“ONE OF NATURE’S GENTLEMEN.”

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

“ONE OF NATURE’S GENTLEMEN.”

A SUPPORTER'S APPRECIATION. By the Hon. G. M. Thomson. To-day we mourn a great man called to his rest. For him life’s fitful fever

is over, and he has passed—as he always desired to pass—with his hand still at the helm, and his face towards his foes. Those foes were all the forces that in his estimation made for the lowering of the tone of national life in the land he loved and which he has served* so well. In reply to a letter written to him only last month urging him to take a long rest, he replied: “In every case where 1 am concerned the interests of the country come first. ... So far as my own personal ambition is concerned, I care nothing but for the good of the country, and that is what I am here fa*. I have been able to assist in getting the dominion out of a difficulty, and some success has attended my efforts in doing it.’ He has gone down fighting, unconquered, and lias left us the heritage of a life well spent and of an unsullied record such as few public men have gained. He has given himself for his country, and has faithfully obeyed the high call of duty. He had his ambitions like other men, but none of them was petty. Honours and titles had no attraction for him; he could dispense and recommend them to and for others, but he sought none for himself. Placed in circumstances where he might have enriched himself while still doing his duty, he devoted his energies solely to the enrichment of his country and to upholding her national honour and prestige. And he has done his work well. New Zealand stands very high to-day in the commonwealth ol nations which make up the British Empire, and the credit of that high position is in considerable part due to the strength, wisdom and uprightness of her great Prime Minister. Truly he has well deserved the thanks and homage of his fellows. Duty well performed was his goal, and if a human estimate can sum him up, we would fain hope that to him has been granted the “well done, good and faithful servant.”

In Mr Massey’s death we mourn the passing of one of Nature’s gentlemen. He possessed the attributes which mark the true gentleman— “the truthfulness which cannot lie, the uprightness which will not stoop, the honour which cannot be bribed, the command of the passions, the mastery of the temper.’’ These things “can only be learned from God,” and they describe the inner character of our late revered political leader. Perhaps we are too near in point oi time to estimate aright the true personality and greatness of the man. After with a more accurate perspective than ours, will see in him the great statesman that he was, —a man largely gifted with that somewhat uncommon attribute, common sense, and with a true estimate of the fitness of things. The writer would picture nim as he knew him best, the successful and trusted leader of a strong political party. Hie hold which he exercised and retained over the members of that party, a hold which was appreciated and respected by his political opponents, was due not only to nis firm clear leadership, his quickgrasp of current events and their trend, and to his courage, which never wavered in the fight, but largely to the fact that he impressed those with whom he came in contact with his clean outlook, his straightforwardness, his absolute freedom from self-seeking, and his courtesy. Shams fell away from him; there was no suspicion of sham or humbug in his disposition. He had a clean mind, a good sense of humour, so that he never placed himself in a false or undignified position, and a strong desire to take the right and straight course in all his dealings with his fellow-men. No unworthy thought or word came from him, and thus he tended ever to keep others whose standard was lower than his own up to the mark. He had his limitations. Who has not? But when we think of his life of constant toil and struggle, starting with few opportunities of acquiring any but the rudiments of what is popularly considered education, no schooling from his early boyhood years but that which he gained as he went on his way through lire, steadily rising in strength and influence, the wonder is that his limitations were so few. In some directions he seemed to lack vision, but in part this arose from a laek of early training in scientific knowledge and general history. He was a politician, but he. was much more. Though possessed of a keen knowledge of the art of politics—he was a statesman who sought to uphold the honour and prestige of the great Empire which he was proud to serve.

As a Prime Minister what a remarkable personal record he achieved! Manv will remember well the memorable night of July 31, }914, when the question was asked in the House of Representatives, if in the event of Britain being involved in war the Government would offer an expeditionary force to be sent wherever the Empire needed its services. Mr Massey made a prompt and dignified reply in the affirmative, and the whole House rose and sang the National Anthem. That was in 1914. The succeeding years saw thrones totter and fall, administrations pass away, minister after minister swept aside by the change of views caused by the awful pressure of unforseen events, millions of lives sacrificed and countless treasure poured out and dissipated, leader after leader lost or killed or superseded. Yet through all the turmoil and its fearful attendant stress and strain, the Prime Minister of New Zealand kept his hold of the helm of State in this outlying portion of tho Empire. From a population point of view tnis dominion might rank as a small element in the fighting forces of the Empire. But from a moral point Of view tno quality of the men and women she contributed to these fighting forces, the high proportion of effort and sacrifices put forth, and the spirit in which she entered on the serious conflict and so well sustained her part throughout it carried great weight m the counsels of the Empire. In those her Prime Minister was a valued and welcome colleague and adviser, and he worthily represented the best elements which go to the making of a great nation.

Great as was the stress and strain of the war years, the difficulties of government were in some respects greater when the hard cold work of settlement and readjustment followed. The effort to help those whose life work had been stopped by their war service and who had to begin their careers over again, the constant struggle to meet the ever-increasing rise in price of nearly every commodity, the enormous advance in the national wages bill, the tight hold which had to be kept on the finances of the country in fa.ee of the huge demands made on the public purse,—all these were part of the great burden which had to be borne from day to day, and year to year. The cruel aftermath was almost harder to bear than the struggle which led to it; then there were excitement and thrill and glamour, but now the cold unremitting pressure of hard facts. But through all these times the chief held to his command, he retained the confidence of the mass of the people of this country, he steered a straight course, and when stormy seas and cross-currents were encountered he guided the ship of State to the admiration of leaders in other lands. Only yesterday, nearly 11 rears after the outbreak of the greatest political convulsion the world has witnessed, he was still in command. To-day, the grasp of the strong hand is gone, and the true heart has ceased to beat.

He is mourned by all, political friend and foe alike. Into his domestic life we cannot look, but we know that he was blest through many long years by the companionship and help of a pure, strong and worthy soul, whose gentlo force and nobility of character have markedly influenced his career. He has left a great example for those who come after him. Others leaders will arise to whom will come great opportunities of service, but let us hope to none will come the dread ordeal and the racking strain to which our departed leadeT was subjected. But Jet them follow the straight path of duty as he did, and their way will be made clear as his was.

“The world etill needs Its champion as of old, and finds him still. Not always now with mighty sinews and thews . . . though still these profit, but keen brains And voice to move men's souls to love the right And hate the wrong; of giant strength, strong to assail The Hydra heads of Evil.”