A WORTHY CAREER

Evening Post, Volume 50, Issue 50, 27 August 1926, Page 8

A WORTHY CAREER

MR. F. D. THOMSON, C.M.G.

HONOURED BY MANY FRIENDS

JfANDHOME PRESENTATION.

Members o£ Parliament and numerouh other friends gathered in Parliament House last night to testify to tho ostooin in which they hold Mr. T, D. Thomson, C.M.G., pormanont head of tlio Prime Minister's Department, who will acconvpany tho Primo Minister shortly to the Imperial Conference. Mr. Thomson was presented with a gold stopwatch and chain. Mr. J. A. Nash, M.P., presided over the gathering.

Mr. Hope Gibbons (Mayor of Wanganui) proposed the toast of the Prime Minister, and said that Mr. Coates had fulfilled the belief of the late Mr. Massey that ho had all the qualifications for tho Primo Ministership, and would be tho right man to bo his successor. The country could rest assured . that Mr. Coates would worthily uphold the interests of tho Dominion and the cause of unity of the Empire at the Imperial Conference.

Mr. Coates, in reply, said he did not know why tho Eeform Party should have chosen him to be its leader, but with the goodwill and co-operation of his party, and members of Parliament generally, he would endeavour to do his best for the country. That would be his aim at tho Imperial Conference.

The presentation to Mr. Thomson was made by Mr. Arthur Bennett, of Palmerston North, who said that the recipient had had a wonderful record in the service of the State, and one of which any man might be proud of.

Thanking everybody sincerely for the handsome presentation, which he would treasure to the end of his life, and for the hearty way in which the toast of hia health, had been drunk, Mr. Thomson remarked that it was 31 years since he had joined the Public Service. For over twenty-five years he had served as a private secretary, and of the members of the House when he joined the Secretarial Corps only four were left. None of the Legislative Councillors of that time were left. He .had had experience of eight General Elections, and had served under seven Prime Ministers —Mr. Seddon, Sir "William Hall-Jones, Sir Joseph "Ward, Sir Thomas Mackenzie, Mr. Massey, Sir Francis Bell, and Mr. Coates. Four of these he had served in a personal capacity. Mr. Thomson also said that ho had served under three Sovereigns and six Governors. He had been at the Colonial Conference with Mr. Seddon in 1902, was present at the Coronation of King Edward, and had been at the Peace Conference and various Imperial Conferences since. He was the first New Zealand member of the Imperial Secretariat, a body which performed valuable work for the Empire. Mr. Thomson, in concluding his speech, montioned that there was one body of men to whom he desired to pay a tribute — the members of the Press. Not once had he known a confidence betrayed by a Pressman. Mr. Thomson mentioned that friends had often told him that he mush be in a position to be able to write a very interesting book of reminiscences. His attitude, however, was that he had been the repository of many State and political secrets during his career, and at no time would he ever be induced to divulge any of them in a book. (Applause.)

During the remainder of the evening various other toasts were honoured.