A YEAR AGO.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19785, 10 May 1926, Page 8

A YEAR AGO.

Mr Massev died on May 10, 1925. To use a trite, but not idle saying, it seems but yesterday that New Zealand was in mourning for one of the greatest statesmen she ever possessed, a man who dominated the. politics of the country with admirable efficiency for many years, including a period of crucial aimefy. It was a national mourning, for Mr Massey’s supporters and opponents alike recognised that the nation was sadly poorer for the loss of a lealhearted patriot whose prolonged service to the State and the Empire had been marked ’ y a singularly disinterested quality. It is handy too much to say that Mr Massey spent his energies to the point of ultimate collapse in the performance of public toil, M hen men of light and leading have been dead for a while it is sometimes said that

they are forgotten. There is a cynical hint that the world is getting on very well without them. This is one of those bitter half-truths in which sour souls delight. It is true that no man is indispensable. Memories fade as time goas on, and regrets lose their poignancy; but that is not to say that forgetfulness has set in. Mr Massey is not forgotten. His name is not incessantly on the common tongue, as in tho days when he was the subject of alternate eulogy and criticism, but his influence abides. After life’s strenuous activity he sleeps well his signal sepulchre at Point Hals»ell, but “to live iri hearts we leave behind is not to die.” Under' the guidance of a very capable successor, his political principles are being maintained with intelligent consistency, touched perhaps by a note of new ideas of which he might not have disapproved. On this first anniversary of his passing the people of New Zealand will think affectionately and gratefully of tho lost leader; and it behoves all of us to emulate his unselfishness and patriotism.