THE ACTUAL SELECTION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21032, 22 May 1930, Page 10

THE ACTUAL SELECTION

FOUR CANDIDATES IN FIELD. MR FORBES GAINS THE DAY. iPeb United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, May 21. Mr G. W, Forbes was to-night elected leader of the United Party and virtually Prime Minister of New Zealand in succession to Sir Joseph Ward, who will take an early opportunity, probably tomorrow, of recommending his Excellency the Governor-General to invite Mr Forbes to form a Ministry. This Mr Forbes will undertake to do. There were four, nominations for the position, the candidates being Messrs G. W. Forbes, E, A. Ransom, W. A. Voitch and H. Atmore. Each candidate was given an opportunity of addressing the caucus and outlining the main planks of the policy he would adhere to. A decision was made by means of elimination ballots. In' the first test Messrs W. A, Veiteh and H. Atmore “ tied ” in bottom place and it was agreed that both should be eliminated. The issue was then fought out by Messrs Forbes and Ransom, and after the ballot had been taken it was announced that Mr Forbes had been elected. The actual details of the voting, it is understood, were not announced, although it is believed that the margin of victory was narrow. It is stated that Mr Ransom was the first to congratulate Mr Forbes on his victory. Sir Thomas Sidey (Attorneygeneral) and Mr G. C. Munns (Eoskill) acted as scrutineers for the ballots. Quick use was made of the longdistance telephone to advise Sir Joseph Ward at Rotorua of the result, but it is said that the retiring Prime Minister was asleep. The time was then 9.15 p.m. MR G. W. FORBES. Mr G. W. Forbes'was elected Leader of the National Party in 1925, on the retirement, through ill-health, of Mr T. M. Wilford, He has been an enthusiastic Liberal, all his life, Laving been a keen supporter of the late Mr George Laurensou, when that Liberal first won the Lyttelton .seat. Mr Forbes was born at Lyttelton, and was educated at the public school there, and at the Christchurch Boys’ High School. He was in business hi Lyttelton, but when the Cheviot Estate came into the hands of the Liberal Government under the Land and Income Tax Act, he was in the ballot for sections, and was fortunate enough to draw an excep-' tlonally good one. He not only has proved a good farmer, but also has taken a lively interest in all public affairs in the settlement, where he still lives. He imbibed principles of Liberalism from Mr Laurenson. He was defeated in his first attempt to win the Hurunui seat in 1902. In 1903 he polled 2056 against Mr 0. F. Clothier’s 1356, Mr G. D. Greenwood’s 509, and Mr G. T. Pully’s 309. A second ballot gave him a substantial majority. He has represented Hurunui ever since. He ; was Liberal Whip from 1912 until hi-i election as Leader of the Opposition in 1925. In his younger days he was a representative footballer and oarsman. The voting in the last general election was as follows :—G. W. Forbes (U.). 4948; L. R. C. M'Farlane (E.), 3313. P. L. Turley (Lab.), 519, When the Ward Ministry was formed in December, 1928, Mr Forbes took office as Minister of Lands, Minister of Agriculture, Minister in Charge of Land for Settlements, Scenery Preservation, Discharged Soldiers’ Settlement, and Valuation Departments. JVhen Sir Joseph Ward was prevented by illness from carrying his full duties as Leader of the United Party, Mr Forbes took up the position of acting leader. When the Prime Minister was bnable to sit in the House, the duties of Deputy Prime Minister fell to the lot of Mr Forbes at a most trying period of the 1929 session. It was Mr Forbes who had to pilot through the House the contentious land taxation legislation. The Reform Party resisted this legislation to the last ditch. Led by Mr Coates, the Opposition began a stonewall on the first sitting-day of the week, a Tuesday, and the House sat continuously from 2.80 p.m. that day till 10.45 p.m. on the following Thursday, with only, short adjournments for meals. During the whole of that exhausting sitting Mr Forbes was at the helm, and when the Bill was finally passed he was the recipient of many congratulations on the manner in which he had handled the situation. AN APPRECIATION. TRIBUTE BY A COLLEAGUE. An ex-member of the House of Representatives, and a one-time colleague of Mr Forbes in the House, in conversation with a Dally Times reporter last evening paid a high tribute to the attributes of character which have wou for Mr Forbes the respect and esteem of his fellowmembers. All who knew Mr Forbes, it was remarked, had been impressed with his courage, strength of character, and sagacity, and regarded him ns a big-minded, free from vindictiveness or a petty disposition. He had a strong dislike of the limelight and was never likely to be troubled with a swelled head. lie had never been a seeker after Ministerial position or high office, and if left to himself would prefer the duties of ordinary membership and the following of his calling on his farm at Cheviot to the arduous responsibilities of Cabinet. Mr Forbes was a man who hated sham and hypocrisy in every form, and there was no man in the House who was more respected or highly esteemed for his character and manly disposition. He was possessed of an unassuming, commonsense, and kindly nature, and was not a man who had an

overweening conceit of his own capabilities. He was in every sense broadminded, and his speeches (ind voting in the House of Representatives had shown him to be a believer in a sound, sane, and democratic programme, who was not likely to be carried away by theoretical views or socialistic ideas. SIR JOSEPH WARD’S RESIGNATION. The full text of Sir Joseph Ward’s message to the Southland Radio Club, in which lie announced his intention to continue to represent the electorate of Invercargill is as follows: —“As you are all aware from the public statement I issued to the press last week, I have decided upon the pressing advice of my doctors to relinquish my office as Prime Minister. I desire to take this opportunity of saying how very greatly I have appreciated the kindness and consideration which the people of Southland particularly have extended to me during the long period I have been in public life in New Zealand. Although lam retiring from the position of Prime Minister it is my intention still to remain the representative of Invercargill in Parliament. I want to assure my constituents that health permitting I trust to retain their confidence. As you all know, I received my political birth in Southland, and 1 shall never forget the’ many many ‘kindnesses I have received at the hands of its people.”