vituperation indulged in passed almost all bounds, and the proverbial fish-fags of Billingsgate yvould have hidden their diminished heads had they been listeners. Kerr, Fawkner, and Mortimer talked away at one side whilst Stephen, a m a n of imperturbable good temper, with an unscrupulously bitter though polished tongue yvas a host in himself; and for unmeasured and unchoice volubility, Kerr and Fawkner had no equals. Orr James, and Russell would in a quasi-gentlemanly way occasionally back up Stephen, while T o w n Clerk King, quietly and cunningly did all in his poyver to foment mischief in the sly, underhand manner of which he was master. Smith usually talked against the Kerr side, but some Masonic grudges between him and Stephen m a d e him at times an unreliable ally. A s for a casus belli, the assessment, the salaries, the shortness of the funds, the bye-laws, some apparent act of neglect on the part of the Superintendent or the Executive, and the supposed inaccuracy of the minutes of the previous meeting, offered ready pegs on which to hang the grossest abuse and malignity. A n d then there were the newspapers "ding-donging" every morning, ringing the changes in every description of typographical tirade, from the scurrilous leader to the suggestive paragraph; from the highly-spiced letter to the dirty doggerel.
A fertile source of dispute with the Government was the refusal of the Council to contribute towards the maintenance of the police, by levying a special rate for the purpose as enjoined by the Corporation Act. T h e police cost was to be met by Police Court fees as far as they went, and the Council was to make up the deficit by a property rate ; but it refused to do so unless the entire management of the police was transferred to the Civic body, and to this the Executive could not accede. Unquestionably public opinion was loth to an increase of Corporate power or patronage in a general way, and, so far, the Superintendent yvas amply justified in the stand he took against intended Corporation innovations. The letter of the law, however, had to be complied with, and to do so the Council m a d e a police rate of one halfpenny in the £, whereat the Government flared up, and threatened all sorts of pains and penalties, but all it did was to abolish Major St. John's office of Police Magistrate at Melbourne, the duties of which were henceforth, for several years, effectively performed by the respective Mayors.
The First Annual Election
Came round in November, 1843, and the Council was purged of some of its bad blood by the retirement of " Johnny " Fawkner, w h o was succeeded by Mr. J. R. Murphy, the proprietor of a brewery in Flinders Street, and one of the most upright and best-esteemed m e n in Melbourne. There was also a much needed acquisition of new blood by the election of Dr. Greeves for Latrobe. Mr. E. Westby (thefirstRoman Catholic Councilman) for Gipps, and Mr. Henry M o o r for Bourke Wards. U p to this period the Scotch or Kerr clique had everything its own way, but now the Anglo-Saxon contingent was recruited by Greeves, Westby, and Moor, whilst Murphy was as " out-and-out a Dubliner " as could be netted all the world over. Kerr's burning ambition in the early days was to be Mayor of Melbourne. Let him once be installed as such, and he would die happy. Indeed it was declared of him that he once said " he'd burn Melbourne to the ground to be Mayor of its ashes;" but he never had the chance. Great efforts were consequently made, not only now, but at other times, on his behalf, but they were always frustrated. A s the day for the election of Mayor approached, the coming choice yvas the absorbing topic of discussion, and at the Council meeting of the 9th, Messrs. Fawkner and Reid, who were supposed to have retired by rotation for Lonsdale and Bourke Wards, had the hardihood to appear at the Council table, but being " strangers," they were warned not to vote. If the Mayoralty had been contested, no doubt they would have tried it on, and tendered their support to Kerr, but at the eleventh hour it was decided to re-elect Alderman Condell, who consequently enjoyed the honour of a Civic "walk-over."
T h e balance-sheet for thefirstCivic year showed:—Receipts, ,£2388 2s. g±; Disbursements, ,£24 22 10s. 8d. T h e balance being on the wrong side of the ledger, and a portion of the Mayor's stipend with a few small accounts unpaid, the screw had to be put on, and all the paid offices (except the Mayor, of course) were declared vacant. The salaries were then thus reduced, viz. Mayor at .£200, T o w n Clerk ,£175, Surveyor ,£150, and Treasurer ,£100. In the re-appointment of the officers there was much debate, especially as regarded the T o w n Clerk, for Mr. King had rendered himself very obnoxious to a portion of
