Alfred Deakin (1856-1919) was an Australian political leader who established a remarkable record in colonial and federal politics in constructive and progressive causes.

Alfred Deakin was born in the gold-boom city of Melbourne on Aug. 3, 1856. He studied law at the University of Melbourne, became a writer for the progressive newspaper Age, and in 1879 was elected to the legislative assembly of Victoria.

Deakin served in a succession of ministries. An ardent advocate of irrigation (then untried in Australia), he visited California in 1884-1885 and induced George and Benjamin Chaffey to develop an irrigation settlement on arid land along the Murray River in Australia. In 1886 he secured passage of the Irrigation Act to seal the arrangement.

When the proposals for federation of the Australian territories at the Federal Convention of 1891 lapsed in the colonial legislatures, he supported public calls for a popularly elected convention, and his powerful oratory warmed thousands...