Mail (Adelaide, SA : 1912 - 1954), Saturday 27 December 1913, page 8


PEOPLE TALKED . ABOUT.

VICTORIOUS BOIMLS.

The New South Wales Labour Premier has won the general election in bis State bands down. His majority is enough to make the Federal Liberal Party tremble.

as to what'is coins to happen. Whether the Labour victorv at the New South Wales polls can be taken as any cuitcrion of possibilities in other Ptates is a matter which cannot juet now be discussed with any certainty. Labour is in uower in Xew South Wales for another three years, at any rate- The Hon. 'William Arthur Holman, who has -proved victorious at the polls, has been Attorney-General since October, 1910. Last year Mr. McGowen made room for him as Premier, 3Ir. Hoi-, man having previously been associate leader of the Labour Party.

OUTLIXE OF CAREER. 5Ir. Holman was born ' in London in 1869. He was taken from school at about IS and apprenticed to the cabinet-making trade. In hie ISth year he came to Australia, where he early took a prominent part in the trade union and Labour movements. In 1S91, when he stood for the Sydney Legislative Assembly, he was beaten by 91 votes for th esuburban seat of Lcicoberdt. In 1895 he was defeated by 113 votes lor the country seat of Grenfoll. For the three foilowinjr years he edited the GrenfeU 'VerdetteP with conspicuous success, and in 189S won the Grenfell election. He xeDresented Grcnfell for six years, and after the redistribution of eeats and the. reduction of members of the Legislative Assembly from 125 to 90, he in 1901 won. the Co^tamimdra seat, having contested it since that date at the general elections ot 1907 and 1910 and also *at the by-election against John Xorton in 1906^ In 1905 Mr. Hohnan was elected deputy leader of the State Labour- Party. On July 31. 1903, he was admitted in thi Supreme Court of 'Xcw South Wales as a barrister at law. . In 1901. -rhen reflected tor Grenfell. the contest was especially bitter on account of his attitude over ine Boer War question. In 1906 luktoct^Mr.' Georjfe Beid (now Sir George) ifc debate;: on the Labour Party's objective. :.: ipufing 1911 Mr. Holman was Acting Premic^-for the Labour Ministry while Mr. ilcGowpn attended the coronation eelebratiobj in England. Owing to the DwmTiar ?misfor-tunes of the #?tate Labour Party this was one of the most crucial tests to which a statesman could be irub.ieeti-d. Mr. Holjuan' had on .that. occasion an opportunity of proving; bis unique abilifv in a manner w*ich placed him in the front ranks of Australian statesmanship. Sinoo lie has been Premier lie has further demonstrated liis capacity as a Jeader. Fen- fciv«inov men can gtand up to him as an orator. PBEMIER WATT. The Hon. William Alexander Watt . is again goinc' strong as Premier of Victoria. He is now at the head of what is likely to prove a more povrcrful team than that which ho. previously had to manage. The Victorian, who is a native of the State, was born in 1871. . His eloquence, his business grip, and instinct fan. leadership, have won him his high position. The 'Argus' not so lone ago summed him up as follows:— 'A keen debater. the possessor of a special aptitude for giving a popular statement of even the most involved or technical subject, a pitiless critic, an entertaining after dinner sneaker (with a faculty for remembering iust the right story), a player of billiards and golf, and a. happy family man, Mr. Watt is well equipped for a distinguished career.'

GERMANY'S 1MPEKIAL GHAXfCELLOK. Dr. Theobald von. Bctbmann-Hollwcg, the Imperial Chancellor of Germany, whose name appeals go frequently in the oeTCspajjcrs, is 57 years of age. It is four and a half years since he succeeded Prince yon. Billow, and he is a man aupaientlv very, much after tlie Kaiser's 'own beurt. He is the son of a lauded proprietor and grandson of a one-time eminent professor ?at Bonn. Dr. Hollw-ejr himself studied law. He has it in his power to smooth the way for lasting peace between Germany and Great Britain. MUSEUM DIRECTOR. Mr. Edgar Bavenswood Waitc, F.L.S., of Canterbury Museum, Chnstchurch. lias been appointed Director of the South Australian National Museum in succession to Professor Stirling, who recently resigned. Mr. Waitc went to New Zealand in 1906 m succession to the late Capt. F. W. Hutton, F.R.S. Previously he had been zoologist et the Australian -Iuecum -at Sydney. ? 'John6:s ' Xotablc Australians' cives the following about him:— 'Born at Leeds, England. May 5. 1836. and ecucated at Victoria University. From 1S88 to 1892 he was curator of the Leeds Mutcum and some time member of the councils of the Leeds Katurajists' Club. Leeds Geological Association, and the Concliological Society of Great Britain, and Ireland, co-secretary of the XaturalUte' Union, and joint editor of the 'Naturalisf.' Elected a Fejlow of the Linnean Society of London in 1890. He travelled extcnsivelv oa the Continent and visited die principal mueetm-£ of Eurooe. Appointed zooloerirt to the Australian Museum, Svdney. in 1892. Author of papers on the latural history of Yorkshire and of many on the Australian fauna, mammals, reptMes. and fishes. He was zoologist of the Thetis Trawling Expedition in New South Wales, and wrote the scientific account of the fLslies. also that t-f tiio trawler Hit) oncratiug in Western Australian waters, f ontri1 uted to th\ report of the Horn Scientific 'Ex-pedition to Central Australia.' Mr. Waito has been actively connected with several rcientific expeditions, and iras selected by Sir Ernest Shaeklcton to rc-port on iho fishes obtained by his expedition in tlio Antarctic. Dr. Mawson has requested him^to act in r. similar -capacity in «onnectionr with his expedition. Mr. W.-'ite's salary, startine at £500 a rear, risi5s. to a maximum of i!C00. PROFESSOR WA1S0N.

Fred Johns ires an interesting sketch oi Professor Watson in the January 'Lone Hand.' In the course of his article the Adelaide writer says: — 'Although numerically small in comparison with -rt'uer Australian^^dical schools, the medical school in the university of Adelaide has the' merit of quality. This is largely due to the fact that its bead is a bora Euifieon end anatomist, Vho is a master in his science second to none in the Ccmmon?w-calth- Professor Archibald Watson. M.D.. F.R.C.S.,, has been Elder Professor of Anatomy at Adelaide University since 1885, and he is just as keen now as he was 20 years ago. One of his pupils, a ' leading member of the medical profession, . 6aid the other day: — 'The Professor has a method of teaching of his own that never fails to command attention. There is no going1 to sleep uiider Jiim. When I entered the medical school 1 was determined not to learn, but the Professor soon knocked tbat out of Tne. 1 could not help h-ai-iiinj!. ' Wattie is a blooming i wonder.' He is most unconventional, this Adriaide professor, and slimis t'»e limelight. But he is ever a. friend of the public. Hi spupils swear by him. Xot a j few he has financed tlirouyb their course, as, indeed, he lias paid out of his own pocket tlie. expenses of patients too i-oor to provide the necessary fees for the operating table, and tlii-ir subsequent stay in hospital. Beneath :uis jougli exterior lies a. great and generous lieavt, ;i4id in many ways lie has n'iidcr-?d inestimable service which entitles him to be legardrd as a public benefattor. . . . Dr. Watson, who is a- bachelor, spends his vacations travelling, generally abroad, if time permits, and the main object of his excursions to Eurb.je, America, the East,, and other countries is to seek out the latest ideas in the medical and surgical schools.' PERCTVAL.