Responsible The election of members of the two new Houses took place in March 1857. The first session of the new Parliament commenced on 22 April 1857, during the governorship of Sir Richard Graves Mc Donnell. The first Premier was B. T. Finniss.
Administration and the public men of South Australia, who, in the early history of the colony under responsible government, took an active and prominent part in the great business of administration and legis lation were the following who held office as Premiers from 1856 to 1870; Lieutenant Colonel Boyd Travers Finniss, John Baker, Robert Richard Torrens, Richard Davies Han son, Thomas Reynolds, George Marsden Water house, Francis Stokes Dutton, Henry Ayers, John Hart, Arthur Blyth and Henry Bull Templar Strangways.
Mr. (afterward Sir) R. R. Torrens took office in 1857. His name has become famous by association with an act simplifying the transfer, conveyance and registration of land. Torrens was the originator of the plan; it was based on practical knowledge obtained by him as collector of customs, but he was assisted by the legal knowledge of Dr. Hubbe. The Torrens' Land Act system was afterward adopted by all the other Australian colonies. In 1861 a strip of territory lying between latitude 129° and 132° E. longitude and south of the S. latitude known as °No Man's Lands was added to South Australia.
Sir Dominic Daly succeeded Sir Richard G. MacDonnell on 4 March 1862 In March 1863 an intercolonial conference was held in Mel bourne at which the majority of the Australian colonies were represented. This conference ri was originated in a suggestion made by Sir Dominic Daly. It was resolved that it was desirable to settle the basis for a uniform tariff for the Australian colonies. No practical results followed the conference, but it foreshadowed the necessity of some form of Federal Union. In the same year the Northern Territory was added to South Australia by letters patent.
In 1868-69, a ministry, of which Henry B. Templar Strangways was Premier, held office. Its career was distinguished by the passing of a Land Act which was intended to promote settlement and prevent the monopolization of the large tracts of land by land sharks and dummies. Sale of land by auction was limited. Land was sold to bona-fide selectors on credit, the payments being allowed to extend over a period of four years, and no selector was al lowed to take up more than 640 acres.
The great overland telegraph line from Port Augusta to Port Darwin, the construction of which was prosecuted during the premierships of Strangways, John Hart and Sir Arthur Blyth, was completed on 2 Aug. 1872. In 1875-76 a strong administration formed by Mr. (afterward Sir) James Penn Boucaut, was in power; it introduced a policy of internal de velopment, public works and railways. It was proposed that a loan of 13,000,000 should be raised, coupled with increased taxation, stamp tax and probate duties. This scheme was passed by the Assembly and rejected by the Council. Mr. (afterward Sir) John Colton formed a ministry which adopted Boucaut's policy and carried his scheme of public works and railways without the increased taxation. In 1877 Boucaut's second ministry was in office, and during that year the overland telegraph line between Adelaide and Perth was com pleted.
The second Boucaut Ministry was succeeded by administrations of which the following were Premiers from 1878 to 1916: William Mor gan, John Cox Bray, John Colton, John W. Downer, Thomas Playford, John Alexander Cockburn, Frederick William Holder, C. C. Kingston, Vaibcu Louis Solomon, J. G. Jenkins, Richard Butler, Thomas Price, A. H. Peake, John Verran and Crawford Vaughan.
In 1886 the jubilee of South Australia was celebrated. C. C. Kingston came into 'power in 1893. A Crown Lands Consolidation Act was passed by his ministry which restricted the sale of Crown lands by auction, introducing a system of leasing country lands, coupled with the right of purchase and provided perpetual leases for agricultural purposes. Small blocks not exceeding the unimproved value of #100 were thrown open for lease on the application of workingmen. Personal residence on a block was necessary, either by the lessee or by his wife or children. The rent of each lease was notified in the Gazette. These lots were not subject to a revaluation, but were liable to land tax. In 1894 a bill was passed conferring the franchise on women. In order to give en couragement and to grant assistance to the farmers an Advance to Farmers' Act was passed in 1896, under which a state bank has been established in South Australia with power to grant loans to farmers at a low rate of inter est with extended time for repayment of the principal.