17

A.—3.

and accompanying or referred to in such Letters Patent; and that it shall be lawful for us, by any such Letters Patent or Instructions, to delegate to the Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand, or to the respective Governors of the said respective provinces, the exercise of such of the powers aforesaid as it may seem meet to us so to delegate, and to prescribe the manner and form in which, and the conditions subject to which, such delegated authority shall so be exercised: And whereas in pursuance of the said Act of Parliament we have, by certain Letters Patent, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdon aforesaid, bearing date on the twenty-third day of December, 1846, and in the tenth year of our reign, executed certain of the powers in us by the said Act vested, and have in the said Letters Patent referred to these our Instructions under our Signet and Sign-Manual, approved in our Privy Council, and accompanying the said Letters Patent: Now, therefore, in further pursuance of the said Act, and in exercise of the powers thereby in us vested, and in exercise of all and every other the powders in us in that behalf vested, wre have by to the Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand the exercise of certain other of the powers by the said Act vested in us ; and we do hereby prescribe that such delegated authority shall so be exercised by these our Instructions thought fit to execute, and do hereby in manner hereinafter mentioned execute certain other of the powers by the said Act vested in us, and we have in further pursuance of the said Act thought fit to delegate, and do hereby in manner hereinafter mentioned, delegate such Governor-in-Chief, in the manner and form following, that is to say, by the publication by him, in pursuance of these our Instructions, of Proclamations to be by him issued in our name and on our behalf, in respect of all and every the matters and things, powers and authorities, comprised in any such delegation ; and we do hereby declare that such delegated authority shall- so be exercised, subject to the conditions following, that is to say, that every such Proclamation shall take effect within the said Islands of New Zealand upon and from such day as shall for that purpose be limited and appointed, by a provision to be for that purpose made in the body of every such Proclamation, and not before ; and that a transcript of every such Proclamation shall by such Governor-in-Chief be transmitted to us as soon as may be practicable, through one of our principal Secretaries of State, for our confirmation or disallowance; and that in case that any such Proclamation or any part thereof shall so be disallowed by us, the same, or the particular part or parts thereof which may so be disallowed, shall cease to be of any force or authority within the said Islands upon and from the time of the receipt thereof by the Governor-in-Chief thereof of any such order of disallowance: And whereas, with a view to the more methodical and perspicuous statement of the provisions we have so thought it fit to make for the better government of our said Islands, we have reduced the same into successive chapters, and have divided each of such chapters into a series of successive sections : And whereas, with a view to the more distinct enunciation of the true sense and meaning of the said provisions, we have deemed it convenient to avoid the repetition, at the commencement of each successive section or chapter, of any specific reference to the authority in virtue of which the same is by us so promulgated and established : Now, therefore, we do hereby declare that each and every of the provisions, orders, matters, and things comprised in the fourteen following chapters hereunto subjoined are by us made, ordained, appointed, and done in pursuance of the said recited Act of Parliament, and in exercise of the powers thereby in us vested, and in exercise of all other powers and authorities to us in that behalf appertaining, and that each and every matter and thing which the Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand, or any Governor or Lieutenant-Governor of any province of New Zealand, is thereby directed or authorised to do, is so committed to him, and shall so be done by him, in pursuance and exercise of the authority which, in execution of the powrers aforesaid, we have hereby so delegated to him as aforesaid, and that each and every order, provision, clause, matter, and thing in the said several chapters comprised, shall be taken and understood, executed and enforced in such and the same manner as if each and every of them had been expressly preceded by and immediately connected with a reference to the authority in virtue of which the same are so by us made, ordained, appointed, and done.

Chapteb I. On the Executive Government of the New Zealand Islands, and of the respective Provinces thereof. 1. The Islands of Newr Zealand collectively shall be placed under the government and civil administration of an officer, to be designated the " Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand." 2. The Governor-in-Chief shall in his own person conduct, in all necessary details, the administration of the government of the province within which at the time he may happen to be. 3. The administration of the government of the province from which at the time the Governor-in-Chief may be absent shall be conducted by a Governor, or, in the absence of any such Governor, by a Lieutenant-Governor. 4. In the administration of his office the Governor-in-Chief will correspond with and receive all necessary instructions for his guidance from us through one of our principal Secretaries of State. 5. In the administration of the duties of his office, the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor as the case may be, will correspond with and receive his instructions from the Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand. 6. The Governor-in-Chief will, in manner aforesaid, prescribe all such rules as it may to him appear conducive to the the good government of New Zealand so to prescribe for the conduct of the correspondence between himself and the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor, and for deciding in what cases and to what extent it shall be the duty of the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor to await his instructions before carrying into effect the powers by law vested in him. 7. The Governor-in-Chief of New Zealand shall, in his discretion, from time to time, resort in person to either of the said provinces, and there continue so long as to him shall seem meet for carrying on in person the administration of the Government thereof. 3—A. 3.