We are glad to see that the choice of the
Government has fallen on Lord Hopetoun, and that he is to be the first Governor-General of the Australian Commonwealth. The difficulty of selection must have been very great. The man capable of presiding fittingly over the birth of the new State must have experience of constitutional government, must be well off, must be able in brain and strong in character, though he may never be directly called on to show either in public— the public does not hear of it, but a governor, like the Queen, has often to give useful counsel and advice to his own advisers —and, finally, must have plenty of tact and good temper, as well as dignity and knowledge of men. And all these quali- ties must be found in the case of a Governor-General, in a man in the higher ranks of the peerage [Commonwealths and Dominions will not go below an Earl] who is rich enough, young enough, and sufficiently unembarrassed by domestic ties to leave his home for five years. After what we have said it almost sounds like fulsome flattery to say that Lord Hopetonn has the requisite requirements, but we believe he has. The objection to him that he is a Victorian and will favour Victoria is absurd. It is far more likely that, in order to show his impartiality and lack of prejudice, he may some- times be a little too much inclined to lean the other way. But in any case, what real power has he under the Act to serve his old Colony ?
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