Responsible government in the Dominions: Responsible government in the Dominions

Responsible government in the Dominions (Vol. 1)

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Multivolume work

Identifikator:: 1896933912

Document type:: Multivolume work

Author:: Keith, Arthur Berriedale http://d-nb.info/gnd/119086794

Title:: Responsible government in the Dominions

Place of publication:: Oxford

Publisher:: Clarendon Press

Year of publication:: 1912-

Collection:: Economics Books

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Volume

Identifikator:: 1896934455

URN:: urn:nbn:de:zbw-retromon-236504

Document type:: Volume

Author:: Keith, Arthur Berriedale http://d-nb.info/gnd/119086794

Title:: Responsible government in the Dominions

Volume count:: Vol. 1

Place of publication:: Oxford

Publisher:: Clarendon Pr.

Year of publication:: 1912

Scope:: LI, 568 Seiten

Digitisation:: 2022

Collection:: Economics Books

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Document type:: Multivolume work

Structure type:: Chapter

Title:: Part II. The executive Government

Collection:: Economics Books

148 THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT [PART 1T appointment felt by some people in Canada at the failure of Lord Dufferin to dismiss the Ministry of Sir John Macdonald when it became discredited by the Pacific Railway scandals in 1873, and at the grant of a dissolution in 1891 to him purely for party advantage; but it is neither a wise nor a just utterance. No doubt there is a tendency in the great work of Todd? to see too much of the other side of the case, to present the Governor as a benevolent genius presiding over the destinies of the country and exercising the same sort of influence that, on his theory, was exercised by the Sovereign in the Mother Country. But not only was that theory of the action of the Sovereign hardly in accordance with the facts, but the Governor can never hope to attain that dignity of position which gives a Sovereign a claim to the respectful attention of even the ministers who lead the Imperial House of Commons and control the destinies of the Empire. None the less, there are many important functions yet in the hands of the Governor, and he may exercise an influence over the Colony of which he is Governor much greater than is suspected by outsiders who do not realize the working of the Government. Of course this is essentially a matter of individual character. If a Governor prefers to allow political matters to go on with his formal concuirence, he may do so; in many cases the difference will not be obvious, and the loss may not be great. On the other hand, it must be remembered that a Governor is entitled to take the same close interest in political events as the Sovereign in this country, that he is entitled to the fullest confidence of his ministers, that he is entitled to be informed at once of any important decisions taken by his Cabinet, and that he has the right to discuss with the utmost freedom any such proposals. He can point out objections, he can give advice, he can deprecate measures, he can secure important alterations, but always at the price i Parliamentary Government in the Colonies, ed. 1, 1880. He was con- scious of the probable criticism (pp. ix, x), but he overestimated similarly the position of the Crown in England, and he did not accept the distinction now go clear between the Crown in the United Kingdom, which must always act on advice except in a very narrow sphere, and the Governor; cf. Lowell, Government of England, i, 37=50; Anson, Law of the Constitution®, 11,1, 37 seq.

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