PRACTICAL PATRIOTISM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19452, 7 October 1926, Page 10

PRACTICAL PATRIOTISM

MINISTER AND " DIGGERS."

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND.

WORK OF HON. K. S. WILLIAMS.

[BY TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT] THAMES. Wednesday.

Closer acquaintance is likely to make the new Minister of Public Works, Mr. K. S. Williams, as popular wRh returned soldiers as his predecessor in that position, Mr. Coates. It is only now that Mr. Williams is coming moro prominently before the public eye that the things he has done in. the past for returned men are coming out. "Diggers" of France, Gallipoli and Palestine are the men to appreciate the virtue that lies in the fact that there has been no parade of Mr. Williams' interest in them.

Typical of the man is the story told at a dinner tendered in his honour at Thames this evening by the Hauraki Plains and Thames County Councils and the Thames Borough. Council. The teller was Mr. E. L. Walton, chairman of the Hauraki Plains Council, and chairman at the dinner. "Time will permit me to tell you of only one of the many things this man has done for lovo of his country," Mr. Walton said. "Without any State aid and solely within his own family, he gave a very large tract of his land for the settlement of returned soldiers. Mr. Williams started that land, financed his settlers, advised them, and saw them through the slump, with the result that they are now all upon their feet. I wish to ask you if you can think of more finer or more practical patriotism than this."

Replying, Mr. Williams expressed his appreciation of the remarks of Mr. Walton and of the manner in which the toast had been received. Tho only reason ho had entered politics was because ho believed it was the duty of any man, and particularly of a New Zealander born, as ho was, when he had done fairly well and had tho time to give service to his country. His pment appointment had come as something of a surprise to him. Ho was now trying to become acquainted with local needs in all parts of the Dominion, for ho believed it was his duty to weigh each call and give his answer according to the requirements of the country as a whole.

"I don't know where the chairman got hold of his returned soldier story," Mr. Williams continued, "but I want you to understand that there are three other members of my family who are as much responsible as I am for that work. I am happy to say that the men arc still on the land. They are all men from my district, and they appear to be doing well. Perhaps one reason for their success lies in the fact that they bought at pre-war values and not at the inflated prices which other returned soldiers had to pay." Mr. Williams added that as the purchase price was repaid by the men the capital was invested in a trust fund, which the trustees administered in assisting worthy cases when returned soldiers appealed.