Reception of the News in the Colony.

Marlborough Express, Volume XXXIX, Issue 135, 11 June 1906, Page 2

Reception of the News in the Colony.

Widespread Regret.

WELLINGTON, June 11. The news of the Premier's' death! came as a great shock to the Welling-f ton public, and caused a sensation.! Iho public offices and many leading! merchants, solicitors, and others aref closing, and all flags are lowered tol half-mast. . | The greatest sympathy j s expressed! with Air Seddou's family. | AUCKLAND, Juno 11. I .(receipt: of the news of Mr SeddonVJ death created a sensation. All the! courts closed. The sbarebrokers pa.us-1 ed on an uncompleted call, and decided! to transact no further 'business to-f day. I Mr Frank Bullon has postponed ■'hiss hrst lecture, announced for tq-nifht. | CH.RISTCHUIWH, June 11. 1 The news of Mr Seddon's dcatli was! received with deep sorrow in Christ-| church, withal with much incredulity? till the evening papers published! ■specials. i The Mayor (Sir' John Hall) invited j citizens to close their places of busi-| ness, and all meetings of public.bodiesf will be adjourned in respect to the'! memory of the late Premier. The! Cathedral bells were tolled. f DUNEDIN, June 11. § The Town Hail bell tolled 61 times! at minute intervals, and flags were! flown at half-mast everywhere". TheJ Hillside railway workshops closod in ac-f cordance Avith a requisition sent in by| a majority of the men. & WA'NUANUT, June 11. | The news of Mr Seddon's suddens death caused a great shock hero, and^ i^ universal feeling of pain and regret. 13 The To Ante and other Colleges' Com-jj nii.siou adjourned out of respect to thej memory of the deceased statesman,^ and the public schools also closed. ■ i

" ' T^NELSON, June 11. y /Theii<cWs~6? Mr Seddon's death was Ihardtif believed at first, but when its lawful suddenness was realised the HarIbour Board and Licensing Committee ! adjourned, flags were flown half-mast;, and business partially suspended. '■ ASHBCJRTON, June 11. The news of Mr Seddon's death was received here with great regret. , Flags were flown half-mast on' the public buildings and business premises, and the schools disbanded immediately..the news was received. GREYMOUTH, June 11. . I The news of Mr Seddon'-s death" causled a painful sensation. Bells tolled,' I and meetings of public bodies were ad-, jomn . WESTPORT, June 1.1. At the request, of the Mayor, all business premises will close this afternoon owing to the death of the Premier. HOKITTKA, June 11. The news of the death of the Pre- " imier caused profound grief. The fireI bell was tolled, and as soon as the news i spread flags were flown at half-mast I and business places and public offices I closed. Messages of sympathy have I been despatched to Mrs Seddon at 1 Sydney and to members of the family I in the Colony, as well as to the Aet--1 ing-Premier. I NAPIER, June 11. tl The news of Mr Seddon's shockingly | sudden death was received with gen-] Serai regret. Several local bodies' meet- £ ings adjourned out of respect, andi je Sags throughout the district are fly'fi ins at half-mast. • 1 • . HASTINGS, June 11. _ 1 Flags' were flying at half-mast this I afternoon but of respact to the late I Premier. - The shops closed from three i§o'elock.

The Bt. Hon. R. J. Seddon, was born on the 23rd June, 1845,; at St. Helens, Lancashire, bis father being a schoolmaster 'and his mother 3ne of those elect. British matrons who, no matter what their individual position in life, serve their nation by giving-tlieir - ko'ns: that fnost pYecious Inheritance: the example of a most, righteous homo life. While still a mere youth he left England for a more spacious sphere, choosing Victoria; where he. stayed for six years learning.the invaluable lesson of absolute self-reli-ance. With this fine apprenticeship,, the best that a young man can have in a new country, he arrived in New Zealand in 1869, and started to hew his way to fame and fortune as a miner on one of the most inomising fields. Ten years, later he won his spurs as.a public man, when he was returned for Hokifcika in the House of Representatives, which he entered, consciously or.unoonsciously, to assist in making history. From that date the- historian measures his career, and notes those radiating periods which have resulted in gaining him the affections of his adopted countrymen, a reputation that is not circumscribed by the limits of che twin island colony and a place in the Table of Precedency, which is the visible evidence of the Crown's appreciation and esteem. 'Having represented for two years what may be described, in liis case^ as a probationary seat, Mr Seddon was returned for Ivumara, and nine years later became the elect of Westland, the . constituency which has ever since been,bracketed with his name. His accession to Ministerial rank occurred when he took office as Minister for Mines in the Ballance Government, when it was not long before he was recognised as the right hand man of the Administration,; and, after his chief, the strongest personality in New Zealand. ' As to his career, who being familiar with the lives of the statesmen- of Australasia does not know it in more detail than is possible in the present review? Suffice it to say that he became Prime Minister of the Colony in the year mentionad, thus entering upon that stewardship the brilliancy of which has shown the country what might have been lost had fate willed the selection otherwise. For it was as Premier that Mr Seddon had the opportunity, the " chance " which he used to such advantage that when the time came to make himself a practical champion of British unity, and New Zealand the Motherland's mogt-ijieturesjqiie lieutenant, he found the entire people behind him sanguine in his judgment and proud of his interpretation of their loyalty. Mr Seddon had many evidences of the esteem in which he is held by his countrymen both in New Zealand and abroad. Harking back to the thrilling days of the Coronation, one evidence is worth recalling—the welcome of the Association .of. - Lancastrians, headed by the Earl of Derby. In describing that spirited function at the Hotel Cecil, London, an .English paper took occasion to review the distinguished i visitor's association with Lancashire. Here it instanced how, when he went clown to see his former home at St. Helens, he stood up in his carriage and, addressing the assembled multitude, said, "Yvell, OhVe coom ivhoam !" in the dialect of the coun-

I try. It was an affectionate greeting which won cheers, but. behind it was much that way pathetic, if we allowed ror all that must have happened uince the time the youthful immigrant set forth on his pilgrimage. The most noteworthy achievements gof the SeddonAdministration have been I the theme of article after article, for I weeks past, and there is scarcely an I act or an episode i;i the late Premier's public life that requires at this time to be specifically mentioned. His best claims to public gratitude rest on his labour law systematise tion, his land settlement legislation, his cheap money for the farmers scheme, and the oldage pension, which he had it- in his mind at the last to improve and extend. But it was by his methods of administration xio less than by his legislation that Mr Seddon rose to such eminence. His bold, and .comprehensive direction of the public works, the finances, and the industries of the Colony, have produced results of the most far-reaching character. It is almost entirely to him that the country owes ito present financial soundness—he saved the Bank of New Zealand and a national disaster—and its pproud position as a legislative example gin the eyes of the whole civilised world, sit is remarkable that Mr Seddon If should have died in the very zenith of lliis power and influence, only a few after the people had declared Sgfor his policy by a poll which at the jgsame time annihilated the Opposition, a With life and health the late Premier sfmight, for all that could be foreseen, enjoyed office as long as ho cared g|to keep it. |j At the meeting of the Borough held in committee last Monday levelling it was unanimously resolved

hat a cablegram conveying congratu* ions bo sent to the Right Hon. tin .-Vernier, and in pursuance of the reso* ution tlie Mayor (Mr E. H. Penny) lespatched the following cablegram oil Tuesday, the sth :— Right Honourable Seddon, Melbourne. Blenheim sincerely congratulates .on on Australia's warm desire to do lonour to our Premier ; we join in with hearty good wishes.—Penny.; Mayor. In reply to this the Mayor yestorlay received from Sydney, timed 7.55 p.m. Saturday, the following cable evidently one of the last public acts ■performed by Mr Seddon): — His "Worship the'JVlayor, 131enheim. Congratulations, much, appreciated. ■iritralians boon very kiiid.to me; my aarty good wishes with yourself and occl people Blenheim; very kind you hinfc of me.—Seddon.