HON. W. PEMBER REEVES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19169, 7 November 1925, Page 12

HON. W. PEMBER REEVES

A GREAT NEW ZEALANDER. FORPrfER LIBERAL STATESMAN. NATIONAL BANK CHAIRMAN. ARRIVAL BY THE NIAGARA. The return to New Zealand after an absence of 30 years of the Hon. William Peril ber Reeves, one of the Dominion's former statesmen and its foremost man of letters, will call forth national acclaim. Accompanied by' Mrs. Reeves and her sister. Mrs. Lascelles, he will reach Auckland by the Niagara on Monday. Mr. Reeves, who is in his 68th year, has renewed his youth in a remarkable manner daring the last few years. His physical and mental vigour recall the days of his greatest effort. As chairman of ■ directors of the National Bank of New Zealand, one of his chief tasks during His stay, which will extend until autumn, will be to make an economic study of the development, condition and prospects of the country, but it is hoped that he will record his impressions in book form. Mr. Reeves was born at Lvttelton in 1857, his father being the Hon. W. Reeves, v-iio was Minister for Public Works in the Fox-Vogel Government of 1873. He was educated at Christ's College Grammar School, gaining five scholarships, and qualified as a barrister. Preferring journalism t-o law ho joined the staff of the Lyttelton Times and eventually became editor of that paper and its weekly publication, the Canterbury Times. Later he was chairman of the New Zealand Times Company. First Minister for Labour. His first appearance in Parliament was in 1887, when he was returned as a Liberal for S-. Albans by a large majority. Three years later, when the Liberals regained power, he accepted the portfolio of Education, his chief achievements being the revising and modernising of the State schools syllabus and the code of native schools and. the passing of a new School Attendance Bill. When the portfolio of Labour was created, he became its first holder and in that capacity initiated legislation affecting the workers that drew the eyes of the world toward New Zealand. His measures included the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, the Factories Act, tie Shops and Shop Assistants Act, and the Employers Liability Act. Although he was never the Prime Minister, it is admitted that his was the mind that had the courage to pioneer what were then, new paths in the realm of industrial legislation. The legislation helps to mark a definite turning point in the progress of civilisation, a point where governments began to break away from old tradition, .toward the establishment of a new social order, a new conception of democracy and the obligations of government. In addition to the portfolios of Education and Labour, he held that of Justice. London Representative. In 1.895 he resigned to succeed Sir West by Perceval as Agent-General in London and remained in that position until 1909, his title from 1905 being High Commissioner. It was inevitable that a man of Mr. Reeves' capacity and culture would make a favourable impression in Britain. The expanding trade of New Zealand through the development of the primary industries and of refrigeration offered a. field of favourable opportunity to this talented young man and in consequence his name is associated with the period which saw New Zealand rise from the status of a colony to that of a young nation. As Agent-General and High Commissioner, Mr. Reeves served his country faithfully and well. From 1908 to 1920 he was director of the London School of Economics and was -a member of the senate of the University of London from 1902 to 1919. Since 1917 lie has been chairman of the National Bank of New Zealand. His manifold activities include membership of the Pacific Cable Board, and of the commercial intelligence committee of the Board of Trade. He was a member of the British Royal Commission which made inquiry into shipping rings. Poems that will Live. Life rushes on and it often happens that a man's service to his country is "taken as read" by succeeding generations. Mr. Reeves, however, has made a permanent place in his country's hall of fame by his outstanding talent as a writer and a poet. "The Long White Cloud," a history of New Zealand, first published in 1898 and ifevised and brought up to date recently, is' unquestionably the best book on New Zealand. "State Experiments in Australia and New Zealand" was written by the man best qualified to explain what then ■was highly progressive legislation and it gave Mr. Reeves an international reputation. But it is in bis poems that his name will live. "The Passing of the Forest and Other Verses" was first published in 1898 and this year a new edition in which many, of the poems are repolished, and in which additions are made to the collection, was issued. One of the new poems is "The Sphakiot's Return," nn outcome of Mr. Reeves' sympathy for the Greek nation. This foem has been translated into Greek. In this connection it should be mentioned that he holds the Ph. D of Athens, wears the Greek Order of the Saviour, and that he is chairman oi the Anglo-Herlenic League. Mrs. Reeves, who was Miss Magdalen Stuart Rohison, of Christchurch, is the author of "Bound About a Pound a Week," and their daughter has written .several novels under the pen-name of Amber Reeves. New Zea'and will honour herself in doing honour to her distinguished son' who, after so many years of absence, is returning 'or a few months. He is a man of many parts and New Zealand owes him much,