Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/677

 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 651 APPENDIX H Notes on the Constitution of South Aiistralia By the Hon. Sir R. C. Baker, K.C.M.G., Preside id of the Legislative Council, etc., etc. It is proposed to briefly formulate the legal theory of the Constitution of the Province of South Australia, to indicate how widely different the constitutional practice is from such legal theory, to examine the sources of such Constitution, and to consider some of its most important aspects. Preliminary Most men, if asked what the political Constitution of South Australia was, would no doubt think that they had enabled the questioner to ascertain for himself by stating that it was to be found in the Constitution Act and its amendments, and the various electoral and other local Acts relating to the election and constitution of the two Houses of Parliament. Any such answer would be wofully incorrect. These Acts only partly define the constitution and powers of the two Houses of Parliament ; leave absolutely untouched the relation of the Governor to the Crown and to the local Parliament ; leave almost untouched the powers and rights commonly called " prerogatives " of the Crown ; only inferentially touch upon the duties, powers, and functions of the responsible advisers of the Governor, commonly called the Ministry ; and are, in point of fact, only alterations of and additions to a pre-existing political Constitution which, as altered and added to, still exists. No doubt the provisions contained in and the effects which have resulted from our Constitution Act are of overwhelming constitutional importance, but that is an entirely different thing to being " the Constitution of South Australia." To rightly understand a subject it must be studied from all aspects, and especially so when the theory and reality are not only widely divergent, but absolutely contradictory. It might be suggested that in such a case any review and study of the theory might be safely neglected, and the reality alone considered ; but — as will be abundantly clear later on — to make the reality clear and understandable the theory must be also stated and understood. It may be pointed out in passing that in this Province, where every man and woman has a share in the government and can rise to any position in the State, it is an anomaly that our system of State education does not embrace, at all events, an elementary study of our own Constitution. R R