Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/283

 Hon. L. OLoughiin ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 257 the Roman Catholic School at Virginia, and subswiuently at the Sevc:nhill.s College. Arrived at man's estate, he engaged in farming and grazing in th(district of Frome, with which part of the country his political life has since been associated. His e.xperience embraced good times and bad, and he had to pass through the chequered experiences of a settler on the land in Australia. He was one of the first to take up .selections in the Northern Areas, first at Caltowie, and afterwards at Telowie and Haroota. I^jr many years before entering Parliament he was a member of the Vermin Hoard, and was also one of the first nominated members of the Port Germein District Council. Mr. O'Loughlin first became a member of the House of Assembly in US90, when he was returned at the head of the poll for the constituency of PVome. He then su])ported the Cockburn Government, following his chief into opposition on the defeat of that Administration. His next governmental association was with the short-lived Holder Ministry of 1892. In the general election of the following year he again topped the poll for the P^rome electorate, and in 1894 he was apj)ointed Government Whip in the Assembly, in succession to Mr. Jenkins, who was elevated to a Ministerial position. In 1896 Mr. O'Loughlin was once more returned as senior member for Frome; and in this year his services to the Liberal cause were rewarded with a Ministerial portfolio, he being appointed Commissioner of Crown Lands in the Kingston-Holder Ministry, succeeding his intimate friend, the late Mr. P. P. Gillen, on the tragically-sudden death of the latter. Save for the interregnum of one week in December, 1899, when Mr. .Solomon held the reins of power, Mr. O'Loughlin has had charge of the Lands Office ever since, and he remains senior member for Frome. As a Minister of the Crown, Mr. O'Loughlin has distinguished him.self by his practical good sense rather than by any oratorical displays ; and in his department he is thoroughly at home with all the details of land administration. Posse.s.sed of highly progre.ssive ideas, he has persistently advocated the throwing open of the land, federation, intercolonial free trade, the amendment and consolidation of the pastoral laws, the development of the mineral re.sources of the Pnjvince, and a vigorous public works policy. He is a suppcjrter of a progressive land tax, but is opposed to the single tax. Since his term of office began, very important legislation affecting territorial interests has been passed, including the following Acts: — Pastoral Act, 1896; Vermin Districts Act, 1896; Closer Settlement Act, 1897; Vermin-proof F'encing Act, 1897: Crown Lands Amendment Act, 1898; Pastoral Lands Act, 1898; Vermin Amending Act, 1898; Mining on Private Property Act, 1899. The tendency of this legislation has all been towards liberalisation of the land laws ; and the importance of these enactments may be easily inferred from their titles. The interests of the miner also, equally with those of the farmer and pastoralist, are in Mr. O'Loughlin's fostering care ; and his Ministerial usefulness may be said to extend over the length and breadth of the land. Since the Hon. L. O'Loughlin's advent as Minister of Mines in 1896, he has done all in his power to foster and encourage the mining industry. This, coupled with the increased price of copper, has given a great impetus to the copper industry, especially with reirard to the Northern mines. Old mines, such as the Blinman. Sliding Rock, Prince