V. TREATMENT OF COLONIAL LEGISLATION
The royal veto
None of the colonial governments was complete in itself; all were subordinate to the central power in legislation, as well as in other matters. Colonial laws had to be transmitted to England and submitted to the crown for approval. Royal provinces were expected to transmit their laws rather promptly, while charter and proprietary colonies had special privileges in the matter. Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Maryland were not required by their charters to offer their laws to the crown, nevertheless, each found it convenient to do so when the latter became insistent.
The royal veto fell into disuse early in the eighteenth century as far as laws passed by parliament were concerned, but was continued in regard to colonial laws. In the case of royal provinces, a law could be disallowed by the crown at any time, even many years after it had gone into effect; the only limitation being that laws once approved were forever beyond the royal control. In the charter colonies, where any veto was provided for, the time within which it could be exercised was limited by the terms of the charter, and varied from six months for Pennsylvania laws to three years for those of Massachu-