Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1922, THE PRIME MINISTER.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 446, 11 July 1922, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1922, THE PRIME MINISTER.

It was ton years ago yesterday since Mr Massey accepted office and was sworn in as Prime Minister of New Zealand, in succession to the Hon, Thomas Mackenzie, who for just over one hundred days headed a stop-gap Ministry, without Parliamentary sanction, with which it was hoped to retrieve the virtual defeat sustained by the Liberal Party, when Mr Massey’s no-confidenco motion, proposed during the short session of 1912, was only staved off by the casting vote of the Speaker. After more than twenty-one years of Continuous Liberal Administration, few people were prepared to believe, much less to admit, that the Reform Party, whose fortunes Mr Massey had so long championed in Opposition, had come to stay; and had anyone, at that stage in the government of the country, ventured to predict that Mr Massey would remain continuously iu office for ten years, and be found “going strong” at the end of that period, lie would simply have been “laughed out of countenance.” But it is the unexpected that happens both in politics and war, and, entering upon Ids eleventh year of office yesterday as head of the Government, Mr Massey remains the acknowledged leader of', our young nation, respected by the great majority of the people, beloved and trusted" by not a few, and almost generally acknowledged as the one strong and capable leader in whose hands tho destinies of the country are safe. AVe say that, in spite-of the fact that the no-confidence motion, introduced in the Address-in-Reply debate by the Leader of the Opposition, remains unsettled, and despite the impending further uo-confideuce motion which it is believed the restless spirits in the Labour Corner are believed to be contemplating on the second “cut” in salaries, for everyone knows that this is election year, and that each side is striving to convince a sceptical electorate that “ Codlin’s the friend, not Short” and vice versa. AVhatever one may think of his political beliefs and actions it is impossible to get away from the conclusion that Mr Massey has proved a capable administrator and worthy successor to his predecessors iu office; that lie has upheld the honour and dignity of the nation in a manner which has won the respect and admiration of the world and that, during the strenuous years which have marked his leadership of the country, he lias been an example to all men, never flinching from the path of duty, remaining continually at his post, and encouraging by his example every citizen to do his duty. In the darkest days of discouragement, when the war seemed to be going against us, and when impending victory seemed to be snatched from our grasp he, at least, never lost heart hut always maintained that the Allies must win, New Zealand owes a great deal to the man who thus kept the Hag Hying in our midst, when fainter hearts saw nothing but impending disaster, and some few who, though with, were not of ns, would have counselled “peace by negotiation” if they could have got anybody to listen to them. TEN YEARS OF OFFICE. New Zealand has been fortunate in her public men and exceptionally so in her Prime Ministers,’ of whom the present occupant of the office is certainly not likely to rank in history as the least. Mr Massey is essentially a man of the people, and his actions proclaim him a democrat of democrats, He has been a hard worker all his days and no main in tho Dominion probably works harder, or is a greater slave to duty than Mr Massey, Early and late he is at his desk, ’working away in the interests of his fellow’men. Of simple tastes and habits, his unaffected ways and manners make him the most easily approached of men, and he is certainly the most popular man in the House by reason of his cheery nature and genial disposition. His ten years of office have

been of the most strenuous and exacting Character, permitting of but rest-or relaxation of any kind. No man in Parliament, or out ol it, has more to maintain the credit and g faith of the country than he ha s, and if his successes in public hip are m - an red by the legislation with winch he has Cnnched the Statute Book, it mi be conceded that, tinder his direction, the Government of the country has been carried on with a due regard to Liberal principles, and on those approved humanitarian lines winch wore at one time thought to be the monopoly of the Liberals. Of all our legislators be is the one who could he least spared from the counsels of the country at the present time, and, having entered as be did yesterday upon his eleventh year oi office, the great majority of New Zealanders will; we are convinced, join with us in expressing the hope that he may be long spared to continue his labours on behalf of the country. Mr Massey is a mail of whom we may well be proud. He lias made his mark in the Homeland, where he is very highly spoken and thought of, and regarded as one of the leading statesmen of the I'hnpire. Ho has been honoured by the King, who in 1914 called him to the Privy Council, and, as a Privy Councillor, he took his seat as a member of the Imperial War Cabinet on each of his visits to England during the war. Had he wished, or cared for such things, greater honours would undoubtedly have been bestowed upon him. A staunch Imperialist and a true patriot,, we need have no fear that while he remains at the helm of State, the seditiouists, who are out to wreck the Empire, will make any appreciable headway with their revolutionary propaganda. Whatever the future may have in store for him, wo may rest assured that, while health and strength remain arid he continues in his service to the country, Mr Massey will give, as ho always has done, of the best that is in him.