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bexaf;
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which is not laid upon the table, and can- ¡not be called for, and, therefore, is never public either to members of the Legislative Council who have debated the subject or to the members of the general public who are deeply interested in it. It is common knowledge that the official vote has been used on many occasions, even during he time I have been connected with the Coun cil, to defeat what were the considered views, not only of the Chamber of Com merce, whom I have the honour to repre- sent, but of the community itself. The first case I can recall in my own experi- ence was the frustration by the official vote of our attempt to destroy German trade marks. In the second case, Επ attempt to pass a resolution, premature though it may have been, that the Ger- mans should not be allowed in the Colony for a period of years was defeated and ridiculed by the official vote. (Applause). Albeit, gentlemen, since then, resolutions. on similar lines have been adopted and carried in almost every part of the British Empire and they seem likely to be! enforced. (Applause). Again, gentlemen, I could conceive that if we had had an unofficial majority to deal with the ques- tion of the services dollar, it would not have remained so long undecided as it did. The unofficial members of the Legislative and Executive Councils under. took, on behalf of the Colony, to bear the cost which would have been involved had the services salaries been paid at the exchange rate of 2 shillings. After months of discussion the arrangement then sug- gested has at last been agreed to. (Applause). I have stated, gentlemen, that there is no animosity on my part in piling up the examples of official antagonism to popular demand. I merely state them that I may prove to you the desirability and advisability of having an unofficial majority. It is obviously different thing to pase a vote in Council by majority of one vote than to have it defeated by an official majority and to have an explanation privately dispatched to show why it was defeated. There have been many occasions, in connection with what I call purely domestic affairs in this Colony, such as the calling, for the sake of example, for a Commission to enquire. into the hospital administration here, which is not above reproach (applause) or into any of the other public services, where unofficial proposals have been auto- matically turned down by the official
6.
jority. When dealing with questions which affect the welfare, to some extent the very life, of the individuals of the Colony, the Colony ought to be able to demand that, having asked for an enquiry, its wish should be granted. (Applause). Neither questions por demands for en- quiries
are put lightly by unofficial mem- hers. They involve a very great deal of trouble, and I cannot conceive any un- official member of the Legislative Council putting questions to the Government with- out being perfectly sure that matters with which those questions are concerned re- quire a good deal of investigation. Under prescut conditions the taking of the neces sary trouble in framing those enquiries is an extremely thankless job. It is with confidence I leave the resolutions in your bands for while they perhaps may not be ideal and I do not say they are, from every point of view-they nevertheless represent a sincere and carefully consider- ed effort to improve the conditions under which we live here, and to infuse into them more of that liberty of action and of self-Government which is our birth-right. (Applause),
MR. POLLOCK SECONDS THE
RESOLUTIONS.
Mr. POLLOCK, in seconding the resolu tions, said:-I do not speak from amall experience of the Legislative Coun-
?
cil, because I may remind you that of the 30 years which I have resided in the Colony, during one
that half of period I have occupied the posi- tion of a member of the Legislative Council, either On the official side- as acting Attorney-General, or as a re presentative of the public. (Applause). Therefore, when I approach a question of this sort I am not speaking without ample experience behind me. As our Chairman has pointed out, you have two questions to consider this evening-one is the question of election of unofficial mem bers instead of their nomination by the Government, and the other is the securing of an unofficial majority on the Legisla- tive Council. With regard to the prin- - ciple that the public ought to have the right to elect its own representatives upon the Legislative Council I cannot imagine, that any thinking person can have more, than one view, namely that the representa- tives of the public should be elected by the public (Applause). With regard to the securing the unofficial majority on Legislative Council, it will be within the knowledge of many of you that a petition
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B