CHAP. 1v] ALTERATION OF THE CONSTITUTION 425
constitutions, as indeed has been regularly done in the
West Indies.
This provision of the Colonial Laws Validity Act causes
every constitutional alteration to be a matter of other
moment than a mere change in an ordinary law. Thus in
the case of an Imperial Act the legislature cannot fetter its
successor. If, for example, it were enacted by an Imperial
Act that a certain provision therein contained, and the
section containing it, should only be repealed by two-thirds
majorities in both Houses the provision would be a mere
dead letter ; the next Parliament could do what it liked by
a simple majority, and the subsequent Act would implicitly
overru'e the former Act ; it is not necessary for the Act to
refer in any way to its predecessor : the two Acts would be
taken together, and if they would not make a sensible whole
so taken, the latter Act would prevail : a sovereign Parlia-
ment cannot be bound by any devices, and in the case of the
Act fixing in 1907 anew the proportions of subsidy paid by
Canada to the Provinces, the words ‘ final and unalterable .
which it was proposed to insert at the request of Canada,
were left out as improper to be inserted in an Imperial Act
which had no right to attempt to set up anything which
could not be altered, the wishes of the Dominion Govern-
ment being met to the extent of allowing the address of
the Provinces and Canada to apvear as a schedule to the
Act 2
On the other hand, though in some cases no form was
necessary to be observed in altering the constitution, it was
always necessary that a Colonial constitution should be
altered expressly: it would never have been possible to
alter such a constitution merely by an ordinary Act which
incidentally enacted provisions which were in conflict with
the constitution: the constitution was and is a solemn
matter requiring formal change. This was laid down in
! For the dispute as to power of alteration, see Blackmore, Constitution
of South Australia, pp. 64-8.
* Canadian Annual Review, 1907, pp. 609, 610 ; British Columbia Sess.
Pup... 1908. C. 1.
