Royal prerogative as to coinage, and demanded anxious consideration. Sir
Henry Young was then Governor, and the Bank Managers were requested on
different occasions to meet him in Executive Council to consider the
subject. Mr. Tinline (Bank of South Australia) and myself (Bank of
Australasia) urgently supported the adoption of the Bill; the Manager of
the Union Bank opposed it. The responsibility was very great, but the
Executive Government submitted it to the Legislature, and the Bill was
passed into an Act for two years. The Home Government approved of it,
considering that it was warranted by the great emergency.
Another very useful measure was adopted about this time. A strong,
well-armed body of mounted police was sent periodically to the gold
diggings at Bendigo, in Victoria, to escort the gold found by South
Australian diggers to Adelaide. The service was continued for a
considerable time, and the gold thus introduced exceeded two millions
sterling.
The successful gold diggers would, in all probability, have remained in
Victoria and removed their families from hence had it not been that many
of them were owners of land, which tied them to the province; and they
ultimately returned with their unexpected wealth and purchased
additional lands.
There can be no doubt that the land system of South Australia, which
provided that the country should be surveyed and sold in sections of
eighty acres, was the means of saving the province from temporary ruin.
The facilities for acquiring land by the labouring classes were very
considerable. The discovery of the Burra Copper Mine gave the first
great impulse to the progress of the colony; the produce of that mine
alone having exceeded £4,000,000 sterling up to a recent period.
It is curious to follow the career of an immigrant after that discovery.
He became a labourer for one or two years, when his saving of wages
enabled him to purchase a team of oxen and a dray. He then commenced
carrying copper ore from the Burra Mine to Port Adelaide, taking back
stores and provisions, and in one or two years more was in a position to
purchase an eighty-acre section of land and become a farmer. While his
crops were growing, and at other spare times, he again carried ore from
the mine and was soon able to purchase more land, and became a man of
some consequence in his district. This man was the type of a
considerable class of yeomen, who, having property to protect became
Conservatives, and exercised a material influence on the peace and
prosperity of the country.
The transactions of the Burra Mine were on a great scale at that time,
employing upwards of 1,100 men, who, with their families, numbered over
4,000 souls supported by that mine. At one period the shareholders
divided annually 800 per cent. on their £5 shares. Their Bank account,
however, absorbed a large amount of capital; at one period it was
overdrawn about £72,000, as they calculated on the value of the ore as
soon as it was raised to the surface at the mine, but before it could be
shipped to England and bills drawn against it. The Bank Directors in
London objected strongly to this, and even suggested more than once that
the accounts had better be closed. I, however, feeling how very
prejudicial to the interests of the Bank such a course would be, and
having visited the mine and satisfied myself as to its great value, took
the responsibility of continuing the account—the Burra Directors having
engaged on my representation gradually to diminish the overdraft to a
moderate amount. I felt quite convinced of the correctness of the views
entertained by the London Board, as no single establishment should
absorb so large a proportion of the capital allotted to each branch.
There were also a few mercantile accounts the advances to which the
London Board objected as being too large, and they appeared to think
that I was not sufficiently cautious in conducting their business,
although they had sustained no losses, and their business had been
quadrupled. Some irregularity had also occurred in the office, and I was
offered the option of removing to some other branch or receiving
compensation on resigning, but was requested to remain at the Bank for
some time in order to aid my successor until he became acquainted with
the customers and the nature of their transactions. I remained for some
time, but no other branch becoming vacant, and being also unwilling to
leave South Australia, I accepted compensation and retired.
Some time afterwards, having sold a property in Western Australia for
£3,000, I agreed to join in a mercantile business with a gentleman
connected with my family. On this becoming known to Mr. John Ellis, he
very handsomely and spontaneously presented me with a letter of credit
for £5,000 on the wealthy firm of Morrisson & Co., of London; and Mr. G.
S. Walters, in a similar manner, introduced me to his father-in-law, Mr.
Frederick Huth, of the great firm of Frederick Huth & Co., of London,
who opened credits for the new firm with their several correspondents at
Mauritius, Calcutta, Bombay, Ceylon, Singapore, and China, for £2,000
each. The business was thus commenced with a fair prospect, but not
proving very successful after a trial of a few years, I retired from the
firm.
In the year 1855 the second mixed Legislative Council, of nominated and
elected members, assembled. I had offered myself as a candidate to
represent the District of Willunga, in this Council, but after a close
contest was defeated. The Governor, Sir Richard MacDonnell, however,
immediately offered to nominate me to a seat, at the same time stating
that I was not to consider myself bound in the slightest degree to
support any Government measure which I did not approve. I accepted this
offer and took my seat in that Council, which elected me in the
following November to the honourable position of Chairman of Committees.
At this time the citizens of Adelaide obtained their supplies of water
from the River Torrens, which was subject to pollution, and the cartage
was inconvenient and expensive. Complaints were numerous, and the
Government introduced a Bill for constructing water-works at a cost of
£280,000. This amount was so large that the Council did not believe the
Government was serious, and at the second reading the Chairman of
Committees read some eighty clauses _seriatim_, with scarcely a remark
from any members. The Bill was finally passed, and has proved a most
beneficial measure.
On the dissolution of this mixed Council (elective and nominated) on
which had devolved the passing of the Constitution Act in 1857, I was
elected to represent the District of Flinders, and took my seat in the
Legislative Assembly, under the new responsible Government, consisting
of five members,—namely, Chief Secretary, Attorney-General, Treasurer,
Commissioner of Crown Lands, and Commissioner of Public Works.
I offered myself as a candidate for the office of Speaker of the House
of Assembly in the year 1857, but was unsuccessful. In the following
month of September I was invited to join the Ministry of Mr. (now Sir)
R. R. Torrens, and became Commissioner of Crown Lands. This Ministry
lasted, however, but a short time, and was succeeded by that formed by
the present Sir R. D. Hanson. The “Constitution Act” was passed during
this session of Parliament. Some of its clauses were objected to by me,
chiefly that relating to universal suffrage, on the ground that
intelligent votes could not be given by those who could neither read or
write. I succeeded, however, in introducing a clause requiring a fixed
residence of six months (twelve months were proposed) to qualify for
voting.
In the year 1859 I was appointed as a Special Magistrate under the
“Local Courts Act”—first, to preside in the Local Courts at Willunga and
Morphett Vale, and afterwards at those in the Northern Districts,
namely, at Redruth, Clare, Auburn, and Riverton. I continued to perform
those duties for upwards of ten years, and on the amalgamation of two
districts I retired, receiving the usual retiring allowance.
On this occasion I was much gratified by receiving two flattering
addresses, one from the members of the bar practising in the Northern
Courts, the other signed by all the Magistrates of the District and
numerous other residents. This last was beautifully illuminated and
engrossed on vellum.
Having served over twenty-two years in His Majesty’s army; six years
farming in a new settlement (Western Australia); seventeen years as a
Bank manager; three years as a merchant; four years in Parliament,
during which I held office in the Ministry for a short time; and lastly,
over ten years administering the laws in Local Courts—my career may be
fairly considered as long and varied. Having arrived at an old age, I
may now rest from my labours, trusting to the atoning merits of a
merciful Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, for an eternal rest hereafter.
MARSHALL MACDERMOTT.
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William Kyffin Thomas, Printer, Grenfell-street, Adelaide.
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● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Two errata were applied to the text.
▪ PAGE 5, line 28.–For “Gulf of Causo” read “Gut of Causo.”
▪ PAGE 16, line 2.–For “Montreal” read “Montreuil.”
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).