CHAP. X] MILITARY AND NAVAL DEFENCE 1255 
The Governor protested energetically against this decision, 
and went so far as to assert that by the Constitution and by 
his commission as Governor and Commander-in-Chief, the 
Governor must possess full military control over all the 
forces, Imperial or otherwise, which were in the Colony, and 
that this control could not be taken away from him legally 
by a mere decision of the Imperial Government. 
The Governor’s position was clearly untenable, and it was 
a mistake to assume that an alteration was made by the 
Imperial Government in the actual position of the Governor 
with regard to the control of Imperial troops in a Colony. 
With regard to the one regiment which was still to be left, 
and which was left until 1869, the Governor still retained 
the same control as he constitutionally had. He was not 
entitled under that control to direct the details of military 
operations, but he was entitled to give general directions as 
to the military operations, and down to the end of his tenure 
of office he continued to have this power of control. On the 
other hand, the Imperial Government were obviously entitled 
to remove from the Colony troops which they did not intend 
should be employed therein, and the removal of such troops 
from the Governor's control could not be regarded as a 
breach of constitutional practice or an interference with the 
powers of self-government of the Colonies. 
The Ministry, which had first been anxious to adopt a sel- 
reliant policy, and which had passed resolutions in favour of 
such a policy, changed its attitude in 1868, when certain 
prisoners who had been confined on the Chatham Islands 
escaped from their confinement and landed in New Zealand. 
They then urged that the troops should be retained for a time, 
but they still declined to accept responsibility for the pay- 
ment of the troops, and the Imperial Government were no 
longer prepared to acquiesce in the retention of forces for 
which no payment was made. Vigorous protests by the 
' See Parl. Pap., February 1866, p. 259; 1867, pp. 44 seq., 85 sed., 
62 seq. ; H. C. 307, 1869, pp. 2 seq., 13 seq., 19 seq., 23 seq. In 1881 the 
Colonial Government claimed the right to move troops independently of 
the Governor: Rusden. iii. 406: Parl. Pap., O. 3382, p. 190.