THE PRESENTATION TO CAPTAIN SEDDON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13096, 8 February 1906, Page 6

THE PRESENTATION TO CAPTAIN SEDDON.

TEXT OF THE ADDRESS.

The following is the text of the address presented to Captain Seddon at a meeting at Wellington on February 1:—"To Captain Richard J. S. Seddon, New Zealand, Militia: Dear Sir,We who are your friends, and most of us your old comrade# in the field, feel that, now the relentless calumny you have had to bear for the last two years lias been silenced' by the report of the judges on the Voucher Commission, a> few words to you of friendship and appreciation may fitly find in us a voice. In public life all strenuous men must bear the penalty of defamation. It is, unhappily, a common incident of that arena, but the man who enters it takes, the risk. Moreover, he can defend himself and expose his assailants before the world. In this w»y public life itself provides a whisk for its mosquitoes. Then, too, it is one of the traditions of New Zealand politics that, among all the stress and passion of party strife, the combatants shall strike fair and riot strike at the father through the son. In the whole political history of New Zealand your easo is the one exception. You are not a public man, you have never sought popular vote or favour, never provoked publie or private attack by making it, and yet for two years past you have had to bear in patience, and, for the most, in silence,' the poisoned shafts of malignity and slaudcn aimed first at your honour as a soldier, sua later at your honesty as a civil officer. And for what? Your sole offence is that you arc your father's son. To suffer all this »-? you have done, calmly, and with selfcontrol, demands courage, and those oi us who have served under you in the fieM and had seen you in action recognise in this courage the same spirit you always displayed as a soldier. Jn South Africa you showed a regard for your men that more thai* once involved an unnecessary sacrifice of your own safety, and the only danger you feared was thoirs, never your own. You* record there may to your credit be placed beside that of any colonial officer ot your rank. Your conduct deserved a better recognition than traducoment, but you are the son of an illustrious father, to whom the reputation of his family is as dear as his love for them, and all Now Zealand knows that it was to pain and wound hiu» that you have been assailed. Wo feel that you would rather let your merits speak o» you than you of them, for genuine manliness is unassuming. Publicity has fc^ n forced upon you by your detractors, but this lias but more widely proved the proverb that 'It is often the soundest fruit, upon which the wasps alight.' In conclusion, W •'.is express to you our warmest appreciation of your qualities, our heartiest congratulations upon your signal vindication, and our best wishes for your future. As an earnest of these feeling.-, we ask you to accept the accompanying cheque, which will, we hope, help to lighten the heavy financial burden you have had to bear in defending your own honour. W»> have the honour to be, on behalf of the subscribers. —W. A. Palmer (chairman), Harold Beauchamp, W. i• Koj>, E. J. Legrovc. George Klee, A. A. CorriganLord, Mrs. Ta>kei, A. U. Smith, R. *-• Bannister, T. K. McDonald. E. J- Foster, E. Arnold, W. 11. Quick (treasurer), Stuart Robinson (honorary secretary), committee. Accompanying the address was a cheque JO* over £700.