THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1910 MR. M. J. SAVAGE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23616, 28 March 1940, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 1910 MR. M. J. SAVAGE

After serving as Prime Minister of New Zealand for over four busy and anxious years, Mr. Savage has laid down the cares of ollice for ever. Death did not spare him to enjoy the eminence which came after ;io many years of working and waiting- Yet he had been Prime Minister long enough to have impressed his personality on the country, and (o leave behind him distinct and lasting memories of his bearing 011 being first called to national leadership, and as he faced tho many responsibilities acceptance of the task involved. Final judgment on the doings of a man in public office can never be passed by his contemporaries. It is only when time has allowed everything to fall into its proper perspective that the true verdict can be returned. But whatever that judgment may be there are some things in' Mr. Savage's career that assure him a place in national history. It wafc he who led the Labour Party to its iirst electoral victory; it was he who answered the summons from His Majesty's representative and accepted the mandate to f6rm the first Labour Ministry. The hour had struck, the man was at hand and the

task was done. Xor can it be said that INI r. Savage merely reaped where others had sown. The march to office had been long and arduous. There had been many obstacles in the way. Setbacks were suffered ; sometimes it must have seemed as though the goal would never be won. He had joined the band of marchers early, had shared the toils of the journey to the full, and finally led the way to the summit as he had fully earned the right to do. As the development of the Labour Party from an inconsiderable minority to the status of official Opposition, and thus by natural transition to the Government, was slow, so the rise of Mr. Savage from a rank and file member to leader and Prime Minister was gradual. When he first entered Parliament in 1919 he was well-known in Auckland, but his reputation had not travelled far beyond the city that had been his home for many years. His fellows in the Labour movement knew him, but that, at the time, did not mean being nationally known. There were many others who, because of different temperaments and ways, had caught the public eye and ear much more than he had. To have begun thus modestly was characteristic of the man. He preferred the steady and methodical way to the flamboyant or spectacular. So marked was this feature of his career and character that many people wondered, when the mantle of leadership fell on him, whether he had the personality and platform appeal to make a success of the task. critics forgot was that such a course as Mr. Savage had pursued made it possible to have untouched reserves to be called on when the need came. Because he had not spent his powers too prodigally in advance, he was the better equipped to lead when victory at last was in sight. So the fateful election campaign of 1935 found him ready. He had no reputation for past irresponsibility or recklessness to live down. While preaching the evangel of his party as fervently as any, he spoke in accents of measured moderation that undoubtedly won the votes of many who had never expected to support the Labour Party. It is. a reasonable thesis that no one else in sight could have led the party to so complete a victory as did Mr. Savage in 1935. It is no disparagement of any other part of Mr. Savage's career to say he never showed to better advantage than imnlediately after the election which saw the great dream of his life realised. To be

modest in victory, to preserve a perfect balance in face of an overwhelming triumph at the polls, says much for any man's character. Such was Mr. Savage at that time. The events of a day had transformed his life, yet he remained the same friendly, human, approachable man as he had been the day before. Moreover, while emphasising his determination to carry out the programme offered at the election, he insisted that it could be done only with the co-operation of the whole

community. "I want your thoughts, and I want your hearts, and I am never going to let you down"—these words, spoken as he left Auckland to take up his new duties as Prime Minister, typify (he mind he revealed in his hour of triumph. It can lie said that this attitude of cheerful, matter-of-fact acceptance of what had happened did much to steady and reassure a country more than a little bewildered by the full turn the political wheel had taken. The same faculty of keeping in touch with the ordinary things of life stood to Mr. Savage as- he proceeded to grapple with the responsibilities of office. ITe took it with him when he went abroad to represent New Zealand at the Coronation and in the councils of the Empire. He returned with it unimpaired. About the things Mr. Savage did or attempted to do while Prime Minister there has been, and there will be, controversy. That is inevitable. But of Mr. Savage himself, now the hour of last farewell has come, there will remain the living memory of 'a man whose simplicity, humanity and kindliness made plain the motives which inspired all that he undertook, It is fitting that at the end he should make of his adopted city a iast resting-place and long home, lying down among his people, near 'the work of his hands, facing ihe sea, and still confident for the future.