Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/279

 Hon. J. G.Jenkins ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 253 June, 1893, Mr. Jenkins was appointed Government Whip; but in the vacancy caused in 1894 by the Hon. Thomas Playford a.ssuming the office of Agent-General, he was awarded the portfolio of Commissioner of Public Works, relieving the Hon. V. W. Holder, who went to the Treasury. This post he filled until the termination of the long span of the Kingston-Holder Ministry in December, 1899. When but a week later Mr. Holder formed his present Ministry, Mr. Jenkins accepted the portfolio of Chief Secretary with its multifarious duties. Thus, save for that one week's interregnum, he has been a Minister of the Crown for seven out of the thirteen years he has sat in Parliament. As Commissioner of Public Works, Mr. Jenkins initiated several improvements in his department. Although within his period of office in that important capacity the Province was unusually depressed through inexorable causes, his policy has been comparatively a forward one. He advocated a plan whereby the metropolitan district could be assured of a plentiful supply of water. He believed this to be a matter of the first importance, and even in the Playford Administration had evinced great interest in it. The Happy Valley Waterworks Bill was the outcome, and those extensive public works will remain as monuments of his occu])ancy of the Treasury benches. At a subsequent period he hastened the completion of construction, so as to give Adelaide and suburbs a supply three times larger than that formerly enjoyed. As Chief Secretary and Minister of War, Mr. Jenkins was necessarily closely associated with the enthusiastic military movement which resulted in sending four successive contingents of troops from the Province to aid the British arms in the struggle with the Boers ; and the excellence of all the arrangements in connection with the raising, equipment, and despatch of these forces was largely due to his ability as chief administrator of the Defence Department. As a private member Mr. Jenkins was responsible for the introduction of the Extension of the Hours of Voting Bill. This amendment to the existing Act, designed to remove certain forms of electoral injustice, affords electors an opportunity of voting up to 7 o'clock at night, and it is a privilege to those who are employed in shops, who are able to record their vote without risking the disfavor of their employers by absenting themselves during working hours. Mr. Jenkins is ardently in favor of Federation ; but, because of his Ministerial duties, was unable to offer himself for election to the recent Convention. During the absence in the other Colonies of the Right Hon. C. C. Kingston at the meetings of the Convention, he acted as Premier of South Australia. Mr. Jenkins took an active part in the establishment of the South Australian Constitution of Freemasons. He was Worshipful Master of the Leopold Lodge in 1885, and has filled many offices in connection with the Grand Lodge of South Australia. During the absence of the Right Hon. S. J. Way in England in 1897 he acted for him, being at the time Deputy Grand Master, a position he still holds. Not only has the Hon. J. G. Jenkins accomplished a successful public mission in South Australia, but by his amiable personality has secured the regard of her people.