Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/379

 Mr. w. H. Duncan ADELAIDE AND VICINITY 353 Of late years Mr. Duncan has resided at Stirling West, in the Onkaparinga District, and, as has been mentioned, it is this constituency he rei)resents in the Lower House of the Legislature. He presented himself as a candidate in April, 1896, and was returned at the head of the poll, defeating five other candidates. He occupied the same triumphant position also in the General Election of 1899. Since his advent in politics he has brought to bear much sound and useful knowledge on pastoral matters — a subject with which he naturally is well acquainted. Though not a " Rupert of debate," Mr. Duncan can hold his own in Parliamentary discussion. To inspect his station i)roperties he has to travel over a considerable area of country, and his face is a familiar one throughout the settled districts in the North of this Province. Mr. Duncan has many admirable qualities which commend him to his fellows. Mr. Robert Caldwell, M.R THE member of Parliament who speaks oftenest and longest is not necessarily the best representative of a constituency. Of the quiet members, Mr, Robert Caldwell is held in great regard. He was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, in 1843, and six years later was brought to this Province by his father. Mr. Caldwell, sen., engaged in agricultural pursuits at various places in the Province ; he was among the earliest settlers on the Alma Plains, and subsequently at Mount Templeton. Eventually he removed to Yorke Peninsula. At this period Robert Caldwell left his father and struck out on his own behalf Possessed of bodily vigor and an alert intelligence, he became a farmer at Woodside, in the Onkaparinga district, and there he has since remained. During all these years he had studied the economic conditions of South Australia, and obtained a good mastery of the subject. He had formed his own opinions on local requirements, and the trend of legislation. In 1884 he wooed the suffrages of the electors of Yorke Peninsula, and was returned by them to the House of Assembly. In 1887 he was re-elected. In 1890 he offered his services to the Onkaparinga electors, and was returned at the head of the poll. He still sits for tlmt constituency. He has always evinced an active interest in all movements for promoting the agricultural interests of the Province, and has sat on several Commissions appointed to deal with these interests. Mr. Caldwell is a friend to all productive industries, and has fathered numbers of motions in their favor. His earnestness in Parliament has made him popular, and it is safe to say that there are few such earnest politicians. Of the Woodside Institute Mr. Caldwell was one of the first presidents ; he was also one of the earliest members of the School Board of Advice for that locality. He has been a frequent contributor to the press, in poetry as well as in prose. From his place in the House he champions the cause of the oppressed. Because of his sincerity, and his readiness to render help, he is respected both in and out of Parliament. His recommendations arc; best exemplified by the continuous length of his parliamentary career.