, 1889-12-28

null mower. and hence the evil result OF that
administration of our finances rests On the
Minister, and not on the community. Yet
withal. we are now asked to give ap that
little voice, and give over the sole control
With the Government or the Governor. lnthe
face of all those facts, it is difficult to under:
stand how the Minister of Finances could "
mt ON print such o. statement as that,
namely that the financial calculations on
which: oar political position was based.
have failed to be realized,-how the Minis
ter could publicly state such q thing for
other colonies and other people to read;
how with amounts of Mt times .$169,OOO
Or. annum at disposal for . colony with
$4,000 souls, such @ result as that could DO
arrived at, and then publicly acknowledged.
u a mater that he could not understand it
appeared to him shameful, dtsgRacetUl in
itself. 1t might, to be sure, De salu ny
those who ara really responsible, chaG the
Council had some share of the responsibility;
but he would ask what is the control or
the power which the Council has had ON,
for instance, the Military Expenses 1t
haa in point of fact not been worth q snap
of the finger; yet those expenses have
chiefly caused The deficits, and ss we are
told. q loss of fnancial independence.
Each time a word was said on those
Military Expenses, we were told that 1t
was Of no avail, as the Statstrea-
aury in reality. bore the expenses.
Not long ago a. proposal was brought IN
before the Council by some Members, by
which a saving of $4,000 a year would
have been effected 10y alteration in the
Military Servi e; but the highest authority
on the Islands did OH that occasion give a
communication from the Ministry OF tlnali-
cpS, saying:
s'Thp Ministry Of Finance cannot admit
that the Colonial Council is competent to
adNpt an ordinance tending to abolish the
military force in st. Cloix, III as much as
the question of preserving or abolishing "a
military force in ST. CrOix does not solely
tNMcern the internal affairs OF the Colonies
Tor which according to the Colonial q
the legislative authority may be exercised
by the King and the Colonial Council
conformity by UrdinanceS-but besides Is
in 40 decided opposition to what is express.
" p~resuppOspi in the Colonial Law, viz:
the presence in the Islands of a joint mill
fary force, that in virtue of s 90 Of the
Colonial LAW an adjustment OF same
should be e~niOined by Law"
"But even ii the military force could be
abolished by ordinance, the Ministry would
not feel itself warranted in advising His
Majesty the King to make use Of His
right by virtue of the Colonial Law to
decide by ordinance q matter of such vital
importance as this, instead of referring
the matter to be decided by the: legisla%
tive authority OF the Kingdom" .
This plainly shews that re- bad no real
legislative power. And again at, the intro.
dEctiOn OF that private bill, the then acting
VicegOvernor recorded Q protest against
che draft being taken under discussion,
when the VcegOUerH0T stated that he
would have to record . protest against
the matter being futhered.' The Draft
proposes to abolish the Military Force
but the Council would by adopting such a
= proposal exceed cts province, as defined
by the Colonial law, aud according to
which a change of the kind can only be
effected by a Law passed by the Diet and
confirmed by his Majesty the King. This
follows from IS l and 2 of the Colonial
Law the first named section, with some
exceptions, %cOnfers upon the Council the
legislative authority in all matters exclu-
sively relating to affairs within the bOun.
daries of the islands, whilst s 2 promises
that in all other matters the Council shall
be heard. In his opinion it Is beyond q
doubt that the military force can not be
considered as q matter which only relates
to affairs within the boundaries of the
Island; the duty of the Military is not
only to maintain order and safety in the
Island, but also to protect the Island
in general, to guard against seditiOn,