Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/682

 vi ADELAIDE AND VICINITY ^. Noteson,he Constitution of South Australia Rut this statement must now be modified. The gradual diminution of the power of the King and the increase of the power of the House ot Commons has, centuries ago, resulted in the predominance of the British Houses of Parliament, which have acquired the power of over-riding the King in Privy Council, so that now the theory must be stated as follows : — The King in Privy Council, subject to the King in Parliament, rules and governs those of his colonies which have been acquired by settlement until such colonies have acquired Constitutions of their own by virtue of Imperial Acts of Parliament. And it of course follows that when the Imperial Parliament has once granted a Constitution to a colony, the powers of the Crown in reference to alterations of the Constitution of that colony are abrogated and disappear. If it were not so, the Crown would be able to vary or over-ride an Act of the Imperial Parliament. And the statement must be still further modified, because it has become settled and determined by decisions of the highest courts of Great Britain that, when a colony has acquired a legislative Constitution by grant from the Crown, the Crown cannot take away or alter such Constitution. We have it on the highest authority that " after a colony has received legislative institutions the Crown (subject to the special provision of any Act of Parliament) stands in the same relation to that colony or settlement as it does to the United Kingdom." " Crown colonies," theory of government The Imperial Parliament, in the early days of British colonisation, did not interfere ; in fact, it was then considered that the Imperial Parliament had no power to interfere. When a Bill to legislate concerning colonial matters was first introduced, the Ministry declared to the House of Commons "that this Bill was not proper for this House, as it concerned America"; and the King, by the advice of his Privy Council, established constitutions and made laws in British colonies acquired by settlement. The first "deviation from this general usage" was made in 1791, when, in consequence of the want of power in the Crown to impart to the Roman Catholic population of the Canadas certain privileges which it was considered expedient they should possess, an Act of the Imperial Parliament was passed imparting such privileges and establishing a Constitution for that colony. The King appointed agents (generally called Governors) to rule in his name and on his behalf, and generally constituted and established local councils to advise such Governors. Sometimes these councils were nominated direct from PLngland ; sometimes they were appointed by the Governor himself ; and sometimes they were elected, either partly or wholly, by the people of the new country. The King established courts of justice (subject, however, to the qualification that such courts must not be of a novel description, and must administer justice on the lines of the recognised British courts). He regulated trade and commerce, and otherwise ruled and governed these settlements. The Crown was the owner of all land, which it granted to its subjects on such terms as it thought fit. No country could be settled without authority from the Crown, and the lands of the colonies were considered part of the "royal demesnes." Territories in North America were granted "as part of our manor of East Greenwich in Kent," and the proceeds of such land and of all the other revenues which were received in such new country were the property of the Crown.