THE LATE MR DANIEL CAMPBELL.

Otago Witness, Volume 26, Issue 2419, 26 July 1900, Page 36

THE LATE MR DANIEL CAMPBELL.

The late Mr Daniel Campbell, news of whose death we -received at an early hour on Saturday-, waa for m,\ny yetj-s a proiiiirjorit and familiar figure in connection with various commercial and industrial enterprises in this city. He was "best known as manager of the Otago Daily Times and Witness, which position ho held from IS6I till the business was taken over by Messrs Reed and Fenwick, who .shortly afterwards projected and established the existing company. Mr Campbell came from Edinburgh (where he was for many years in the employ of the well-known printing and publishing firm of Constable and Co.) under engagement to the proprietors of the Otago Witness. He continued to act as printer and publisher of the Witness until the advent of the Daily Times, when he was advanced to the responsible position of manager, and afterwards to that of managingdirector. Mr Campbell was at one time one of the largest property owners in the city, and upon a portion of the three quarter-acres which he owned in High and Maclaggan streets the well-known Royal Arcade now stands. About 20 years ago he sustained severe losses in connection with landed property in Southland, and after visiting California and remaining there for some years he returned to Duneclin, where he lived in comparative retirement until his death. A man of good ability, great energy, and untiring industry, it may well be said that he was largely instrumental in building up the municipal, political, and educational institutions and advancing the 1 progress of the city where he lived so long and fulfilled multifarious chitrts so woithily. He leaves a widow and a grown-up fr.mily.

The funeral of the late Mr Daniel Campbell tock place yesterday afternoon, and was fairly lavgely attended. Punctually at 2.30 p.m. the ccrtege moved off from deceased's late residence, London street, and among those who attended to show their respect for the memory of a pioneer were — Dr Hocken, Messrs A. Hunter, F. Humffray, Geo. Fenwiek, W. Fenwick, B. Throp, C. W. Kerr, Jas. Mollison, P. Duncan, W. Livingston, Joiui Brown, J. W. Japo, M. Cohen, C. R. Chapman, J. A. Park. &■* T. Wheeler, sen., L. Langlands, D. jTorsytli, Angus M'Diarmid, Jas. Smith, J. R. Scott, John Mitchell, Frank Mitchell, A. Sligo, W. CVisfcon, W. Fels, E. Kilgour, W. Mill, J. G. M'Lpc/1, "W. Cowie, J. Tenaant, and J. A. Matth^» v The Rev. Jas. Gibb conducted the burial service at grave side.

Mr Gftjnpbell leaves a widow, and a family of seven cl.c 1 . J ighters and two sons. The eldest daughter is Mrs James Marshal^ (whose husband, in partnership with Mr James Smith, ran one of the first 3i *2? in Dunedin) ; the second, l«y C. B. Snnnks, lives in Christchurch; the third is Mrs l/lilkr (the widow of c, Southland runholclej.) ; the fourth, Mis J. "W. Brindley (whose Imsband was for many yeajs manager in Dunedin foi- ihc Victoria Insurance Company) ; and the fifth, Mrs G . Ross, ■who lives in Wellington. Ot the Wo remaining, one married in America, and the other is on a visit to Sydney. Mr Charles Campbell went to America some yeais ago, and the youngest oi the family, Albert, lives at home in Dunedin.

j A noteworthy incident iv the caieer of the j late Mr Campbell may be fittingly recorded j here, even after the lapse of nearly half a century. At a public meeting held in the original First Church shortly after the collapse of the Otago Association, he took a leading part in an agitation which was then set in motion to bring about a reduction in tbe exorbitant price fixed I for suburban and rural land within the " Otago ' block." The original terms of purchase proi vided that any settler desiious of taking up j l^i'l must acqtuie a complete " piopcrty," i>l?Lai>lina of a quarter-acre town allotment, 10

acres of suburban, "and 50 acres of rural land. The applicant was at liberty to make his choice of locality, and the prices fixed were £12 10s for a town lot, j£3o for a suburban, and £100 for a rural section. These figures were in those days far beyond the actual value of the land in a new settlement, and after several years' experience of the system public opinion began to develop itself in an effort to secure a substantial reduction. Of the first Provincial Council — elected in 1554, — consisting of nine members, the sole advocate for "cheap land" reform was the late Mr Edward M'Glashan, so that with such a sweeping majority as eight to one the movement seemed at first likely to prove a hopeless task. Gradually, however, the slow progress of settlement under the original system forced upon many of the new colonists the conviction that there could be no hope of advancement 'unless and until ths system was abolished in favour of a more liberal and progressive land policy. Mr Campbell, to his honour be it recorded, was the first to give piiblic expression to the" views of the reform party, and in a forcible and convincing speech at the meeting referred to, he brought such strong arguments to bear that his views were,received with almost imaniinous approval. From that time forth the agitation for cheap land spread throughout the community, until at last, in 1856, Captain Cargill (the first Superintendent of the province) prepared and laid before the Provincial Council a bill abolishing the old system, find substituting a fixed price of 10s an acre for all land outside the town boundaiy, with provision for improvements to the value of £2 an acre within four years from date of purchase. This proposal wps adopted by the Council pnd ratified by tire General Assembly, -and the immediate result was a large increase oi settlement and much general prosperity.