Vice-Regal Relief

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 835, 2 December 1929, Page 8

Vice-Regal Relief

DUTIES OF ADMINISTRATOR

BEFORE the new Governor-General of Xew Zealamt arrives to assume the duties of King’s representative here, there will be a period during which the Dominion will he without a Governor-General. In that interval between the departure of Sir Charles Fergusson and the arrival of the Rt. Hon, Lord Bledisloe, his Majesty’s interests will be watched by the Chief Justice, the Hon. M. Myers, acting as Administrator.

Tradition decrees that GovernorGenerals shall never meet in office. The custom has grown with the British Constitution. King never meets King. And so it is with the King’s emissary in this outpost of the British Empire. A Governor-General, after completing his term of service In the Dominion, bids farewell to his people and sails for Home. It is made clear in Parliamentary records that there has in the past been no definite interval marking the change-over, nor has there been an inelastic term of service for Governors themselves. The Chief Justice might be required to act for anything from a fortnight to three months. On one occasion, in truth, Sir James Prendergast, who by the way had the honour of being Administrator six times between gubernatorial transfers, officially represented his Majesty for six months pending the arrival of the new appointee. RELIEVED SIX TIMES Sir George Grey was the first to hold the position both of Administrator and of Governor. That was in 1861, when he -was Administrator for two months and then appointed Governor for five years. Two others shared this honour of having occupied both positions. The Marquess of Normanby, who succeeded Sir James Fergusson, father of the present GovernorGeneral, became Administrator for a month at the end of 1874, and then entered four years’ service as Governor. The other was Sir H. G. R. Robinson, who, after' acting for the King for a few weeks, was Governor for a little less than 18 months. For just on 20 years Sir James Prendergast, in the capacity of Chief Justice, was ready to act as tho Crown’s Administrator, and in that time he saw eight Governors come serve this country and depart. His first call was in 1879; his last in 1897. Sir Robert Stout, too, was prominently associated with the transfer of Governors in New Zealand. In 1910 he bridged the gap between Lord Plunket and Lord Islington, and in all saw the Crown represented here by five eminent men. He was the last

to act in this capacity, having been ippointed Administrator between the departure of Viscount Jellicoe of Scapa at the end of November, 1921. and the arrival of Sir Charles Fergusson in the middle of December of the same year. When Sir Charles Fergusson sails for England early in the New Year — probably in the first week of February —the Hon. M. Myers, Chief Justice, will doubtless be chosen to represent his Majesty until Lord Bledisloe arrives. Only once in recent years has one Governor taken over his position upon the day following the retirement ol his predecessor. That was when the Earl of Ranfurly, after serving as Governor for just, on seven years, returned to England. His term finished upon June 19, 1904, and his successor, Lord Plunket, began his six years of Governorship upon the following day. FIRST GOVERNOR-GENERAL The Earl of Liverpool, of course, possessed the unique distinction of being both Governor and GovernorGeneral. When the change in status was made in 1917 —just 30 years after New Zealand had been altered from a colony to a Dominion —he had been Governor for five years. He then remained in the Dominion for a further three years under the new title of Governor-General. Just what duties fall upon the shoulders of the Administrator depends largely upon the time of the year at which the transfer is effected. If Parliament happens to be in session, as it has been many times in circumstances of this nature, there will be the usual legislative l'ormali ties to perform, and a multiplicity of apparently small affairs to have adjusted in order that the machinery of the Empire might be kept working smoothly. All communications with the King must go through the Governor General, or his substitute, and whether it be in connection with marriage certificates of British subjects in Switzerland, or with a special claims convention with Mexico, there is always a great deal of official work to be accomplished by him. L.J.C.