The Premier.

Manawatu Standard, Issue 7403, 19 September 1902, Page 3

The Premier.

In a very remarkable article on "fh< Thre« Premiers,'1 Mr T. P. O'Connor deals sueecssiv.'lv with thi: urn most promiiitiil. colonial ) :\_n>!crs nrf now in tliis country, Hie l'lirm Minister* of Canada, New Ze,fi.!nnr mid Australia, ar,d in that order o' precedence. After describing Sir Wilfrid L.'Mlr ier, " Tftv Pay " proceeds : " I lake next the type which is most opposite to all this—a man who is just ns unmistnV'ably John Bull as the other man in unmistnkahly Gallic; I mean Mr .Seddon. That large powerfu1 frame, with the great jaw and the fair coloured heard, Hie massive shoulders, the firm limbs,' Ihe swell at the waist, and tho eyes that ehanpe their expression so frequently—who could ever ini.-.lakc that figure for anybody but an Englishman ? Mr Seddon, indeed, might-sit before an artist ol genius who had been asked to give an Immortal picture of the avenge and epitomised John Uvu : he could stand for all the race. Tlcrrthe strength is not hidden, nor if ieffaced nor subtle : it J"">l>'i eyc-a ns the French saying »?• ''{ ls nian would have l«;i a to«-cr,n* g-, ure and a dominant one in wtuUsovcr he attempted ;in the mine in the mart, in tre prize ring where men light with muscles and their doKeed courage, or the Parliamentary forum.—where men pit—sometimes with fiercer and certainly more enduring ferocity—their brains, their wills and their temperaments against one another. I rave seen many reports of ihe speeches of Mr Seddon ; i:ot only do none of them ever do justice to the man and his powers, but most of them do a positive injustice. He i:; a somewhat unequal speaker, Hear him at a little festive gathering, and though he is fluent, self-possessed, he says nothing that is very striking ; he does't always understand the moment he should sit down. He speaks a quaTtcr of an hour ; ha should speak for only five minutes. But give him an opportunity o! speaking at length and on the "subject or which he feels deeply, and then you grasp the secrets of the man's power I heard him once speak for an hour and a-half ; it was one of the most tremendous performances I ever heard. From the first word to the last it was all in the tone Of tremendous force and passion ; ail the massive strength of the man's great physique was behind every word; ant1 yet, when the speech came to an end it was in the same strong, passion ate terms ; in the same deep, loud, resounding voice. I could compare the speech to nothing but a great mountain torrent when the rains had been heavy, and it was rushing down to the sea with all the impetus of a thousand streams, tearing, throttling amid screams and shouts, in their efforts to get first to the centre of the bed and and the first to the embrace of thr sea. And the ideas of the ip.an 1 r.v< something of the turbidity of thr mountain stream ; for, vi all erlt.ctir politics, his are the most eclectic He is Jingo and 'Socialist; humanitarian and ruthless warrior ; an apostle of the New World ; a worshipper ot the Old. And the character seems the same. At one time thick clouds on the brow make the man look almost savage, and then there is a pleasant smile and a wink from the fine blue gray eyes, and you understand the man ; he is the type of millions you have known ; savage and forgiving— autocratic and yet diplomatic ; able to push through to his goal by sheer brute strength, and yet knowing how to help .strength by wile ; above all things, ready at any moment to shake, heartily by the hand and to take to his capacious bosom a foe he has thoroughly beaten. Such is Richard Seddon.

"The oratory of such a man can be, at times, trying—even exasperating, but it is always inspiring and always interesting ; often it is thrilling. I will never forget the immense sensation he created in one speech he delivered when he used these words : ' God forfend the day should ever come when-} England would count the cost in money when her honour is involved.' The words are not original, of course, nor the sentiment; but spoken in the thun-der-notes of this man, with his huge head, his masterful look, his overwhelming personality, they almost make you see embodied in him the tough strength, the indomitable will of the nation that .has just war. red doggedly—through disaster, humiliation, division—for three long jetxe."