Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/314

 288 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY SirH.Ayers the Assembly, the Duttou Ministry collapsed. The political atmosphere at this time became particularly troubled, and all sorts of constitutional comjjlications and difficulties beset the then Governor, Sir Dominic Daly ; and in his extremity he sent for Sir Henry Ayers and asked him to form a Ministry. This task Sir Henry successfully accomplishtxl, and on July 15, 1863, the old Ministry was subjected to a process of re-construction. The Cabinet (the tenth under responsible government) was composed of Sir Henry Ayers, Mr. (afterwards Judge) Andrews, and the Hons. J. Hart, L. Clyde, and Philip Santo, all of whom pre-deceased their political chief. Sir Henry guided the destinies of his first Ministry till July 22, 1864 — a little over a year. He was at the head of the succeeding Government, which held office from July 22 to August 4, 1864. There was now a period of two years of " shifting change," in which Ministries quickly came and quickly went. Succeeding Sir Henry's last Ministry were those of the Hon. Mr. Blyth and Mr. Dutton, in each of which he held office. Then he once again took charge of the political helm ; but the Ministry lived only for one month, and on October 23, 1865, Mr. Hart became Premier. This Administration survived but a few months, and was succeeded by the Boucaut Government, which came into power on March 28, 1866. Shortly after this. Sir Henry was gazetted an " Honorable," under orders from Downing Street. The Boucaut Ministry saw about one year and two months of office, and on May 3, 1867, the fourth Ayers Ministry took in hand the affairs of the country. Sir Henry held the reins of Government until September 24, 1868, when once again the Hon. J. Hart assumed control with his team. But the tenure of life of the Hart Administration was short indeed, the Ayers Government being again in office so soon after as October 13, with the •Awma. personnel as constituted the Cabinet of the previous month. These were days of great political turmoil, and the Ayers Ministry had been in office only 20 days when the Government formed by Mr. Strangways was sworn in, and remained in charge until May 12, 1870. On January 22, 1872, Sir Henry again had a hand in the formation of a Government, and two months later his Ministry was re-constructed. On July 22, 1873, he, with his fellow- Ministers, retired. Meanwhile, Sir Henry had had the dignity of C.M.G. conferred upon him, and on December 5, 1872, he was made a K. C.M.G. on account of his being Premier at the date of the completion of the Transcontinental Telegraph Line, an undertaking that reflects lasting glory on South Australia. In 1894 the Grand Cross of the Order was conferred on him — Sir Henry and 'the late Sir Thomas Elder being the only South Australians to receive this high decoration. Sir Henry was some time "out of harness" as a member of Government until he became Chief Secretary in the first Ministry formed by Sir John Colton. P'rom this position he retired on October 26, 1877. There were some dramatic scenes leading up to this retirement, and the air in the Council Chamber was at times electrical. Sir Henry represented the Government in the Council, and a dispute arose between him and the members of the Upper House, which gave rise to many heated discussions and stormy scenes. P'inally it was decided to take the management of affairs out of his hands, .Sir William Morgan being elected by the Council to lead them. The end came, however, when the Colton Ministry was defeated by the third and last Boucaut Government. There was for some time a coldness of manner between Sir Henry Ayers and Sir William Morgan; but when, in 1881, Sir Henry became President of the Legislative Council, Sir William made the amende honorable by speaking in highly complimentary terms of Sir Henry, and by e.xpressing his regret at having accepted the leadership of the Council