account the natural aptitudes of our people and open wider the sources of intellectual enjoyment?

We have also, in conjunction with our Allies and other peace-loving States, to devise machinery by which the risk of international strife shall be averted and the crushing burdens of naval and military armaments be reduced. The doctrine that force shall rule the world has been disproved and destroyed. Let us enthrone the rule of justice and

international right.

In what spirit shall we approach these great problems? How shall we seek to achieve the victories of peace? Can we do better than remember the lessons which the years of war have taught, and retain the spirit which they instilled? In these years Britain and her traditions have come to mean more to us than they had ever meant before. It became a privilege to serve her in whatever way we could; and we were all drawn by the sacredness of the cause into a comradeship which fired our zeal and nerved our efforts. This is the spirit we must try to preserve. It is on a sense of brotherhood and mutual goodwill, on a common devotion to the common interests of the nation as a whole, that its future prosperity and strength must be built up. The sacrifices made, the sufferings endured, the memory of the heroes who have died that Britain may live, ought surely to ennoble our thoughts and attune our hearts to a higher sense of individual and national duty, and to a fuller realisation of what the English-speaking race, dwelling upon the shores of all the oceans, may yet accomplish for mankind.

For centuries past Britain has led the world along the path of ordered freedom. Leadership may still be hers among the peoples who are seeking to follow that path. God grant to their efforts such wisdom and perseverance as shall ensure stability for the days to come.

May goodwill and concord at home strengthen our influence for concord abroad. May the morning star of peace which is now rising over a war-worn world be here and everywhere the herald of a better day, in which the storms of strife shall have died down and the rays of an enduring peace be shed upon all the nations.

ACT of the British Parliament to make provision for determining the date of the Termination of the present War, and for purposes connected therewith.

[8 & 9 Geo. V, c. 59.]

[November 21, 1918,

Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1.-(1.) His Majesty in Council may declare what date is to be treated as the date of the termination of the present war, and the present war shall be treated as having continued to, and as having ended on that date for the purposes of any provision in any Act of Parliament, Order in Council, or Proclamation, and, except where the context otherwise requires, of any provision in any contract, deed, or other instrument referring, expressly or impliedly, and in whatever form of words, to the present war or the present hostilities:

Provided that in the case of any such Act conferring powers on any Government Department, or any officer of any Government Department, exercisable during the continuance of the present war, if it appears to His Majesty that it is expedient that the powers shall cease before the date so fixed as aforesaid, His Majesty in Council may fix some earlier date for the termination of those powers.

(2.) The date so declared shall be as nearly as may be the date of the exchange or deposit of ratifications of the Treaty or Treaties of Peace:

Provided that, notwithstanding anything in this provision, the date declared as aforesaid shall be conclusive for all purposes of this Act.

(3.) His Majesty in Council may also similarly declare what date is to be treated as the date of the termination of war between His Majesty and any particular State.

2. This Act may be cited as The Termination of the Present War (Definition) Act, 1918."

BRITISH ORDER IN COUNCIL further postponing the operation of "The Merchant Shipping (Convention) Act, 1914."--London, December 18, 1918.*

At the Court at Buckingham Palace, the 18th day of
December, 1918.

PRESENT: THE KING'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY IN COUNCIL.

WHEREAS on the 20th day of January, 1914, an International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, and for purposes incidental thereto, was duly entered into by His Majesty and the other signatory Powers more especially referred to and set out in the said Convention;

And whereas a Statute, 4 & 5 Geo. V, c. 50, intituled "An Act to make such amendments of the law relating to Merchant Shipping as are necessary or expedient to give effect to an International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea" (being the Convention above referred to) was passed on the 10th day of August, 1914, the short title of which is "The Merchant Shipping (Convention) Act, 1914";

And whereas by section 29, sub-section 5, of the said Act it was provided as follows:

This Act shall come into operation on the 1st day of July,

1915:

Provided that His Majesty may, by Order in Council, from time to time postpone the coming into operation of this Act for such period, not exceeding on any occasion of postponement one year, as may be specified in the Order;

And whereas by divers Orders in Council the coming into operation of the said Act has been from time to time postponed, and now stands postponed, by virtue of an Order in Council of the 16th day of January, 1918, § for a period of one year from the 1st day of January, 1918;

And whereas His Majesty deems it expedient, owing to conditions arising from a state of war, that the provisions of the said Act should be further postponed:

Now, therefore, His Majesty, by and with the advice of his Privy Council, in pursuance of the powers vested in him by the above-recited provision, and of all other powers him thereunto enabling, doth order, and it is hereby ordered, that

'London Gazette," December 20, 1918.

Vol. CVIII, page 23.

+ Vol. CVIII, page 283.

$ Page 138.

the provisions of "The Merchant Shipping (Convention) Act, 1914," shall be postponed from coming into operation until the 1st day of July, 1919.

ALMERIC FITZROY.

ACT of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia to amend "The Naturalisation Act, 1903."*

[No. 25.]

[Assented to September 20, 1917.]

BE it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, the Senate, and the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Australia, as follows:

1.-(1.) This Act may be cited as "The Naturalisation Act, 1917.'

(2.) "The Naturalisation Act, 1903," is in this Act referred to as the Principal Act.

(3.) The Principal Act, as amended by this Act, may be cited as "The Naturalisation Act, 1903-1917."

2. Section 3 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting from the definition of "The Minister" the words External Affairs" and inserting in their stead the words "Home and Territories.

3. Section 4 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section inserted in its stead:

4. A person who was before the passing of this Act naturalised in a State or in a Colony which has become a State shall be deemed to be naturalised."

4. Section 6 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following sections inserted in its stead:

6.-(1.) An applicant under paragraph (a) of the preceding section shall produce in support of his application his own statutory declaration stating his name, age, birthplace, occupation, and residence, the length of his residence in Australia, and such other particulars as are prescribed, and that he intends to settle in the Commonwealth.

"(2.) An applicant under paragraph (b) of the preceding section shall produce in support of his application

46

'(a.) His certificate or letters of naturalisation; and

(b.) His own statutory declaration that he is the person named in the certificate or letters, that he obtained the certificate or letters without any fraud or intentional false statement, that the signature and seal (if any) thereto are to the best of his knowledge and belief genuine, and

such other particulars as are prescribed, and that he intends to settle in the Commonwealth.

(3.) In addition to compliance with the preceding provisions of this section an applicant shall

"(a.) Advertise in the manner prescribed his intention to seek naturalisation and produce to the Minister newspapers containing copies of the prescribed advertisement;

(b.) Produce certificates of character from three natural-born British subjects, two of whom are householders and one of whom is a justice of the peace, a postmaster, a teacher of a State school, or an officer of police; and

"(c.) Satisfy the Minister that he is able to read and write English.

"6A.-(1.) Any person may make representations to the Minister with regard to any person who has applied or has advertised his intention to apply for naturalisation.

(2.) The representations shall be in the form of a statutory declaration.

(3.) The contents of any statutory declaration filed with the Minister in pursuance of this section shall not be disclosed to any person without the consent of the person making the declaration other than for the purpose of a prosecution for perjury.

(4.) Any person may, on payment of the prescribed fee, inspect any certificate produced in pursuance of the last preceding sub-section."

5. Section 7 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section inserted in its stead:

"7. The Governor-General shall consider the application and any representations made under the last preceding section, and may, with or without assigning any reason, grant or withhold a certificate of naturalisation as he thinks most conducive to the public good:

"Provided that the Governor-General shall not issue the certificate until he has received from the applicant the certificate of a Justice of the High Court, a Judge of the Court of a State, or a police stipendiary or special magistrate, that the applicant has before him renounced his allegiance to the country of which he was at the time of making his application a subject, or, in the case of an applicant who has obtained in the United Kingdom a certificate or letters of naturalisation, the country of which he was at the time of his naturalisation in the United Kingdom a subject, and taken an oath or affirmation of allegiance in the form in the Schedule to the Constitution."

6. Section 10 of the Principal Act is repealed and the following section inserted in its stead:

"10. A person (not being a natural-born British subject)—