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CHAP. 1] THE GOVERNOR 87
I can therefore only repeat that the true interests of the
Colonies, and the preservation of friendly and constitutional
relations between the Colonies and this country will, in the
opinion of Her Majesty’s Government, be best secured by
adhering to the principles upon which the appointment of
Governor has hitherto been made.
None the less, the position taken up by Lord Knutsford
did not prove possible of successful defence. The Marquess
of Normanby was objected to by South Australia, and the
appointment could not be proceeded with, and in fact the
principle of consultation was in effect granted! Indeed, it
was not reasonable to deny it, and it was said that the
Government of New Zealand were consulted regarding Lord
Onslow’s successor? The choice of able men is not so
limited in the United Kingdom that the Government can
ever be in a serious difficulty as to how to fill up a post,
if for any good ground an objection is taken to a nominee
of the Government. The result of consultation is not to
transfer the control from the Government to the Colony :
it merely ensures that the appointment when made shall be
a popular one, and no Governor is likely to be induced to
be unfair by the fact that a particular party accepted his
appointment : he is normally quite well aware that the
opposition would have accepted him just as readily as did
the Government of the day. On the other hand, the Imperial
Government have maintained their resolve not to allow
suggestions for the appointment to be made, at any rate in
any formal way, though every effort is made to humour
individual idiosyncrasies, such as the apparent desire of
New Zealand—the most democratic of all Colonies—for a
peer at the head of the Government.
§ 2. THE GOVERNORS OF THE AUSTRALIAN STATES
The question of the position of the Governor in the
Australian States has, however, become somewhat pressing
since federation reduced the importance of the position.
* Dilke, Problems of Greater Britain, i. 366,
v Canadian Gazette, xviii, 446.
