Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/116

 90 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The Husbandmen members, four official and four non-official members, nominated by the Governor. The officials were :— Governor Grey, A. M. Mundy (Colonial Secretary), W. Smillie (Advocate- General). Captain Sturt (Colonial Treasurer) ; the non-officials were : — Major T. S. O'Halloran, T. Williams, John Morphett, and G. F. Dashwood. Within a short period Mr. Jacob Hagen succeeded Mr. Williams, and Captain C. H. Bagot succeeded Mr. Dashwood. A buildinsf for the Council Chamber was erected on North Terrace, and the non-official members first took part in the proceedings on October lo, when the House met for the transaction of business. The session lasted until November 14, and in the interval 16 Bills were {Kissed. The privilege, though very limited, of the people to have a voice in the government of the country came at an appropriate juncture. The monster meeting of March, 1843, was one of the last public demonstrations of opposition to Governor Grey, and after the opening of the new Council very little was said against him. In 1844-5 the finances had become really healthy, and there were many evidences of industrial activity, proving that despite detraction and difficulty the new Governor had piloted the Province into a safe channel. Throughout these stormy years the City of Adelaide was the ])rincipal sufferer, and residents soon recognised that their citizenship was mostly an illusion. The depression had removed, directly or indirectly, several useless excrescences, and partly it led to the e.xtinction of the municipal institutions. As the citizens were subjected to privation, houses were abandoned and city land was rendered comj^aratively valueless, the Council experiencing the central blast of the storm. In January, 1842, the city was nearly ^600 in debt. The salaries of the officials were reduced, and a rate of gd. in the poimd was declared, which was expected to produce ^,1,500. The citizens already had such heavy calls on their purses that they did not accept this decision without opposition, but, like Governor Grey with the public finances, the Corporation required money to pay oft liabilities, and persisted in the rate. Its legality was called into question, but, when applied to, the Advocate-General declined to give an opinion. To devote more attention to his profession, Mr. Fisher had resigned the mayoral office, and Alderman Wilson was chosen to succeed him, Councillor Lambert being elected an Alderman. Some time later the questions of whether Mr. Fisher could resign, and whether Mr. Wilson could be elected to the vacancy, were raised, and a tedious dispute followed. The Advocate-General took the former view, and Mr. Fisher, also a lawyer, declared that he was competent to resign. To settle the point, the latter suggested that a short Bill should be passed by Parliament, but the authorities showed no inclination to so far consider the Corporation. Other suggestions were made, but they too were ignored, and the doubt continued to exist, though if the Advocate-General w(re correct in his opinion, all the actions of the new mayor were invalid. Governor Grey at no time gave much encouragement to the City Council, and there were occasions when he evinced marked opposition to it. Early in 1842 he employed immigrants to enclose parts of the park lands so as to raise revenue by letting them, and formed and metalled the roadways in Hindiey and Rundle .Streets, from