Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/297

 Hon. w. H. Bundey ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 271 He retired from office on March 15, 1875. As showing the sincere interest that he evinced in educational matters, after retiring from Parh'ament early in that year, he gratuitously drafted a Bill of 67 clauses entirely altering the then principle on which the system was conducted, making a Minister of the Crown, instead of a Board, the chief authority. That principle was soon afterwards adopted by legislation. Three years of freedom from the toils of Parliamentary life followed, during which Mr. Bundey was fully occupied in managing his large professional practice; and then, from September 27, 1878, to March 10, 1881, he served as Attorney-General in the Morgan Ministry. He was a hearty law reformer while official head of the legal profession. Among other measures, he carried through Parliament in 1878 the present Supr(me Court Bill, and in 1880 the Public Trustees Bill. The latter is one of the most usehil and successful legal reforms in the Province, and the department is now returning a handsome revenue. After a lengthened contest, he also carried through the Assembly a Bill to establish District Courts, adopting the Local Court practice and bestowing insolvency, matrimonial, probate, and criminal jurisdictions. Although this measure was carried in the Lower House by 25 votes to 8, it was lost in the Legislative Council. In 1880 he also carried an Act to amend the law of insolvency which abolished imprisonment for debt in South Australia. Mr. Bundey also pointed out, in an address to the working men of Port Adelaide in 1877, the great reform of the law in PLngland, with respect to masters and servants, which deprived the courts of power to imprison, for breach of contract, and placed employers and employed on an equal footing. He advocated a similar law in this Province, and, when Attorney-General in 1878, rendered valuable aid in having such a measure passed. A recapitulation of all his work in Parliament and the Cabinet is hardly possible here ; suffice it to say that, in addition to the important measures mentioned, he strenuously supported the Hills Railway project in 1878-9, which was carried by the Government of which he was a member. The Murray Bridge (once called " Bundey's P^olly "), the construction of which at its present site he carried in the House, determined the route of the railway to Victoria. During his political career he was an active writer of pamphlets, which, like his lectures and contributions to debates, were highly appreciated for their instructiveness. Finally severing his connection with Parliament in i88r, but not until the title of " Honorable " was conferred upon him, Mr. Bundey made an extensive tour of P^urope and the Orient. His close observation of men and things, and his ready perception of essentials, enabled him to acquire a full storehouse of information during his travels ; and on his return to South Australia he published, for private circulation only, a pamphlet descriptive of what he had seen and observed. His pictures of Japan and China, and the life of their people, were especially attractive, and the privileged readers were able to glean much interesting information from his literary work. In 1884 he was appointed a Judge of the Supreme Court, in succession to the late Mr. Justice Andrews. At this time his practice was estimated to be worth nearly ^5,000 a year, and hence he made a considerable pecuniary sacrifice when he accepted the judicial office. In 1894 Mr. Justice Bundey was appointed the first president of the Board of Conciliation, under Mr. Kingston's Conciliation Bill, and with the difficulties of this