32 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT [PART I 
that a protection board would not work well. He also 
recommended that responsible government be accorded : 
the old form had worn out, the expenditure was large and 
the loan commitments heavy, and the Colony should stand 
in these matters on its own responsibility. On the other 
hand, he later forwarded petitions from residents in the 
country protesting against the grant of responsible govern- 
ment. It was argued that the numbers were in favour 
rather of the retention of the existing system of govern- 
ment, and it was suggested that a referendum was 
necessary. 
The Secretary of State, in a dispatch of May 28, 18912 inti- 
mated that it would not be possible to give the royal assent 
to the Bill as it stood ; but he accepted the judgement of 
the Colony as being in favour of responsible government. 
He criticized, though not being totally opposed to, the system 
of having but one chamber, as without a parallel in the rest 
of the Empire in self-governing communities : he definitely 
declined to allow the Supreme Chief to be required to act in 
accordance with ministerial advice, though he was satisfied 
with the provision made as to the reservation of Bills affecting 
Asiatics or natives. He thought that the appropriation for 
the natives must be made definitely a part of the constitution, 
and not left vague as was proposed, and he also recommended 
the omission of those clauses in the Bill which were intended 
to give legislative force to the ordinary arrangements 
regarding constitutional government and the position of 
ministers. On the other hand, he was satisfied with the 
position of the judges and of civil servants, to which the 
Governor had taken exception, subject to provision being 
made that civil servants should retain their existing pension 
rights. He also asked that the Governor’s salary in the Civil 
List should be raised from £3,000 to £4,000. 
The views of the Secretary of State were communicated 
to the Legislative Council, and on August 10, 18913 the 
Governor sent home the Bill as amended by the Council in 
* Parl. Pap., C. 6487, pp. 58 seq. * Ibid., pp. 71 seq. 
Ibid., C. 7013, pp. 5 seq.