OBITUARY.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIV, Issue 173, 29 July 1910, Page 7

OBITUARY.

HON. HENRY SCOTLAND.

LAN INDEPENDENT LEGISLATOR.

IN PARLIAMENT.

The death of the Hon. Henry Scotland, which occurred1 on Wednesday afternoon from heart failure, removes one who was., with a single exception, the oldest member of the Legislative Council (says The Dominion). Mr Scotland was a member of the Upper House for 42 years,, a period exceeded only by the Hon. W. D. H. '. Baillie, who has been a member for 49 years. His death leaves only <seven surviving life members of the Council—the Hons. Sir Charles, Bowen, Sir Henry Miller, J. D. Of-' mond, C. J. Johnston, E. C. J. Stevens, Sir G. M'Lean, and W. D. H. Baillie. But the career of the late Mr Scotland was remarkable not only for the long period of public service which he gave to this coxmtry, but also for the strong independence of character and of judgment, the culture and knowledge, as of an -earlier day, and the straightforward integrity which he carried with him into public life. Though his opinions upon many subjects were considered ■too conservative and old-fashioned •for" a majority of the younger memtiers round him, none could jhelp admiring the inflexible resolution with which he held to whatever course appeared to him to be right, and the vigor and directness with which^ he would express his views, notwithstanding how unpopular they might toe. Mr Scotland was in his 90th year, but he appeared to be quite in his usual health till Wednesday. He _ was '. in his place in the Council on Friday '. afternoon, but did not attend when \ members met again at 11 p.m. to ', receive the Imprest Supply Bill from I ±he House of Representatives. He did not get up yesterday morning, < and about 10 o'clock Dr. Qollins, a \ fellow-member of the Council, saw. { liim at his hotel. Apparently there •was then nothing in his case to cause anxiety, but about 1.10 p.m. ho ex- < pired suddenly from heart failure. ( STANDING ALONE. ' < The late Mr Scotland was born aiear London on July 11, 1821, and was the son of Mr George Scotland, C.8., Chief Justice of Trinidad. He was educated at the Merchant Taylors School, and at St., John's College, Oxford, and was called to the Bar in 1849. He arrived m NewZealand in 1850, and was called to the Legislative Council in 1868, as a representative for Taranaki. Of late years he had been living at Pahi, Auckland. Mr Scotland was often heard to commend the life period of appointment to the Council as against the shorter term, stating that a life member could say freely what, he liked, without having the sword of Damocles hanging over his head. His sturdy independence of opinion and action was strikingly displayed on the motion _to send a contingent to South Africa to take part in the Boer War, when Mr Scotland was the sole opponent in the Council of the motion, which was carried by 36 votes to one. The amount of courage required to take this stand can only be realised when one considers the excitement of the occasion, which caused members of the Council, after they had passed the resolution, to rise and sing the National Anthem and give cheers for Queen Victoria. "I will not vote for this motion," said Mr Scotland. "I would not vote for any motion of the kind unless I were convinced in the first place of its clear justice, and in the next place of its absolute necessity." If the Mother Country had been in danger he would have voted at once to send troops, but he could not see that it was in danger, and he, believed also that England was bound by treaty to respect the selfgovernment of the Boers. More recently, when the question of the confirmation of the "Dreadnought" offer was before the Council, Mr Scotland seconded the amendment of the Hon. J. Rigg disapproving of the offer, the amendment being lost by 26 votes to 2. A TOUCHING PRESCIENCE. Speaking only a few weeks ago in the Upper House, Mr Scotland concluded his remarks by expressing what may be recalled now as a touching prescience of the short span remaining to him. "His speech," he said, "might be called the opinions of an 'old fogey'—(No, no)—but he could not help being old, and old age had its advantages as well as its disadvantages." He then quoted in their full significance the imaginative words of Campbell, which are so often only partially quoted and misapplied: — " 'Tis the sunset of life gives me mystical lore, And coming events cast their shadows before." It had been stated for some time that Mr Scotland intended to retire soon from the Council. He leaves a widow, who is at present in Wellington, and two sons, of whom one is in Auckland and one in Rotorua. The funeral will take place m Auckland on Saturday next. REFERENCES IN THE HOUSE. The Prime Minister announced the death of the late Mr Scotland in the House on Wednesday afternoon. He stated that Mr Scotland had been 42 years in the Legislative Council,. and died in his 90th year. He -was, therefore, one of the very old identities, irha were now a fast-diminishing

number. Sir Joseph Ward recounted the chief points in the career of the late Councillor, and said he was sure that those members of the House who had known Mr Scotland would deeply regret his removal from the Legislature, where he had been a conspicuous figure for so mauy years, and he was. sure the House would join in conveying their deepest sympathy to his widow and sons in the great loss they-had sustained. The Prime Minister then, moved a motion expressing the House's high sense of the faithful services rendered "by the late Mr' Scotland, and tendering to his widow its assurance of sincere sympathy in her bereavement.

Mr Massey, in seconding the motion, said tha.t the late Mr Scotland had been connected with the public life of the Dominion from its earliest years. Dtiring his long career he had been looked upon as a straight-going, outspoken, conscientious man^ a man who had the courage of his opinions, and who was respected greatly by his fellow-colonists. He had gone to his rest full of years. He believed that he had died in harness just as a man of his strong character would -have desired.

Mr Jennings, Member for Taumarunui, said that as one who had had some associations with the late Mr Scotland, he could only join in the views expressed by the Prime Minister and Mr Massey. Mr Scotland was not the oldest member of the Legislative Council, that distinction being claimed by the Hon. W. D. H. Baillie. He was a man of very remarkable literary and other attainments, he had been a member of the Provincial Council of Taranaki, and an aspirant for the position of superintendent of the province. He was absolutely independent in his judgments, and when he felt that he was right, there was no hesitation* on his part in standing up against the "vox populi." Mr Russell (Avon) referred to the sincerity and independence of Mr Scotland's character. Men like Mr j Scotland left a mark upon public life which they could ill afford to spare. The motion was carried unanimously, and the House adjourned until evening, out of respect to the memory of Mr Scotland.