CHAP. IV] THE GOVERNOR AS HEAD 195 
I felt that this belief, if well founded, was a strong argu- 
ment for dissolution, and the by-elections which supported 
the Government certainly gave an air of probability to the 
Premier’s contention. 
(2) He pointed out that some of those who voted against 
the Ministry did so avowedly, not because they disbelieved 
in the policy of the Government, but because they thought 
that certain of his own past actions showed want of upright- 
ness. They made accusations against him, the truth of 
which he indignantly denied ; but he said that if these were 
grounds for declaring want of confidence in the Ministry, it 
was only fair to himself, to the Ministers who supported him, 
and to the country that the constituencies should be asked 
to pronounce their judgment. 
[ did not think this in itself a reason for granting a 
dissolution, though the case for one might be strengthened 
if dissolution gave the electors an opportunity to express 
their views on matters concerning the honour of their State. 
(3) The Premier thought that if I did not follow his advice, 
I could only ask one of two men to form a Government— 
either Mr. Prendergast, the recognized leader of the Opposi- 
tion, or Mr. Murray, who had moved the vote of no con- 
fidence. Either of these, he thought, would be willing to form 
a Ministry, and might for the moment succeed ; but to ask 
either to do so would not be in the interest of the State, for 
he felt certain that no Government led by either of them 
would last for many days. He believed dissolution was in 
any case inevitable before long, and ought to be given to the 
Ministry which the country had placed in power with so 
large a majority in 1907. 
I did not think that my choice was necessarily confined 
to one of these two gentlemen, nor did I think that the 
Premier’s opinion that dissolution was inevitable was neces- 
sarily correct ; but I felt that, if I should decide to dissolve 
Parliament, there was some reason in his claim to be allowed 
to appeal to the country whilst still in office. 
I did not seriously consider whether I should look for a 
leader in the Legislative Council; for I believed that the 
Legislative Assembly would never accept as Premier one 
who was not a member of their own House. 
The majority in favour of the vote of no confidence was 
made up of fifteen members of the Labour Party, who never 
had any confidence in Sir Thomas Bent’s Ministry, and 22 
former supporters who had lost confidence in it ; “but who, 
both at the last general election, and apparently still, were 
092