Western Australia that all his ambitions and hopes have now to do with the colony. His speeches prove him to be a purist in language, and there is probably no more eloquent man before the public in our midst. His individuality has been indelibly impressed on the public mind, and will leave a lasting mark on history. With the aid of such men, these first few years of autonomy—the most important in the colony's history—are sure to lay a stable foundation, upon which a noble structure shall be reared. Mr. Hackett is one of the dominating powers of Western Australia.
WILLIAM ALEXANDER, M.L.C.
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Photo by WM ALEXANDER, M.L.C. Greenham & Evans. |
THE roving life has been one of the great motors of civilisation; it discovered new worlds and founded nations. It is well for Great Britain that the strain of blood of the old Norsemen still runs strong within the veins of many of her children. The Norsemen were adventurous and enterprising, willing to brave many dangers and undergo great hardships, so that they might see new scenes and enrich themselves. They settled in numbers in different parts of Great Britain, and their children and children's children for all the many ensuing generations have married and intermarried with the original possessors of the soil and immigrants from other countries. Thus the instincts of the then time strong race have been handed down, and still form a peculiar characteristic of the inhabitants of the mother lands. It has been manifested in many ways during the last few hundred years, adding power and opulence to Great Britain.
If it were possible to place before the world all that the man of a roving disposition has seen in his eventful history—the charming, varied, thrilling scenes which he has passed through in the different theatres of his experiences—there would be exhibited a kaleidoscopic set picture of surpassing interest, an object-lesson in geography and commerce, from which much that is didactic and useful could be obtained. Consciously or unconsciously, each passing scene, each peculiar condition, each strange country, has probably bad some influence in the moulding of his character and the consummation of his career. He gleans lessons from every form of existence, which, put together and analysed, should make him a philosopher among philosophers, a learned man above all others. He may cite a precedent, an example of indisputable value, for almost every subject. Finally, age or circumstance impels him to settle in some one place, and he insinuates himself into the local economy with the facility of a citizen of the world. His wide range of observation bas qualified him to hold his own in all commercial concerns and in the government of people; his experience is not to be denied. Perhaps a better training sphere for politics could not be obtained. The rover has done much for his country; it was a happy day for Great Britain when the first hordes of Norsemen were attracted to her shores. Without them, perhaps, the Greater Britain would never have been reared in the plenitude of its power.
In Nature's "open book" Mr. William Alexander, M.L.C., learnt his useful lessons. He has been an extensive traveller, especially in the younger countries of the Southern Hemisphere. The conclusion of his wanderings found him engaged in mercantile pursuits in Western Australia, and on a subsequent date debating in her Parliament. William Alexander was born at a small town near Forfar, Scotland. He was educated at a private school in Forfar, and in the year 1866 left his native country for Queensland. He reached that Australian colony, and it seemed that he had determined to settle there. Connecting himself with commercial pursuits, he lived quietly for some time. But the discovery of great quartz fields apparently infused in him a love of adventure and wandering enterprise. He was on the famous Gympie (Q.) fields when the first quartz reefs were opened up and took some part in mining. Years passed, going from place to place in Queensland, and then his adventurous disposition knew no bounds. He sailed for New Zealand, and after visiting different parts of the beautiful islands of the brave Maori he voyaged from South Sea island to South Sea island. He worked 'mid some of these "gardens of the world," 'neath palm and cocoanut and fern. He visited the Sandwich Islands, landed in Mexico, and passing through that go]den country journeyed to Brazil. A lapse of time discovered him in the River Plate employed in a bank at Buenos Ayres. Not yet contented, he crossed the Pampas to Valparaizo, where he found the dread yellow fever decimating the inhabitants. Making a circuit of the city, wisely determining not to risk his life there while the epidemic raged, he continued on until once more he arrived at his starting point, Buenos Ayres. With other young men he eventually went to Monte Video (Uruguay), where a revolution was in progress. He enlisted as a soldier, saw some active fighting, and passed through exciting experiences enough to fill a book of romance. Tiring of bloodshed, he set his face towards Rio
