Page:History of West Australia.djvu/446

 Robe, S.A. When nearly twenty-one years old he sailed for Western Australia on the ship Warrier, and arrived in Fremantle in March, 1865. He immediately proceeded to the north-west coast as a member of the Denison Plains Company, and then followed years of fruitful service to the colony. In common with some of his late colleagues in the Forrest Government, he took an active part in exploration work, and in opening up new country to the squatter. The Denison Plains Company was managed by Mr. C. E. Broadhurst, and held large interests in the north-west country. Mr. Venn landed at Cossack in April, 1865, and energetically participated in the work of the company. It was not long before he was entrusted with the command of several exploring parties, which inspected the land on every side, under the auspices of the company. He explored country to the west of Roebourne, which was untouched by the explorer Gregory in 186l, and reported on its suitability for stock purposes. Then he traced the Fortescue River to its mouth, and opened up the lands on either side. Next he explored most exhaustively the Ashburton River, and named the rivers Cave and Robe, besides other prominent features of the surrounding country. All this was very valuable work for such a young man to undertake, and entailed considerable toil, with the attendant difficulties always experienced in exploring such regions. But Mr. Venn had the true colonising spirit in him, and was eager to push his way into the most difficult localities. So signal were his services in the exploration and settlement of this country that he was awarded by the Government a free stock lease of 100,000 acres on the Ashburton, and was gazetted a Justice of the Peace by Governor Weld. He became widely known in the north-west country, and will be remembered as among its finest pioneers. In 1866 he settled on the Maitland River, in a beautiful belt of country known as Karratha, and formed a sheep, cattle, and horse station. There he successfully followed grazing pursuits. In 1874 he married Charlotte, fourth daughter of the late Sir George Shenton, and sister of Sir George Shenton, president of the Western Australian Legislative Council. He remained on the Maitland for a few years, and in 1878 or 1879 purchased the Princep Park Estate, near Bunbury, and went there to reside. This is a large and valuable property, and Mr. Venn has materially increased his fortunes during the intervening years. The land under cultivation is suitable for the production of almost anything, and is also valuable for grazing cattle and sheep.

At this time Mr. Venn began to turn his attention to active politics, and having a predilection for the turgent arena, it was soon apparent that he would take no sluggish part in local government. In February, 1880, he was elected a member of the old Legislative Council against Mr. Lee-Steere—now Sir James Lee-Steere—for the Wellington division. It was evident that he possessed peculiar qualifications and useful knowledge for political work, and he was repeatedly heard in debate with effect. He continued to represent the Wellington constituency up to the final dissolution of the Crown Colony Legislative Council and the inauguration of the happier system of self-government. Then he entered the new House of Assembly for his old constituency. As showing how active Mr. Venn was during the ten years of his tenure of the seat in the Council, one or two of the matters he was interested in need only be mentioned. He was chairman of the commission appointed by the Council and the Governor to fully enquire into agricultural matters. The report he wrote on the work of this commission most exhaustively treated on the important questions at issue, and was esteemed as a valuable addition to the literature and general knowledge on the subject. He was also chairman of the commission on "rickets" (a disease in cattle), and collected useful information, and as chairman supplied an instructive report. To him is due a lion's share of the credit of the initiating of the agitations which finally resulted in Responsible Government. Agitations had previously existed without effect until he took the first active steps to secure this supreme concession from the Imperial Government. Throughout the whole course of the agitations he was most prominent, and when the Constitution Act became law and the new Parliaments were elected, he most properly held a place in the pioneer Government which inaugurated autonomy. With Sir John Forrest as Premier, and Sir George Shenton, Messrs. Burt and Marmion as colleagues, he became the first Commissioner of Railways and Director of Public Works. Perhaps the work of these gentlemen is not fully appreciated, but in times to come their unique position will receive that notice which is their due.

Immediately on taking office the Hon. H. V. Venn reorganised the Railway Service—which was really little better than a tramway system—and formulated new regulations for the guidance of the staff. During his term of office he promoted and carried out many salutory reforms in the Works and Railway Departments. As Director of Public Works he personally inspected the harbours of the north-west coast, and designed the excellent facilities for shipping fat stock at Wyndham and Derby. These are allowed to be among the best and most successful arrangements of their kind in Australasia. He also initiated and completed the scheme of a retail market in Perth. In the development of the Collie coal resources he rendered services which will secure him lasting approbation. By his untiring energy and his unflinching faith in the potentialities of these fields, every facility was given for their being comprehensively exploited. His determination influenced the Government and Parliament in voting money for the construction of the Collie Railway. The Collie coal fields found in him one of their most ardent supporters and an energetic pioneer. Mr. Venn was chairman of the committee which took evidence on the feasibility of constructing extensive harbour works at Fremantle. He took a leading part in this question, and successfully combated the views of other members of the Government, who favoured the Owen's anchorage scheme, but he secured the espousal of Mr. O'Connor's views for the construction of extensive moles and other harbour works at the mouth of the Swan. The Government, after finally accepting the plans of the latter, had the provisionary measure passed through Parliament and already much advance has been made in the construction of these gigantic works. Mr. Venn was largely instrumental in securing the removal of the Government workshop from Fremantle to Midland Junction, and his effective speech in Parliament had a material influence over the votes of members. He as Commissioner of Railways also authorised the construction of the Coolgardie Railway and railways to other centres.

On more than one occasion during his useful five years term of office, Mr. Venn was brought into collision with the Premier, Sir John Forrest, in questions of procedure and administration, and the climax came in March, 1896. The colony had expanded phenomenally during this period, and the different departments were tested to their utmost, but none more than the Railways. The traffic suddenly became so large that the