BIOGRAPHIES IN BRIEF

LABOUR'S MINISTRY MR WALTER NASH'S CAREER Mr Walter Nash has had legal and business experience both in England and in New Zealand. He was born at Kidderminster in 1882. The first three years of his career were spent with a law firm, and the succeeding 10 years with a manufacturing firm in Birmingham. In 1907 he was in business on his own account, and in 1909 he arrived in the Dominion as the representative of British manufacturing interests. In 1922 he became secretary of the New Zealand Labour party. In 1920 he was a New Zealand delegate to the International Labour Conference at Geneva, where he showed himself an ardent opponent of the Soviet. International. He was a delegate to the biennial conference of the Institute of Pacific Relations at Honolulu in 1927. Mr Nash contested the Hutt seat in 1925 and 1928 without success, but on the appointment of Sir Thomas Wilford as High Commissioner in 1929, he won the seat, which he has held ever since. MR W. LEE MARTIN Mr W. Lee Martin was born in Oamaru in 1870. He joined the Labour movement in Wanganui in 1902, and was for a number of years secretary of the Wanganui Painters' Union, and for four years a member of the Wanganui Technical School Board. Later he settled in the Waikato district, and was for two years president of the Waikato Farmers' Union. He has served for many years on school committees, road boards, and factory suppliers' committees. He has been a member of the Central Waikato Electric Power Board for 15 years. He contested the Hamilton seat in 1925, but was defeated. At a byelection in 1927 Mr Lee Martin won the Raglan seat, which he retained in 1928, being defeated by Mr D. S. Reid in 1931. MR H. G. R. MASON Mr H.'G. R. Mason, who is a barrister and solicitor in Auckland city, was born in Wellington in 1885. He was head boy of Wellington College in 1902. He graduated MA. at Victoria University College in 1907, also receiving the degree of LL.B. He began in legal practice at Pukekohe in 1911, and since 1923 has been in partnership with his brother in Auckland. He was Mayor of Pukekohe for four years. Mr Mason contested the Manukau seat as a Labour candidate in 1919, and the Eden seat hi 1922 and 1925, being defeated each time. He was elected as member for Auckland Suburbs in 1928. MR R. SEMPLE Mr Robert Semple has been for nearly 30 years active in the Labour movement in the Dominion, both m its political and industrial aspects. Born in Sofala, New South Wales, in 1873, he joined the trades union movement when he was 23 years old. In 1918 and 1919 Mr Semple was member for Wellington South. He was manager of the Orongorongo co-opera-tive tunnelling party in 1921-1924, which beat Australian records for tunnelling. He was appointed in 1924 organiser for the Freezing Workers and Related Trades. Mr Semple has been member for Wellington- East since 1928. MR P. FRASER Mr P. Frascr was born in Ross-shire, in the north of Scotland, in 1884. In his native village he was keenly interested in politics, being secretary of the village Liberal Association, and taking an active part in the Scottish Small Landholders Act movement. He joined the British Independent Labour party in London in 1908. He came to New Zealand in 1910, and was a labourer and waterside worker in different parts of the North Island, later joining the New Zealand Socialist party as an active propagandist. Mr Fraser has held various offices in Labour organisations. In 1918 he won the Wellington Central seat by an absolute majority over three opponents. In 1922 he retained the seat, receiving the highest total of votes ever cast for any candidate in New Zealand. He has served two terms on the Wellington City Council. Mr Fraser is deputy-leader of the Labour party. MR D. G. SULLIVAN Mr D. G. Sullivan was born and educated in Christchurch. After spending several years abroad, in Great Britain and Australia, he joined himself to the Trades Union movement here. He became president of the Political Labour League, which in 1908 nominated him as candidate for Avon. He was defeated, and in successive contests at Riccarton and Avon in 1911 and 1914 he had no better success. In 1915 Mr Sullivan had his first election success, being elected a city councillor for the Linwood ward. In 1919 he won the Avon seat from the Hon. G. W. Russell, retaining the seat after a hard contest in 1922. He has been member for Avon ever since. In 1923 Mr Sullivan was a candidate for the mayoralty of Christchurch, but. was defeated. In 1925, 1927, and 1929 he was elected to the council at the head of the poll. In 1931 he was elected Mayor, retaining the office this year by his defeat of Sir Hugh Acland. With Mr E. J. Howard, Mr Sullivan was a Labour Whip in the last Parliament.

MR P. LANGSTONB Mr F. Langstone was for many years an active member of the Shearers' Union, being one of the original group of shearers who founded the "New Zealand Worker." He organised the New Zealand Workers' Union in the King Country. He has been a keeper of railway refreshment rooms, and is now a restaurateur in Taumarunui. He contested the Waimarino seat without success in 1919. He was elected member for Waimarino in 1922, but was again defeated in 1925. Reelected in 1928, he has retained the seat at the last two elections. MR H. T. ARMSTRONG Mr H. T. Armstrong was born at Bulls in 1875. He began work at a very early age in the flaxmilling industry, and has since done work of different kinds, including both gold and coal mining. From his earliest years as a worker Mr Armstrong has played »e active part in the trades union movement, having been prominent in the formation of the Miners' Federation and the Federation of Laoour: He is a former president of "the Waihi Miners' and Workers' Union and secretary of the West Coast Workers' and Christchurch Tramway Employees' Unions. Mr Armstrong came to Christchurch in 1916. He has served two terms on the City Council, and has been a member of the Harbour Board (of which he has been chairman and is still a member), the Technical College Board, and the Domains Board. Mr Armstrong first stood for Parliament in the Auckland Province in 1908, but was defeated. In 1919 he contested Christchurch North, and was again defeated. In 1922 he won the Christchurch East seat, which lie has held since. MR W. E. PARRY Mr W. E. Parry was born at Orange, New South Wales, working in his youth as a miner. He came to New Zealand in 1900, and was secretary of the Waihi Miners' Union at the time of the ! Waihi strike. He was a member of 'the Royal Commission on Mines in 1911. In 1918 he was appointed secretary of the Coal Miners' Federation. He won the Auckland Central seat from Mr A. E. Glover in 1919, and has held the seat ever since. MR P. €. WEBB Mr P. C Webb is manager of the Christchurch depot of the Point Elizabeth Co-operative Coal-miners, Ltd. His parliamentary career began in the Grey electorate, which returned him as its member in 1913. He resigned his seat in 1917, but was later reelected unopposed. When called up for military service, he declined to take i,he uniform, and was sentenced to imprisonment, his seat being declared vacant in 1918. In the Buller by-election in 1933, after the death of Mr H. E. Holland, then leader of the Labour party, Mr Webb won the seat from Mr J. H. Powell, the only other candidate, by 2467 votes. He was returned for Buller at the recent election. MR F. JONES Mr F. Jones was born in Dunedin. He served his apprenticeship in the boot trade, and was afterwarus 21 years an employee of Sargood, Son, and Ewen, Ltd. He has held most of the offices of the Bootmakers' Union, and was a member of the Footwear Enquiry Commission. For nearly 20 years he was a member of the Otago Labour Representation Committee, of which he has been three times president. He has been for many years a member of the national executive of the Labour party. Mr Jones became member for Dunedin South in 1931. THE HON. MARK FAGAN The Hon. Mark Fagan, M.L.C., who has been appointed Minister without portfolio in the Labour Cabinet, was born in Tasmania. As a young man he had mining experience in every state in Australia before coming to New Zealand about 1900. He settled at Reefton, where he was engaged in gold mining for many years. For 16 years he was general secretary of the Inangahua Gold and Coal Miners' Union, and as an advocate in the Arbitration Court obtained many improvements in conditions. He helped to promote the Miners Phthisis Act, 1915. Mr Fagan was a member of I several local bodies in Reefton and was chairman of the local hospital board for seven years. He was a member of the executive of the Miners' Federation and of Ijhe New Zealand Federation of Labour. He unsuccessfully contested the Motueka seat in the Labour interests in 1925. Mr Fagan now lives in Petone. He was elected to the National executive of the Labour party in 1930, and in the same year was called to the Legislative Council MR J. A. LEE Mr J. A. Lee, who has been appointed Parliamentary Under-Secretary to the Prime Minister, was born in Dunedin in 1891. In early years of work he was employed for a time on the land, and in factories, until 1909, when he joined the Public Works Department in the North Island. He served in the Great War with the Ist Wellington Regiment, and received the D.C.M. for conspicuous gallantry at Messines. He lost his left arm at Mailly Maillot. He contested the Auckland East seat at a by-election in 1921, and represented that constituency from 1922 to 1928. In 1931 he won the seat which he now holds, Grey Lynn, defeating Mr J. S. Fletcher.