Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/100

 by the governor. The remaining twenty-four are elected by the people; of these, one is returned for the town of Melbourne, and five for the district of Port Phillip generally. The council, if not previously dissolved, lasts for six years. The qualification for members of council is £2,000 of freehold estate in land, or £100 a year issuing out of it. That of electors is £200 of freehold estate in land, or the occupation of a house worth £20 a year.

The infusion of the principle of popular election into the constitution of the Legislative Council has been a boon conferred by the present government in a spirit of enlightened legislation, and, although the qualification both of members and electors is unsuited to the circumstances of the country, it has been received by the colonists generally in a spirit of becoming thankfulness; and I have no doubt that the beneficial results of this measure will amply repay those who have had the merit of framing it. It is, however, much to be regretted, that this boon could not have been granted without affording a further proof either of the ignorance of government with regard to the true state of the colony, or of its utter disregard of the pastoral interest which is its mainstay. It was scarcely to have been expected, that in framing a constitution for a new legislative assembly, this interest should have been overlooked, and the property, whose annual returns are exhibited in the exports of the country, left entirely unrepresented. Yet such is the case. If, for instance, one examines the table of exports from Port Phillip, given in a former chapter, it will be found, that out of £232,000, to