FROM "A MODEST RUSTIC”

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12455, 25 May 1926, Page 6

FROM "A MODEST RUSTIC”

TO CAPTAIN OF COMMERCE MR W. D. HUNT FAREWELLED VISIT TO U.S.A. AND EUROPE On the eve ot his departure on an extensive trip -to the Old Country and America, Mr W. D. Hunt was met yesterday by a representative gathering of citizens from various sections of the community and entertained at lunch. In an enthusiastic farewell to Mr Hunt, several speakers paid tribute to v his business ability and described him as a captain of industry and a leader of men. The hope was expressed that he would return to New Zealand with a fund of information to place at the disposal of the New Zealand Alliance, under whose auspices the function was held. Rev. W. J. Comrie, chairman of the N.Z. Alliance Standing Committee, presided, and amongst those present Were the Right Hon. Sir Robert Stout, BdL, K.C.M.G., Hon. J. A. Young, Minister for Public Health, Hon. R. A. Wright, Minister for Education, Sir John Luke, M.P., Mr T. Forsyth, M.P , Messrs T. Shailer Weston, A. Leigh Hunt, Malcolm Fraser, J. F. Mills, Councillor G. A. Troup, Mr C. M. Luke, Mr A. R. Atkinson and some sixty other Wellington business men. The Hon. Geo. Fowlds and Mr T. Macky, of Auckland, were also present.

The chairman was the first to pay tribute to'Mr Hunt, and he Was followed by the Hon. J. A. Young, Minister for Health, who added a word on behalf of the Government. Ho claimed that the guest of the day had spent liis boyhood at the Waikato, and had risen from a modest rustic -o a captain cf commerce. Wherever he might be, he would be a worthy representative for the Dominion. Th« Hon. Geo. Fowlds spoke on behalf of the New Zealand Alliance, and said Mr Hunt had done yeoman service in its ranks. He had built the organisation up, and inspired the hitherto unenthusiastio members with confidence and energy. Above all he was a sticker. Mr Hunt was greeted with the strains of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow,” and in responding to his reception, he thanked the speakers for their remarks, then proceeding to deal with the fight which the Alliance was undertaking fo educate the people +0 abolish the liquor traffic in New Zealand. A vote of thanks to the speakers, was -arried on the motion of Sir Robert Stout.