omar. 1] THE POWERS OF THE GOVERNOR 117
meeting any emergency which may have required him to
take immediate action for the safety of the Colony. If he
acts in good faith and having regard to the circumstances
reasonably, he will be held harmless.” If this means, as it
seems to mean, that it will exempt a Governor from legal
liability because he has acted with reason and on good faith
in an emergency, it goes a great deal too far, especially if it is
thought that there is any special sanctity in the position of
the Governor. The facts are clearly that, as the executive
head of the Colony, the Governor has the responsibility for
the maintenance of the government thrown upon him in
especial measure, and that he will therefore be judged in his
actions according to the duties which were imposed upon
him. How far his actions will be held to have been reason-
able will depend on circumstances, and will be weighed on
the principles laid down in R. v. Pinney! and Phillips v.
Eyre? and the Governor will normally require the protection
of the act of indemnity, which saved Eyre from serious
difficulties. The view that the Colonial Governor has the
full executive authority needed for the government of the
Colony has now received the support of Professor Harrison
Moore? and seems the only satisfactory theory of the
Governor's position and attributes.
3 3. THE LIMITATIONS OF THE POWERS OF THE GOVERNOR
It is difficult to say exactly what prerogatives are excluded
from the grant in the letters patent. It may be taken as
certain that the prerogative of coinage is mot included.
The King has a right to coin money by the prerogative, and
to settle questions of legal tender and so forth, and this
prerogative not being, properly speaking, a legislative action,
has been and can be exercised in Colonies possessing repre-
sentative institutions,® which of course could not be the
tL 38. Tr. (N. 8.) 11. Cf Parl. Pap., C. 7234, pp. 8-12; Cd. 1662.
6Q.B. 1
} Commonwealth of Australia,® pp. 300 seq. ; cf. Quick and Garran, Con-
stitution of Commonwealth, pp. 389, 390; Clark, Australian Constitutional
Law, pp. 63, 64. ¢ Chalmers, Colonial Currency, pp. 38 seq.
