CHAP. TV] THE GOVERNOR AS HEAD 205 
voting being sixteen to ten. The Premier then addressed 
to the Governor a memorandum asking that he might be 
granted a dissolution, but the dissolution was refused, and 
the Governor sent for the leader of the Opposition, who was 
able to form a fairly strong Government as compared with 
the Government of the Labour Party. The following is the 
text of the memorandum and the Governor’s reply '— 
Mr. Earle presents his respectful compliments to his Ex- 
cellency the Governor. In accordance with the commis- 
sion recently entrusted to him by the Governor, Mr. Earle 
formed an Administration, which succeeded that of Sir Elliott 
Lewis. Ministers were duly sworn in on 20th inst., but at 
the first subsequent meeting of the House of Assembly on 
the 22nd inst., a vote of want of confidence in Ministers was 
moved by Sir Elliott Lewis, and carried by 16 votes to 10. 
A brief retrospect of the recent political history of the 
State is necessary to permit of a proper understanding of 
the situation created by this adverse vote. 
During the existence of the last Parliament the Govern- 
ment of the Hon. J. W. Evans held office at the period of the 
general elections, which took place in April last. Mr. Evans 
had occupied the position of Premier for nearly five years. 
There were at the election considerable electoral difficulties 
affecting Mr. Evans’s Administration, and in respect of one 
important question it is highly probable, if not absolutely 
certain, that Mr. Evans would have suffered defeat if he 
bad met the newly-elected Parliament. The settlement of 
the question fell to the lot of other Ministers. 
Sixty candidates offered themselves for election. “Of these, 
according to a careful analysis which Mr. Earle has made, 
20 represented the views of the party which supports 
Mr. Earle—12 of these were returned. There were 23 who 
represented the opposite political view—14 were returned. 
Twelve candidates took a middle course, inclining in many 
respects towards the views propounded by Mr. Earle and his 
party, and only one was returned. Four of the remaining 
candidates cannot be classified, but their public declarations 
indicated that they were in sympathy with the political views 
of Mr. Earle. One other candidate was rejected. 
It has been stated in Parliament by the Hon. A. E. 
Solomon (the Attorney-General in the last Administration) 
with evident truth, that Mr. Evans did not assume during 
1 Parl. Pan.. 1909. No. 52.