AUSTRALIA AND POLYNESIA. 



39 



of civilians, who would be required to insure 

 their lives. Government officials would be pro- 

 hibited from taking any part in politics. The 

 Government, while endeavoring to relieve the 

 farmers and miners, did not propose to make 

 any change in the policy of protection, neither 

 would it interfere with the present system of 

 education. All the members of the new Cabi- 

 net were reflected unopposed. The new Par- 

 liament was opened on May 12th by the Gov- 

 ernor, the Marquis of Norrnanby, who referred 

 to the question of the construction of colonial 

 defenses, and stated that commissioners had 

 been appointed to report on the subject. Af- 

 ter dwelling on the necessity of irrigation 

 works and an extension of the railway system, 

 the Governor said that the depression in trade 

 was passing away and confidence was being 

 restored. Bills would be introduced for a re- 

 form of the Constitution, and the settlement of 

 land; and a scheme of reforms relative to rail- 

 way management and the civil service would 

 also be submitted to Parliament. The Reform 

 Bill was soon after introduced. It provided in 

 the first place for the introduction of the so- 

 called " Norwegian system." When any bill 

 has been passed by the Assembly and rejected 

 by the Council in two consecutive sessions, the 

 Governor, according to Mr. Service's plan, will 

 have power to dissolve both Houses at the 

 same time ; if, after the elections, the Assem- 

 bly and the Council continue to differ, the 

 Governor may summon them to meet as a 

 single legislative body for the purpose of dis- 

 cussing and deciding upon the contested mat- 

 ter, an absolute majority of the whole number 

 of members being required for the enactment 

 of the bill in dispute. As the Assembly is com- 

 posed of eighty-six members and the Council 

 of thirty to be increased gradually to forty- 

 two these provisions insure the ultimate vic- 

 tory of the popular branch of the Legislature, 

 when the preponderant opinion in favor of any 

 measure is unmistakable. Mr. Service's Re- 

 form Bill dealt also with the constitution of the 

 Council, providing for an addition to the num- 

 bers of that body and a very large reduction 

 in the qualifications of members and of elec- 

 tors. With respect to the Appropriation Bill 

 and to the practice of "tacking," Mr. Service 

 proposed that the Council should in no case 

 be allowed to throw out the bill, as has more 

 than once been done, to the injury of the whole 

 community, but that where two thirds of the 

 Council decide that any particular vote is not 

 " a grant of money for the ordinary service of 

 the year," the Assembly shall be bound to deal 

 with the matter in question by a separate bill. 

 Although at the last general election the con- 

 stituencies had emphatically refused to give 

 any support to Mr. Berry's policy, the new 

 Assembly rejected the only alternative scheme 

 which was before the colony, and upon which 

 the Ministry of Mr. Service had staked their 

 political credit. Early in June the second read- 

 ing of the bill was thrown out by forty-three 



votes against forty-one, which clearly showed 

 that Mr. Berry in his attacks upon the Govern- 

 ment was joined by six or seven members who 

 had been elected as his opponents. The debate 

 on the address showed that the nominal ma- 

 jority for Ministers, or rather against Mr. Ber- 

 ry, was weakened from the beginning by in- 

 ternal jealousies. The " Corner party," con- 

 sisting of Independent Liberals who had parted 

 company with Mr. Berry, were dissatisfied at the 

 composition of the Cabinet, in which doubtless 

 they supposed they had themselves a claim to 

 be. considered. Irritation on the same ground 

 was more openly expressed by Sir John O'Sha- 

 nassy, the leader of the Roman Catholics, who 

 stoutly asserted the right of his following to a 

 share in the distribution of official places, and 

 condemned the absence in the ministerial pro- 

 gramme of any concession to the Roman Cath- 

 olic demands for separate educational grants. 

 In compliance with Mr. Service's proposal, the 

 Governor dissolved the Parliament. New elec- 

 tions took place on July 14th, when forty- 

 four opposition candidates were elected and 

 only thirty-five ministerialists. Besides, there 

 were seven members who declared themselves 

 neutral. The Catholic vote was cast against 

 Mr. Service, and the leaders of the party de- 

 clared that they would not support any gov- 

 ernment until the country would consent to 

 make separate educational provision in the pub- 

 lic schools for Catholic children. The defeat- 

 ed Service Government resolved to meet the 

 House and encounter a deliberate vote of want 

 of confidence. The new Assembly was opened 

 on July 22d. In his opening speech the Gov- 

 ernor, after alluding to the deficit in the reve- 

 nue for the year, expressed a hope that Par- 

 liament would pass a satisfactory measure for 

 the reform of the Constitution. Mr. Berry 

 subsequently moved a vote of want of confi- 

 dence in the Cabinet of Mr. Service, which was 

 passed by forty-eight to thirty-five votes. In 

 consequence of this, the Cabinet resigned, and 

 Mr. Berry, after failing in an attempt to form 

 a coalition Ministry, formed a Cabinet entirely 

 constituted of men of his own party. The fol- 

 lowing are the members of his Cabinet : Chief 

 Secretary and Colonial Treasurer, Mr. Berry ; 

 Attorney-General, Mr. Vale ; Minister of Lands, 

 Mr. Richardson; Minister of Public Instruction, 

 Mr. W. C. Smith ; Commissioner of Railways 

 and Roads, Mr. Patterson ; Minister of Mines, 

 Mr. Langridge ; Commissioner of Trade and 

 Customs, Mr. Williams ; Minister of Justice, 

 Mr. A. T. Clark. 



The Melbourne International Exhibition was 

 formally opened on Friday, October 1st, by the 

 Governor of Victoria, the Marquis of Norman- 

 by, in the presence of the Duke of Manchester 

 and the Governors of South Australia, New 

 South Wales, and Western Australia. The 

 Marquis of Normanby, in reply to an address, 

 said the undertaking had been carried out in a 

 most creditable manner, and that the display 

 was one of which any country might be proud. 



