16 It remains to consider whether any step can be taken while not interfering with the existing constitution to a slight extent in the direction in which the petition points.
There appear to be three practical suggestions worthy of consideration: (A) Increasing the number of the Unofficial members in Legislative Council. (B) Introducing an unofficial member element into the Executive Council. (C) Creating a Municipal Council.
17. As regards the first of these three points, I am not inclined to favour increasing the number of the Unofficial members without at the same time increasing the number of official members also, for it appears to me that in a Colony there should be a very distinct preponderance on the Official side, and that the effective keeping of office is the natural result of evenly balancing the numbers of officials and non-officials, friction and irritation.
As far as I can judge, there is no strong objection to increasing the numbers of the Council, except that for practical working purposes the number is already sufficiently large. If an addition is made, it is difficult on equitable grounds to resist the...