crap. Iv] THE PREROGATIVE OF MERCY 1411
decline advice only in cases where either Imperial interests
were concerned in the definite sense of interests affecting
other parts of the Empire or foreign countries, and leave
him to act in all other matters on the usual principles of
ministerial advice, that is to say, reject it only if he thought
he could secure another Ministry which would endorse
his act and win a majority in the Lower House. As usual,
thereis no clear recognition of this fact in the correspondence :
for instance, Lord Onslow’s Premier, in commenting on the
original instructions with their definite reservation to the
Governor of personal discretion in capital cases, said that if
that were removed the situation would be then governed
by the ordinary clause of the royal instruction empowering
the Governor, if he thought fit, to act in opposition to the
advice of ministers :—
In other words, the Governor may in any case refuse to
accept the advice of his ministers, but in doing so he accepts
a responsibility involving certain consequences. The prac-
tice, however, has been where the royal prerogative is
exercised for the Governor to accept a personal responsibility,
and actually to shield his ministers from either the responsi-
bility of defending him or being under the necessity if they
sannot do so of resigning.
But this is surely a false alternative ; it was not adopted
by the Ministry of Mr. Ballance despite his memorandum
when the next Governor in 18921 refused to accept his
advice regarding the Upper House shortly afterwards, and
it is clear that if a Governor refuses to accept ministerial
advice on Imperial grounds there is no need for his ministers
either to defend him or to resign. The latter alternative is
altimately, as shown elsewhere, unconstitutional; the former
is an excess of magnanimity, and would only be misunder-
stood without benefiting either Governor or ministers.
New letters patent and instructions were issued in accor-
dance with the wishes of the Governments in 1892 for the six
Australian Colonies and for New Zealand. In 1900 they
t Parl. Pap., H. C. 198, 1893-4, p. 19, when the Ministry actually fell
back on Lord Carnarvon’s view of their position as not requiring resigna-
tion. Cf Cd. 1248, p. 7; Canada Sess. Pap., 1876. No. 116, p. 82.
