OUR NEW GOVERNOR.

Evening Star, Issue 3077, 30 December 1872, Page 2

OUR NEW GOVERNOR.

On the eve of Sir James Fcrgusson’s departure from South Australia, the South Australian Chronicle wrote of him iu the following manner It was not an easy matter for a young man, comparatively inexperienced in the art of Colonial governing, to take up the work where Sir Dominick left it. That Sir James Fergusson with the full intention of doing his best for the Colony, we .have no doubt whateverand that his administration has been beneficial in many respects, we have no hesitation in ea} ing. It is possible that if he had had a different training, and been more accustomed to the liberal constitution of free Colonies, where the people rule, he might have acted differently in some respects, endeavoring to conciliate in cases where he has stood aloof. It is doing Sir James no injustice to say that he could not* in every respect, adapt himself to the conditions of a new Colony, where the form of government, and the prod 6 adminMufh g the government, were different from what he had bpen aeguetomed to ; and yet we should be sorry to say that his administration was a failure. As a British gentlemaa, he was high-minded and honorable. He spent his money, and us* d his influence, for pure and benevolent objects. There is hardly a public object of philanthropy in the Colony which has not received his encouragement and assistance. He sought to identity himself, also, with more general institutions connected with the development .of the Colony’s resources. , Such institutions as the Agricultural Society and the. Chamber of Manufactures had bis warm sympathy and his constant support. He entered heartily into the public amusements of the people, and, while giving no encouragement to what was doubtful iu these amusements, he

the sanction of his name and presence to what was good in them. If the usefulness of a Governor is at all to be measured by the interest he shows in the material progress and comfort of the people, then Sir James deserves well of the Colony at large. But, after all, a Governor’s highest duties are those connected with the political advancement of the people. We are not sure that Sir James Fergusson ever folly sympathised with the liberal Constitution granted to South Australia. It was alien to his training and habits of thought. But that he endeavored to work the Constitution to the best of his judgment, and with a tnne desire to promote the welfare of the people, wo are perfectly confident. We also believe that all the Ministers who have served under him acknowledge to the full his complete loyalty to them while in office, the useful assistance they received from him, and the anxiety he displayed to do what he regarded as best hj r the Colony. That he was invariably correct he does not claim ; that his Ministers had sometimes to oppose him and think for themselves, and resolve for themselves, is, we believe, wed known But that he treated them with the utmost consideration while they held office under him, even where he might be opposed to some of their measures, will, undoubtedly, be admitted by all who have been brought into close relations with him. We have never heard any ex-Minister who has served under Sir James speak of him otherwise than in the highest terms of resoect. They all admit that he tried to hold an equal balance between what he owed to the Crown, whose representative he was, and what he owed to the country he had been sent to govern. It is very possible that the four years’ training he has had here as a Colonial Governor will be of service to him in entering upon the new duties which have been laid upon him by the Imperial authorities.