cap. 11] THE UNION OF SOUTH AFRICA 951
during his stay would have, under the Constitution Acts in
either case, to be presented to the Governor-General for his
assent, unless indeed the Governor-General were to appoint
His Majesty his deputy for the purpose! This anomalous
position would not necessarily exist in the case of South
Africa, since the Sovereign could actually administer the
Government in person : yet by s. 12 the Executive Council
is to advise only the Governor-General, and nothing is said
of advising the King in person, a curious omission of doubtful
signification.
The appointment of the Governor-General is, of course,
vested by s. 9 of the Constitution in the King : the appoint-
ment is to be during pleasure, and he may exercise within the
Union such powers and functions as the King may be pleased
to assign to him. The salary of the Governor-General is
fixed at £10,000 a year and is not to be diminished during
his tenure of office : it was originally proposed that if any
person other than the Governor-General was appointed to
administer the Government he should not be entitled to
receive from the Union any salary in respect of any other
office during the period of his administration, but in the final
form of the Bill this proviso was dropped.
In view of the power of the Crown to limit the delegation
of authority, the office of Governor-General was of course
created by letters patent under the Great Seal, and delegated
to the Governor-General the ordinary executive power of the
Crown, including special mention of the prerogative of mercy.
Provision was made for the succession to the Government
in the case of the absence or incapacity of the Governor-
General, the Chief Justice being appointed to act as
Governor-General. The prohibition originally intended of the
payment of salary from Union funds was omitted, as the Chief
Justice of South Africa could hardly have been expected
to administer without additional remuneration if he con-
tinued to perform the work of his own office, and for this
reason no doubt the clause was amended to omit the pro-
hibition. It may be noted that under the wording of the
Constitution it would appear doubtful whether the Governor-
