on the subject should be entertained by all classes at Port Phillip.
I should, perhaps, apologize to the reader for occupying his time with matters not of general interest; but I look upon the subject as one of such vital importance to the district of Port Phillip, that I should consider myself guilty of a dereliction of duty did I omit this opportunity of bringing it forward.
To return to the legislative council, I have no doubt, as I said before, that, although defective in its constitution, this new assembly will be of great service to the colony generally. Assembled, however, at a period of great commercial difficulty and individual distress, in which many of its members were involved, and by which all were affected, it was scarcely to be expected that it should have taken a perfectly calm and dispassionate view of the position of the colony, or have shown that abstinence in meddling with credit which all experience has proved to be the wisest course for a legislature to pursue. Accordingly, a desire to tamper with this delicate subject, and an anxiety for a system of "Political Tinkering,"[1] has been exhibited by some members, which if unchecked might have worked serious mischief. Two different bills were introduced, each embodying a scheme of pledging public credit in aid of private secu-
- ↑ A Mr. Phelps Robinson, in giving his evidence before a committee of the council, winds up with this pithy observation, "What this country wants for prosperity is, a better social system in the interior, coupled with industry and economy, and no political tinkering," a sentence which ought to be printed in large letters over the speaker's chair in the council chamber.
