No. 51

I would very respectfully beg to call your attention to
the eighth Clause of the Instructions under date of the 11th
of January 1864, with which I have been honored by Her Majesty.
That Clause commands me to bring every matter of importance under
the consideration of the Executive Council unless Her Majesty's
Service "would sustain material prejudice by consulting the said
Council thereon." This command it appears to me tends to diminish
the unity of the Government more than you may probably consider
desirable. In urgent cases where he has to act at once, the
Governor's position in regard to the Council is still more embarrassing
as he must "at the earliest practicable period, communicate to the
said Executive Council the measures" the Governor "may have so
adopted, with the reasons thereof," thus inviting the criticism
of his own public officers on the Governor's Acts.

2. In the ninth Clause it is ordered that nothing shall be
taken into consideration in the Council unless proposed by the
Governor, "Provided, that if any Member shall, by application in
writing, request you so to propose any question, it shall be
competent for any such member to record upon the said minutes such
his written application together with the answer which may be
returned by you to the same." The fourth Clause commands me

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to communicate the Instructions which I receive to the Executive Council.

3. The Executive Council of this Colony, being, with the
exception of the Colonial Secretary, new to business have taken
these Instructions as giving them a right to interfere even in
questions of patronage, and to bring forward for discussion matters
which I choose to reserve from them. I am perfectly willing to place
on the Minutes their applications and my reasons for declining to
comply with them, but my officers shrink from this apparent
antagonism with the local head of the Government.

4. I apprehend no difficulty from the Gentleman to whom this
despatch refers but I have thought it proper to mention to you, that
I propose, unless ordered to the contrary by you to give a wide
interpretation to the command to reserve from the Council matters
the consideration of which with that body would "materially prejudice"
Her Majesty's Service. I am of opinion that until more liberal
Legislative Institutions are given, the Officer Administering
should in most cases act with promptitude, on his own responsibility,
and that it would "materially prejudice" Her Majesty's Service, were
he on the contrary, to bring forward every matter of moment for
discussion.

5. I may mention in support of this view, that I received
several despatches in Honduras directing me in matters of importance,
such as the deporting persons on suspicion, under a law peculiar
to that Colony, not to consult the Council but to act alone.

6. In each of the cases to which I allude the Colonial Secretary
concurred with me that it was not a proper one to bring before the
Council.