THE BERRY INFLUENCE, 1875-1882 191 



Assembly were drunk most part of their time, were a disgrace to 

 the country, and not competent to deal with public affairs. Mr. 

 McKean was known to be somewhat of an extremist in language, 

 but as he had been a Minister of the Crown a few years before, and 

 was still a member of the Executive Council, his Legislative col- 

 leagues thought it necessary to emphasise their dissent from his 

 charges by something more than a contemptuous denial. The 

 vacancy thus dramatically created was filled by Sir Charles Gavan 

 Duffy, who, having recently returned to the colony, was nominated 

 and elected without opposition. It required much tact and some 

 temporising on the part of the Ministry to pilot themselves into 

 recess, but the haven was reached on the 22nd of December, when 

 Sir George Bo wen congratulated members upon the many excellent 

 things they had done, and the third session of the eighth Parliament 

 was duly prorogued. 



The elections for the ninth Parliament were fixed to take place 

 on the llth of May, 1877. Only four of the existing members 

 were allowed a walk-over: Sir James McCulloch, Messrs. James 

 Service, J. A. McPherson and John Gavan Duffy. For the rest, 

 193 candidates went to the poll, and the excitement was worked 

 up to fever-heat by the masses in the towns, who now again 

 believed in Berry as their political saviour, and who had been 

 diligently schooled to howl down any candidate who had supported 

 the " Iron Hand ". A well-controlled organisation, known as the 

 " Reform and Protection League," spread its emissaries over the 

 land, held rousing meetings in every centre of population, and 

 pledged itself that as soon as the bad reactionaries led by McCulloch 

 were driven out, and Berry was restored to power, the " paradise 

 for the working man," long contemplated, would become a joyous 

 reality. Once more the meanest class hatreds were stirred up. 

 Wealth, however honestly and laboriously acquired, was a synonym 

 for fraud and injustice, and the promise to shift the main burden 

 of taxation on to the owners of property aroused frantic shouts 

 of approval from unreflecting mobs. The organisation and the 

 oratory did their work, and when the results were declared Mr. 

 Berry had secured the return of sixty supporters out of the enlarged 

 roll of eighty-six. 



