Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/179

 The Railway-Builders ADELAIDE AND VICINITY I 53 A month after the prorogation of Parliament in January, 1869, when Mr. Strangways' Land Bill was disposed of, the new Governor, Sir James Fergusson, Bart., arrived. The career of Sir James had been a brilliant one. He was born in Edinburgh in 1H32, and was educated at Rugby and Oxford. Choosing a military career, he became a lieutenant, and then a captain, in the Grenadier Guards. He saw active service in the Crimea, taking part in the battles of Alma and Inkerman, and received the Crimean medal with three clasps, also a Turkish medal. During the progress of the war. Colonel Hunter Blair, M.P. for Ayrshire, was killed at Inkerman, and Sir James's friends in the constituency elected him to the vacancy in his absence. This was a singular tribute of regard, and in 1855 he returned to England, sold out his commission, and took his seat at .St. Stephen's as a Conservative. In the decisive struggle between the Conservatives and Liberals at the general election of 1857 Sir James lost his seat at Ayrshire, that constituency reverting to a Liberal. Two years later, however, he was again returned, and sat until 1868. In 1866-7 h^ "^^is Under-Secretary for India in the third Derby Government, and in 1867-8 Under-Secretary for the Home Department in the first Disraeli Ministry. In 1868 he was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of South Australia. Sir James married, in 1859, Lady Edith Christian Ramsay, daughter of the late Marquis of Dalhousie. On February 15, 1869, Sir James and Lady Fergusson reached the Province, and on the same day H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh arrived on his .second visit. The new Governor was sworn in on the following day in the presence of the royal visitor. Parliament met in July, 1869, and, for a wonder, the Address in Reply was carried in both Houses without a division. But whatever hopes the Strangways Government may have entertained that the session would be peaceful were soon dispelled. The deficit in the finances continued, and, to remove it, the Government proposed retrenchment and increased taxation. This was the opportunity for those who aspired to be Ministers of the Crown. For three or four years industry had been depressed, and the proposal to impose additional taxation was therefore not likely to meet with popular favor. The Government brought a hornet's nest about its ears, and " ministerial crises and threatenings of crises came thick and fast." The Government was strong, but the Opposition was .so obstructive that public business was long delayed. The Ministry undertook to retrench as far as possible, and to increase taxation only when absolutely necessary. The Estimates were introduced, and reductions were proposed in most of the departments. The Opposition contested the items almost line by line, and .sometimes the Government was in a minority. Remarks Hodder : — "This inordinate waste of time came at length to be regarded as a burle.sque on responsible government." Meetings were held throughout the country, but nothing practical was done in the whole session. On January 4, 1870, the House met after a short adjournment, and a vote of censure was immediately tabled and lost. On the 25th another attempt was made to eject the Government, and Mr. Strangways asked for a dissolution. The Opposition