Memorial Mass For Late Premier

Manawatu Times, Volume 65, Issue 120, 22 May 1940, Page 2

Memorial Mass For Late Premier

(X.Z.E.F. Official News Service) j The passing of New Zealand's Prime Minister, Kt. non. M. J. Savage, a man who we knew had done much to safeguard our well-being as soldiers, came os a sudden shock to most or the members of the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force. Word-of-mouth reports of Air. Savage's illness had been heard in the camp for some time previous to his death, but it was not until we read late official bulletins and newspaper reports that the majority of us realised the critical state of his health. Ail units were representeu to-day at a Memorial Mass for the Prime Minister in St. Joseph's Churen, Cairo. DU tinguished civilians present included the British Ambassador to Egypt, Sir Miles Lompson, and Lady Lampson, together with representatives of the British Consular and Australian Trade Commissioner’s offices in Cairo. Officers representing the British troops in Egypt and the Royal Air Force also attended. The celebrant was the Catholic chaplain of the N.Z.E.F., Captain L. P. Spring. Almost in the heart of the city, yet cool and quiet, the church provided a fitting setting for the solemn ritual of the Mass. High above the robed figures of Captain Spring and his attendant priests, and the drifting smoke of burning incense, a dove fluttered now and again across the domed roof. The clear voices of a choir of boys from a Cairo orphanage echoed softly through great marble pillars. That it seemed right and proper for New Zealand's soldiers to join their people at home in paying their tribute and respects to one who had so faith fully and for so long served his coun try, was a thought expressed by Captain Bpring in a eulogy of Mr. Savage. The chaplain traced the career of the late Prime Minister and showed how his popularity had increased. For the past two years his health had been nnder a cloud, and he had evidently been a very sick man, but his courage had held fast and he had carried on. “I think I can truthfully say—and even those who did not agree with his politics will agree with this—that Michael Joseph Bavage was one of the most popular and universally ’oved Prime Ministers New Zealand has possessed,” Captain Spring added. “Truth was his motto, justice and charity his ideals. His loyalty to the Crown and his efforts to cement the bonds of Empire could never be questioned.” j I