“A DOMINATING PERSONALITY.”

Otago Witness, Issue 3713, 12 May 1925, Page 24

“A DOMINATING PERSONALITY.”

THE SPEAKER’S TRIBUTE. By the Hon. C. E. Statham, Speaker of the House of Representatives. Political friends and political foes alike will regret the passing of the Right Honourable William Ferguson Mas6ey, and the House will indeed seem strange without the presence of his dominating personality. It is characteristic of the New Zealand Parliament that in all cases of illness or death amongst the members, party feelings are altogether subordinated to feelings of real human sympathy, and in addition to this the late Prime Minister was one for whom I think all the members had a feeling of personal affection notwithstanding any differences of opinion in the matter of politics. Daring last session it was only too evident that he was struggling against some serious illness, and one could not help being struck by the tender solicitude and consideration shown towards him, not only by the members ot his own party, but also by those on both Liberal and Labour benches. One could have wished that his strenuous life had closed in the same way as that of his illustrious predecessor, the Right Honourable Richard John Seddon, and that he could have been spared the pain and suffering of the past few montins. A great capacity for work, a wonderful faculty for getting a grasp of any subject that came before him, a retentive memory, a dogged determination and a vigorous constitution, combined to bring Mr Massey to the forefront of New Zealand politics and to the leadership of the Government. He was a man of unswerving loyalty to his King and country, and his death is a loss not only to the dominion, but to the Empire of which he was such a devoted son. The sincere sympathy of the whole community will go out to Mrs Massey, who has herself lived a life of retirement for some years past on account of ill-health, to all the other members of the late Prime Minister’s family, and to his colleagues in the Ministry.