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. 
