Mr Massey.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20038, 20 September 1930, Page 14

Mr Massey.

The function at Point Halswell yesterday was a great deal more - than a tribute to a dead statesman. It was more than a recalling of a distinguished career and of unforgettable services. It was the expression of a hope, as His Excellency so wisely said, that others would ■ arise in all classes and Parties, as simple as Mr Massey was, as pious and ks honest, and as devoted to the nation's highest ends. It is no reflection on any living leader to say that we greatly need such men, that we greatly Jack them, and that we have terribly betrayed the one we yesterday honoured. Even during the war, when it seemed sometimes as if there was no bright spot anywhere, there was suffering to unite us, and our aroused feelings of nationality to maintain our courage and stimulate us to sacrifice and denial. We live to-day, on the perilous slope between riches and privation. We are not suffering enough to be aroused, 'not making sacrifices enough to be safe. We know what we ought to do, but have-no one big enough, and brave enough, and strong enough to call forth the effort that the situation demands. It is of course fitting, and touching, that so long, after his death the nation should give its war-leader this noble tomb. But it is not enough to do that—we could almost say not worth doing it at all—unless when we do it we recall the lessons and resolutions that will enable us to honour him by a recovery of his plain and high way of living.