THE BALLARAT REFORM LEAGUE.

 — The following manifesto has been issued by the Ballarat League, and sanctioned by vast masses of the diggers, storekeepers, and general community:— "Principles and objects of the Ballarat Reform League:— That it is the inalienable right of every citizen to have a voice in making the laws he is called upon to obey. That taxation without representation is tyranny. 

"That being, as the people have hitherto been, unrepresented in the Legislative Council of the colony of Victoria, they have been tyrannised over, and it becomes their duty as well as their interest to resist, and if necessary, to remove the irresponsible Government which so tyrannises over them. That this colony has hitherto been governed by paid officials upon the false assumption that law is greater than justice, because, forsooth, it was made by them or their friends, and admirably suit their selfish ends and narrow-minded views. That it is the object of the League to place the power in the hands of responsible representatives of the people; to frame wholesome laws and carry on an honest Government.

 "That it is not the wish of the League to effect the immediate separation of the colony from the parent country, if equal laws and equal rights are dealt out to the whole free community; but that if Queen Victoria continued to act upon the ill advice of dishonest Ministers, and insists upon indirectly dictating obnoxious laws for this colony, under the assumed authority of Royal prerogative, the Reform League will endeavour to supersede such Royal prerogative by asserting that of the people, it being the most Royal of all Royal prerogatives, as the people are the only legitimate source of all political power. 

"The political changes contemplated by the League are —
1. A full and fair representation.
2. Manhood suffrage.
3. No property qualification of members for the Legislative Council
4. Payment of members; and
5. Short duration of Parliament.

" The immediate objects of the League are— a complete change in the management of the gold-fields by disbanding the Gold Commission; the total abolition of the diggers' and storekeepers' licence-tax, and a thorough agitation of the gold-fields and the towns. That, to carry out the foregoing objects, there should be a large tent erected, in which to meet and conduct the business of the Reform League. Cards of membership to be issued, and Ballarat to be divided into districts."

South Australian Register (Adelaide, SA : 1839 - 1900), Tuesday 5 December 1854, page 2