Puslapio vaizdai
PDF
„ePub“

tive Council to propose to you the names of the gentlemen whom they would recommend to supply the vacancies, which I understand to exist, in the present Board. If they should be successful in submitting to you an arrangement to which no valid objection arises, you will of course continue to carry on the government through them, so long as it may be possible to do so satisfactorily, and as they possess the necessary support from the Legislature. Should the present Council fail in proposing to you an arrangement which it would be proper for you to accept, it would then be your natural course, in conformity with the practice in analogous cases in this country, to apply to the opposite party, and should you be able, through their assistance, to form a satisfactory Council, there will be no impropriety in dissolving the Assembly upon their advice; such a measure, under those circumstances, being the only mode of escaping from the difficulty which would otherwise exist of carrying on the government of the province upon the principles of the constitution.

The object with which I recommend to you this course, is that of making it apparent that any transfer which may take place of political power from the hands of one party in the province to those of another is the result not of an act of yours but of the wishes of the people themselves, as shown by the difficulty experienced by the retiring party in carrying on the government of the province according to the forms of the constitution. To this I attach great importance; I have therefore to in struct you to abstain from changing your Executive Council until it shall become perfectly clear that they are unable, with such fair support from yourself as they have a right to expect, to carry on the government of the province satisfactorily, and command the confidence of the Legislature.

Of whatsoever party your Council may be composed, it will be your duty to act strictly upon the principle you have yourself laid down in the memorandum delivered to the gentleman with whom you have communicated, that, namely, "of not identifying yourself with any one party," but instead of this, "making yourself both a mediator and a moderator between the influential of all parties." In giving, therefore, all fair and proper support to your Council for the time being, you will carefully avoid any acts which can possibly be supposed to imply the slightest personal objection to their opponents, and also refuse to assent to any measures which may be proposed to you by your Council, which may appear to you to involve an improper exercise of the authority of the Crown for party rather than for public objects. In exercising, however. this power of refusing to sanction measures which may be submitted to you by your council, you must recollect that this power of opposing a check upon extreme measures proposed by the party for the time in the government, depends entirely for its efficacy upon its being used sparingly, and with the greatest possible discretion. A refusal to accept advice tendered to you by your council is a legitimate ground for its members to tender to you their resignation, a course they would doubtless adopt should they feel that the subject on which a difference had arisen between you and themselves was one upon which public opinion would be in their favour Should it prove to be so, concession to their views must, sooner or later. become inevitable, since it cannot be too distinctly acknowledged that it is neither possible nor desirable to carry on the government of any of the British provinces in North America in opposition to the opinion of the inhabitants.

Clearly understanding, therefore, that refusing to accede to the advice of your council for the time being upon a point on which they consider it their duty to insist, must lead to the question at issue being brought ultimately under the decision of public opinion, you will carefully avoid allowing any matter not of very grave concern, or upon which you cannot reasonably calculate upon being in the end supported by that opinion, to be made the subject of such a difference. And if, unfortunately, such a difference should arise, you will take equal care that its cause and the grounds of your own decision are made clearly to appear in written documents capable of being publicly quoted.

The adoption of this principle of action by no means involves the necessity of a blind obedience to the wishes and opinions of the members of your Council; on the contrary, I have no doubt that if they see clearly that your conduct is guided, not by personal favour to any particular men or party, but by a sincere desire to promote the public good, your objections to any measures proposed will have great weight with the Council, or should they prove unreasonable, with the Assembly, or, in last resort, with the public.

Such are the general principles upon which the constitutions granted to the North American colonies render it necessary that their government should be conducted. It is, however, I am well aware, far easier to lay down these general principles than to determine in any particular case what is that line of conduct which an adherence to them should prescribe. In this your own judgment and a careful consideration of the circumstances in which you are placed must be your guide; and I have only, in conclusion to assure you that Her Majesty will always be anxious to put the most favourable construction upon your conduct in the discharge of the arduous duties imposed upon you by the high situation you hold in Her service.

CLXII

EARL GREY TO LIEUT-GOVERNOR SIR JOHN HARVEY, K.C.B. [Trans.: Imperial Blue Books relating to Canada, 1844-48, Vol. XV.] Downing Street, 31 March, 1847.

Sir,

I have already acknowledged the receipt of your Despatch of the 2d February, enclosing two letters to yourself from your Executive Council, and I now propose to communicate the conclusions at which I have arrived after that attentive consideration which I have felt due, as well to the intrinsic merits of the views stated by your advisers, as to the respectable source from which the statement emanates.

In doing so, it will be convenient that I should at the same time advert to the correspondence which, soon after your assumption of the government of Nova Scotia, you had with Mr. Howe and his friends.

Upon a careful comparison of these very able papers, in which the members of your Council and their political opponents have stated their respective views as to the manner in which the Executive Government of Nova Scotia ought to be conducted, I am led to the conclusion that there is not in reality so wide a difference of principle between the conflicting parties as would at first sight appear to exist, and that it may not be impossible to chalk out a system of administration to be hereafter adopted, to which, without the slightest sacrifice of consistency, both might assent.

On the one hand, I find that the members of your Council declare that they "desire in no degree to weaken the responsibility of the Provincial Government to the Legislature," and I gather from the general tenor of their papers of the 28th and 30th of January, that they are aware that, in the present state of affairs, and of public opinion in Nova Scotia, it is necessary that the Governor of the province should, in administrating its affairs, have the advice and assistance of those who can command the confidence of the Legislature, and more especially of that branch of the Legislature which directly represents the people.

On the other hand, I can hardly doubt that the gentlemen of the opposite party who have insisted so strongly upon the necessity of what is termed "responsible government," would admit the justice and importance of many of the arguments which have been used, in order to show the danger and inconvenience of making the general tenure of offices in the colonial service to depend upon the fluctuations of political contests in the Assembly. I am the more convinced that the gentlemen of the opposition will recognize the force of these arguments, because I observe in the

various papers in which they have stated their views, frequent references, either direct or implied, to the practice of this country, as that which affords the best model for imitation in laying down rules as to the manner in which the government of Nova Scotia should be carried on. Now there is scarcely any part of the system of government in this country which I consider of greater value than that, which though not enforced by any written law, but deriving its authority from usage and public opinion, makes the tenure of the great majority of officers in the public service to depend upon good behaviour. Although with the exception of those who hold the higher judicial situations, or situations in which judicial independence has been considered to be necessary, the whole body of public servants in the United Kingdom hold their offices technically during the pleasure of the Crown, in practice all but the very small proportion of offices which are distinguished as political, are held independently of party changes, nor are those who have once been appointed to them ever in point of fact removed, except in consequence of very obvious misconduct or unfitness. Thus, in fact, though the legal tenure, "during good behaviour," is rare, tenure during good behaviour, in the popular sense of the term, may be said to be the general rule of our public service.

The exception is in the case of those high public servants whom it is necessary to invest with such discretion as really to leave in their hands the whole direction of the policy of the empire in all its various departments. Such power must, with a representative government, be subject to constant control by Parliament, and is therefore administered only by such persons as from time to time enjoy the confidence of Parliament as well as of the Crown. These heads of departments, or Ministers, together with their immediate subordinates who are required to represent or support them in Parliament, are almost invariably members of one or other House, and hold their offices only as long as they enjoy the confidence of Parliament.

Though it is not without some inconveniences, I regard this system as possessing upon the whole very great advantages. We owe to it that the public servants of this country, as a body, are remarkable for their experience and knowledge of public affairs, and honourably distinguished by the zeal and integrity with which they discharge their duties, without reference to party feeling; we owe to it also, that as the transfer of power from one party in the State to another is followed by no change in the holders of any but a few of the highest offices, political animosities are not in general carried to the same height, and do not so deeply agitate the whole frame of society as in those countries in which a different practice prevails. The system with regard to the tenure of office which has been found to work so well here, seems well worthy of imitation in the British American Colonies, and the small population and limited revenue of Nova Scotia, as well as the general occupation and social state of the community, are, in my opinion, additional reasons for abstaining, so far as regards that province, from going further than can be avoided, without giving up the principle of executive responsibility, in making the tenure of offices in the public service dependent upon the result of party contests. In order to keep the Executive Government in harmony with the Legislature, it is doubtless necessary that the direction of the internal policy of the colony should be entrusted to those who enjoy the confidence of the Provincial Parliament, but it is of great moment not to carry the practice of changing public officers further than is absolutely necessary for the attainment of that end, lest the administration of public affairs should be deranged by increasing the bitterness of party spirit, and subjecting the whole machinery of Government to perpetual change and uncertainty.

In the practical application of these views, there will, I am aware, be room for considerable difference of opinion.

In this, as in all questions of classification, varying circumstances and the various views taken by different men, will give rise to discussions and occasional alterations with respect to particular offices. Your acquaintance with what has passed, and is passing in the mother country, will suggest to

you instances in which the question has been raised, whether a particular office should or should not be a Parliamentary office; and some in which different offices have been deliberately removed from the one into the other class.

The question how many of the public officers in Nova Scotia ought to be regarded as political, is one to be determined on the general principles I have before laid down, and with reference to various considerations arising from the peculiar exigencies of the public service, and the finances and social state of the colony. The practical end of responsible government would be satisfied by the removability of a single public officer, provided that through him public opinion could influence the general administration of affairs. Without quite assenting to the too modest estimate which your present Council have given of the resources of the province, I admit that the smallness of the community, its want of wealth, and the comparative deficiency of a class possessing leisure and independent incomes, preclude it from, at present, enjoying a very perfect division of public employments. Small and poor communities must be content to have their work cheaply and somewhat roughly done. Of the present members of your Council, the Attorney-General and Provincial Secretary, to whom the SolicitorGeneral should perhaps be added, appear to me sufficient to constitute the responsible advisers of the Governor. The holders of these offices should henceforth regard them as held on a political tenure. And, with a view to that end, the Provincial Secretary should be prepared, in the event of any change, to disconnect from his office that of the clerkship of the Council, which seems to be one that should on every account be held on a more permanent tenure.

It is possible that in the event of any change being rendered necessary by the course of events in the Provincial Parliament, the party succeeding to power might insist on increasing this number of political offices, by adding to the list of those to be so regarded. In case such a question should arise, I must leave it to your discretion, on a view of various local and temporary circumstances, which I am unable at present to appreciate, to form your own decision with respect to any such demand. I should feel no objection to somewhat increasing the number of political offices (for instance, by appointing a financial secretary and a responsible chief of the department of public lands and works), should the expense of doing so, without injustice to those now in the public service, be found to be not more than the colonial revenue would conveniently bear. But I rely on your using your influence to resist that disposition, which a party succeeding to power often exhibits, to throw open the various offices of emolument to their friends, without sufficient regard to the mischiefs thereby permanently entailed on the public service. And it is but due to what I have seen of the conduct of the principal advocates of responsible government in Nova Scotia, to express my reliance on their public spirit and sober estimate of their country's position and interests, as the most effectual safeguard against any abuse of power.

There is another safeguard which, even with the less considerate members of any party, you will, I think, find sufficient to protect the public interests against any great disposition unnecessarily to place offices hitherto held on what has practically been a tenure of good behaviour, on one of a more precarious nature. However desirous the people of Nova Scotia may be to establish the principal of responsible government, they would I feel assurd, shrink from effecting any reform, however just or necessary, at the cost of injustice to individuals. Now, when individuals have engaged in the public service under a belief, sanctioned by custom, that they obtained a tenure of their offices during good behaviour, it would be most unjust to change that tenure to one of dependence on a parliamentary majority, without ensuring them a provision that would make up for the loss of official income. I think that the consideration that the grasping at any particular office would necessitate the provision of an adequate pension for its occupant, will be a salutary check on any disposition to carry party government beyond its just limits.

This condition must be applied to the removal of those public officers who now have seats in your Executive Council, unless where they have clearly accepted office on an understanding to the contrary effect. I cannot suppose that the necessity of providing the requisite pensions will be deemed by the Assembly an unreasonable accompaniment of the establishment of parliamentary government. And hereafter I think it would be proper to recognise as an invariable rule, that no person should without such provision be deprived of any office (except upon the ground of unfitness or misconduct), unless he had accepted it on the distinct understanding that it was to be held virtually, as well as nominally, during pleasure. I entertain a strong conviction that the adoption of such a rule will be found conducive not only to the interests of the holders of offices, but also to those of the public, and to a true economy of the public money. As I have already observed, it is impossible to expect that men of superior capacity will devote themselves to the public service unless they are assured that their employment will be permanent, or are offered emoluments so large as to make up for the uncertainty of the tenure by which they are enjoyed. If the emoluments of public employment are small, and its tenure at the same time uncertain, a strong temptation is given to the holders to endeavour to make up for these disadvantages by irregular gains, and thus to give rise to practices equally injurious to the community in a pecuniary and in a moral point of view.

You will observe that, in the preceding observations, I have assumed that those only of the public servants, who are to be regarded as removable on losing the confidence of the Legislature, are to be members of the Executive Council. This I consider to follow from the principles I have laid down. Those public servants, who hold their offices permanently, must upon that very ground be regarded as subordinate, and ought not to be members of either house of the Legislature, by which they would necessarily be more or less mixed up in party struggles; and, on the other hand, those who are to have the general direction of affairs exercise that function by virtue of their responsibility to the Legislature, which implies their being removable from office, and also that they should be members either of the Assembly or of the Legislative Council. But this general direction of affairs, and the control of all subordinate officers, it is the duty of the Governor to exercise through the Executive Council; hence the seats in that Council must be considered as in the nature of political offices, and if held in connexion with other offices must give to these also a political character. This, however, leads me to observe, that if only two or three of the principal offices are to be regarded as political, it may very probably be advisable to assign salaries to two or three of the Executive Councillors as such. The Executive Council has duties of a very important character to perform; those duties, and the defects in the manner in which they had then generally been discharged I find thus described in a confidential despatch which the late Lord Sydenham, then Mr. P. Thomson, addressed to Lord J. Russell, from Halifax, in the year 1840:

"The functions of the Executive Council, on the other hand are, it is "perfectly clear, of a totally different character. They are a body upon "whom the Governor must be able to call at any or at all times for advice; "with whom he can consult upon the measures to be submitted to the "Legislature, and in whom he may find instruments, within its walls, to "introduce such amendments in the laws as he may think necessary, or to "defend his acts and his policy. It is obvious, therefore, that those who "compose this body must be persons whose constant attendance on the "Governor can be secured; principally, therefore, officers of the Govern"ment itself; but, when it may be expedient to introduce others, men hold"ing seats in one or other House, taking a leading part in political life, "and above all exercising influence over the Assembly."

"The last, and, in my opinion, by far the most serious defect in the "Government, is the utter absence of power in the Executive, and its total

« AnkstesnisTęsti »