A court consisting of several members of the Germanic Confederation, convened to decide whether questions pending between one of the Confederated States and a foreign power could be taken up by the Confederation as a whole.
Australasian League.
A society established in Melbourne in 1851, under the auspices of the Rev. John West, to secure “by moral means only” the abolition of the transportation of convicts to any part of the Australasian continent.
Australian Colonies Act.
An Act passed in 1849, separating Victoria from New South Wales, and providing a constitution for the new colony, as well as for Tasmania, South Australia, and (subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions) Western Australia.
Australian Commonwealth Act.
An Act to give force to the Constitution drafted by Australian statesmen for the union into a Commonwealth of the Colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia, and Tasmania, power being reserved to New Zealand to enter the union if she so desire. The Act provides for the establishment of a central Government, with the control of the customs, postage, and certain other matters, each colony retaining its own Parliament, with power to manage its internal affairs as before. Considerable difference of opinion arose as to the right of appeal from the Supreme Court of the Commonwealth to the Privy Council, and it was finally enacted that in the case of constitutional questions affecting the rights of the Commonwealth or individual States no appeal should lie, unless the Supreme Court certified that the matter was one which should be determined by the Privy Council.
Austrian Succession, War of the.
The war which broke out in 1741, in connexion with the Pragmatic Sanction of Charles VI. It was ended by the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748.