and almost immediately approached Mr. Marmion and offered him the portfolios of Commissioner for Lands and Mines. He accepted, and was duly sworn in as the first Minister of Lands and Mines in Western Australia under Responsible Government. We have already written much of the honour attaching to the position of pioneer ministers of State departments in a colony so promising as Western Australia, and the anxiety and great labour which was entailed on the ministers. The Hon. Mr. Marmion proved himself quite able to establish his two departments on facile working lines, and he constantly sought to increase their value to the colony in the two industries specially interested. After setting the Lands and Mines Departments in order, and compiling regulations and other machinery for their guidance, he proceeded to introduce new legislation designed to stimulate the landed and mining interests. Much legislation of value to the colony was thus sponsored by him, and it reflects flatteringly on his foresight and political career when we recognise that during the years he held office the first great strides towards an assured prosperity took place. Under his guidance the mining industry rose out of comparative oblivion to a pedestal of importance at which all the world looked. The population of the colony was doubled, and the export and import wealth and revenue expanded beyond the most sanguine anticipations. For nearly four years the Hon. Mr. Marmion controlled the Lands and Mines Departments, and he proved himself a clever administrator, and one who could grasp the requirements of phenomenal expansion in trade and population. In December, 1894, he resigned the portfolios owing to business reasons and that he took this step was regretted by all who had watched his career. But be found he could not devote so much time as his conscience considered the State demanded to public affairs, and he gave way.
The Hon. W. E. Marmion has filled many useful offices in Fremantle and Western Australia. He represented the colony at that important intercolonial gathering—the great Federation Convention held in Sydney in March, 1891. He was a member of the Board of Immigration, was created a Justice of the Peace in 1872, and was a member of the Central Board of Education from its inauguration in 1871 to its abolition in 1895. Of the early Fremantle Town Trusts he was a member, and when the Trust was superseded by the Council he continued to represent ratepayers, and while a young man was chairman of the body. He has held numerous other positions of more or less importance.
In 1870 Mr. Marmion was married to a daughter of Mr. P. Gibbons, of Fremantle. Mr. W. R. P. Marmion, his eldest son, is actively engaged in mining pursuits, and is a member of the Stock Exchange of Kalgoorlie. There are really few biographies in this work which exhibit such a useful public career in Western Australia as does Mr. Marmion's. Since 1870 he has been a prominent colonist, and year by year has assisted in local Government. His is one of the best known figures in the local political world. In politics he aims particularly at progression, and while conserving the rights and interests of the colony he is a liberal in his support of measures tending to local advancement. West Australians have reason to be proud of this native-born politician.
CR. JAS. MONTGOMERY SPEED.
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Photo by CR. JAMES M. SPEED, J.P., M.L.A. Greenham & Evans. |
THE ranks of the Western Australian bar received an undeniable strengthening by the admission of a large number of the brothers of the wig and gown who elected to come from the other colonies and elsewhere to cast in their lot with this growing colony. Among those who came was Mr.James Montgomery Speed, who, besides obtaining mark in his profession, is on the fair way to make his influence forceful in public matters. James Montgomery Speed was born at Wanganui, New Zealand, in 1859. He was educated at Nelson College, in the Nelson Province, where he distinguished himself as a scholar, and later in the broader sphere of the New Zealand University he carried off several scholarships, and then took up the law as a profession. Young Speed became articled to one of the leading legal practitioners of Wellington—Mr. W. T. L. Travers. At his final examination he secured first place among the successful candidates. After his admission to the New Zealand bar, he practised at Auckland for some time, when he received a highly important mission, which meant considerable travel and the employment of the attributes of a diplomat. He was asked to proceed to Samoa, on behalf of an influential syndicate of Americans, to report on America's claims on that picturesque island. After investigating the matter thoroughly, Mr. Speed went to San Francisco, and laid the result of his labours before his clients, who were well satisfied with his exertions on their behalf Mr. Speed returned to Auckland, and resumed his practice there. Eventually he left the Pacific, and, arriving in Perth in 1892, he joined legal partnership with Mr. Lancelot de Hamel. These gentlemen remained
