THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 189 



framed. It divided the colony into fifty-five electoral districts, 

 increased the number of members to eighty-six, and directed that 

 at general elections the polling should all take place on one day. 

 The previous practice had been to take the poll in three batches, 

 with an interval of a fortnight between each, which allowed a 

 defeated Minister to try his luck again in another constituency. As 

 the increase in the number of members in the Assembly destroyed 

 the ratio between the Houses, Sir Charles Sladen introduced a Bill 

 in the Council to increase its members from thirty to forty-two, 

 but the Assembly was in too electrical a condition by the end of 

 November to consider anything not directly affecting its own exist- 

 ence. It was on the eve of dissolution and refused to be troubled, 

 so the Bill never emerged into the light of discussion. 



The establishment of a trust that should have the management 

 of the ever-increasing oversea traffic of the colony was a matter of 

 great importance, and it was entered upon with a genuine desire to 

 place the port on a first-class footing. Of the fifteen Commissioners 

 appointed by the Act, six were to be elected by the municipalities 

 interested, three by shipowners, three by the merchants and traders, 

 and three were to be nominated by the Governor in Council. 

 They were given very extensive powers in management, regulation 

 of traffic and the imposition of rates and tolls, four-fifths of the 

 amount collected to be at their disposal for harbour and wharf 

 improvements and staff expenses, the remaining fifth to be paid 

 over to the consolidated revenue. They were also endowed with 

 very considerable borrowing powers, which they freely exercised. 

 A fee of five thousand guineas elicited an exhaustive report from 

 the eminent English engineer, Sir John Coode, who visited the colony 

 to make a preliminary examination of the surroundings. Several 

 Boyal Commissions, Select Committees of Parliament and Govern- 

 ment officials had submitted reports during the preceding twenty 

 years, and most of them had advocated the cutting of a direct canal 

 from the Yarra just below Melbourne across the Sandridge flats to 

 the bay. But Sir John Coode was emphatic in declaring that it 

 would be found impracticable to keep such a canal available for 

 large ships, except at an unjustifiable cost for dredging. Sir John 

 Coode's report maintained that the combined scour of the Yarra and 



