xxii LOCAL POLITICS 217 



The Legislative Council consists of a majority of 

 official members and a minority of non-official 

 members. The former are chosen by the Governor, 

 and though a certain latitude is given in speech, 

 are only allowed except in the rarest instances to 

 give other than a party vote. The latter were also 

 at first actually, and are now technically, nominated 

 by the Governor, but as a matter of fact they have 

 for some time past been held to represent certain 

 districts or industries and in their nomination the 

 wishes of such interests are very rightly considered. 

 Indeed, for the Land and Education Board various 

 local bodies have been asked to select names. 



There is at the present time a growing desire 

 that posts on all these bodies should be entirely 

 elective. I must confess to not sharing this desire, 

 for the present, and until the country has shown further 

 development. Communications are so difficult, and 

 work is being pushed forward so fast on all sides, 

 that the best men would never have the time to 

 undertake contested elections and political campaigns, 

 and there would be a tendency for responsible 

 positions to get into the hands of political agitators. 

 A year or two hence the time for such a change may 

 be ripe. It is, however, with regard to the functions 

 of the non-official members that the principal ground 

 for controversy exists. The view at present held by 

 the Government is that they exist merely for the 

 purpose of helping by the giving of advice when asked ; 

 the view of the members themselves is that they 

 represent to some extent the people and that on their 

 behalf they are not only entitled but bound to criticise 

 and if need be find fault. The first view is probably 

 technically correct, but surely the latter is more logical. 



