THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, APRIL 1, 1910 MR. SAVAGE COMES HOME

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23619, 1 April 1940, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS MONDAY, APRIL 1, 1910 MR. SAVAGE COMES HOME

The last home-coming of Mr. Savage will not soon be forgotten. Never has New Zealand seen anything quite like it. Not a man or woman in this country was untouched by its pathos, ancl many little children, although the full meaning of it could not bo caught by even the most adroit of their imaginings, could not wholly miss that meaning. An allencompassing bond of fellowship was strangely woven as, through two unusual days, the late Prime Minister made this progress to his burial in the city he had lovingly made his own. To Auckland it seemed a fitting climax to the years of public service he" had rendered, for it was here that he had won. his spurs in that Kervice, here ths.t he had done so much to prove hie. concern for others' welfare, and here that the call to be Prime Minister haa found him. With mingled feelings the end of his final northward journey was greeted yesterday. "Ave atque vale!" —the ancient greeting was intensely given by tens of thousands of Auckland hearts: "hail and farewell! he has come, but he has gone!" The sad fact that he had gone was too ssarkly true to be overborne. Throughout the time of his illness there had grown a conviction, often unspoken because, of affection for him, that death would claim him soon, yet hope lingered in spite of deepening fear. When the dread news spoke its solemnly final word, mental adjustment to it was not easy, but sight of the casket in which all that was mortal of him had been brought on its long journey compelled that adjustment. It has been made. Henceforth, to very many, the world will seem a different place, colder for lack of his genial comradeship. Nevertheless, there is consolation in the memory of that very journey, marked mile on mile bv demonstration of the esteem in which he had been held and would still be.: i . How deeply and graciously human that sacred progress was! Not only at the. many halting-places where people thronged to pay their reverent respect, but everywhere, as the funeral .train came on past smaller towns or scattered dwellings, signs of the ijame reverence were given. Wellington had impressively shown its loving interest ere this journey began and had! heaped lavishly its floral triibute-to his worth, but again and again, as the northward way was taken, the like happened, until at Jasifc. his bier,; was embowered in« a wondrous wealth of beauty and fragrance. His life had been by no means "roses., roses all the way," for it had known full share of striving: -And hardship, but compensation was suiely vouchsafed in this piling of petaled honour. His thought for. others was guided by George Eliot's creed, "It never rains roses —if we want more roseis we must plant more trees," and lie linked, like Oppenheim, "bread and roses" in a sane bracket of human needs; so, with fine appropriateness, these tokens of remembering gratitude multiplied apace as his home-coming was taken. Inspired by a general purpose of thanksgiving, Mew Zealanders had become one family. White folk and brown —for \ the Maori was determined to, be no whit behind in expressing love for him—joined in a noble conspiracy of mourning. He whose bachelor life had set him apart from many natural joys had become, as it were, member of a family wide as the borders of the country he served. It was remembered, too, that his outlook placed New Zealand proudly in the fraternal circle of the British Commonwealth ; che blended crosses in its flag, emblem of union under the Crown, rightly had place in the ceremonies of his burying. Not solitary, but in a great fellowship of hearts, he was borne to his restingplace.

By the deed:; of these memorial days the country of Mr. Savage s adoption has been bequeathed more than another Prime Minister's tomb. This, for'reasons' 1 plain to see, it is Auckland's privilege to possess, and Auckland will duly cherish it. Yet no merely local or parochial inteicst to it. The messages of sympathy received from far tell their tale oi wider regard. It will not be forgotten that the last months of his life were filled with anxiety because of the recurrence of war, nor that in the midst of this anxiety he showed himself still concerned, as he had been when this crisis first threatened, that this Dominion should play an unswervingly loyal and mimful part. This brave bearing is part of the heritage he has left'. He realised that the future of New Zealand is bound up with the fate of the Empire. Equally he held that a stalwart New Zealand can contribute ah increasing share of strength to the-.whole realm, and lie was as emphatic in declaring that, in the last resort, the making of this contribution vi'ill depend upon the individual fidelity of the men and women of'■ this country. So, bj the route his owr thought took, the thought of others in this hour of thankful memory comes back to his own eicampl'3. He asked from others nothing that he was not,himself prepared, to give. No wonder, then, that along the journey of his final homecoming . there was so eminently human a manifestation of sorrow at his death, in no particular did it resemble the triumphal progress of a conqueror. The demonstration of regard was wholly spontaneous. In his own conception of his great office, he was First Servant. He asked no more than, opportunity to render that service, and when the opportunity came he set about using it in the spirit of devotion to duty. In these two days of honour it was affection rather than adulation that was expressed. What greater tribute could any man have wished, Especially at a home-coming]