FOR HER-MEMORY

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 235, 4 October 1937, Page 8

FOR HER-MEMORY

LIFE OF STRUGGLE. MRS. H. E. HOLLAND RETURNS. LABOUR LEADER'S WIDOW. A« the Aorangi berthed at Prince's wh.rf this morning a -light, whiteliaii'ul. lilllc lady elutrlieil at n locket lli.ii hung about her neck, anil struggled lo keep back the leal s th.ll Would come to her c\ i-. It wa- Mis. Annie Holland, wi.h u ~(' :he late Henry Ldinuiid 11..1hliiil. Leader of the Labour party of Sew Zealand from lUl'.t to VXM. She had returned to (hi-, country to attend the urn elling of II memorial to her h\i-band ;lt !*• lit iHI Street cemetery, Wellington, on Saturday next. I he in-ci ipt inn on that memorial will record that it i- to •comincinoiatc his work for humanity, lie de\oted his life t.i free the world from unhappincss, t vrntiitv and oppression." That inscription will have it- -eal in the tears of Mrs. Holland, who still remembers. She wept, -he said, because she could Hot remember one moment in hi* life when he had felt ease and comfort. It had hern ,i life of endless work and endless sacrilice that other- might have a happier existence. Fight Against Pain. Mrs. Holland spoke of the life of her husband and its constant fight, with continual pain accompanying itn latter stages. An injury to a knee in his earlier life in Australia caused him great trouble no that often he had to lie helped to his teet, and walked in nain that he might not neglect what lie conceived to be his duty. The story of his life, as «die told it, was the story of a very great man. Kven hi«* death was in a moment of sacrifice. He was attending the funeral of King Te Rata Mahuta to Wherowhero, father of the present Maori King, at Jluntly and the road to the cemetery was up a steep hill. The Kt. Hon. J. C Coates tried to dissuade him from attempting the climb, because Mr. Holland was in illhealth, but he insisted. On the way he collated and died.

"My arrival in New Zealand to-day is very different from my arrival here with my husband the first time," said Mrs. Holland. "Then we were both young, and things were very different. My husband had come here at the request of the Waihi minora to help them, as ho had helped others. We did not know what was, before us, but we were full of hope. To-day I have my sons with me, but otherwise I am alone. My husband would be very glad were he living to-day, and he must be glad to know what his old comrades are doing. Ho would have done the same." Mrs. Holland still fingered the locket about her neck, and now she opened it. It contained a photograph in miniature of her husband, at 18 years of age. He had given it to her the year before they were marriei in 1888, and she had worn it ever since. Guest of the Labour Club. Mrs. Holland was accompanied by her son, Mr. Fred Holland, of Adelaide, and she was met here by another eon, Mr. Roy Holland, of Wellington. This afternoon they will bo entertained at afternoon tea at the Labour Club, and they will leave for Wellington tomorrow. It will be several weeks before Mrs. Holland and Mr. Fred Holland return to Australia.