222 THE EXECUTIVE GOVERNMENT [pART II majority of the Government side would shortly be unseated. Accordingly, the Governor in the exercise of his discretion refused to grant a dissolution, and thereupon the Government resigned office on April 11, 1894, on the ground of his refusal. The Governor asked the leader of the Opposition to form a Ministry, and he was allowed a short prorogation of Parliament to enable him to form the Government. The Legislative Assembly on the 13th of April passed a resolution protesting against the action of the Governor, and asking him to dissolve the Legislature forthwith so as to prevent the chaos which would ensue in the absence of Revenue and Supply Acts, and the entrusting of the Government to a, party >onsisting of only one-third of the members of the House. The House proceeded to rescind the resolution it had passed for the grant of supply, and declared that for any persons in the Government of the Colony to pay any sums for or towards the support of services voted, after the Legislature should have been prorogued or dissolved before an Appropriation Act had been passed, would be a gross breach of the public trust, and derogatory to the fundamental principles of the Legis- lature, and subversive of the principles of responsible government. They also protested that the minority in the House should not be entrusted with the collection of taxes ‘or the purpose of revenue. The position was very difficult, as the Revenue Act expired on the 11th of June, and on the other hand it was practically impossible to hold a general election in the spring, as the people of the Colony were engaged in preparing for the fisheries, and the difficulties of an election would interfere with those preparations. Moreover, dissolution at once would terminate the trials of the election petitions. The Governor, on the advice of ministers, prorogued the House of Assembly to the 23rd of May. But it was found impossible to obtain supply by the 11th of June, and accord- ingly the taxes were levied on the authority of the Executive Government alone and under the protection of a man-of-war stationed at St. John’s. In the meantime a dissolution was withheld and kept over until the termination of the election