Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/353

 Hon. J. L. Parsons ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 327 and he soon became, an acquisition in debate. In educational subjects he was particularly active. In i88r he sought the suffrage of the North Adelaide constituency, and was elected. In June of that year, when the late Sir John Bray formed his first Ministry, the portfolio of Minister of Education conjointly with the control of the affairs of the Northern Territory, was offered to and accepted by Mr. Parsons. F"or about three years he retained that position, and was able to perform much good work in his department. As Minister of Education, he was more enlightened and useful than most who have occupied the office in South Australia. In March, 1884, he retired from the Government, and was granted the Queen's permission to bear for life the title of "Honorable" within the Empire. While conducting the affairs of the Northern Territory, he, with other members of Parliament, visited that portion of the Province, and, .says a biographer of the time, "the result proved highly satisfactory, especially to the inhabitants of the Territory, who are likely in the future to be the recipients of many benefits and favors from the Government, to which they have long been strangers." Having learnt a great deal concerning the Northern Territory and the conditions of life and industries there, the Hon. J. L. Parsons was, in 1884, appointed its Government Resident and removed to the north coast. He occupied the influential position until 1890, and meanwhile got a more thorough knowledge of the wants of the residents. In the latter year he resigned, and was elected one of the first members for the Territory in the House of Assembly. At the dissolution of Parliament three years later he did not seek re-election. In 1896 the Hon. J. L. Parsons was appointed Consul for Japan, having in the previous year visited that country as Hon. Commissioner for the Government of South Au.stralia to enquire into the prospects of opening up trade relations with Japan, China, and the Philippine Lslands. He revisited Japan in 1898. At the election of delegates to the Federal Convention in 1897 the Hon. J. L. Parsons was unsuccessful, but he was returned to the Legislative Council for the Central District in February, 1901. Mr. Parsons still continues his exertions for the development of the resources of the Northern Territory. He recognises that a country which touches almost 12 degrees from the Equator must be legislated for and administered as a tropical country. Sugar, Liberian coffee, ramie, indiarabber trees, ginger, tapioca, arrowroot, sesam, millets, and all other tropical and sub-tropical products can be produced with economic success if suitable labor is permitted. The supply can be obtained from our own Empire, India, under an Act carried through Parliament by Mr. Parsons in 1882. On terminable engagements a " white Australia " can be preserved, and a profitable field for the investment of capital, and the employment of Europeans as overseers, etc., can be secured. One of the most scholarly men in South Australia, Mr. Parsons has delivered numerous lectures, which have been instructive and entertaining as much for their research as for their eloquence. We conclude by a quotation from Loyau's " Representative Men of South Australia" (1883): — "Mr. Parsons is a logical and straightforward politician, and whilst having the interests of the constituency he represents thoroughly at heart, he never appears to forget the duty he owes to the country at large."