LATE MR. HOLLAND

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21618, 10 October 1933, Page 11

LATE MR. HOLLAND

NEWSPAPER TRIBUTES QUALITIES RECOGNISED 1 ♦ SINCERITY OF CONVICTIONS STRONG POLITICAL INFLUENCE Following are extracts from editorial reference to the death of the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. H. E. Holland, by newspapers in principal cities of the Dominion: — The Dominion, Wellington.—A strong sense of duty animated Mr. Holland in his life and work. If his conceptiou of duty appeared to many to be narrow, none would question his sincerity. Ho accepted as a mission the improvement of the lot of the working man socially, politically and economically. Men of every party will regret Mr. Holland's passing. He was cf a quiet, reserved and almost studious disposition and did not open his arms wide to admit general contacts, yet his sincerity and hohesty of purpose, according to his lights, won him a general measure of respect. He meant a great deal more to those who were of his inner circle, and to them and to his family widespread sympathy will go out.

Evening Post, Wellington.—To th& principles which Mr. Holland held we have often expressed our strongest opposition. Personally he was courteous and kindly, with a poetic disposition that perceived beauty. Had he not been plunged in early life into a welter of industrial and political strife ho might have been a great persuasive philanthropist. Instead, he became a fighter, and his fighting spirit at times hindered him from co-operating with those who also sought to remove social injustice but would not go so far as he went. Yet even those who could not for this reason follow him were compelled to acknowledge his unselfish devotion. An Arduous Career The Press, Christchurch.'—The sudden death of Mr. Holland will be deplored by all groups in Parliament, in the constituency of Puller in the Dominion, as his career in New Zealand politics was long and arduous and its influence, not confined to his own party, was considerable. The best explanation of 'that influence, though superficially paradoxical, is that he belonged to a type not common in the active political life of this or most young countries, a type which applies itself to public affairs rather because of an earnest Sense of duty than because a strong taste or ambition impels it. The sense of obligation to a cause which, if we are right, carried Mr. Holland into a sphere he might, if a selfish man, have: had wishes to avoid, shpwed itself in the tenacity with which he fought, sparing nobody, least of all himself. Christchurch Times.—By the* death of Mr. Holland the Dominion has lost one of its outstanding figures, for although as Leader of the Labour Party he spent the whole of his political life in the Opposition, he exercised an influence far beyond the walls of Parliament House. Mr. Holland was essentially a student by disposition, but quite early in life in Australia an intense vein of sympathy impelled him to identify himself with movements for the betterment of conditions of life and labour of the working people. He was never a strong man physically t but had extraordinary courage and persistence, aad those who knew him best have always declared there must have been an element of the heroic in his composition. Work lor the Party The Sun, Christchurch.—A singlepurposed, uncompromising and courageous man, Mr. Holland, because of the possession of these qualities, was able to weld the New Zealand Labour Party into a well-disciplined and effective political unit. The party was dealt a heavy blow when Mr. McCombs died., but now, bereft of its leader, there is a great gap in its ranks that will ho hard to close. A struggling party needed a fighter for a leader, an<l Labour never had cause to complain about the fighting qualities of Mr. Holland. The liabour Party has special cause to lament Mr. Holland's passing, but the whole country, forgetting political divisions as it should on such a melancholy occasion, will regret that such a vital and unselfish spirit has left us.

Otago Daily Times, Dunedin.—The news of the death with tragic suddenness of the Leader of the Opposition will be read with a great deal of regret throughout the country. Even ,by those who found themselves in profound disagreement from him on most - points, it was recognised that Mr. Holland was a man who was to bfj reckoned with as a distinct power in' the land. Nor was it possible for them * to withhold their meed of admiration from one who, in spite of early difficulties and physical disabilities, was enabled through his determination, and unflagging industry to achieve and maintain a position of acknowledged superiority in the political organisation of the moment in the country; ' While his death constitutes a severe loss to the Labour Party it also removes a powerful personality and picturesque figure from the Parliament of tho Dominion, the dignity of which he was at all times concerned to pnjserve to the best of his ability. Evening Star, Dunedin. —Whjle the ' death of Mr. Holland involves the L greatest loss to the Labour Party, it is in a real sense a loss to the whole community. As Leader of the Opposition Mr. Holland had always very much of an uphill fight to wage and the way in which he fulfilled that position may be a model to all successors. AN OUTSTANDING FIGURE " STRAIGHT AND RELIABLE " [BY TELEGRAPH —PRESS ASSOCIATION] "WAIMATE, MondayThe Hon. J.- Bitchener, Minister of Public Works, in a .tribute to the late Mr. Holland, said that personal contact during many years as Reform Whip • gave him the opportunity to learn something of Ms. Holland's character. He was straight and reliable —his word was his bond. The Labour Party* had lost an outstanding figure, a stalwart champion who spent his whole life trying to improve the lot of those whose cause he had at heart. The Mayor, Mr. G. Dash, has tele > graphed to the deputy-leader of the Labour Part}', Mr. M. J. Savage, M.P., as follows:—"Waimate deplores ; a national loss. Convey sympathy to the bereaved."