Science and Colonial Development 



their representatives becomes at once apparent ; 

 and it would not be true to say that Australia has 

 escaped scot free. The evil, however, has been 

 met by at least a partial remedy; and, in the study 

 of the science of government, there is nothing 

 more interesting than an examination of the safe- 

 guards by which Australians have sought to mini- 

 mise the perils, while retaining the benefits, of 

 collectivist legislation. The main object has been 

 to place the control over public works and public 

 servants in the hands of permanent and non-politi- 

 cal bodies. The railways are, in several instances, 

 managed by one or more commissioners, appointed 

 for a fixed period, who are irremovable except upon 

 a vote of both Houses, and whose salaries are 

 charged upon the consolidated revenue fund. Simi- 

 larly constituted boards regulate appointments and 

 promotions in the Civil Service, and in New South 

 Wales, where frauds have been disclosed in the 

 Lands Department, this department also is likely, 

 in view of the popular indignation, to be removed 

 altogether from political influences. Some of these 

 bodies, it must be added, have not been reappointed 

 when their term of office had expired ; but the 

 general tendency is certainly, in spite of temporary 

 reactions, for the several Parliaments to recognise 

 their inherent soundness, as protecting representa- 

 tives from their constituents where protection is 

 requisite. In Victoria, moreover, legislation with 

 the same intention has been carried a step further. 

 If the elector who clamours for public works is to 

 be dreaded, much more so is the elector who is 



