as a justice of the peace in 1897. Political career Mitchell was elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly at the 1905 Western Australian state election, winning the seat of Northam. In parliament he "earnestly advocated agricultural settlement and deplored Western Australia's dependence on imported produce, seeking to place families on the land, particularly as the goldfields declined and miners looked elsewhere". He was made a minister without portfolio in Newton Moore's government in 1906 and in 1909 was promoted to Minister for Agriculture and Lands. He added the Industries portfolio in 1910 when Frank Wilson replaced Moore as premier. At the 1911 state election, Wilson's government was defeated by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) under John Scaddan. Mitchell as agriculture minister had presided over an expansion of the area of land under cultivation, with government support initiatives and the introduction of superphosphate pushing out the eastern boundaries of the Wheatbelt into the Yilgarn. However, unusually low rainfall in the early 1910s led to the failure of many farms. Mitchell "was blamed for his bland optimism in allegedly throwing new settlers into the bush with just an axe". He was targeted by the newly formed Farmers' and Settlers' Association, which evolved into the Country Party and won eight seats at the 1914 state election. Wilson returned as premier in 1916 in an alliance with the Country Party, which refused to allow Mitchell to return as agriculture minister. He was reappointed to the industries portfolio and also made Minister for Railways and Water Supply. Premier On 17 May 1919, Premier Hal Colebatch resigned and Mitchell succeeded to the position. Mitchell won the 1921 election and remained premier until 1924. During this period he garnered much publicity for his strong support for the Soldier-Settlement Scheme in the south-west of Western Australia. As a result of his enthusiastic promotion of this scheme (which ultimately proved very costly in terms of money and resources) he was dubbed "Moo-Cow" Mitchell by the local press. Nonetheless, the establishment of a dairy industry in Western Australia can be largely credited to him. He also proved adept at dealing with the divisions between the Nationalist Party and the Country Party. Mitchell took steps to develop the North-West, including the appoint of a resident commissioner to encourage cotton-growing and tropic agriculture. Together with his senior ministers Hal Colebatch, John Scaddan, and William George, Mitchell pursued interventionist economic policies, and