Mr. Seddon administered some sharp lessons to speculators, notably those who took up town sections around one of the State coal mines. These gentlemen, in anticipation of a large influx of miners, leased all the best sites in the township laid off by the Government, and were waiting to realise the “unearned increment” from the people who had to occupy them. They had seen the same thing done by people in other parts of the colony, and were probably unconscious of any impropriety in their conduct. The miners, however, appealed to Mr. Seddon, and he promised to lay out another township further down the railway line, and to place the railway station near the miners’ sections. This seemed at first to be a high-handed solution of the difficulty. The speculators were quite within their legal rights in attempting to exploit the expected population. The sections were offered on the usual conditions, and it was open to anyone possessing the necessary qualifications to apply for them. But, apart from the legal aspect of the question, public sympathy was with Mr. Seddon and the miners.
When Mr. Seddon first went into Parliament, in 1879, he lodged in a quiet establishment near the Parliamentary Buildings, with several other members of the party, who formed a little democratic coterie, and were a happy family. It was customary for them to assemble in the drawing-room after lunch and spend an enjoyable hour or so. One member of the party played the piano and Mr. Seddon and other members sang and told stories. Mr. Seddon’s favourite songs were “The Minstrel Boy” and “The Wearing o’ the Green,” and he seldom sang either without having to respond to encores.
It was his custom, after attending banquets that demanded his presence, to return to his home or his hotel and to commence steady work there, from, perhaps, one o’clock in the morning until daylight. He would take a few hours’ sleep, and then start work again. A work-day of eighteen hours, for several days in succession, was nothing unusual for him, and after he had worked night and day he was still a match for the freshest of his opponents.
