APRIL 24. THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 1215

And whereas We have thereby authorised and commanded the Governor-General to do and execute all things that belong to his said office, according to the tenor of Our said Letters Patent, and of such Commission as may be issued to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet, and according to such Instructions as may from time to time be given to him under Our Sign Manual and Signet or by Our Order in Our Privy Council or by Us through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, and to such Laws as are now or shall hereafter be in force in the Dominion:

Now know you that We do by these Our Instructions under Our Sign Manual and Signet direct and enjoin and declare Our will and pleasure as follows:—

Interpretation.

I. In these Our Instructions, unless inconsistent with the context, the term “the Governor-General” shall include every person for the time being administering the Government of the Dominion, and the term “the Executive Council” shall mean the members of the Executive Council for the Dominion who are for the time being the responsible advisers of the Governor-General.

Oaths to be administered by Governor-General.

II. The Governor-General may, whenever he thinks fit, require any person in the public service to take the Oath of Allegiance, together with such other Oath or Oaths as may from time to time be prescribed by any Law in force in the Dominion. The Governor-General is to administer such Oaths or cause them to be administered by some Public Officer of the Dominion.

Governor-General to communicate Instructions to Executive Council.

III. The Governor-General shall forthwith communicate these Our Instructions to the Executive Council, and likewise all such others, from time to time, as he shall find convenient for Our service to impart to them.

Quorum, Executive Council.

IV. The Executive Council shall not proceed to the despatch of business unless two members at the least (exclusive of the Governor-General or of the member presiding) be present and assisting throughout the whole of the meetings at which any such business shall be despatched.

Governor-General to take advice of Executive Council.

V. In the execution of the powers and authorities vested in him, the Governor-General shall be guided by the advice of the Executive Council, but if in any case he shall see sufficient cause to dissent from the opinion of the said Council, he may act in the exercise of his said powers and authorities in opposition to the opinion of the Council, reporting the matter to Us without delay, with the reasons for his so acting. In any such case it shall be competent to any Member of the said Council to require that there be recorded upon the Minutes of the Council the grounds of any advice or opinion that he may give upon the question.

Laws sent home to have marginal abstracts. Journals and Minutes of Parliament.

VI. The Governor-General is to take care that all laws assented to by him in Our name, or reserved for the signification of Our pleasure thereon, shall, when transmitted by him, be fairly abstracted in the margins, and be accompanied, in such cases as may seem to him necessary, with such explanatory observations as may be required to exhibit the reasons and occasions for proposing such laws; and he shall also transmit fair copies of the Journals and Minutes of the proceedings of the Parliament of the Dominion which he is to require from the clerks, or other proper officers in that behalf, of the said Parliament.

Regulation of power of pardon.

VII. The Governor-General shall not pardon or reprieve any offender without first receiving in capital cases the advice of the Executive Council, and in other cases the advice of one, at least, of his Ministers; and in any case in which such pardon or reprieve might directly affect the interests of Our Empire, or of any country or place beyond the jurisdiction of the Government of the Dominion, the Governor-General shall, before deciding as to either pardon or reprieve, take those interests specially into his own personal consideration in conjunction with such advice as aforesaid.

Judges, &c., to be appointed during pleasure.

VIII. All Commissions granted by the Governor-General to any persons to be Judges, Justices of the Peace, or other officers, shall, unless otherwise provided by law, be granted during pleasure only.

Governor-General’s absence. Temporary absence.

IX. The Governor-General shall not quit the Dominion without first having obtained leave from Us for so doing under Our Sign Manual and Signet, or through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, except for the purpose of visiting the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, or the Governor of any neighbouring Colony or State for periods not exceeding one month at any one time, nor exceeding in the aggregate one month for every year’s service in the Dominion.

Governor-General’s absence and departure from the Dominion. Interpretation clause.

X. The temporary absence of the Governor-General for any period not exceeding one month shall not, if he have previously informed the Executive Council, in writing, of his intended absence, and if he have duly appointed a Deputy in accordance with Our said Letters Patent, nor shall any extension of such period sanctioned by one of Our Principal Secretaries of State and not exceeding fourteen days, be deemed a departure from the Dominion within the meaning of Our said Letters Patent.

Revoke Instructions of 18th November, 1907.

XI. From and after the date of the coming into operation of Our above-recited Letters Patent of even date, the Instructions issued to the Governor of the Dominion of New Zealand under the Sign Manual and Signet of His late Majesty King Edward the Seventh, bearing date the Eighteenth day of November 1907 shall, without prejudice to anything lawfully done thereunder, be revoked.

Given at Our Court at Saint James’s this Eleventh day of May 1917, in the Eighth year of Our Reign.

NEW ZEALAND.

COMMISSION PASSED UNDER THE ROYAL SIGN MANUAL AND SIGNET, APPOINTING THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF LIVERPOOL, G.C.M.G., M.V.O., TO BE GOVERNOR-GENERAL AND COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE DOMINION OF NEW ZEALAND.

GEORGE R.I.

Dated 12th May, 1917.

George the Fifth, by the Grace of God of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions beyond the Seas King, Defender of the Faith, Emperor of India: To Our Right Trusty and Right Well-beloved Cousin, Arthur William de Brito Savile, Earl of Liverpool, Knight Grand Cross of Our Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George, Member of Our Royal Victorian Order, Greeting.

Appointment of the Right Hon. the Earl of Liverpool, G.C.M.G., M.V.O., to be Governor-General.

We do, by this Our Commission under Our Sign Manual and Signet, appoint you, the said Arthur William de Brito Savile, Earl of Liverpool, to be, during Our pleasure, Our Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Dominion of New Zealand, with all the powers, rights, privileges, and advantages to the said Office belonging or appertaining.

His duties and powers under Letters Patent.

II. And We do hereby authorise, empower, and command you to exercise and perform all and singular the powers and directions contained in certain Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Our United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster the Eleventh day of May 1917, or in any other Letters Patent adding to, amending, or substituted for the same, according to such Orders and Instructions as you may have already received, or as you may hereafter receive from Us.

Commission of 9th September, 1912, superseded.

III. And we do hereby appoint that so soon as you shall have taken the prescribed Oaths and have entered upon the duties of your Office, this Our present Commission shall supersede Our Commission under Our Sign Manual and Signet, bearing date the Ninth day of September 1912, appointing you to be Governor and Commander-in-Chief in and over Our Dominion of New Zealand.

Officers and others to take notice, &c.

IV. And We do hereby command all and singular Our Officers, Ministers, and loving subjects in Our said Dominion, and all others whom it may concern, to take due notice hereof, and to give their ready obedience accordingly.

Given at Our Court at Saint James’s, this Twelfth day of May 1917, in the eighth year of Our Reign.

By His Majesty’s Command.

WALTER H. LONG.