PAGE TWO IUDUAAMAN DATURDAI DECEMBER 24, 1941 9) WYERRY XNVAS bave TO ALL or limit OUR PATRONS Cu operation.
should receive FUERZA LUZ Seek mem is not BRITISH GUIANA. PThe delicious rich, thick, New Constitution For fruity British Guiana SINALCO Makes meals appetizing.
Abolition of Combined Court Urged by Local Reform should be a nominated unofficial Commission member, The total membership of the An Exchange says: The local Legislative Council being 29 we Commission on Constitutional consider that the quorum should reform in British Guiana has be 10 members excluding the bave a submitted a report in which it Governor who would recommends the Abolition of the casting vote only.
Combined Court, and the sub SELECTION OF NOMINATION stitution of a single council of 29 UNOFFICIALS.
members; the Governor to We have received various sug.
the veto power in Legislation, gestions as to the manner in removing of bogus electives and which the nominated unofficial voters and franchise for women. should be selected, including one In part the recommendations one which would make them follow cc opted rather than nominatTHE LEGISLATURE ed members. Practically all these Under our term of reference proposals are open to theſtatal we have two main du. les to per obj ction that they would form, the first being to advise in one direction or another the upon the steps wbich should be prerogative of the Crown usually taken to confer power upon the exercised through the Governor: Governor to carry into effect to select such members.
measures which he and the have no reason to doubt that in Secretary of State consider es making his recommendations to sential for the well being of the the Secretary of States the Give Colony.
ernor would give full aud due The views expressed to ue, consideration to the importance both orally and in writing. difer and desirability of including in ed very considerably as to the the legislature representatives form wbicb the necessary change of any interest or element of sbould take, but nevertheless particular importance in the the preponderance of evidence community. At the same time, was in favour of the abolition of bowever, we recommend that in the existing Court of Policy and view of the culiar place which Combined Court, and the subst they occupy in the economic life tution therefor of a single legis of the community, the sugar lative body.
planting and major commercial The retention of the existing interests receive special Chambers was recommended consideration when nominated mainly on grounds of sentiment, members are being selected paror on the grounds that the pos. ticularly if they should not altion of Financial Representative ready have secured adequate reprovided a useful training presentation among the elected ground for a potential legislature members. We hope, nowever, who would afterwards elec that under a new constitution tion to the Court of Policy tbey will secure such represenWhile attracting due weight to tation these considerations we are of THE BEST JUDGE opinion that a single Chamber, possessing full legislative powers members are concerned, So far 19 nominated official would be more efficient than the the two Chambers which existat Governor is the best judge as to present. We cons der that the which of his officers should be plan of dividing public business nominated. It might, however, into financial and non tinaccial be an advantage to the public matters a satisfactory service if it were possible to basis on which to frame con vary the personnel of nominated stitution, especialiy as in all the official members on Occasion when the Governor considars it major problems which face a Government financisl acd nontinancial consider tions are closely interwoven, We recommend therefore the existing two chaun ber legislature should be abolished, and a single Legislative Council substituted.
We are of opinion that the Legislative Council should consist of exofticio members, nominated otticial meinbers. nomi pated unofficial members, and elected members.
The first second and fourth classes of members already exist and the desirability of intro ducing a dominated unoficial elemºnt has been pointed out bs the British Galapa Save your empty Lucky Strike Packages for the sioners. It is our opinion and the opinion of every witness whɔ coming came before us that the introyear. We have the largest assortment of duction into the legislature of such an element would be an inPremiums on the Isthmus to offer you.
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TWENTY NINE MEMBERS Our Premium List includes the following: In considering the question of how many members there should be in the Legislative Council, we have first considered how many Base Balls Enamelware elected members there should be. The total number the Base Ball Bats Gillette Razors Blades Court of Policy and the Coon at present is 14, and Cigarette Cases Tobaco Pouches as pointed out by the British Gulana Commission, the average Cameras Perfumes constituency is than 800 (che last registered electorate being Cutlery Aluminum Ware 11, 000. Although this quota seems small in comparison with Clocks Jewelry that which exist colonies, we are satisfied that it Chinaware Pocket Knives is very desirable that the sug.
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14 as the most suitable number of elected members, it remain Flash Lights for us to consider the number of ex officio and nominated members. We consider that (excluding the Governor) the total number of ex ex officio and Write for illustrated rominated members sbould be 81 1:ast 15. In accordance with the usual practice in other colonies, the ex officio members should be the Colonial Secretary and Attorney General mend that nominated memb. rs should be officials, the being ucodicial persoos of standing in the community; but that no person in receipt of any emollamect from the Crown or the Government of the colonyl NANANANRION PANIMAN的 desirable to have a particular oficer present in the legislature for a specific purpose during a Darinulir period. It is also desirable that it sbould be a recornised actice for officials who are not members of the legislature to attend for the purpose of giving information.
We recommend that as is usual in such cases tbe nominated members sbould retain their seats until the next dissolution of the Legislature after their appointment, unless previously removed under instructions from the Crown. They should, ot course, be eligible for re appointment.
In paragraph above we have set out the existing composition of the Executive Council. As already stated the Council corsists of two ex officio members and such persons as may be appointed by the King or provisionally appointed by the Governor subject to confirmation disallowance.
The British Guiana Commissicn has advanced reasons why there should be admitted to this Council one or more of the elected members of the ture with a view to promoting legislagreater mutual confidence and We ana go further and strongly recommend that all members of the Executive Council should be members of the Legislative Council. This princip e should apply to all persons who taay be temporarily appointLu tu the Executive Council We are of opinion that the Executive Council (exclusive of the Governor) sbould consist in all of eleven members, the majority of whom should be officials, and we accordingly recommend that the Council should be constituted as follows: two ex officio members. the Colonial Secretary and the Attorney General. four dominated official members; three nominated upotricial members; and two elected members of the legisla tnre.
The normal proportion of three uno Mcial to two elected bers need not be strictly adhered to. The total membership being 11 we consider that memberg would be a suitable quorum. We consider it desirable that the Executive Council should gene2777 rally be maintained at its full strength.
GOVERNOR RESERVE POWER Our recommendations regardin the constitution of a Legislative Council, which would include nominated voofficial members, would, if adopted mean that the dominated official and unofficial combined would have a bare majority of one over the elected whereas the official Section, would be in a minority of nine compared with the unofficial section of nomiDated and elected members, The inclusion among the Executive Council of three nominated unofficial and two elected members of the legislature would, we think, normally ensore a majɔrity to the Government in the legislature.
Whilst we are of opinion that the composition of the legislature which we have recommended would, save under exceptional circumstances, fulfil there quirements of our terms of reference there is, however, the the possibility of a deadlock occur.
blog and the Governor finding in the position of being unable to carry some measure which he and the Secretary of State consider to be essental to tbe good government of the colony, Having regard to the absolute necessity of safeguarding at the present time the credit and financial stability of the colony, we think that the mere possibllity of a deadlock, although we believe, a remote one, might have the effect of making it difficult to float the colony loans on advantageous terms and might also give rise to doubt in the minds of capitalists and others who would otherwise be prepared to engage in commercial undertakings in the colony. On these grounds we recommend that the Governor should be given power to reserve, for his own decision, any matter which be and the Secretary of State consider essential to the good goveromsnt of the colony but that this power should not be exercised without reference to the previous State should such be possible, Secretary of and in any event the Governor action in this respect should be reviewed by the Secretary of (Continued from page 7)
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