2 l6 
A COLONY IN THE MAKING 
CHAP 
believe, the strong air is in a great measure respon¬ 
sible, it only arises from different points of view as to 
what will be for the ultimate good of the country. As 
is natural, the colonists are anxious to get the control 
of their internal affairs at as early a date as possible ; 
as to their fitness for such control, they are probably 
rather prematurely sanguine. As is equally natural, 
the Government, more especially in Downing Street, 
are anxious to hold the reins as long as possible. The 
position of Dictator must naturally be more easy and 
pleasant to hold than that of salaried servant. The 
view that they take, therefore, as to the fitness of the 
inhabitants with respect to each advanced step towards 
self-government is probably as over-gloomy as that 
of the colonists is over-sanguine. 
The principal points of contention which arise on 
these lines are the present position of the non-official 
members of the Legislative Council, the Education 
and Land Boards, and the desire among the colonists 
that all such posts should be elective, the question 
of the system of land tenure, and that of the 
Asiatic population. Then, again, there are arising a 
series of questions all leading up to what is certain to 
be the first cleavage in internal politics, i.e., the town 
population against the farmers. 
At the present day we have under the Governor, 
who in his turn is of course under, and very much 
under, the Colonial Office, three advisory bodies. 
They are the Legislative Council, the Land Board, 
and the Education Board. The last two have their 
special functions and really exist to lighten the work 
of the first named, and as the same remarks apply to 
the composition of each, it is only necessary to deal 
here with the first. 
