A conservative, he opposed payment of members and protection amid the bitter party strife which accompanied Sir Graham Berry's second government, and such measures as income tax and female suffrage in the 1890s.Mr. Zox attacks a Tax; or Ox and Zox, Melbourne Punch, (Thursday, 7 July 1898), p.2. A supporter of the coalitions of the 1880s and of Sir James Patterson's ministry, he was more consistent and predictable than many of his contemporaries.
