One of the
country members, whose name I am now not quite sure of, set us all in a
roar, on one occasion, by taking as a personal affront, and very tartly
too, as though quite intended, the interruption to his speech by the
arrival of a "royal" message from the Governor.
Another curiosity was the way in which the House adjusted itself for
legislative action. Almost as matter of course, under the instincts of
the position, the elected members were, in fact and in principle alike,
opposed to the nominated; and that, by consequent instincts, ever meant
simply the Government. The press, with similar unanimity, was on the
elected side, for both were in the fight for the full "constitutional"
concession, which came a few years later. In anything that touched
squatting, however, the squatting representatives, led by another old
friend, W.F. Splatt, of the Wimmera, went over bodily, thus giving the
Government a small majority, which, as I have shown in my sketch of Mr.
La Trobe, blocked us seriously in dealing with the waste or Crown lands
for the benefit of the inpouring tens of thousands of people. Sometimes,
by the force of our case, we stole a vote from the Ministerial side, as
when Mr.
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