1886, there was a balance in the Treasury of £83,418, partly derived from unexpected excesses in customs and land receipts. In 1887 the latter fell short of the estimates, and the revenue was considerably below the expenditure. Governor Broome was depressed by the situation, and, in his opening address to the Council, he advised members to be extremely cautious in entering into new expenditures. "Loans," said he, "cannot be looked upon as a remedy for depression, or as a substitute for real progress and development." The sale of town and suburban lots, in the north and north-west, and of Crown lands, was augmenting the revenue, and Mr. Richardson sounded a note of warning in the debate on the Address-in-Reply:—"Any practical man must foresee the result of selling the public estate; the disposing of the proceeds to meet current expenditure will be disastrous in the end; the same principle adopted in the case of the owner of a private estate would soon bring that man into pecuniary difficulties, if year by year he had to sell a portion of his estate to meet his current liabilities." There was a deficit in the public chest in 1888 of £28,130, and a new loan was proposed. The Secretary of State refused to sanction it, but was willing to permit of Treasury Bills being floated. The total receipts were greatly increased. In 1879, £196,315, and in 1888, £357,003. The rise was mainly due to increases in land, railway, and customs returns. Customs in 1879, £88,329, and 1888, £159,059; land in 1879, £33,398, and 1888, £81,348; railways in 1882, £12,571, and 1888, £37,302. At the same time, however, the public debt increased from £361,000 in 1879, to £1,275,000 in 1888—in 1887 (vide Budget speech) the banks held securities representing £1,297,000, which made the debt of the colony on public and private accounts to be over £2,500,000, or about £63 10s. per head of population; the revenue per head in 1884 was £8 19s. 8d., and expenditure, £9 0s. 2d., and in 1888, revenue £8 9s. 5d., and expenditure, £9 2s. 9d.; the taxation per head in 1884, £4 1s. 2d., and in 1888, £4 5s. 7d.; public debt per head in 1884, £23 4s. 2½d., and 1888, £30 5s. 3d.; imports per head in 1881, £16 2s. 6d., and exports, £12 11s.; imports per head in 1888, £18 13s. 11d., and exports, £16 3s. 6d.
The Blue Book returns of revenue and expenditure (January to December) were:—
| Revenue | Expenditure | |
| 1879 ... | £196,315 ... | £195,812 |
| 1880 ... | 180,049 ... | 204,337 |
| 1881 ... | 254,313 ... | 197,386 |
| 1882 ... | 250,372 ... | 205,451 |
| 1883 ... | 284,363 ... | 240,565 |
| 1884 ... | 290,319 ... | 291,306 |
| 1885 ... | 323,213 ... | 308,848 |
| 1886 ... | 388,564 ... | 394,675 |
| 1887 ... | 377,903 ... | 456,897 |
| 1888 ... | 357,003 ... | 385,129 |
Public attention was so completely absorbed by the ramifications of the new public works policy that the question of Responsible Government was allowed to wait gloomily, and almost in solitude, in the ante-room of politics. But the desire to have the sulky Achilles admitted and warmly embraced had by no means disappeared. The general people certainly evinced little interest; they were sometimes like a child tired of its plaything. But prominent supporters occasionally feasted the relaxed warrior, and watched for an opportune moment to again bring him to the front. A few people waited until the year when it was decreed that the direct Imperial contribution to convict expenditure must cease, so that the burdens of self-government might not be greatly increased. Many were so unfeignedly pleased with the public works expenditure that they forgot all about the constitution. Use and habit had so moulded many more that they became sleepily content; the sweet somnolency begot of freedom from turmoil was more attractive than exciting changes of constitution. Such people would fain "rest and be thankful;" loth to bestir themselves, they were the most dangerous enemies to Responsible Government, as a cynical and callous man is to the generous ardour of youth. Some irrepressible spirits chafed in their tents, and were consumed in a smouldering fire, like Achilles himself.
Although casual public references were made to autonomy they had no effect other than to prevent the question from being forgotten. Resolutions were moved in the Council from time to time, but they resolved themselves into mere abstract propositions. No warmth, no emotion, was felt by the people. Reform must be supported by a universal demand; if not it is strangled or deformed in its birth. It has been often said that a reform measure to be successful must be sustained by public enthusiasm sufficient to convince the indolent, the selfish, and the timid. Western Australia in 1879-85 was precisely in the position of England when the Lord Russell Government introduced a Reform Bill in 1866. Political leaders demanded responsible ministers, and the people said nothing. But these several resolutions were highly important in a historical sense; they educated and eventually excited the public sentiment.
Governor Ord was not so ready to lend his ear to the prayers of the people for Responsible Government as Governor Weld, and Governor Robinson was so occupied with other affairs that he was required to give little heed to constitutional matters. And so, for several years, the question remained in the background. Meanwhile there had been changes among the officials, and alterations in the Executive and Legislative Councils. Under the Royal Instructions of 1878, empowering the Governor to appoint two additional members to the Executive Council, Governor Ord, in February, 1879, proclaimed Sir. J.H. Thomas, Director of Public Works and Commissioner of Railways, to be an unofficial member of that body. In May the same gentleman was appointed an official member. Additional Royal Instructions, in April, 1879, provided for the enlargement of the Council to six official representatives, still permitting the appointment of two unofficial members. The six officials were, the Governor (president), Attorney-General, Senior Military Officer Commanding Her Majesty's Troops, Surveyor-General and Commissioner of Crown Lands, and the Director of Public Works and Commissioner of Railways. In November, 1879, the Colonial Treasurer was reappointed to a seat in the Executive, and in 1880, when Lieutenant-Colonel W.D. Harvest left the colony, the office of Commandant was not represented, nor was it again filled. In February, 1879, Mr. H.H. Hocking, the Attorney-General, was granted leave of absence, and did not return to office. Mr. G.W. Leake was Acting Attorney-General until the death of Sir A.P. Burt in November, when he became Acting Chief Justice, and Mr. E.A. Stone assumed temporary control of the Law Department. In 1881 Mr. A.G. Onslow was appointed Attorney-General, and in 1883 Mr. A.P. Hensman succeeded him. In March, 1880, Mr. T.H. Wrenfordsley became Chief Justice, and in 1883 Mr. Onslow took that position. In 1880 the Colonial Secretary, Mr. R.T. Goldsworthy, retired from office, and was temporarily succeeded by Mr. G.B. Phillips, who gave place to Baron Gifford in November, 1880. In 1883 Mr. M. Fraser took the Colonial Secretaryship, and Mr. John Forrest, the explorer, succeeded him as Surveyor-General and
