MR. MASSEY'S TOUR

Evening Post, Volume XCIII, Issue 27, 31 January 1917, Page 7

MR. MASSEY'S TOUR

AT HOME IN ULSTER

REUNION IN LIMAVADY,

(FROM OUtl OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

LONDON, sth December.

During the night the party left by train for Stranraer, and they arrived at Belfast about 10 a.m. The route lay through the quiet port of Lome, famous three, years ago for the Ulster gunrunning episode, now the bleak haven of a fleet of drifters and patrol ships.

The Lord Mayor (Sir Crawford M'Culkgh) and the City Chamberlain (Mr. F. W. Moneypenny, M.V.0.) met the party at the railway station,jand Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Massey at once proceeded to the Lord Mayor's residence at White Abbey, where they stayed. Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward were taken on a private view of some of the important shipyards at Queen's Island (Hariand and " Wolff and Workman, Clark,, and Co.), where they were delighted to see half a dozen ships building for tlie New Zealand trade.

As Sir Joseph Ward required to be in ] Londou to read a paper at the Insurance Institute on Tuesday, and he wished to travel via. Dublin, he and Lady Ward { and Lieut. Seddon left for the south after a few hours' stay in Belfast. Belfast does not present its freedom. Mr. Massey was, however, entertained at luncheon at-the City Hall, which, like that of Glasgow, is a very handsome and substantial building. Mrs. and Miss Massey, the High Sheriff, the Recorder, and several ex-Lord Mayors, the Lord Mayor-Elect, and distinguished leaders of industry were also present. Toasting Mr. Ma-ssey as a' distinguished Ulsterman, whose career had shed lustre on his province, Sir Crawford M'Cullagh said he understood if private enterprise did not prove sufficient to build or purchase the ships which were required for the New Zealand trade, Mr. Massey's Government was prepared to place the orders. . He hoped Mr. Massey would remember his na-tive province in that connection. New j Zealand's 75,000 men with the colours I was just about the same proportion as ! the population of Ulster had sent. Mr. Massey, in his reply, which was constantly interrupted by applause, said : "In New Zealand they Were dopendent mostly—altogether, he might say, at present—on what were called the primary industries. Last year the people of New Zealand exported £34,000,000 worth of goods—wool, frozen meat, butter, and cheese, mostly— and of those goods £32,000,000 came from the soil. This being so, it would be realised how absolutely necessary it was that they should be supplied with the ships' they required for the conveyance of their exports. He had to admit that private enterprise bad done- very ■well) in the past, but what it -would do after the war he could not sa.y. The, people of New Zealand were now very prosperous, and they would have been oven more" prosperous had it not been necessary for them to send troops for the war. But we don't go back on that, or regret it in the. least. We would do the same thing again m the same circumstances. (Loud applause.) I believe we could send 100,000 men from Ne>v Zealand, which would ba a fair proportion. We might be able to send more; certainly not less." (Applause.)

VENGEANCE IS MINE. . Thanking the Lord Mayor for his reference to the conduct of the New Zealand troops, Mr. Maesey said he knew they had done well, but lie wanted to congratulate the Lord Mayor and the citizens of Belfast and Ulster upon tho gallantry of the Ulster division. (Applause.) As Irishmen they were proud of what the division had done, and as Irishmen they were proud of what the whole of the Irish troops had accomplished. (Heai, hear.) There was no question that they had proved themselves equal to the very best troops in I the British Empire to-day. They could not permit the war to be stopped and allow those murders to go unpunished. " Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord; I will repay"; and he knew that He would. But he hoped it was not irreverent on his part to sa.y that Britain and British troops would be the instruments of the Lord's punishment.. (Applause.) He believed that in. this crisis, every man who was physically fit and of'military age—it did not matter to what country in the Empire he belonged— shonld offer his services, if it was possible for him to do so. (Applause.) Mr. Massey's trenchant speech andtris outspoken denunciation 1 of past policy and present supineness evide&fciy appealed strongly to.his hearers, wb.6 applauded him frequently. Of the six ships building at Belfast, two are for the direct New Zealand trade and four for the Australian trade, making a final call at a New Zealand port.

• Oil coming out of the City Hall, Mr. Massey met <i New Zealand soldier (Pte. Venville), who was in the Mater Hospital, and hearing that some others in different institutions were unable to get out, he at once drove round to see them. Mr. Massey was deligEted to find that even here, so far from London, the War Contingent Association had a regular visitor, Mrs. Kerry, who called on him. In the evening the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress entertained a small party at dinner, and the following morning the Prime Minister's party left for Deny, the maiden city of the North.

THE WALLS OV DBRRY. The lino runs through'the smiling downs of Ulster, which even to-day, in tlie cold grip of winter, reflect the industrious prpspenty of the province. The farming here is not unlike that of the well-tilled lowlands of Scotland. The potatoes have suffered somewhat from blight, but there seems to be 2>lenty in the neatly-built pits which stiiud in every field between the remaining rows —about one in ten — of cabbages. The River Barm, running full-bodied through Coleraine, was almost the first landmark of which Mr. Massey retained youthful recollections. Beyond Coleraine the line curves round to the westward, fringing the north coast of Ireland. Here is Castlerock, where young Massey spent most of his summer holidays, and where still Londonderry and Coleraine disport themselves on tlie beecli. . A few miles farther on, where the line follows up the shore of Lough Foyle, it, crosses the outflow of tlie River Roe, in which the New Zealand Premier learned the art of swimming. Away to the left lies Limavady, and to the right a wide reclamation from the Lough, where the tKrifty fanners of Berry manage to prosper on the sandy soil of the sea level, protected from inundation only by a seabank of their own making. A mile or so southward the lough 'contracts to a narrow channel, and a cone of masonry marks the site of the boom thrown across in 1689 by James's army to hold back the succouring prows of the foodships, Phoenix, Dartmouth, and Mountjoy.

At Dcrry Station tho Prime Minister, was met by the' Mayor (Mr. Anderson), and the party made an interesting tour ct the old walls, a mile in circumference. HIS 'NATIONAL PLACK. Towards evening the party entrained again, and, retracing their route along[_t.Eo shores of .liougb. Jlojfe proceeded.bx

the branch line to Limavady, the Prime Minister's birthplace. It was after dark when the twin arived, but Limavady was well apprised of its approach by the whistling of engines and the detonatoin of fog signals in the distance. Though. Limavady has only about 2500 inhabitants, it provided a considerable and cordial crowd to welcome their townsman back home after his absence of forty-six years. Mr. Massey had a great reception at the station, and while he was Waiting to entet his motor, more than one "old identity" made himself known to the New Zealand leader.

The whole party were to be the guests during the week-end of Mr. Maurice M'Causeland, Deputy Lieutenant for the County of Londonderry; and as they drove off to his residence, Dienagh, which is about a mile out of Limavady, loud cheers were raised. Mr. M'Causland was a considerable landlord until the Wyndham Act came into operation ; and Mr. Massey's grandfather and other relatives were formerly tenants of the M'Causland estates, in the valley of the Roe. Mr M'Causland himself, was educated at .Eton and Cambridge, and besides being D.L., he farms himself a considerable area and takes a great interest in stock-breeding, especially Shorthorn cattle. Their knowledge of agriculture in two lands was a strong mutual interest, and Mr. Massey had the satisfaction of inspecting the famous Pellipar herd of Shorthorns belonging to Mr. M'Causland's brother-in-law, Col. Ogilby. This is quite the best herd in Ireland, and one of the best in the United Kingdom. More than one, Pellipar has reached New Zealand, but most of the important sales are now to Argentine breeders, who have the field almost to themselves during the war.

RECOLLECTIONS. Having left home at the age of fourteen, and been absent for forty-six years, Mr. Massey found some difficulty in re; cognising the different scenes of his youth. Childhood's memories of distances are so deceptive. But in the Kennaught, tEe southern section of the town, he was able, in spite of an intervening coat of stucco, to identify the substantial two-story farmhouse in which j he was born. He also pointed out tTie I spot in the River Roe where he learned to swim. At the. National School, in Irish Green-street, too, where to-day there are *about ninety scholars, Mr. Massey was able to indicate the seat he used to occupy; to tell a few stones of schoolboy pranks; and even to note that the cane hung in the same corner, like the sword of Damocles. _ Not the least interesting incident of this visit was his meeting with Samuel M'Laughlin,' a hale, well-set-up tradesman of Limavady, who furnished, I think, the best link with Mr. Massey's youth. He was a senior boy to the Prime Minister, and he corroborated local report that the schoolmaster (Mr. Brandon) regarded William Massey as the best learner and the besS runner in the school. "Our city of refuge," we used to call him," said Mr. M'Laughlin, "because when we could not do our sums we only had to hand them across, to him and they were done." Mr, M'Laughlin has only been out of Limavady for two years, when he went to London for business experience. Two former pupils of the school have lately been awarded the Military Medal fo* gallantry in the field. ' . ' Rather an interesting document was = placed in Mr. Massey's hands at Londonderry, in the shape of a poem addressed by the schoolmaster to the Prime Minister's father, Mr. John Massey, in April, 1862, when ; he was leaving, for New Zealand. 'Here are 'two of the printed verses, which read rather prophetically :

"Aspiring spirit, take your flight To that land that grows to fame; Keep for ever in your sight Paths that claim a Christian name. Wing your flight o'er sea and ocean, v View the lands in passing by; ' Grip in your exalted notion, Onward, onward, ever fly." Limavady, whose name derived from a legend means "dog leap," was at that time called Newtownlimavady, but the familial Irish prefix has since been dropped. The incumbent of" the Irish .church (■Canon King) who lias just returned from service with die Ulster Division at the front, handed to Mr. Massey v copy of his baptismal register. As a boy tho Prime Minister attended the second Presbyterian Church at Limavady, and with his wife and daughter he went again to the service there on Sunday morning-, an act which members of the Session Committee recognised by a special resolution, conveyed to Mr. Massey on the following day. "'We feel an especial pleasure," they wrote, "in the fact that you have joined with us in the worship of God in our church, with which you were associated in your early days." The pastor of the church was absent in France on Y.M.G.A. work.

Mr. Massey found several relations about Limavady whom he had known before he went to New Zealand, and he paid a number of calls on those vvho were unable to attend the public functions or to see him otherwise. FROM HIS .'NATIVE TOWN, Limavady marked its appreciation of its old townsman's career and its pleasura at nis visit by presenting Mr. Massey with., a beautifully illuminated address bound in a volume of views* On ; the first page is the inscription "Kia ] Ora," and then a verse fronTThackery's ' "Peg of Limavady," written Hvhile he was staying in the village. Amongst :the views are artistic little water colours of Dog Leap, Dungiven Castle, National School, and the Second Presbyterian Church.

The town was well beflagged for the occasion (the banners of Australia and New Zealand being prominent), and the town hall was prettily decorated within. Mr. Robert "Douglas, chairman of the Urban District Council, presided at the luncheon at which the address was presented. Mr. H. J,. Barrie, M.P.. and his, Honour Judge Brown, K.C., of the Roscommon County Court were amongst the gathering, in which Mr._ Massey recognised quite a number of friends and friend's friends.

In thanking the townspeople both.on Ins behalf and that of New Zealand, Mr. Massey said though his memory had been dimmed by forty-six years of strenuous colonial life, he had still the most affectionate recollections of the scenes of iiis youth and his boyhood friends, many of whom had passed that bourne from which no traveller returns. His own history was that of many others who had left the Old Land in the same way His people were sons of the soil in the valley of tho Roe for generations, and so the agricultural industry was. in his blood. Speaking of New Zealand's part in the war, 'Mr. Massey said as Jong, as it lasted, whatever the consequences, tho Dominion would continue to send her reinforcements. (Loud Applause.) He believed the mere fact of bringing tlie Compulsion Act into operation would suffice to keep up our numbers. He was as certain as he stood there- of the result of the war, but our soldiers must not be left- in the lurch. 1 No sacrifice was too great to enable us to win in this war. As for closer union, ho was not inclined to ask too much just now, as that only tendered to stir up strenuous opposition, but the Dominions were entitled to something. (Hear, hear.) It would not be of the slightest use winning the war with all our sacrifices if the Central Powers were allowed to get back into their old position. Was. it necessary for us to sit idle with hands clasped and behold, the loss of: ouk ships day. by dax'l -. He. .vwia Jot. st .fefefifliffiQS^Bs.

.thoroughly endorsed the suggestion wirich had been made that Germany should be given to understand that we intended to claim a ton of German shipping for every ton sunk by her., (Loud applause.) By her present policy she was malting it certain that we could not carry on our' commerce properly after the war. After the ceremony the Prime Minister visited certain places of interest in the town, including the Red Cross depot, where various phases of hospital supply work, including the preparation of 3phagnum moss, were iv progress. While at this institution he had placed in his hands the official report of the destroyer raid on the Kent coast, which he read to. the gathering. , Before leaving Limavady on Monday, Mr. Massey sent a message of thanks to the citizens, in vvhich he said: "It has given me the greatest gratification to visit the town of my birth, and to view again the scenes of. my boyhood, so full of vivid and lasting memories. . 1 shall look forward to having the opportunity of re-visiting Limavady on some future date, when I hope to see the prosperity of the town continuing to increase and tho present progress of the town maintained. On the evo of my departure I desire most cordially to express my best wishes for the welfare and prosperity of Limavady.''