This Act was devised by Mr. G. S. Walters, a gentleman of great experience in monetary affairs. It provided that the gold dust already deposited in the Treasury, amounting to a large sum, should be smelted into ingots of various sizes, stamped with the Queen’s head, and the accurate assay, and declared to be legal tenders at the rate of £3 14s. per ounce—gold dust then selling in Melbourne at £3 7s. This immediately stopped the demand for sovereigns, caused large additional quantities of gold dust to be introduced from Melbourne, and quieted the public mind. Some of the gold was so pure that it afterwards realized over £4 per ounce in London. There is no doubt that the Bullion Act was a direct infringement of the Royal prerogative as to coinage, and demanded anxious consideration. Sir Henry Young was then Governor, and the Bank Managers were requested on different occasions to meet him in Executive Council to consider the subject. Mr. Tinline (Bank of South Australia) and myself (Bank of Australasia) urgently supported the adoption of the Bill; the Manager of the Union Bank opposed it. The responsibility was very great, but the Executive Government submitted it to the Legislature, and the Bill was passed into an Act for two years. The Home Government approved of it, considering that it was warranted by the great emergency. Another very useful measure was adopted about this time. A strong, well-armed body of mounted police was sent periodically to the gold diggings at Bendigo, in Victoria, to escort the gold found by South Australian diggers to Adelaide. The service was continued for a considerable time, and the gold thus introduced exceeded two millions sterling. The successful gold diggers would, in all probability, have remained in Victoria and removed their families from hence had it not been that many of them were owners of land, which tied them to the province; and they ultimately returned with their unexpected wealth and purchased additional lands. There can be no doubt that the land system of South Australia, which provided that the country should be surveyed and sold in sections of eighty acres, was the means of saving the province from temporary ruin. The facilities for acquiring land by the labouring classes were very considerable. The discovery of the Burra Copper Mine gave the first great impulse to the progress of the colony; the produce of that mine alone having exceeded £4,000,000 sterling up to a recent period.