1326 ADMINISTRATION AND LEGISLATION [PART V 
invalid, and so it was confirmed by no less than three Acts, 
one in 1862, another in 1863, and another in 1865. In 
1901 2 it was found necessary to validate a series of New 
South Wales, Queensland, and Western Australia Acts, and 
in 1907 3 a final ex post facto validation was given to every 
Act passed by a Colonial or State Parliament if assented to 
by the Governor and not disallowed, or reserved and 
assented to by the Crown, whether or not the proper forms 
had in each case been adopted. In the case of Canada, an 
Act of 1871 removed doubts as to the validity of the Canadian 
Acts of 1869 and 1870 respecting the administration of the 
North-Western Territories and Manitoba, an Act of 1875 
validated the Oaths Act of 1868 and extended the power 
of the Dominion Parliament to define the privileges of the 
Houses, and an Act of 1886 defined the powers of the 
Dominion Parliament as to the representation in the Parlia- 
ment of the territories not yet provinces. A later Act of 1907 
altered the amounts of the provincial subsidies, and an 
Act of 1895 enabled the appointment of a Deputy-Speaker in 
the House of Commons.* 
In the case of the Commonwealth, British North America, 
and the Union of South Africa, Imperial legislation was 
essential to provide for a federation or union ; otherwise all 
the power of the legislatures would have been unavailing 
to create a federation or union. The Imperial legislation 
which established the Constitutions of the Australian Colonies 
was due to the desire to establish governments with limited 
powers to begin with, in place of the representative govern- 
ments which alone the Crown could erect, and once legislation 
was started it was impossible to get rid of it except by other 
legislation. In Newfoundland a clear sweep was made before 
the letters patent of 1832 were issued under the prerogative, 
but an Act of 1847 defined certain principles which regulate 
the government still. In New Zealand the establishment of 
t See Blackmore, Constitution of South Australia, pp. 64-8. 
: 1 Edw. VIL ec. 29. Cf. also 56 & 57 Vict. ¢. 72. 
37 Edw. VIL c. 7. 
See Provincial Legislation, 1867-93, pp. 13 seq.