PEOPLE IN PERSPECTIVE

NZ Truth, Issue 873, 19 August 1922, Page 1

PEOPLE IN PERSPECTIVE

Only that rigid regard for the truth for which we are GOOD SPORT, famed, impels us to GOLD-TOPPED record m imperishable print the fact that most of our best "sports", m the highest sense of the word, are m some way or another closely associated with that awful institutidn, yclep.The Trade. In this category comes David John Barry, of Gisborne. When bread and butter considerations first called for serious attention from David he was lucky to be blessed wich capital. ■ It . was not capital of the £ s. d. variety, but was represented by brains, energy, and determination, which, founded on. strict integrity of. purpose enabled him. to ascend the ladder of success — from the lowest rung: to the- topmost. To-day he is head of the firm of. D. J. Barry and Co., Ltd., brewers 4nd wine and spirit merchants, and owner of the brewery that turns out the famous, sparkling Gold Top Ale, of which a distinguished Sydneysider recently m New Zealand remarked: "Give me that before any of your gold-topped wines-" . David is the president of the Gisborne Racing Club,, has been a horse- owner and breeder, and does not complain that he never owned a champion for it is about the only thing he has tried that he did not make a great success of. Poverty Bay folk know him weK as a patron or official of many sports bodies, and members of his family have followed the good example set by him m this respect. Mr. Barry is still Dave Barry to his old friends; success has' not turned his head and he is still' as approachable as ever. He has a great reputation as a considerate employer and few, if any, men who have joined vp ■-. under him have had occasion to seek a change. If ■ Schlitz's beer made . Milwaukee famous — a3 we are told it did — then Barry's Gold Top will keep Gisborne' s \ name on the map for. many a long day. We are looking- forward to our next meeting with D.B. . , . :: .-.■-. :..-:: :.' '.- Whoever christened Jimmy Carroll ••■■■-•- {m high life .Sir James "TAIHOA Carroll) "Taihoa Timi," TIM I." sacrificed sense . to eu-phony,-'for Jimmy has not "waited a bit' during a career as' long and as ■chequered '■' as' a mid- Victorian er.a skirt. On the contrary, he has g»ne from political triumph to political triumph with the consistency that only attaches to faithful fortunes. 'And now he finds himself m the Seats of the Mighty Among the more or less "mitey" ones who feed on the cheese of the last line of political resource. But, unlike many deadheads who have found a ha^n of refuge "m the Upper House, Jimmy is. an ornament to that Chamber, as he was always an ornament to the Lower House. Born m 1857, James of the Carroll ilk took his early education at the Native School of his birthplace .m. Wairoa, .and subsequently put the polishing touches "on at a private school .m. Napier, He followed station life for. some years, -arid m the intervals took an active part m 'various native campaigns, while still a. youth, being specially mentioned m, despatches for his work m the Urewera Country as well as being awarded', -\ . substantial financial bonus for services m connection with Hamlin's expedition against the . notorious Te Kooti. Ultimately, to cut a long story short, Jimmy, as a result of his wide experience, found himself installed as an interpreter m the House of . Represent** - : tives. Not satisfied with this, he had a shot at practical politics/ and. wrest -

Ed the Eastern Maori seat from Wi Pere mlf 81. Sinee 1 then lie has -been continuously m the forefront of politics, representing both Native and -European constituencies m the House, m the Government as Native Minister, m Opposition and m everything that was going; ■ As Native Minister ,-in the days of Seddon and. Ward he was of great, value to the Cabinet for his -clip-, lomatic and clever management of involved and delicate native negotia-' tions, and as an unswervingly staunch" .Liberal he was always of great assistance to those with whom he fwas associated. In Opposition, again, he was a tower of strength m debate, for he had a gift of oratory, characteristic of his race, that has seldom been excelled m Parliament. Always an approachable man and gifted with a charm of quiet courtesy and sociability, he made' friends on all sides of the House,- and-, what is more, kept \and still keeps them. His birthday honor is one of his proudest distinctions, though ho only uses it on Sundays and State occasions, for he still remains "Jimmy" to his vast army of friends and ad.- . mirers, , and will remain so to the end of the chapter. »r ' :i is Ever .since Andrew Rutherford got tired of the colossal joke he THE played upon himself and the WHIP, political world by putting a diamond hitch on the Hu~ runui electorate and carrying his squattocracy into Parliament m the unqualified interests of whole-hearted Liberalism and Dick Seddon, his fat stock friends have stared aghast at a constituency, the bulk of the land m which is held m half-a-dozen hands, persistently, returning a staunch Liberal, to represent it. Probably m pursuing .his fantastic mission , Andrew did something towards educating H\irunui up to a proper sense of its responsibilities. However, when, he got tired of his fun he practically bequeathed his seat to- George Forbes, a. home-made product, ,who farmed ;t cosy, section m the Cheviot sub-divi-sion. George had been sturdily educated before he took the time-honored, advice to "go on the* land young man," but. when lie did go he did so to some purpose, for by application and wellapplied industry he made a success of his farming operations. Incidentally he put m a little time with local poli-' tics, but it was not till he was fairly on his feet that he, essayed to fly higher. He captured HurunUi when quite a 'baby m general politics, m the face-; of. strong Conservative oppositio?.i. and he has held the seat ever since and looks as if he can keep his stranglehold on the broad-acred' constituency, for just as. long as;he wants to. He joined the Liberal party with nothing but sound Liberal principles and knowing as little of. the inner workings of politics- as a pile driver does of crochet work. But he had the sense to lie low and learn, artd very soon found that the linking of his lot with the Liberal Army at the front was to the mutual advantage of both. He grew and blos3om.ed under the expert tutelage of the heads of the hour until he developed into,' a sound, shrewd, honest advocate

of Liberal principles .who - 'has done more tfor the cause than he is often given credit for. He has cheerfully faced fair ■weather and foul with his party, but his principles have remained consistently sound and consistently unshaken. Now, as one of the few remaining of the old strong party, he still does excellent work m the capacity of Opposition whip. A portfolio for you before long, George. ' " . a» ■ s: "■ H The Otatfci seat apparently belongs to the Field-3 who also beTHE FIELD! long to Otaki, for \the THE FIELD! sitting member, another of the few staunch Liberals ] left m the fold, Mr. W. H. Field, has held the seat for two-and-twenty years m succession to his broth«n W. H. was born m Wanganui m 1861, and got shone up with his earlier equipment at Wellington College. He elected to barrist and solicit for a living, specialising incidentally m Maori law, and had no trouble m passing all ' the necessary exams, m his spare time. Both before and after entering politics he has devoted a good deal of time to educational work of >i more than useful character, and' it ia possibly this particular penchant that has put his superior polish on him m manners political. Sound enough m his Liberal principles he ig disposed to be a trifle dilettante m their expression. You will never find him triflinc, with conspiracies nor just exactly playing with politics, but there is always the delicate suggestion that he is dallying with a distinctive egoism — "I do things merely to study the effects they have upon Me." He supports traditional morals and habitudes, but his other side yearns towards a quite innocuous hedonism that lends a charm to his philosophy. , For the rest he is a polite and proper politician, whose modesty alone stands m his way, and m these days that is a virtue which may well be counted to his credit. He votes invariably m an excellent manner and at the right time, and always with his party — when it can be ascertained exactly what that is. In his younger days Nisbet Mcßobie was not merely a PRINTER- good all-round ath-. FOOTBALLER., lete; he was more; he earned the hallmark of fame as a footballer and- m that "capacity represented. New Zealand. Many, of his .old admiuers-—es-pecially m the South Island — will sympathise with Mac. when they learn that his spare-time energies now are devoted' to bowls ahd golf. Mighty good games too, but after football! The; worst has yet to be told. Nisbet McRobie, With only half a century to his credit as: years g 0 — j le j s an invercargill. "old^boy"— with a good record as an ex-president of the Canterbury Typographical Society, has fallen down the social scale with such a thud- that he is : now president of the New Zealand Master Printers' Association, havirigL succeeded- Mr Gamble, of Christchurch, m that position.. As he had beep; 'president ; .of the Auckland M.P.A. for/}five'*yeai?s ; .and had made good, his elevation 'was not' unexpected. Mac. was persuaded to, stand for Parliament

m 1911 (for Ohinemuri) and got as far .as 'the second ballot. He may yoi grace our Hall of Legislature. . Mac. tells rather a good story against himself. When the. linotypes were about to come to Christchurch; he, as president of the Typo.' Union, headed a deputation to the master folk to protest against the compositors being askeef'to work the machines, f The operators would be poisoned by the fume% from the. molting pot, their health "would at least be seriously impaired, their curly or I glossy locks would soon disappear. Time has proved that sort of talk to be mere moonshine. Mr. Mcßobie himself has had frequent occasion since to stress that working the keyboard is tho softest and most comfortable job m the trade. The change of viewpoint on this subject is not uncommon. The present writer remembers well when the. lino-operators m Wellington were seeking more of "the- root of all evil," and cine of their witnesses — a topnotch operator — was spreading himseli out on the "ruinous to health" stunt. Mr. G. Fenwick (since Ker-nighted) was m charge of the employers' interests. . He asked the lino man if he honestly thought his health had been prejudicially affected. "Look at my hair!" replied the witness. His auburn ! thatch certainly was thin, but the junior reporter present knew that the ex-compositor's head covering- was just as thin before the awful linos;, came m As for the health of the witness this scribe can testify that the lead-fumed man never had any serious illness after Ho became the proud father of goodness knows how many children "did his bit" at the war, and is now the master of his own newspaper, with hii sons helping him. If Nisbet Mcßobto wants further details of this incident" to combat the cause he once espoused lie can write to "Truth." :: :: :s I Salvarmy Commissioner H. C. Hodder, urtKrM-r,,,, Wh ° has hod -car.ried the HODDER'S Army's religious and fiHOD nancial bricks to some good purpose over a long period of years m New Zealand, is about to remove, his sphere of usefulness and start building m Canada. He has been a faithful hod- carrier to his religion or sect or organisation, or whatever its ■ friends and enemies choose to designate it; and a great amount of good work can be traced direct to his administration. He' took over the duties attached to the control of the New Zealand forces m the fight with the Devil oyer eight years ago and his command has been signalised by a specially able gift as an organiser and a fighter for the causes dear to the Army m its spectacular worrying of Appllyon. . His period m charge extended .over the very trying war times, which entitles him to all the more respect. As a mark of appreciation of his work he was created an officer of the British Empire by the 'King whilst m a more abstruse form of compliment his general services to the community were rewarded by his appointment as a J.P. Just what this latter "birthday honor" contrives to carry -m the matters of glory and distinction "Truth" leaves to more competent assessors. At the same time it joins with all blanches of the community m wishing the hearty Soldier an extended sphere of salutary influence m West Canada. ,