Page:Australia and the Empire.djvu/257

 diocese very properly has a voice, and the practice obtains of submitting the names of three eligible ecclesiastics to his Holiness, whose individual claims are further distinguished by the words dignus, dignior, dignissimus. Why could not this admirable plan be imitated in the matter of selecting a Governor for a self-governing colony? Under the present system, it is a mere matter of chance who is sent out, and the most politic thing for a Colonial Office nominee to do, whatever his individual capacity may be, is to transform himself into a gentlemanly cipher. Take the case of Victoria, which I do the more readily, because the present representative of her Majesty in that colony is admittedly an admirable Governor. Let us suppose Sir Henry Loch's term of office ended. During his régime events have moved quickly; a conference has been held in Downing Street, at which, for the first time, her Majesty's British Ministers have met her Majesty's Colonial Ministers on something like equal terms, to discuss matters affecting the whole Empire. This has very rightly been regarded as a distinct epoch in the relations between England and her colonies. But does it not make the selection of a Governor for any of the colonies, who were thus represented