that the legislation of the elected members was a mere farce "to register the edicts of the Executive." They set about obtaining an amendment of the constitution. In the first session the Colonial Secretary introduced a bill which sought to remedy a defect in the wording of the Imperial Act, 13 and 14 Vic., under which the Legislative Council was constituted, excluding conditional-pardon men from the privilege of voting, which it was doubtless intended by that Act they should possess. It also proposed to amend the property qualification of members, which limited the choice of the electors to a very few individuals, and tended to create an oligarchy. The bill was referred to a Select Committee, whose members proposed that all persons convicted of treason, felony, or any other infamous offence should be excluded from membership in the Council. Other clauses dealing with representation and qualification were considered accepted by the Council, and the bill was passed on to the Governor, who returned it "for further consideration." In a frank minute he said that there were matters in the bill which should be separated altogether, and be embraced by a separate bill. The bill was dropped by the Council.
The experience of the elected members during the ensuing two sessions caused them to greatly change their opinions in regard to Representative Government, and they complained that it was not so good as they expected. Mr. Lee-Steere proposed to double the number of elected members, and he advocated his views at every opportunity. Many leading people censured the suggestion, and contended that the Governor should have a "guiding power" to prevent hasty legislation. Capital was made out of Governor Weld's opposition to protection. In order to compromise with members, and to obtain representation for all parts of the colony, he proposed in 1872 to create two new electorates, but took no action until 1873. On 9th July of the latter year Mr. Barlee introduced the Representation of the Peoples Bill, which embodied Governor Weld's proposals. The new constituencies were to include certain parts of the Geraldton district, to be known as the Northern district, and certain parts of the districts of Fremantle and Wellington, to be known as the Murray and Williams district. Each was to return one member, which would leave an additional member to be nominated by the Governor to preserve the ratio required by the Imperial Act. Another provision was introduced which required all candidates for election to give ten days' notice of their intention to the returning officer.
Mr. Lee-Steere moved that the Executive Council be altered to admit certain elected members, so as to secure a greater share of the public confidence, and to cause its actions to be more in harmony with the Legislature and public opinion; that all members of the Legislative Council, except four official members—Colonial Secretary, Attorney-General, Surveyor-General, and Colonial Treasurer—be elected by the people, that each electorate at present returning one member shall return an additional member, and that voting by proxy be regulated. By the acceptance of these proposals the whole constitution of the colony would be materially altered and liberalised. Mr. Lee-Steere confessed that Representative Government in its existing form had not worked well, and never could work well, and was "ill-suited for the requirements of this colony or any other." He continued—"This is rather a humiliating admission on my part, because at one time I was under the impression that our existing form of Government was well adapted to the Colony." At the same time he was doubtful of the wisdom of establishing Responsible Government, considering that it would carry with it expenditure which the colony was not prepared to meet. He wished to make the Executive a consultative Council, so as to be in a measure responsible to public opinion, and he desired to increase the membership of the Legislative Council to prevent close divisions, and to obtain a sufficient majority one way or other to set important questions at rest. Mr. Barlee, who followed, disagreed with Mr. Lee-Steere when he said that the existing constitution had been a failure, and instanced the progress made in the preceding three years as greater than that of any previous ten or fifteen years in the history of the colony. Mr. Lee-Steere finally withdrew all his proposals except that relating to proxy voting. Mr. Barlee's bill was passed, and Her Majesty's assent was proclaimed in January, 1874. The number of members of the Legislative Council was thus raised to twenty-one, seven of whom were nominated by the Governor. Late in 1871 a movement was set on foot to have that portion of the colony north and inclusive of Champion Bay separated from the remainder under a different Government. The proposal received temporary support, but was soon abandoned as impractical.
Agitators for Responsible Government were not idle, and many people who were previously opposed to the change now gave it their support. Such apparently satisfactory steps were made towards this object in 1874 that Representative Government was delightedly described as "tottering to its fall," and it was said that the "first record" on the "first page" of a "new Chapter" in local history had been made, and colonists began to prepare for the "funeral obsequies" of the dying constitution. Some of those gentlemen who were most hopeful of Representative Government were now the most heated Oppositionists. The different dissolutions, the difficulty of carrying cherished opinions, and the impossibility of obtaining a distinct and certain voice in local administration, made them change their minds; indeed, Representative Government was referred to as an "imposture." On 28th June, 1874, a meeting at Bunbury agreed with Mr. R. W. Clifton that this colony of British subjects should no longer be held in "leading strings;" that it was quite capable of governing itself. Mr. Lee-Steere was asked by resolution to support Responsible Government in and out of the Council, and that gentleman, who a few months before said he did not believe the time had come for such a radical change, owned that its advantages might preponderate over its disadvantages. The leader of the Opposition threw himself into the agitation with his usual heartiness. In the following month he moved a resolution in the Council affirming that a system of Responsible Government would tend to the future progress of the colony, and proposed that a Select Committee be formed to draw up a constitution. Mr. Crowther carried, without a division, an amendment, which, while affirming the integrity of the existing Government, asked the Governor to introduce a bill providing for autonomy, and to recommend Her Majesty's approval of the same. A further amendment, by Mr. Birch, that the existing constitution be merely amended so as to approximate to Responsible Government without its evils, was lost.
Governor Weld had throughout his administration acted in a mild and sympathetic spirit. He intimated in a message to the House that he would prepare a bill, and promised, if it were adopted, to recommend Her Majesty's acceptance of it, and to establish a system of ministerial responsibility without delay. On 3rd August Mr. Barlee introduced the bill in a long speech. It was proposed that the prospective constitution should consist
