The Press. THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1910. WESTLAND'S MEMORIAL.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13743, 26 May 1910, Page 6

The Press. THURSDAY, MAY 26, 1910. WESTLAND'S MEMORIAL.

It is fitting that AYostland should •possess a memorial of tho late Mr Sedefon. The great monument that has been erected over the late Premier's grave- in Wellington, which will be as dominant a feature of the landscape as' he himself was in tho country's life, is tho tribute of the State to his memory. But to Y/estland he Was all that ho was to tho rest of New- Zealand, and more. It was there that he learned the rudiments of government and the first lessons in the art of dealing with men. It was in Wostland that the qualities that stood him in such good stead in after life developed and strengthened, particularly the quick grasp of affairs and tho masterful determination that so often enabled him to got to the root of a difficult question and to compel the acceptance of his opinions. Tt was thero that he made the friends whose devotion tiiiist often havo supported and encouraged him, and to whom in turn he was loyal to the last. He never forgot an old f.riond, and those who accompanied him-on-Ms jubilee visit to the West Coast were able to realise howstrong was the bond between him and tho "West Coast people, and that the affection that the whole community entertained for him was by no means solely due to gratitude for benefits received and hoped for. Mr Seddon was a strong man, in character no less than in physique. He may havo seen before him. even in those early days, the goal that he eventually attained, and havo set himself to reach it. In whatever circumstances his lot had been cast it is impossible to think that he would not have raised himself above the rank and file, and it.is nothing to his discredit that fortune brought him such opportunities as have come to few men in his position. For a weaker man would act have taken advantage of them. As it T/as, Mr Seddon's action in connection with th© South African war secured for his name, as King Edward (stated in a on the occasion of his death, "a permanent place among "the statesmen who nio.'st zealously " aided in fostering tho sentiment of "kinship on which the unity of the " Empire depends." His memory will live in our history for his stalwart Imperialism. It was a long way, as Sir Joseph Ward said yesterday, from the position of member of a West Coast Bond Board to that of Prime Minister of the Dominion, and, ho might have added, to the dignity of a Privy Councillorship. But though Mr Seddon's career took him far from his modest beginnings, his heart remained in Wostland, and tho statue that was unveiled in Hokitika yesterday represents, we imagine, the people's personal affection for him as much as their admiration of his anilities as a statesman.