Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1935. MR ARTHUR HENDERSON.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 56, Issue 8, 22 October 1935, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 1935. MR ARTHUR HENDERSON.

The death of Mr Arthur Henderson has removed a personality that gained world-wide fame by reason of his work as President of the Disarmament Conference. The bestowal on him of the Peace Prize for 1932 was a happy recognition of his strenuous, unflagging activities in that sphere, in regard to which political friend and opponent in Britain alike gave him warm praise and sympathetic support. Such was his part in the international movement that it was quite in keeping that he should retain his position at Geneva even after he resigned his place in the political administration of Britain rather than follow his ministerial chief into the National Government in violation of what he considered his pledge to his fellows. In the sphere of national affairs, Mr Henderson served his country in other administrations than that of Labour minister, for he was a member of the Asquith Coalition and Lloyd George Governments, being the first Labour member to receive Cabinet rank. His career is an example of true Scottish dourness and doggedness. The element of luck, however, would seem to have played no small part in it, because two or three times he was ousted from what was considered a fairly safe seat and had to wait for a by-election before he was returned. Mr Henderson was one of the successes of the Labour Cabinet. When the second ministry was announced the critics accepted the choice as good save for Mr Henderson. Yet he was to prove the outstanding figure in a Government which pursued a policy of muddlement in internal affairs and saw itself frustrated in one aim after another. In strong contrast to this was the manner in which British policy was trolled at the Foreign Office and international accord promoted. Mr Henderson gained the credit for this and it was due to him. Making his first reputation as a platform speaker as a Wesleyan lay preacher and an active trade unionist, Mr Henderson was for over a generation the organising genius of the Labour Party, retiring from the secretaryship only at the beginning of last October. In another sphere Mr Henderson took a great interest in the National Brotherhood movement, founded over thirty years ago, of which he was twice chairman. This movement seeks to win back to a religious view of hie the great mass of the people who are drifting away from the church. But it attempts to do more than that, tor it is a direct link between the churches and the organised Labour movement, and its chief desire is that there shall be peace m all branches of industry, its advocates believing that the happiness of the workers can be achieved only along these lines. Thus Mr Henderson’s devotion to the ideals ot peace found scope in two widelyseparated spheres. In the less prominent one his labours were fruitful, and though in the other success has no crowned his efforts the worl wi honour him because of the sincerity and ceaselessness of his striving to attain his objective.