A PIONEER OF EMPIRE.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 84, 15 May 1914, Page 6

A PIONEER OF EMPIRE.

BIOGRAPHY OF SIR FREDERICK WELD. (Reviewed for THE SUN fcy "Liter.") Far too many New Zealanders of the present generation are ignorant of the important roles played in the political and general history of the Dominion by some of its earlier statesmen, and for this reason a hearty welcome should be accorded to such a work as "The Life of Sir Frederick Weld, G.C.M.G., A Pioneer of Empire, " by Alice Lady Lovat (London, John Murray). Weld was a splendid type of the earlier group of Empire-builders. In the interesting preface to Lady Lovat's book, which is contributed by Sir Hugh Clifford, K.C.M.G;, who served under Weld in his later life, when the Premier of New Zealand occupied the position of Governor of the Straits Settlements, he is described as "a statesman, honest, fearless, noble, kind; inspired by a wonderful and perfectly unostentatious piety; and, beyond all things, simple, so that the boy's heart in him was never subdued, and the purity of the boy. never tarnished.'' "He dwelt in my memory," says Sir Hugh, "as perhaps, the finest gentleman I have ever known." .. . A MODEST BEGINNING. Frederick Aloysius Weld—the fartiily name was originally Wylde, or Wild — was born at Chideock, Dorset. Edur cated first at Stonyhurst—the Welds were an old. Catholic family—where lie spent, nine years, and afterwards at the University of Friburg, in Switzerland, he had in 1843 to decide upon a vocation. He determined to emigrate to New Zealand, three young men, Henry Petre, Charles Clifford, and William Vavasour, of whom two were relations, having preceded him there the year before. He started, Lady Lovat tells us, ■' with a modest sum of - golden sovereigns in a bag; and-a land order from the New Zealand Company of a hundred acres, another 'for a town-lot in , the (future) city of. Wellington." Arriving off New Plymouth on March 18, 1844j fhe ! future I 'Premier continued his voyage in the little barque Theresa, which had .brought him from England, to Nelsbrij Svh'ere he was hospitably entertained by Mr (afterwards Sir Francis Dillon) Bell, then, the New Zealand Company's • agent, arid so on to Wellington, where Weld landed on St. Geofge/s Day, Apsil 23.. FIRST IN THE WAIRARAPA.

, The young'settler now set about .finding occupation. His friends,, Clifford, Vavaisour and Petre, had entered. into negotiations with some Maori chiefs, and were about to start a pioneer sheep station in the newly-discovered Wairarapa Valley. Weld had charge of a flock of some few hundred sheep they had imported from New South Wales, and got them safely to . their destination. In'his "Journal'?* he gives a most interesting description of his early sheep-farming experiences in the Wairarapa, where, so he says, with evident pride, he was the first to plant a garden and grow European vegetables. He next bought a share in a station called Wharekaka, in the South Wairarapa, on the shores of Palliser Bay. Later' on, having tired of the constant road and boat work round the cliffs of Pencarrow, he journeyed through the Wairau and decided to settle at Flax-: bourne. Here, he says in his "Journal," "I shall, with my yacht, be much nearer the town than lam now. I shall have no to ford, sometiihes breasthigh, no rocks to climb at high tide on the beach, or to sleep out in the rain all night. Nor shall I have any moreanchoring off lee shores in open boats, or swamping in the surf—of which I have had enough to last me for years.'' AS INTEREST IN POLITICS. ''

. Soon the young settler began to take a keen interest in politics.' ■'He refused a seat, in the nominee council established by Sir. George Grey, regarding it, so he writes. to his father, as 'fa. mere blind, with no object save; {to take responsibility off the Governor." In 1849, however, he took a leading part in the formation,of a "Settlers' Constitutional Association," which entered a vigorous protest to Lord Grey, the then Colonial Minister, against what the association considered to be the Governor's '" attempt to deprive the colonists of New Zealand of the boon of self-government, which your Lordship, had determined to- bestow.." v' ln December, ,1850, Weld accompanied John Robert Godley, and inspected the site chosen for the future town of Lyttelton, journeying back from Christchurch to Flaxbourne on foot, and! discovering a pass through the Kaikoui'a range. In February, 1851, he went : to England, returning, to New Zealand in August, 1852, his father having died in January of that year. During his stay in England he spent three days at Ham House, Lord Adderley's place in Shropshire, where he took part in a conference of the highest importance. Weld says:— "Here I met Fox, Sewell, and , Wakefield, to consult upon New Zealand politics. We had previoiisly helped to defeat the intention of Ministers to saddle the New Zealand Company's debt on the general revenue of the country. We now concocted a Constitution, which was. afterwards approved of by the Duke of Newcastle and Loird Lyttelton, and upon which Gladstqne's resolutions were bounded." AN , ENERGETIC SHEEP FARMER.

The services thus rendered to New Zealand by Weld and those who worked with him hate, it is to be feared, been insufficiently estimated by more than one writer on oar earlier history. On December 12, 1852, Weld\-landed at Port Otago, and at once flung himself with energy into his old life as an industrious sheep farmer. To those — and there are many—who nowadays speak and write of the early pastoralists as a set of selfish "land-grabbers," I feomriiend a careful perusal of the earlier chapters of Lady Lovat's interesting volume. They Avill learn what

*"The Lfife of Sir Frederick Weld, G.C.M.G.," a pioneer of Empire, by Lady Lovat. f T «ondon: John Murray.)

patience, industry, and indomitable pluck were exhibited by the early pastoralists, and what privations and serious difficulties they had to contend against, and thus come to have more accurate knowledge of a class of men who did splendid spade-work in the cause of civilisation and progress. It is, however, to Weld's political career that we must now turn. In 1853 the New Zealand Constitution was proclaimed by Sir George Grey, the House meeting on May,* 17, 1853. Weld then entered Parliament as the member for Wairau, Mr Clifford being elected Speaker. To the first motion, "That a clergyman be asked to open the proceedings with prayer," Weld moved an amendment to the effect that the House, though recognising the importance of religious observances, objected to an Act which might tend to the subversion of that, perfect religious' equality which was guaranteed by the Constitution. The amendment was lost, but its principle was recognised by. a formal resolution, unanimously passed. Prayers were then read by an Anglican clergyman, but on subsequent occasions prayers were r<?jid by the Speaker. Space will not permit of more than the briefest possible summary of Weld's, political career in New Zealand. THE "OLD GANG."

Of a temporary. Ministry, formed to carry on the business of the country until the'" old gang' '—the officers, appointed by the Colonial Office —could be disposed of,, Weld now became a' member, under Mr J. E. Fitzgerald, his col- : leagues being Mr Sewell, a lawyer of great ability, ami Mr Dillon-Bell. The "old gang," however, made' progress impossible, and- not until the -new; General Assembly-met on April 1, 1856, , Colonel Gore-Browne being then Gover : nor, and the former office-holders having been dismissed and pensioned, could. Parliamentary government be' said to have really ,begun in Newr Zea-, land. ' In there being a 'grejaii volcanic eruption at the Sandwijch Islands, Weld'chartered a small Sailing 1 vessel ,and . started , for;. the , scene iof; action. Between 1857 1860 he made two trips to England, on the second occasion being married to Miss Filamena de Lisle Phillips, whose mother,; Laura Clifford, was, Weld 'f cousin in t|ie ; second degree, through his mother. In January 1860, Weld and his wife arrived in New Zealahdl The Maori wat' was now followed, by a "sugar and: blanket policy, Sir i|e: placing Governor. Qore-Browne. | ■' A dissolution enabled Weld to return to Parliament* his speech to the electors of the Wairaji declaring, his belief.. in the supremacy of the Crown with regard to Native lands, and, the. necessity for consolidating and centralising the system of government. When thfc ! House met, Mr Stafford formed a Ministry, Weld taking the portfolio of Native Affairs. In 1861, the Stafford Ministry was replaced by a combination headed by Mr (afterwards Sir William) Fox. •■■■■• • '■ < : ■ j ; ' From 1862 to 1863 Weld refused all, Ministerial offices.,. He liadj3hiffed his, home' from FlaxboUrne toi Brackeniield,. in Canterbury, and* led a peaceful life, I being particularly •. interested in i treeplanting. ' BACK TO THE POLITICAL In 1864 he again took an active part .in politics. Sent; for by,the Governor Sir George Grey, he formed a Ministry,, which included Messrs Sewell, Fitzherbert, and J. C. Eichmond, ,and Maj°rs Richardson and Atkinson. The country was in a bad way financially, and the Native difficulty was worse thanever. . It was then that Weld courageously brought his "Self-reliant' policy,'' being-utterly disgusted with the .procrastination and ineptitude displayed by General Cameron. The return to England of five regiments was. insisted upon, and the Premier made clear his belief that the " Colony coul;d in the future rely, with confidence upon the skill and gallantry of its own officers, and men, and the devoted courage of the loyal 'Natives.": ''•< ; ,j , Weld 's term, of office was not, however, destined to be lengthy, f or,, as th;e resiilt of parochial jealousies, the Miii-. istry' could not linaintaift its rhajority,'. and early in October the Premier, 'whjo was ispoor health at the; time, tendered his resignation, and advised the nor to send for Mr Stafford. He had fallen a victim to tli6 iitrigiies of ivhajt his biographer calls " a coalition between the members for the province of Auckland," who were, enraged at the loss of the seat of Government," and "a coterie in the Middle Island with whom Weld had refused to make terms on the Otago Native Reserves Bill. " ! Two "years later, in' 18<67j halving arranged for the leasing of his properties,, he started with his wife, and,four child|rfen for England. He had spent twenty - six years in the colony, and even with his bitterest political opponents, b,ore tiie 1 i c fej)utatidn oil fteitig an able and honest statesman, :re^bur6eful, : courageous, and eminently sincere. As Mj? Dillori-!Bcll said, on the occasion of his resignation, "Mr Weld had held per 4 haps alone among the public of New Zealand, 1 the place'bf a man whose word was never doubted, whose honour was never questioned, whose advice was always and whb.se counsel was never refused in cases of public difficulty.' ' / . .

GOVERNOR OF WESTItALIA. In Weld's after-career, New Zealanders are. naturally not so much interested. It was. a long and honourable career, spent ixi the service of the Crown, a career pregnant with value to the over-sea States of which lie was. Governor. In 1869, he was appointed the Governor of West Australia," being transferred to the Governorship -jot Tasmania in 1875, having previously, in : 1874, paid a visit to New Zealand to settle various matters in connection with his properties here, and being publicly entertained at Christeliurch and Wellington. , In 1880 he was appointed to the Governorship of the Straits Settlements. Of his career'in this position his biographer, aided by extracts from Weld's" Journals," gives a very interesting account. .Created a K.C.M.G. in 1881, he remained at Singapore until March, 1884, having obtained a year's leave of absence, he returned to England, and was given a right royal reception at his native Chideock. Towards the end of 1885 he returned to duty, finally resigning his Governorship in 1887. The closing years of his active and useful life were spent mainly at Chideock. He died in 1893, from the after-effects of an attack of fever contracted during a visit on private business, which he had paid to the Malay States earlier in tliat year. Lady Lovat's well-written biography is a work which well deserves, the attention of all who are interested in the earlier political history of the Dominion. Several portraits and other illustrations are given, the frontispiece being a photogravure portrait of Weld, who was a singularly handsome man.