THE CONSTITUTION STATUTE OF 1842 279 



of thirty-six members, of whom eighteen for the older settlement 

 and six for the Port Phillip district were to be elected by free- 

 holders of 200, or householders occupying premises worth 20 a 

 year. The remaining twelve were to be appointed by the Crown, 

 and not more than half of them were to be Government officials. 

 It will be seen that, though a long way short of responsible govern- 

 ment, it was an immense advance on the condition of tutelage 

 hitherto prevailing, and by a majority of two to one secured an 

 independent representation of the wishes of the people. 



Some of the clauses in the Act aimed at the establishment of 

 District Councils in the rural portions of the colony on a somewhat 

 extended municipal form. No attempt was made to introduce 

 them into Port Phillip, and they were so hampered by provisions 

 connected with the maintenance of the police force and by arbitrary 

 conditions of personal responsibility for unpaid district rates, that 

 they were universally condemned, and soon became an acknow- 

 ledged failure. Municipal institutions grew rapidly enough spon- 

 taneously when the conditions of population justified them, and 

 local government has certainly achieved some of its highest suc- 

 cesses in Australia. But the attempt to force this on the people 

 under Government direction showed considerable ignorance in 

 Downing Street of the conditions prevailing in the Colonies. 



The residents of Port Phillip, notwithstanding that they were 

 then plunged in the deepest gloom by the financial panic in its 

 most intense phase, were full of eager anticipation of the benefit to 

 arise from their representation in the Sydney Council. But they 

 soon found that there were serious difficulties in securing the ser- 

 vices of men who would do battle for them at the cost of neglecting 

 their own affairs. 



The new Constitution provided for one member for Melbourne 

 and five for the rest of the district. For the latter only two local 

 men could be secured Charles Hotson Ebden, a pioneer squatter, 

 formerly of Sydney, who had come to Melbourne overland in 1836, 

 and afterwards formed a station on the Campaspe, was at the head 

 of the poll with 228 votes ; Dr. Alexander Thomson, of Geelong, 

 the " Catechist " of the Port Phillip Association, was fourth with 

 184 supporters. The remaining three were all Sydney residents 



