thereupon read the following reply.
»The Crown-Prince as Regent in a joint Cabinet Council on the 5th April
has already pointed out the only way, in which this important matter can
be presented, and all difficulties thereby be removed, that is, by
negotiation. I give this decision my entire approval, and do not find the
present moment suitable for sanctioning the law, which implies a change
in the existing partnership in the Consular Service, which cannot be
dissolved except by mutual agreement. The present regulation is
established in consequence of a resolution in a Joint Cabinet Council,
and therefore a separate Consular Service cannot be established either
for Sweden or for Norway before the matter has been dealt with in the
same Constitutional forms prescribed by the Act of Union § 5. In refusing
now to give My sanction to this law, I am supported by §§ 30 and 78 in
the Constitutional law, which give the King this right. The equal love I
bear to my two peoples, makes it my duty to exercise this right.»
The Section of the Cabinet Council resolved first to institute further
negotiations in the Cabinet Council in Christiania, in order that His
Majesty might deal with this important matter, which might lead to a
serious crisis in the government then in office.