioner.

In these regulations the term "the Governor

to administer Governments, however styled.

includes all officers appointed

3. The officer so appointed receives a Commission under the Royal Sign Manual and Signet, and, if through death or absence or otherwise he should become incapable of acting, the government devolves on such officer or person as may have been designated for that purpose in the Letters Patent constituting the office.

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4. The Governor is the single and supreme authority responsible to, and represen- tative of, His Majesty. He is, by virtue of his Commission and the Letters Patent constituting his office, entitled to the obedience, aid and assistance of all military and civil officers; but although bearing the title of captain-general or commander-in-chief and although he may be a military officer, senior in rank to the officer commanding the troops, he is not, except on special appointment from His Majesty, invested with the cominand of His Majesty's regular forces in the Colony. He is therefore not entitled to receive the allowances annexed to that command or to take the immediate direction of any military operations, or, except in cases of urgent necessity, to communicate officially with subordinate military officers without the concurrence of the officer in command of the forces, to whom any such exceptional communication must be immediately notified. 5. The Governor, as the King's representative, will give the "word" (parole) in all places within his government.

6. The officer commanding the troops will render to the Governor such returns as he may require relating to the strength and condition of the troops, or to the military defences of the Colony.

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7. On the receipt of the Army (Annual) Act, the officer commanding the troops will communicate to the Governor the "General Orders in which it may be promulgated.

8. Where several Colonies are comprised in one military command, the officer in command of the whole may transfer troops from one Colony to another on the application of the Governor of the Colony to which the troops are to be sent. This application should when practicable contain the written expression of opinion of the military officer, if any, there in command; but the officer in command must in all cases consult with the Governor of the Colony from which the troops are sent, and will incur a special responsibility if he sends them away without the Governor's consent, except under special instructions from home.

9. For the purposes of Regulations 4 to 8 Colonies comprised under one government- in-chief are to be regarded as a single Colony.

10. The Governor has no authority over the movements of His Majesty's ships, and is not entitled to issue orders to officers of the Royal Navy. But, it being a general obligation on all His Majesty's civil and military officers to afford mutual assistance to each other in cases affecting the King's service, the Commander-in-chief of a station or the senior officer present at a port is instructed in the King's Regulations for the Navy to pay due regard to such requisitions as he may receive from the Governor having for their object the protection of His Majesty's possessions, the benefit of the trade of his subjects or the général good of his service.

11. In urgent cases, when the requisitions may conflict with the instructions from the superior naval authority under which he is acting and when reference by telegraph or otherwise to such superior authority is impracticable, a naval officer is instructed to consider the relative importance and urgency of the required service as compared with his instructions, whether general or special; and he is to decide as in his judgment may seem best for His Majesty's service. In so doing he is instructed to bear in mind the grave responsibility that would rest on him if the circumstances were not such as to fully warrant the postponement of the instructions from his naval superior to the more pressing requisition from the Governor.

12. In cases where high political considerations demand the decision of His Majesty's Government in respect of the action to be taken, the Governor should communicate his opinion that the presence of one of His Majesty's ships is necessary direct to the Secretary of State, instead of direct to the commanding officer of His Majesty's ship, unless the lives and property of British subjects are in such imminent peril as to demand immediate action.

13. The powers of every officer appointed to administer the government of a Colony or Protectorate are conferred, and his duties are defined, by His Majesty's Commission and the Instructions with which he is furnished. The following is a general outline of the nature of his powers and duties, subject to the special laws of cach Colony :—

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He is empowered to grant a pardon or respite to any criminal convicted in the colonial Courts of Justice and to remit any fines penalties or forfeitures which may accrue to the King. It is his duty to transmit to the Secretary of State by the earliest opportunity a report on each case in which, after sentence, a pardon is granted or the capital sentence is remitted.

The moneys to be expended for the public service are issued under his

warrant.

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