The Irish standard., 1897-09-18

the least doubt that they have borne
their high honors we'll. Some Of them
rise from the humblest ranks to the pre-
miership. In a country like Australia
every man has his chance Of becoming
! a minister. just as in France. in Ma
poleon's time, every private carried a
| marshal's baton in his knapsack.
| Apart from those who have become
premier of their colony there have been
large number Of Irishmen who have
obtained other important ministerial
| posts. Here, as elsewhere. there Is an
embarrassment of riches-one hardly
| knows where to begin. Perhaps the
speakership in an Australian colony is
as high an Office as the premiership. 1t
is certain that it is as greatly coveted.
Hugh F. Carleton, Tipperary man, was
speaker Of the Auckland provincial
council for many years, while Sir Rich
ard Dry. son of an United Irishman,
was speaker and premier of Tasmania
| QS66-G9). Sir Patrick Jennings. ma
tive of Newry, who died quite recently,
was premier of New South Wales in
1856. The late Sir Charles Mccarthy,
| Sir Francis Murphy, Hon. Peter Labor,
Sir John O'Rorke, and Sir G. S. King
ston (who was in Ireland only the other
day. are other examples Of Irishmen
who have been speakers of colonial
parliaments. The last named, a Cork
man by parentage, has been speaker Of
South Australia five times. Mennell's
Australian Biography gives him the
knighthood, which, however, he seems
to have left behind him. for while in
| England and Ireland he was always
spoken of as Mr. Kingston. The case
of Peter Labor is very interesting one.
| He was brother of Fintan Labor, the
fiery '4S man, and most powerful writer
Of his day, and soon after his arrival In
! Victoria headed the miners who rebelled
at Broken Hill against government op-
preston. He won his point. and eventu-
ally became speaker Of his colony, was
held in the highest esteem and refused
| knighthood and other honors from the
British government. Probably no man
was more widely respected in his colony
than Lalor, whose death was deeply la
mented.
Sir Joshua P Bell. Hon. John Bal
lance (pre;rier of New ZealanD, Hon.
! John Macrossan Sir Patrick Buckley,
reached similarly high Offices in their
respective colonies; but the best known
Irish Australian Of our time Is incontest-
ably Sir G.. G. Duffy, who was not long
settled in Victoria before he was elected
to its highest position. Two years after
his departure from Ireland he was min
lister of public works. and in 1871 was
made premier, a post he also held twice
afterwards. His old colleague. Sir John
O'Shanassy. Il Tipperary man, was an
other OF the premiers Of Victoria.
A name which stands high among
IrishAustralian statesmen is that Of
William Bede Daley, to whom Il monu-
ment was erected in st. Paul's cathe-
dral not long ago. He was the son of
Irish parents. and though he never OBJ
tanned and probably never sought tho
premiership, his name was better known
than that of many of the premiers. He
refused knighthood. He was the first
Australian to be made a privy council
lor. In law, of course, the Irish eXles
have succeeded splendidly. The names
of the late Sir James Bowling, chief JUS
tice Of New South Wales; Chief Justice
Sir John Madden. Sir Frederick barley
(who refused otllce). Sir James Martin.
George Tligginbotham Uhe late chief
justice of Victoria-absolutely the most
popular man in Australia. and one Of
the most patriotic Irishmen who ever
accepted Office in that colony, r. ID.
Ireland, Sir Valentine Fleming, chief
Justice OF Tasmania: Sir William Fos-
ter Stawcll, J. r. Fitzgerald, w. j. Fos-
ter, Edward Butler, and a legion Of
other distinguished Australian judges
and law officers. afford more than suttic
lent proof of the capacity of lrishmen
to beat any other nationality at the
legal profession. What is true OF the
! Australian colonies is almost equally
true Of Canada, South Africa and other
parts of the British dOminlons. The
career in Canada of Darcy McGee. of
Hon. Edward Blake, of Chief Justice Sir
John llcgarty. OF Hon. c. H. Macintosh
and OF other Irishmcn will convince
even the most sceptical that our coun~
trymen have not lost their opportunities
in that colony. Lord Rosmead, Sir.
Thomas Upington (cx-prcmieD, Sir
Graham Bower. w. Conyngham Greene.
and other Irishmen have written, or
will write. their names large in the his
tory Of South Africa. There has been
long line Of famous Irish amhassa-
doris and diplomatists. from Mccartney,
Adair and Strangford. down to Dulferin,
and the latest successful Cclt. Sir Nicho-
las O'Conor; but lack of space precludes
| more than the mere allusiOn to those
just named. In any case. it Is needless
to emphasize the fact that there are and
have been Irishmen skilled in diplo-
macy. Some of the most triumphant
| ro,,pc in thn hIctory cf SStotn, have hnnu