WHAT DOES MR. SEDDON MEAN?

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12027, 25 July 1902, Page 5

WHAT DOES MR. SEDDON MEAN?

HIS REPUDIATION OF THE PURSE

OF SOVEREIGNS.

THE TALK OF THE TOWN.

HISTORY OF THE MOVEMENT.

The talk of the town at present, and we have no doubt the talk of the colony as well, is the surprising statement made by Mr. Seddon in England through Keuter's Agency as to the purse of sovereigns subscribed for presentation to him prior to his departure for England to attend the Coronation. We have already quoted the paragraph in question, but it is worth while repeating it arid contrasting it with a brief outline of what took place in Kew Zealand with reference to the testimonial prior to the Premier's departure. The paragraph is as follows: —-" Mr. Seddon requests Renter's Agency to state that before his departure from New Zea'land a report, which he finds has also gained currency on this side, was circulated to the effect 'that he had been presented with a sum of money in recognition of his services to the Empire. This report is unfounded. The presentation which actually took place was that of an illuminated address signed by some 20,000 New Zealanders. As a matter of fact there wasa movement in the colony for presenting the Premier with a sum of money ,_ but at his request it was not proceeded with." .. The initiation of the' Premier's testimonial movement dates back some five months. Early in February suggestions were made in various parts of New Zealand that some effort should be made to recognise the Premier's services to the Empire, especially in connection with the despatch of contingents for South Africa, on the occasion of his departure to attend the Coronation. The earlier meetings were local, and in some cases distinctly political in tone, = and the ideas tended more in the direction of local demonstrations than a colonial presentation, the first suggestion in the latter direction coming from a meeting held in Christchurch on February 12. Up to that time nothing definite had been decided upon in any of the centres except in Dunedin, and the arrangements there made were adhered to, the citizens of Dunedin tendering Mr. Seddon a banquet, and taking little or no part in the contributions to the purse." The day after the suggestion from Christchurch, that the testimonial should be a national one, came the suggestion of the " purse" from Mr. Harold Beauchamp, of Wellington, who telegraphed the Mayor of Auckland, and presumably the Mayors of other cities also, • that the proposal in Wellington was not to have banquets for Mr. Seddon at the various centres, but to make to him a money presentation at Chri-stehurch prior to his departure, and in giving tins information to the public on February 14, the New Zealand Herald added:—"As Mr. Beauchamp is closely connected with Mr. Seddon, it is presumed that he expresses j the personal will of the Premier." From : this date nearly the whole of the colony, < except Dunedin, fell in with the " purse" proposal, and whether the originator of it expressed the "personal will of the Premier" or not, it is certain that Mr. Sed- ! don never made any request that the' purse" be not proceeded with. In fact the " purse" was all along the main feature of the testimonial, the 20,000 New Zealanders who, Mr. Seddon states, presented him with an address being really sub- ; scribers to the purse." Every individual who signed the lists put opposite his name the amount of his subscription to the purse," the understanding being that the names only were to be engrossed in book form and presented to Mr. Seddon along with the " purse." .;. The collection of subscriptions went on publicly in ail parts of the colony for Some six or seven weeks, without any remonstrance from the Premier, though there were from many quarters, especially from country districts, expressions of opinion that a money testimonial was not a suitable gift. Several public bodies, in fact, declined on that ground to assist in the collection of the money, and a public meeting at Olevedon, in resolving on that course, desoribed the whole proceeding as " paltry and undignified." Up to about the end of March the arrangement, which was frequently stated in the press, was that both the purse and the address with the signatures of the subscribers would bo actually handed to Mr. Seddon in Christchurch before he left the colony, but on March 28 it was announced that the Premier had resolved to leave earlier than was anticipated, in order that he might travel with the Tenth Contingent and visit South Africa, The departure of the contingent with which Mr. Seddon was to travel was fixed for April 12, from Wellington, and the presentation at Christchurch had to take place on April 8, before the subscription lists were actually closed. The money had been collected all over New Zealand, some subscription lists which had been sent out were not returned in time, and it was therefore impossible to do more than make an estimate of what the size of the purse would be, and for this reason alone, so far as anybody in New Zealand knew, the actual handing over of the money did not take place. Through j the whole piece there was only one suggestion that Mr. Seddon would decline to handle the money, this being a newspaper paragraph emanating from Wellington, and circulated through New Zealand by the Press Association on April 7, as follows:, — To-night's Post says it is reported here that Mr. Seddon will decline to accept.the purse subscribed for him, and will suggest he lias no objection to its being devoted, say, to the erection in each of the centres of a memorial to New Zealanclers who have fallen in Africa."

Speculation ran high as to whether Mr. Seddon would act upon the Post's hist, but when the presentation of the testimonial came off in Cbristchurch on the evening of April 8, Mr, Seddon was silent on the subject. On that occasion Sir John Hall handed Mr. Seddon the address (which by the way was as incomplete as the purse, as the signatures had not been attached to it), and in concluding his remarks, Sir John Hall Said: " The address would he supplemented by a purse, which was not yet ready, but which represented a large amount subscribed in many small amounts." Mr. Seddon said a great deal in reply, but not a word that would, indicate that he did not approve of the monetary gift .which was to follow, his only .direct reference to the subject being: " 4 ft had been mentioned that something tangible would follow. That never troubled him. They knew him too well to attribute his actions to selfish motives."