CO129-447 - Governor Sir May - 1918 [1-3] — Page 19

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4.

The defence is made applicable to interferences which took

lace before the commencement of the Ordinance as well as to inter-

ferences occurring after that event,

5. The defence is expressly applied to pending actions, but it is

understood that it will not affect any judgments already given. As

a matter of fact, no action in which this defence could be, or could

have been raised, is known to have been commenced up to the present.

6.

Sub-clause 17 of Article III of the Order made by Her late

Majesty queen Victoria in Council on the 26th October, 1896, pro-

vides as follows:-

"If any person shall, by obeying any order

requisition made under this Order, be

"prevented from fulfilling any contract,

"such person shall not be deemed to have

"thereby committed a breach of contract,

"but such contract shall be deemed to be

"suspended by such order or requisition so

"far as its fulfilment is thereby rendered

"impossible."

The exact nature of the relief given by this sub-clause may perhaps

be a matter of some doubt, but it was thought inadvisable to deal

The statutory with this point in any way in the present Ordinance.

defence introduced by the Ordinance is, however, extended to in-

terferences due to regulations made under the above Order in Council, as amended by the Order of His Majesty in council made on

the 21st arch, 1916.

7.

In my opinion this is an Ordinance to which His Excellency

of His Majesty and on the Governor may properly assent in the name

is benalf,

Attorney General,