cmap. 1] THE GOVERNOR AND MINISTERS 151 
the Council, and so he cannot perform any act in Council 
without a majority, but he can always refuse to act, and so 
can force his ministers to give way on the point at issue 
or to resign their posts. Even in the case of a ministerial 
act he can forbid the minister to perform any action on 
pain of dismissal, so that legally a Governor is far removed 
from being a figurehead. 
The relation of the Governor to his Executive Council has 
been the subject of much discussion, and the principles laid 
down are of such interest as to justify the consideration 
of two of the views expressed at length. It may first, how- 
ever, be useful to set out the relations in typical cases as 
laid down in the letters patent and instructions. In the 
case of Newfoundland, the only Colony which still, under 
self-government, bears the name with pride, it is provided 
in Clause II of the letters patent of March 28, 1876, as 
follows — 
And we do hereby declare our pleasure that there shall be 
an Executive Council in our said Colony, and that the said 
Council shall consist of such persons as are now or may at 
any time be declared by any law enacted by the Legislature 
of our said Colony to be members of our said Council, and 
of such other persons as our said Governor shall from time 
to time in our name and on our behalf, but subject to any 
law as aforesaid, appoint under the public seal to be members 
of our said Council. 
There is no substantial difference in the enactments for 
the other Colonies where the Executive Council is constituted 
by letters patent, but in the other cases, those of the six 
States of the Commonwealth, New Zealand; and formerly of 
the four South African Colonies, the wording of the last 
portion of the clause was slightly altered so as to read in 
the case of New Zealand : ‘and of such other persons as 
the Governor shall from time to time in our name and on 
our behalf, but subject to any law as aforesaid, appoint under 
the public seal of the Dominion to be members of the 
Executive Council of the Dominion.” This section appears 
to contemplate the possibility of a law which forbade 
the adding more than a certain number of members to the