A.—No. 5.

Pardon or Eeprieve, according to your own deliberate judgment, whether the Members of Our said Executive Council concur therein or otherwise; entering, nevertheless, on the Minutes of the said Council, a Minute of your Reasons at length, in case you should decide any such Question in opposition to the judgment of the majority of the Members thereof. 15. Whereas by the said recited Act of the Session holden in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Tears of Our Reign, it was, among other things, provided that at any time during the continuance of the Office . of any Superintendent of a Province, it should be Lawful for Us to Remove him from such Office, on receiving an Address signed by the Members of the Provincial Council of such Province praying for such Removal: And Whereas it was by the said Act further enacted, that it should be Lawful for Us, in and by any Letters Patent to be issued under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, from time to time to Constitute and Establish within any District or Districts of New Zealand one or more Municipal Corporation or Corporations, and to grant to any such Corporation all or any t f the Powers which, in pursuance of the Statutes in that behalf made and provided, it is competent to Us to grant to the Inhabitants of any Town or Borough in England and Wales, incorporated in virtue of such Statutes, or any of them, and to qualify and restrict the exercise of any such Powers in such and the same manner as by the Statutes aforesaid, or any of them, We may qualify or restrict the exercise of any such Powers as aforesaid in England : Provided always that all provisions of any such Letters Patent, and all Bye-Laws or Regulations made by any such Corporation, should be subject to Alteration or Appeal by any Ordinance or Act of the Provincial Council for the Province in which any such Corporation might be established, or of the General Assembly, according to their respective Powers therein before declared : And Whereas it was by the said Act further enacted, that whereas it might be expedient that the La,ws, Customs, and Customs, and Usages of the Aboriginal or Native Inhabitants of New Zealand, so far as they are not repugnant to the general principles of humanity, should for the present be maintained for the government of themselves in all their relations to and dealings with each other, and that particular Districts should be set apart within which such Laws, Customs, or Usages should be so observed, it should be lawful for us, by any Letters Patent to be issued, under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom, from time to time, to make provision for the purposes aforesaid, any repugnancy of any such Laws, Customs, or Usages to the Law of England, or to any Law, Statute, or Usage in force in New Zealand, or in any part thereof, in anywise notwithstanding: And whereas it was by the said Act further enacted, that it should be lawful for Us, by any such Letters-Patent as therein mentioned, or Instructions under our Sign-Manual and Signet, or signified through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, to Delegate to the Governor any of the powers thereinbefore reserved to Us, respecting (amongst other things) the removal of Superintendents of Provinces, the establishment of Municipal Corporations, and the preservation of Aboriginal Laws, Customs, and Usages : And whereas it was by the said Act further provided, that it should not be lawful for any person other than Ourselves, Our Heirs or Successors, to Purchase, or in anywise Acquire or Accept from the Aboriginal Natives land of or belonging to, or used or occupied by, them in common as Tribes or Communities, or to accept any Release or Extinguishment of the Rights of such Aboriginal Natives in any such land as aforesaid, and that no Conveyance, or Transfer, or Agreement for the conveyance or transfer of any such Land, either in perpetuity, or for any term or period, either absolutely or conditionally, and either in Property, or by way of Lease or Occupancy, and no such Release or Extinguishment as aforesaid should be of any Validity or Effect unless the same were made to, or entered into with and accepted by Us, Our Heirs or Successors: Provided always, that it should be lawful for Us, Our Heirs and Successors, by Instructions under Our Sign Manual and Signet, or signified through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State, to Delegate our Powers of Accepting such Conveyances or Agreements, Releases or Relinquishments, to the Governor of New Zealand, or the Superintendent of any Province within the Limits of such Province. Now we do hereby Delegate to you all and every the said Powers by the said Act reserved to Us which are hereinbefore recited. 16. And Whereas great Prejudice may happen to Our Service and to the Security of Our said Colony by the Absence of the Governor, you shall not upon any pretence whatever Quit the said Colony without having first obtained leave from Us for so doing under our Sign Manual and Signet, or through one of Our Principal Secretaries of State. V. R.

exercise hia own judgment, entering his Reasons in the Minutes of Council.

Delegation of certain powers to tha Governor. Jiemoval of Superintendents of Provinces.

Establishment of Municipal Corporations.

Preservation of Aboriginal Laws, Customs, and Usages.

Purchase or acquisition, &c, of Lands belonging to the Aboriginal Natives.

Governor's absence.

6

LOYAL COMMISSION AND INSTRUCTIONS