Jewish Encyclopedia/Vogel, Julius

VOGEL, SIR JULIUS: Agent-general in London for New Zealand; born in London Feb. 25, 1835; died there March 13, 1899. He was the son of Albert Lee Vogel, and was educated at University College School. Left an orphan, he emigrated to Australia in 1852. Disappointed with his progress at the gold-diggings, he fell back upon his literaryability and became editor and proprietor of several Victorian newspapers. He stood for Parliament in 1861, but was unsuccessful, and emigrated to Dunedin, New Zealand, where he bought a half interest in the "Otago Witness" and started the "Otago Daily Times," the first daily paper in New Zealand. In 1862 Vogel was elected to the provincial council of Otago, and four years later became the head of the provincial government, a post which he held till 1869. In 1863 he was elected a member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, and on retiring from the provincial government in 1869, he joined the Fox ministry as colonial treasurer, afterward becoming successively postmaster-general, commissioner of customs, and telegraph commissioner. The Fox ministry having been forced to resign, Vogel carried a vote of want of confidence in their successors, and in Oct., 1872, returned to power as leader in the Lower House, colonial treasurer, and postmaster-general. In 1873 Vogel became prime minister of the colony. In 1875-76 he visited England, and afterward resumed the premiership. From 1876 to 1881 he was agent-general for New Zealand in London, and in 1884 was again a member of the government of the colony. He finally gave up colonial office in 1887, from which date he resided in England. He was made C.M.G. in 1872, and K.C.M.G. in 1875, and received special permission to retain the colonial title of "Honorable" during his life. He unsuccessfully contested Penryn in 1880 as an Imperialist.

Sir Julius Vogel's principal achievement as a colonial statesman was the discovery that the savings of the mother country could, with mutual advantage, be obtained by the colonies and applied to the construction of railways and other public works. That his system of finance was on the whole successful was amply proved by the prosperous state of the Australasian colonies. Sir Julius Vogel was the author of the act by virtue of which Colonial stock has been inscribed at the Bank of England and has become a popular investment for trustees. His project of law was accepted by the imperial government to the equal benefit of all the colonies. His scheme of public borrowing for the colony of New Zealand was put into effect in 1870, and within the next ten years the colony borrowed £22,500,000 at diminishing rates of interest, the population rose from 250,000 to 500,000, the extent of land under cultivation increased from 1,000,000 to 4,000,000 acres, and the value of exports from £500,000 to £1,500,000. It is also stated that in the same ten years he introduced 100,000 immigrants and caused 1,200 miles of railway to be constructed. During a visit to England he established the existing mail service between New Zealand and San Francisco. In his first premiership he set on foot the government life-insurance system and organized the New Zealand Public Trusteeship. He was one of the first to advocate imperial federation.

Sir Julius Vogel wrote a novel entitled "Anno Domini 2000, or Woman's Destiny"; it was published in 1889, and passed through several editions. One of his sons, Frank Leon Vogel, was killed on Dec. 4, 1893, while serving with Major Wilson's force against the Matabele.


 * Jew. Chron., March 18, 1899;
 * Gisborne, Hist. of New Zealand;
 * G. W. Rusden, Hist. of New Zealand, vols. ii., iii.