SOCIAL TO MR CLARK M.P.

Evening Star, Issue 14625, 22 July 1911, Page 12

SOCIAL TO MR CLARK M.P.

PURSE OF SOVEREIGNS PRESENTED. ■ GIFT FROM ANDERSON BAY. " The member for Chalmers, Mr E. H. Clark. M.P., has won esteem among parliamentarians and constituents alike since he entered the House of Representatives in 1908. His constituency is a large one. embracing country, rural towns, and some of the suburban districts of Dnnedin. This was exemplified by the gentlemen on the platform of the. Anderson Bay Presbyterian School at the social tendered to him last night. The chair was occupied by Mr T. Somerville. chairman of the Bay Town Board, and with him and the guest of the "vening were Mr R. Riddle (Mayor of Pnlmerston',. Crs E. Le Fevre and W. Robertson (of the Palmerston Borough Council), Cr H. O'Neill (of the Waihemo County Council), Mr J. Crisp (of Palmerston). Mr D. M'Gregor (of Flag Swamp), and Mr J. Maxwell '(of Waikouaiti), besides other well-known Punedin gentlemen. The half was quite filled with ladies and gentlemen, there bcins over 100 present. The Chairman said he had only known Mr Clark for the last couple of years. fince that gentleman had represented then. in Parliament in t'.ick Mr Clark, however, had been in public life for no less_ than 21 year*, and the experience thus gained had I been of great beneGt to the various local j bodies in his constituency. Some years ago . the Mam road in the Kay was in a very | bad state—almost as hid as those ot South j Dunedin and Mornington. (Laughter.) They askwl Mr Clark to secure a Government grant for this necessary work, and Mr Clark got it. Later on. owing to the disgraceful and- dangerous State of the "school road. Mr Clark was j again approached, and again he got j the grant. The local body hoped to j start this work in a week or two. Mr ; Clark was well liked and respected on both j sides of the House. For instance. Messrs j T. K. Sidev. J. F. Arnold, and G. M. j Thomson. M.P.s. in apologising for ah- j -ence, had given cordial testimony of the | *steem and appreciation in which Mr Clark \ was held in parliamentary circles. Such ; being the cafe, the district should he proud i ft having such a man to represent them, j (Applaiisl) As to Mr Clark's history, ho -, was bom at Macrae's Flat in 1873; emirated at Palmc-ston High School, which he ! left in 1839 : was apprenticed to thy build- : in<* trade, and was now n building con- | tractor. In public affaire Mr Clark was a : member of the Palmerston Borough Coun- i cil from 1894 to 1902. .-ml Mayor ot Pal , merston from 1902 to 1908. He had served : on the High School Committee since I&V>. ! rising reeentlv to the chairmanship. He I had "been associated with the Caledonian | Sccietv, cricket, ioothall, cycling, bowling, and athletic clubs, and had also passed through the various offices m the Masonic [ and Oddfellows Lodge*. He had been ; cdntain ot the volunteer corps _ tor j eight years, having obtained his captaincy , with very hizh distinction. Mr Clark had ; shown his pluck in his first contest for Parliament, when he stood against, Mr; Thomas Mackenzie in* ISOS. Three years , later Mv Clark contested Chalmers with the late Mr E. G- Allen, generally regarded , as one of the hardest men to -unseat in . Outgo. Altogether it could be truly said ; that" Mr Clark had not shirked his duty as : a public man. (Hear, hear.) Turning to Mr Clark, the chairman said he had a very pleasant duty to perform. The Anderson Bav people could not allow the occasion to'pass without expressing in some small way the appreciation in which Mr Clark was held bv them. The Chairman then presented Mr .Clark with, a purse ot sovereigns, expressive of the esteem in which Mr Clark was held "as a man." The chairman at the same , time expressed the hope that Mr Clark j would again contest the Chalmers seat at ! the next election, and that Mr and Mrs ; , Clark would be spared many years of hap- j pinees. (Applause.) Cr Pryor, of the Bay Town Board, said j that Mr" Clark had done more for the dis- ] trict in two years than all the ether mem- j hers had done in the previous 25 years, and | had been the only member to bring a j Minister t# the district—Hon. R. M'Ken- i zie. . . ) Other brief speeches appreciative of Mr Clark's character and services were made hv Mr Riddle, Mr H. E. Moller (Mayor of | West Harbor), Mr \V. Belcher (chairman ! of the Otago Harbor Board), Mr Crisp, Mr \ M'Gregor, Mr W. Pryor (secretary of the J Kmplovers' Association), and Mr Le Fevre. Before Mr Clark rose to reply the audience rose and sang heartily 'For He's a Jollv Good Fellow,' followed by twee warm cheer*. Mr Clark rose to speak at about 10 p.m. In regard to the references to his activity in public affairs, he said that battle was the spice of life, especially if one were j trying to better +he position of one's tel- j iow-men who needed help. He had come to Anderson Bay practically as a stranger, j One speaker (Mr Crisp) said he thought it j was a pity that a member's utility should be gauged by his success in securing Go- j vernmeut money for his district. _ But if a member did not look after his districc he I would not stay long in Parliament. A I member was there to represent the. wishes | of Lis people. At the same time, he j thought the present system of allocating grants was unfair, especially when the Estimates were delayed till the end of the session. Was it right that if a member voted " straight'' on some particular question—according to his own ideas, irrespective of his party's attitude—that ho should have to do so knowing that that vote was going to be the means of making some unfortunate farmer have to drive his horses along a road in mud up to their knees? A member might have his opinions, but he had to think of those whom he represented. Until the party system was abolished this difficulty would continue. He had always weighed his vote to see whether lie could'help the people of New Zealand and those of bis electorate, fine of the difficulties of a young member was to sink his own personal opinions, and remember that he was representing 12,000 people. He did not despair of the practicability of non-party government. Ho had gone to Parliament to learn, and he had fried 1 to avoid the mistake of trying to "fly his kite " too early. Turning to local matters, Mr Clark said the people of Dunedin had made a great mistake when they let Fo-buiy Park slip :hrough their hands. He had tried to get :he whole of Anderson Bay inlet for a recreation reserve. Ten acres had been reserved for that purpose, and the ground would be available for the people of Dun- j edin, for he believed that before long An- i derson Bay would be merged in Duned'n. j (Applause.) The speaker 'went on to deal ! with Defence matters, and reiterated his j opinion that the volunteer system, pro- : perlv fostered, was superior to compulsion. He pointed out. the unjust application of ■ the latter system on a young man working , on a dairy farm, and he advocated his own scheme of encouraging volunteering by the Government taking out a life assurance endowment policy on every volunteer, and paying the premiums so long as he Temained in the force. The speaker i doubted whether New Zealand could bear i the cost of the new Defence scheme, which he thought would amount to £700.000 a j year. He conclude?! by saying that he did j iioi think he had made many enemies, and I he asked those who differed from him on j *ay point to come to him about it. He ; ■was not thin-skinned. It was on the j tkat the Anderson Bay district might bo j ctrt out of Chalmers "electrate. He sin- j. asrexv hoped not; but if it was, ho hoped I the. people would treat their new member. ■whosveT he might be, as well as they had ; treated him. lApplause.) j During the evening refreshments were j handed round, and a musical programme | was contributed to by Mies Elsie P'yor, I Mr H. B. Austing, Mi's W. Bennett, Messrs A. J. Maxwell, A. Bull, J. Henderson, J. Jago, A. -J. Downing, Gordon Sutherland, ; Mx A. E- Fsrrant, Mrs F. T. Anderson, I Mrs F. Meek, and Mr and Miss Begg. I