I have had the honour of administering several Governments, and I think I may safely claim to be free from any tendency to ignore sufficient Members of Council or to regard their votes and opinion as valueless.
At the same time it must sometimes happen that my duty prevents me from acceding to the opinions of the official Members and this was the case in regard to the motion for the reduction of salaries. I carefully examined the financial position and prospects of the Colony, and arrived at the conclusion that the circumstances neither required nor justified the motion made by the Unofficial Members in Finance Committee, and I accordingly directed the Colonial Secretary to oppose the motion, brought forward in Council. I had the less hesitation in doing so because the representation of the financial position