THE LATE DR BEDFORD

Evening Star, Issue 16662, 19 February 1918, Page 5

THE LATE DR BEDFORD

■ APPRECIATIONS BY MINISTERS. Wo have received the following communications:— It was with great regret that I received the news of the tragic death of .the late Dr,H. D. Bedford. I well remember his election as member for Dun- " edin City in 1902, when, tho electors returned him at the head of the poll. Ho .wias one of tho youngest men who have had the honor of a seat in Parliament, and he took a prominent part ixt the strenuous political Jife of the Dominion at that time. The late Dr Bedford was * ™n of high, ©durational attainments, and .had- a distinguished university career. It is, however, in the field of temperance and economics that his labors are best known. He was throughout his life a warm and enthusiastic champion of tho cause of temperance—a reform with which his memorv will be associated in the years to come". By Ms death the Dominion has lost one who was an earnest advocate of reform in many of the activities of public life. •• Although not always able to agree with the views he strongly held on public questions, it "must be conceded that he was at all times actuated by high principles and an earnest desire" to improve the social and moral well-being of the community.—W. F. Massey. ; I was exceedingly &orry to hear of the untimely death of Dr Bedford. Although he was not born in New Zealand, he was educated in the Dominion, and was a brilliant .student of political economy, and a man who took a very - prominent part in the public life of New Zealand. His death removes from tho public arena a young man' whom the country oould ill afford to lose.—J. G. Ward. I very deeply regret to hear of Professor Bedford's death. A, young and promising life has been lost to the University and the Dominion.—J. Allen. I exceedingly deplore the untimely death of Dr Bedford. He had by pluck, industry, and ability raised himself to a high position, andhe loved the people from whom he had sprung. His trained Intellect, broacr sympathies, and truc- ' _ taaitedness will be sadly missed amongst ihe democratic forces "of the Dominion when we come seriously to grapple with the problems that will demand settlement after the war.—G. W. Russell. T join in sympathy with those who •recognise that New Zealand has lost one of her brilliant sons.—Thomas Wit/fortx THE CHIEF JUSTICE'S TRIBUTE. I am very sorry to hear of Professor Bedford's unfortunate death. By his devotion to economic and social science I had hoped that he would do much as a teacher for our country. I am sure that his loss will be felt, for he was ever anxious to use his talents for New Zealand's social advancement.—Robert Stout. ANOTHER APPRECIATION. [By Mr A. S. Malcolm, M.P.] I was on the railway station at Bal:iutha when, on the arrival of the train from Dunedin. a friend informed me that Professor Bedford was dead. The news at once spread, and the exclamations I heard there and at other places down the line to which I carried the news showed that, in the opinion of the people, a man of mark had passed away. The feeling was one of dismay. I can remember only one occasion comparable to it, and that was when the tragic news reached us that Richard Seddon was dead. It is,, a great tribute to Dr Bedford that his death should have created such a sense of loss and dismay. There is a very foolish saying that no man is indispensable. When the people heard of his death there was a, sudden and subtle revelation of just how much Dr Bedford had meant to the community, and a recognition that he was indispensable, if not to -this cause or that cause, to much that makes for the well-being and advancement of the people. Many thousands in Dunedin would know Dr Bedford better than I did, but perhaps I may be pardoned for giving my impressions of a man who was so distinguished and whom I esteemed so highly. • By this generation Dr Bedford will always be remembered as an orator. There was, I thought, nothing very striking about his personality; but he was . modest, unassuming, utterly without side or affectation, and never made any effort to impress the company he was in. By those who did not know him well he might perhaps be thought an impulsive and even violent man, but he always struck me as being very cautious, and determined to know his ground before he ventured upon it. But, an opinion once formed and the need for statement being felt, he expressed that opinion emphatically and fearlessly. I have said that Dr Bedford will be remembered as an orator. The most notfeature in his oratory, it always seemed to me, was its appeal to the intellect. He had a quite extraordinary power of lucid statement. Ho could explain a difficult subject so that even the dull understood it. But he had a much greater power than that. He, could make an audience not only understand a subject, but appreciate it. J. here was little danger of anyone going from one of his meetings, and saying of any question he had diecussed: '* I understand all that, but it doesn't count." The common feeling was: "How much moTe important that subject is than I thought." I need not dwell on gifts which all who have heard him must have recognised. From what I have heard, I judge there few men in the Empire who had equal gifts to his as an orator. I am sure that Dr Bedford would have wished that no comment on himself or his life, no matter how casual, should Ignore his interest in the cause of Prohibition. He had given the whole subject the closest study, and he was convinced that industrially, commercially, financially, physically, socially, and morally the drink traffic was a. curse, and in the effort to have the drink traffic prohibited he spared neither time, effort, nor money. As professor of economics and history he had found a place for which he was almost ideally fitted. What it meant to the coming generation to have a man of his mental and moral endowments teaching in our highest seat of learning only the future can tell. His death is an incalculable loss. MR ISITTS TRIBUTE. [Special to the ' Stah.'] CHRISTGHTJRCH, February 19. In conducting the service at the'Sydenham Methodist Church on Sunday night, Mr L. M. Isitt, M.P., referred thus to the drowning of Dr Bedford i "I have not only lost a valued friend, but the cause so dear to my heart has lost the one man best fitted by knowledge and ability to become its leader. But it is not only the Temperance cause that suffers. All tho religious and moral forces of thi3 Dominion axe immeasurably the poorer by reason of Dr Bedford's sudden death. He was not only a man of outstanding gifts: ho w.as a man of • unswerving rectitudej of noble impulse, .and broad humanitarianism, and I have always looked forward to .his . re-entering politics and taking the leading position in the House his gifts, attainments, and character would have entitled him to. You know how few men of his stamp there aTe in our public life to-day, and now,, in tho hour of his greatest promise and our greatest need, he is taken ■ from us. In my opinion, there aTe very few men in New Zealand whom we can at -_ this juncture so ill afford' to lose. Apart from all this, however, our hearts and sympathies go out to that desolated home and the widowed wife and orphaned children in tho south. We can estimate to some extent' how crushing' is the blow that has come upon them so suddenly, and commend them in all earnestness and sincerity to the consolation. of One who can -both svmpathisc and aid. I ask the con-gregation-to rise and indicate by a silent vote their regret at our friend's death and sympathy with his family in their bereavement." Mr Isitt remarked to a 'Star' reporter today that while his affairs rendered it impossible for Dr Bedford to stand at thrj iast . General Election, although he was j ~f£9. n ß]y urged to do so, he had expressed We intention after a few vears to re-enter J

the political arer.a. In Mr Isltt's opinion. Dr Bedford's sane sympathy with Labor, balanced as it was by his'.knowledge of economics ?nd commercial matters, would have made, him just tho man to lead a rational Labor party, and shape wisely the political future of tho Dominion.A GOOD SWIMMER. [Special to the ' Stab, 'j CHRISTCHURCE, February 19. It is said that the late Dr Bedford was quito a competent swimmer and surfer. During 4}is "last visit to Christchurch ho paid a visit to New Brighton along with Mt W. J. Mason, secretary of the Christchurch Y.M.C.A. They went in for a bathe, and the impression left on Mr Mason's mind was that Dr Bedford was a very capable mail in tho water. He took a few lessons on a surf board, but after lie discarded the board he swam and dived in thr. breakers in a fashion which showed that he was no mere apprentice'in the art of swimming. \ WHAT THE -PRESS SAY. The late Dr Bedford was a man of splendid character and high ideals. His sympathies were always with the masses, and as parliamentarian, and later as lecturer and pamphleteer, he was consistently a champion of popular rights against private aggression. As a public speaker he had few, if any, contemporary equals in the Dominion, and his speeches, rising at times to heights of_oratory, were invariably lucid, cogent, and logically constructed.—'Lyttelton Times.' / It was quite anticipated by those who knew Dr Bedford and realised his mental grip that he would Zealand's best historian, not excepting Dr M'Nab, for he had the gift of conveying a literary flavor to all that he wrote. His personality contained that subtle element of charm which is rarely met with in men, but which is invariably found in the true orator. With all his learning, he was one of the most unassuming of men, and was prepared to talk with anyone. Few, il any, in the Dominion equalled, let alone excelled, Dr Bedford in the gift oi oratory. Form his very early days he was a pronounced Prohibitionist, and had to face hostile audiences. Also in his political campaigns audiences were not always mendly, but, with rare tact and patience, ho never failed to win a hearing, and he even did more, for he won' converts to his cause fronj his foes. ... As a leader in the temperance cause, as an ardent social reformer, as a writer, and orator, and coming historian, New Zealand could ill afford to lose such a man. The bition cause loses in him one of its foremost men, its most cultured and gifted orators, and the Methodist Church its finest lay preacher.—' North Otago Times.' As a platform speaker the late professor had few equals in this country, and his earnestness in the cause of temperance reform and social subjects of all kinds making for the betterment of the people endeared him to many who did not, perhaps, always see eye to eye with him on the liquor question. His earnestness and sincerity were never questioned, and his untimely and tragic death is, a distinct loss to this Dominion.—' Free Press.' The council of the Chamber of Commerce last evening passed a resolution of condolence with the wifo and relatives of the late Dr Bedford. A Wangamii message states that there was a very large audience in the Opera House last night, on the occasion of the lsctivra by Professor Trueblood. The meeting passed a vote expressing regret at Dr Bedford's death and conveving condolence to his widow. At a ; meeting of the St. Kilda Borough Council last evening the Ma-vor (Mr C. N. Scurr) referred in feelins' terms to the death of Dr Bedford. The Mayor said that every member of the council must have been greatly grieved at such a great loss, not only to Dunedin, but to the whole Dominion. Dr Bedford was one of the brightest and most distinguished citizens of Dunedin. He was a product of the great secular system of education, which had made New Zealand what it was to-day. Dr Bedford rose by his mm energy, grit, and genius to one of the highest scholastic positions in the Dominiom They all grieved when they heard of his tragic end. During the time they had known him they had learned to admire him. They might not have agreed with him politically, and they might have differed from him on some "of the great social questions upon which he frequentlv disconrsed to the public, but he was an honest and an honorable man, and one to whom everyone could look for an example. Every man and woman in the Dominion had lost a friend who-had the interest of the country at heart. By his early death New Zealand had sustained the hiss of a national asset- and received a trajjic blow. The council desired to express their sympathy with Mrs Bedford and her family in their great and irreparable loss. Hemoved—"That this council extend to the relatives of the late Dr Bedford their sincere sympathy in the loss they and the Dominion have- suffered by his early death, and that a copy of this "resolution be forwarded to his bereaved relatives." The motion was carried by a silent vote, councillors standing with bowed heads • At a meeting of the Christchurch Ministers' Association last night the -Rev. W. J. Williams referred to the great loss the Dominion and every good cause had suffered through the death of Dr Bedford. The secretary was instructed to send a letter of sympathy to Mrs Bedford.