§ Captain PEELasked the Secretary for the Colonies what were the circumstances which prevented His Majesty assenting to the Act respecting the qualifications of engineers passed in 1904 by the Legislature of Newfoundland; whether any protest was made by the Newfoundland Government against the refusal to give His Majesty's assent to the Bill; whether the Governor acted upon his own responsibility, upon the advice of ministers, or as the result of instructions from the Imperial Government; if upon instructions, were such instructions general or special instructions in respect of this particular measure; whether the law respecting the qualifications of engineers has since been amended; and, if so, in what way were the objections met which prevented the Act receiving His Majesty's assent?
Mr. HARCOURTThe grounds which prevented His Majesty from assenting to the Act of 1904 of the Legislature of Newfoundland respecting the qualifications of engineers were that in certain respects the terms of the Act were not in harmony with the corresponding provisions of the Imperial Merchant Shipping Act, the most important point being a discrepancy as to the number of engineers required to be carried by steamships of 100 nominal horsepower or upwards. No protest was made by the Newfoundland Government against the refusal to assent. The Act was not reserved but contained a suspending Clause. The Act, which had never come into force, was repealed by an Act of 1906, Chapter 24, which similarly contained a suspending Clause, and which was assented to by His Majesty as the points of divergence between the Imperial Act, which had caused the withholding of assent to the previous Act, had been removed.