Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/184

 158 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The Railway-Builders of the Northern Territory, and several proposals were discussed, and some were accepted. After this the immigration question, about which there had been so much wrangling in previous years, was resuscitated. The developments in agriculture, in building operations, antl in almost everv branch of industrial activity, called for more labor ; artisans were required in the city, and farm hands in the country. The demand was so pronounced that the public debated not so much upon whether there should be increased immigration as upon the advantages of free and of assisted immigration. The old annual vote for immigration continued, but for 1874 the Government proposed that ^"35,000 should be spent. Public sentiment was e.xpressed at public meetings. In 1873, Parliament voted / 1 5,000 for assisted and ^5,000 for free immigration; and in 1874, ^30,000 and ^5,000 respectively. Among other measures passed in 1873 was a Constitution Act Amendment Bill, which provided for the appointment of a sixth Minister — a Minister of Education — and established the principle that the Attorney-General should not necessarily be a member of Parliament. In the Upper House, .Sir Henry Ayers (knighted in 1872) proposed that Ministers should serve without salaries. The Bill equalised the salaries of the six Ministers at jC ^'Ooo. A new Electoral Act was also passed in 1873, and increased the number of members of the House of Assembly from 36 to 46, and authorised a re-arrangement of the districts. In 1871 a fruitless discussion took place on an Education Bill, and in the session of 1874 a new measure was introduced by the Blyth Government. It proposed to substitute for the Board of Education an Educational Department, which should be under the charge of a responsible Minister ; but the Bill was defeated in the Legislative Council. As the Parliament had run its full course, a dissolution took place, and the new House met on May 6, 1875, 46 members assembling for the first time. The Blyth Government gave way, on June 3, to a Ministry formed by Mr. Boucaut, who succeeded in carrying a progressive Education Bill. This provided for a responsible Minister of Education and a Council of Elducation, with a salaried president, a secretary, and a staff of inspectors. Compulsory education was to obtain in districts proclaimed by the Governor, and education was to be free to all unable to pay fees. A proposal to provide for Bible-reading was defeated. Provision was made for secondary schools, and about 100,000 acres were reserved as a land endowment for educational purposes. The Boucaut Administration will long be remembered for its courage and its progressive measures. Mr. James Penn Boucaut — now Sir James Penn Boucaut — who was born in 1839, was a son of the late Captain Ray Boucaut, and came to South Australia with his father in 1846. He studied for the law, was admitted to practice, and in 1861 entered Parliament as representative for the city of Adelaide. In subsequent years he evinced a vital interest in politics, was a vigorous and fearless debater, and was a prominent figure amid the storms which assailed the successive Parliament.s. He first took office as Attorney-Cieneral in the Hart Government of 1865. Upon the retirement