The Press. SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 1891.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7769, 24 January 1891, Page 4

The Press. SATURDAY, JANUARY 24, 1891.

It is with a sense of sincere sorrow that we have to record the retirement from the political arena of one who for a long period has stood among the very foremost of our public men. The health of Sir Harry Atkinson has, as we are all of us aware, been for a long time unequal to the strain put upon it, and be has at length ; reluctantly yielded to the advice- which tells him that he must not attempt to endure the fatigues of another session. Sir Harry retires from the post of Premier.

Sir Harry Atkinson first became known to the public as a bold and successful military leader in the Taranaki troubles. Soon after this he became Minister of Defence, in Mr Wjj&d's Government, and from that time to: the present—covering a period of : over a quarter of a century —whether in or out of office, and for the most part in office, he has always been one of the mqsfc oommanding political figures of the time. He made his mark when; under Dγ Pollen's Ministry, and during the temporary absence of Sir Juzius in England, he undertook at short notice and delivered in the House, one of the ablest financial statements that Up to that time had been heard in that Assembly, This speech' established him as a. financial authority, and it must be remembered that at that time, owing to the complications of ttie provincial and general accounts, financial statements were matter of double embarrassment. The tact and readiness of resource which was displayed by Sir Harry on this occasion marked him out for a still more testing claim .upon his skill. He it was who was chosen to lead the House on the more crucial question of Abolition. This great change—amounting as it did almost to a constitutional revolu-tioa-r-had indeed for aome time beea in the air, and a resolution had been carried declaring the necessity of abolishing the provinces in the North Island. The passing of the Bill was violently contested by a fierce and angry Opposition; for, in point of fact, there were many in the House who regarded their politioal fortunes as bound up with, the retention of the Provincial system. - Even after the Act had passed, and a general election j taken' plaoe which showed certainly that the opinion of the country was in no way adverse, ; to the ■ change, the struggle was again renewed, and , a determined effort made to reverse the decision. Every device was resorted to in order to reverse the majority of the preceding session, and all through the Opposition were led - with the pertinacity and unrivalled fertility of resource at that tinfo Altinguiahed Sir UMbqb Grey. S» SSpiRY proved himself we* were g<?h» to say,; more than equal to the occJL sion. For every he hutyp wfot $QF every wok of fence a oounterguard; and able as debating power of the Oppqs&on—for ! this unquestionably was oaff of the occasions in wlich the diepusaions otour Legislating ifd honor to the it was rivalled end indeed &@b& matched by $he force which Sir HabrY Aekjnboh could always bring to bear in reply. After the Act was into Operation an interval occurred, during which SirGaoasa, Grby was in office, long enough to incur a distrust on whole coW municy, from* which he has never since been able and Sir Harry then"became Qolonial under Sir Joan Hall, It was in this capacity that the hon. gentleman made the Financial Statement of 18£9—* ■ Statement which the Opposition"sinsieted pa describing &s pgwimiatically: gloomy, but wbichi . every successive investigation ouly proved t» fall/afrori, of the truth. So was the deSc't found toTOe, bo?lfactfal v end prospeoUve, that the cota&y wife compelled, heaven knows' h%r reluctautly, to face the facts ofthe position. A sever© measure of retreoehment was resolved tfepon, and & property t&s for the first time made its sppsaraace our financial resources. Upon the retirement of Sir Johh Hall this of retarencbmeafc ftm uudoubtedly related, and this journal frequently found itself ia sharp opposition to Government ia eoasequence. At tlie general election in 1884 the SxotrT-tfooEL Ministry came into office, and their evident aetermuMtio& 4

to enter upon a borrowing policy, wf fc&f atTtnat' time especially could I only be deeoribed $ reokleaa gambling, , speedily alienated from them the sympathies of the country. At the general election of 188? the late Parliament was returned with ft mandate, the strength of wQioh had certainly never been exceeded, to give up at all costs, the borrowing policy, end by every retrenchment, no matter hovr drastic, to make both ends meet It was indeed believed by many that no possible retrenchment would suffice, and that fresh taxation was unavoidable' The scheme by which Sir Harry readjusted the finances and restored the oredit of the colony will be still too fresh in the memory of our readers to need recapitulation in this place. And it is here we ought to have been able to close our story. When the House rose in '89 it was already too obvious that there was one thing which Sir Harry had never considered. His health bad broken down under the long-continued strain. If it could have been possible for the public service to spare him Sir Harry ought to have been permitted to retire when the late session of the Legislature was being prepared for. But the plain truth was that the oonjuncturea possible to an expiring Parliament were too critical for any other than himself to undertake to meet them. In especial he only could fittingly present to the country the great results of the three years of his financial policy, and he could do this with effect only as still head of the Government. Not his own party alone, but the whole House, concurred in the arrangements necessary for relieving him of the duty of personal attendance at its sittings. Bat it would bo a great mistake to suppose that with him freedom from leadership meatib relief from labor. He continued seduldusly to attend to the necessarily exhausting details of his office, and was never less available than formerly on those critical occasions on whioh Ministers need especially the guidance of their chief.

It is too early yet to form an unbiassed eetimate of Sir Harry Atkinson's political character; but there will be no two opinions as to the value of the work which he has done for New Zealand. Aβ we have seen, he was not bora a politician, and his! qualities have been more conspicuously ! those of the soldier. The reader would search in vain among his epeeohea for profound views of statesmanship, or even for those terse expressions by which a single sentence is often made to convey so much. If we were to try to say what we think is the dominating quality of hia mind — the; one. eminent quality for a great leader — we should describe it as a quick insight into the thing 1 necessary to dq done at) the present moment, and we should add to this the courage and inflexible will, the fine tact, and withal the straightforward* ness, which together enabled him; almost always to succeed in carrying out what he saw it to be necessary to do. Sir, Harry quits power at a time when the country has begun to realise the practical reeult of his great services. The reinstatement of our finance and the restoration of our credit have begun to produce their inevitable effects. It is true that recent events have had a depressing effect upon the spirit of enterprise, and somewhat damped the hopes excited. a few months ago* But in spite of these drawbacks the efforts of Sir Harry and his Government are to be Been in the high position New Zealand has now assumed in the estimation, of the pu.blio at Home and of the publio in the other colonies. Other men besides him have retired from their active duties with the consciousness that at the worst those duties have been done. Sir Harry Atkinson has this besides—that he has not only performed to the full all that the welfare of New Zealand could demand of the high position in which she has placed him, but his labors have already resulted, and if wisely followed up, will chow yet more results to come, 24 the prosperity and contentment of the colony at large. . i i