although it was a well-recognised
principle that the money received by Government for the waste lands of
any district should be employed in bringing out emigrants to that
district, yet the Sydney Government used much of the money obtained
from the sale of land in Port Phillip for the purpose of bringing out
new colonists--not to Melbourne or Geelong, but to Sydney itself. And
thus, it was said, the people of Sydney were using the money of the Port
Phillip district for their own advantage. And, again, the people of
Melbourne complained that, although they were allowed to elect six
members of the Legislative Council, yet this was merely a mockery,
because none of the Port Phillip residents could afford to live in
Sydney for five months every year and to neglect their own private
business. The former of these accusations seems, so far as we can now
determine, to have been unfounded; the latter was undoubtedly a
practical grievance, though more or less unavoidable in every system of
representation.

#7. Earl Grey.#--For a year or two the English Government forgot all about
the separation question; and, in 1848, the wearied colonists at Port
Phillip determined to call attention to their discontent. Accordingly,
when the elections for that year approached, they determined not to
elect any member, so that the English Government might see of how little
use to them their supposed privilege really was. It was agreed that no
one should come forward for election, and it seemed likely that there
would be no election whatever, when a gentleman named Foster offered
himself as a candidate. This placed the non-election party in a dilemma;
for if they declined to vote at all, and if Mr. Foster could persuade
only two or three of his friends to vote for him, then, since there was
no other candidate, he would be legally elected.

Now, at this time, Earl Grey was Secretary of State for the Colonies;
and when some one proposed to nominate him for election, in opposition
to Mr. Foster, the idea was hailed as a happy one. The non-election
party could then vote for Earl Grey, and he would be returned by a large
majority. But Earl Grey, being an English nobleman and a member of the
British Government, would certainly never go to Sydney to attend a small
Colonial Council; so that there would be, in reality, no member elected.
But the attention of the Secretary of State would be drawn to the
desires of the district. Earl Grey was triumphantly