CHARLES HARPER, M.L.A.
 |
Photo by CHARLES HARPER, M.L.A. Greenham & Evans. |
IN the quiet days of West Australia's history, before gold was discovered, there were men engaged in some rich fields of industry who did not make much noise in the world, but the prizes lay outside the beaten track of trading enterprise, and required a courageous hand to pluck them. To the sybarite, fond of ease and self-indulgence, the colony in its germ did not appear to be the place wherein to make a fortune; there were no highly paid sinecures, no chances of growing rich by gambling on the Stock Exchange. At that time, if a man were to prosper, he had to make his own standing place; he had to look afield, and draw treasure from the storehouses of the earth and of the sea. While the crowds of underlings were willing to grovel for life as wage-earners, the young colonist of independent spirit and intelligent insight, taking a survey of this vast and undeveloped colony, perceived in it resources and opportunities which were hidden from the general ken. He was quick to "grasp the skirts of happy chance," without trumpeting his gains or inviting a crowd to follow his lead. The pearler or the pastoralist of twenty years ago is the capitalist, the legislator, the leader of the community to-day. In his strenuous youth he sowed wisely and industrious]y, and now that the harvest has been gathered he has leisure to profit the country by attending to its affairs. Among the legislators of the Western Australian Parliament there are several such members, who, having shown prudence, judgment, and some mental grasp in guiding their own destinies, are now, happily for the welfare of the colony, devoting their ripened experience, in the prime of life, to the wise direction of the Government. In them the people repose the public trust, with confidence that rash or foolish counsels shall not prevail while their steadying hand is on the helm of State, and they are bringing to bear in Parliament the discretion that has been approved in practice and that is impressed with the hall-mark of successful results. In other parts of Australia there have been, to the reproach of the colonies, too many impecunious failures in positions of control, and perhaps to this fact may be ascribed many of the serious ills which neighbouring communities have suffered, while the West has gone on triumphantly from one stage of progress to another. Western Australia does not wish to place in situations of responsibility unpractical enthusiasts who, so to speak, "have soarings after the infinite, but who never pay cash;" she prefers to put an abiding faith in those pillars of the country who have built their own well-being upon the rock instead of the shifting sands, and in doing so have furnished evidence that they are safe and capable administrators. They have, to use a Biblical illustration, been faithful over few things in their private capacity, and they have been given the charge of greater things in the control of the Treasury of the country.
Mr. Charles Harper, M.L.A., is one of the foremost of the group of members of the Legislative Assembly to whom we are alluding. His father, an Anglican clergyman, was ordained by Bishop Short, and was formerly in charge of the parish at the Avon Valley, near Newcastle. The son was born at Nardi in 1843. Having been educated privately, he in 1861 joined Messrs. E. and A. Dempster and D. Clarkson (now member for Toodyay), in making an exploring trip through what is now the Southern Cross district in search of pastoral property. They visited Golden Valley, Yilgarn, but not then finding a likely location, Mr. Harper accompanied by Mr. Clarkson and Mr. L. B. Lukin went out in 1864 to make a more thorough examination of the country, which they found to be too dry for pastoral purposes. During 1866 Mr. Harper went to the north-west and spent a year in examining the interior. Two vessels, The Brothers and the Emma, having been lost, Mr. Harper started overland to Champion Bay to obtain provisions for the nearly starving Roebourne people. At this time he had determined to engage in pearling, and he assisted in building a boat for that purpose. The craft was turned out at Roebourne,and she was taken to the Cossack Creek to be launched. She made her first voyage in 1868, with Mr. Harper and Mr. S. H. Viveash in charge, and employing aboriginal divers. They were not expert enough to bring up shell from a sufficient depth to make the work very profitable, and after navigating the boat for some time, Mr. Harper went to Beverley and engaged in farming. But he found the sphere too narrow for his energies, and in 1871 he returned to the north-west with Messrs. McKenzie Grant, and A. E. Anderson, and took up the De Grey Station, or rather the nucleus of that property. At first only 200,000 acres were leased from the Crown; now the entire area of the De Grey Estate, free and leasehold, comprises a million acres. Pearling, in which Mr. Harper had relinquished his interest, now became very profitable, and he again returned to it. The firm in which he took an interest started with three boats, which were manned by Australian blacks from the De Grey Station, and some of them became very expert, not only as divers, but also in shearing. The De Grey was the
