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GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATION.
lae privilege or uonsntutionai iiovernmenc
was not conferred upon South Australia until
uany years alter the foundation of the colony.
[ts affairs were originally under the control of
a. Board of Commissioners resident in London,
represented in the colony by a Commissioner of
Public Lands. The powers given to the Board
by Act of Parliament ia 1834 were to
borrow money to carry on the Govern
ment of the colony, and to defray the
wst of transporting emigrants. The Boml
bad but a brief existence. The Act provided
that a form of local Government should be
granted to the province as soon aa its popula
tion reached 50,000 pernons, but it was some
jears before this had been effected. The Commis
sioners did not at first find their task one easy of
iccomplishmeut. In order to assist them iu
their endeavour to found the colony the South
Australian Company was formed mainly
through the exertions of the late Mr. George
Fife Angas, who relinquished his post of
Commissioner and became Chairman of the
Company. Under the operations of this
Association the work of colonization proceeded,
ind from the appointment of Captain John
Hindmarsh as Governor in ISiG until the
year 1651 the work of local legislation was
carried on by the Governor and a Legislative
Council, consisting of four uon-ollicial members,
all appointed by the Governor. In 1851 the
first Constitution was granted to the province.
A new Legislative Council was authorized,
which was to consist of twenty-four members,
one-third to ba nominated by the Crown, and
two-thirds to be elected by the people every five
years. Members of this Council were required
to possess freehold property of not less thin
£200 annual or £2,000 total value. Voting was
based upon a small property or household quali
fication, and persons holding property in more
than one district were allowed to vote for
menibers in each district in which their property
was situated. This Council, however, had no
control over the laud revenue, which was ex
pended by authority of tbe Governor alone.
The new Council was uo sooner fairly formed
than the colonists began to agitate for Respon
sible Government in its entirety, and in 1S50
the present Constitution Act was passed, and
having received tbe Koyal sanction was pro
claimed in the colony in October of that
year. By this Act the Government is vested
in a Governor and two Houses of Parliament.
The Parliament is triennial, and the sessions
are generally he'd annually. The two
Houses are called respectively the Legisla
tive Council and the House of Assembly. For
electing members to tbe former the whole
province is one electoral district. A member
ninst be thirty years of age, and have resided iu
the colony for three years. Electors for the
LegWative Council must be twenty-one years of
age, and have a freehold estate of £50 value, or
a leasehold of £2u annual value with three
years unexpirud, or must occupy a dwelling
house of £20 annual value. There are eighteen
members of the Legislative Council, one-third
of whom retire at the end of every fourth year.
This House cannot be dissolved by,the Governor.
The House of Assembly at nrst consisted of 36
members, elected by 17 districts, two of which
returned only one member, whila Adelaide re
turned six. In 1S51 a redistribution of seats
was made, based upon population. The colony
was then divided into 18 districts, each electing
two members. In the session of 1S74 a further
alteration was made, by which the colony wu
divided into 22 electoral districts, three retu :-
ing three members each, one returning oae, and
the remainder two each, so that the Parlia
ment bow consists of 46 members. The
division of the electoral districts, owing
to the increase of thu population nud the
progress of settlement, stands once more in need
of alteration. A Bill been has introd jced this
session by the Government for thin purpose,
and has been referred to a Select Committee,
A further agitation is also proceed ing for an
alteration of the Constitution of th - Legislative
Council, which is felt not to h ; s ifficiently
amenable to its constituency. --*ing to the
long period for which membra can retain
their seat*. Several refor-j Bills have
been introduced by Government and private
members, but toce bave as yet proved
acceptable. A measure is now before the
Assembly which proposes to give power
to the Governor to dissolve the Council
by proclamation in certain cases. A Bill
which consolidate* and amends the Electoral
Laws has been passed by the Legislative
Council this session, and is now under con
sideration in the Assembly. The amend
ments din ctly n-'ate to the management of
elections, and provrte for punishing persons
guilty of offences against the Act. To guard
against tbe evil cf dummy candidates
being brought forward merely for the
8afee of creating a contest, a clause
has been introduced which provides that
every candidate for tbe Council shall, on
being nominated, deposit with the Returning
Officer the sum of £100, and every candidate for
the Assembly the sum of £50. In the event of
their not obtaining a certiin proportion of votes
the deposits will be forfeited. With a view,
too, of lessening the cost of election?, it is pro
vided that if a certain number of electors do
not vote at any {Killing-place, it shall be
abolished until such time as it may be
found necessary to re-establish it. Under
the pnsent Constitution Act all persons
qualified to vote are eligible to become
members of the Assembly, which is elected by
manhood suffrage, the only requirements being
that the voter shall be twenty-one years of
age, that his name shall have been on the
electoral-roll six months, and that he be un
taiuted with felony. Aliens not caturali/.ed
are incapable of voting ; but all that is required
to become a naturalized subject is to take an
oath of allegiiuee and to pay a fee of 10s. 6d.
All elections are conducted by ballot. Judges,
ministers of reliaion, and aliens who have not
lived five years in the colony are ineligible for
election to either House.
The Executive Government is, as in England,
dependent upon Parliamentary majorities. It
is called the Executive Council, and is formed
of the members of the Ministry for the time
being. The Governor, who is appointed by
the Queen, and is her accredited representative,
is the President of the Executive Council.
Members acctpticg office iu the Administration
are not required to go to their constituencies
for re-election. The Government first appointed
under tbe present Constitution Act consisted of
five Ministers, who were all required to be
members of the Legi.-lature. Recently a
sixth Minister has been added, and tbe Miniatry
is now composed of the Chief Secretary,
Attorney-General, Treasurer, Commissioner of
Crown Lands and Immigration, Commis
sioner of Public Works, and Minister of
Education, each with a salary of £1,000
per annum. Any member of the Legislature
renders his seat vacant by aoieptin^ any
ofiice of emolument under the Crown exempting
those aboTemeiitioEsii ; aad all are required to
take an oath or mike affirmation of allegiance to
the Sovereign of Great Britain. A.11 the affairs
of the color y, including the management of the
Crowu lards, the proceeds of which have beeu
placed entirely at the disposal of the colonists,
are under the control of the two Houses of
the Legislature. Etch House is vested with
equal rowers, with the exception that the
Legislative Council cannot originate any
measure for appropriatiti;: any part cf the
revenue, or for imposing, altering, or repealing
any rate, tax, duty, or impost. The whole
of tbe financial affairs of the colony, how
ever, are dealt with by the Assembly, and
the only part taken iu the milter by
the Council is the consideration of such
measures as are described above after they
have been passed by the Assembly. Several
taxation Bills have been vetoed by the Council
in the exercise of this power. The public ex
penditure is entirely regulated by the Hou*e of
Assembly, in whose bands consequently rests the
power of making and unmaking Ministries. The
present Gorertor is Sir William Fric;is Dru'n
cond Jervcis, K.C-M.G.,C.B., and the Miuis-ry
if the day is composed as follows :— Hoa.
Charles Mann, Treasurer and Premier: Hon.
William Morgan, Chief Secretary : Hon. W.
Eatidey. Q.C, Attonjey-General ; Hon. T. Pliy
]ord. Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immi
gration ; Hoc. G. C. Hawker, Commissioner of
Public Works j] and the Hon. X. King, Minister
of Education.
Thecolocv possesses complete selfgovernmen
all but in name. The Crown retains powe ? t )
disallow measures opposed to the principle*
of Imperial legislation, and Buls affect
ing tbe Constitution as will as S3m»
others bave to be reserved for the Royal
assent, which is, however, in mo=t cisea a formal
proceeding, and hecce the Govensraaut may he
said to be a pure form of demo.-racy. The two
Houses model their proceedings in accordance
with the practice of the House of Commons, and
similar forms are observed in both Hoas°a.
Tie Legislative Council is presided ovtr
by a President, and the Assembly by a
Speaker, and but one member of the
Ministry— generally the Chief Secretary— his
a seat in the Council. There is no distinc
tion between tbe classes of members of the two
Houses, acd neither House can be siid to
be representative of a class, both Chambers
being returned solely in tbe interests
of tbe whole community. Tbe members
of tbe Council are dignified by tbe title
of 'Honourable.' The majority of the
members of both Houses are engaged
in commercial pursuits. Owing to there
being no broadly defined political
parties, the tenure of office of Ministers ii
is very precarious, and very frequent changes of
Administrations occur. Tins is not altocether an
unmitigated evil, as it guards against corrup
tion in the distribution of oihji.il patronage,
bat it operates detrimentally iu many wajs to
public business. The evil is one, however, which
it may be hoped will be remedied iu course of
time. Notwithstanding thu frequent struggles
for office that occur, the proceedings of
the South Australian Parliament have
always been of an. orderly character,
and bave fortunately not been marked
by any of the discreditable scenes ani
disturbances which have become so comm3n in
other colonial Legislative Assemblies. More
over the legislation his geuerally speaking
te-_n of a practical and progressive character.
Indeed, in several rtspects, as iu the enactment
of tbe Real Property Act, and the Act authorizing
the marriage of a man with his deceased wife's
tUter, the eclouy has taken the lead iu important
rt forms, None of the members are paid except
the Ministers, the President of the Council, tha
Speaker, aud the Chairman of Committees ; and
the expenses of Parliament are consequently not
very great — averaging between £10,000 and
£11,000 per annum.
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