The Daily News. FRIDAY, JULY 28. THE LATE MR. T. E. TAYLOR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 29, 28 July 1911, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, JULY 28. THE LATE MR. T. E. TAYLOR.

The death of Mr. T. E. Taylor, M.P., I Mayor of Christchurch, is an irreparable loss to New Zealand, for New Zealand cannot afford to lose her geniuses. He was a man who knew no fear, a fighter who smote hard, the deadly en-; emy of meanness, dishonesty, doubledealing and red tape. He was easily the moat remarkable member of the New Zealand House of Representatives, for, his power of debate, his keen, biting, vigorous and utterly fearless criticisms made the administration or its chief at whom it was aimed quail. There were few empty benches when the word went through the lobbies that "Tommy Taylor was up," and the air in the usually dull and dreamy chamber became electric with the personality of this lean, sallow political soldier, his keen face aglow with the fervor of his message, and his every word framed with a purpose. No finer tribute could be paid to the magnetism of the man than the disappearance of half the House when lie had finished speaking. The remarkable force and lightning quickness of his reasoning, his immediate and biting retort, and the absolute conviction with which he drove home his point made him unique. He never descended to the banalities common to many members of the New Zealand Parliament. He said nothing if he had nothing to say. When he spoke there was no mistaking his meaning or any doubt that the occasion necessitated speech. An uncompromising political enemy, lie could be also the most charming friend, for he had the power of drawing men to him by bonds even stronger than his gift of speech and by his downright Implacable, immovable honesty. He was a public man because he could not avoid being a public man. He was one of the very few examples of ( a man born to lead and destined bv genius for public place, public power and public influence. No man •having heard the late Mr. Taylor address a public meeting ever forgot it. He "filled" the greatest buildings in NewZealand as no other man in this country ever has. with the one exception of his greatest political enemy, the late Mr. Seddon. He was untiringly industrious. He soaked in knowledge like a sponge, and gave it extra value by his definite method of using it. He will be remembered throughout the coining generations as the fierce and unbending enemy of the .liquor traffic, and, with an exception, the greatest exponent of prohibition New Zealand ever had. There is no doubt in the mind of any man and woman who has any idea of the power of the late Mr. Taylor that he was in a remarkable degree responsible for the creation of a very considerable sentiment against the liquor traffic. It was because in every undertaking he was thorough that he achieved so great a success in a campaign that was his greatest interest and pleasure. He was indeed a foeman worthy of the steel of [ his enemies, but none of them had so bright or keen a blade as he. The late Mr. Taylor was a curious combination of harshness and softness. He could attack with biting venom those things he believed to be evil, and could exhibit the softness of a woman to friend or foe alike under other circumstances. His duty lav clear before him, and he did it. That is the best tribute that could be paid to any man. A short time ago we read of him with, characteristic

courage and virility, dealing with the huge crowd at Mr.. Massey's Christchurch meeting. To-day we read that this bright light has gone out. His great courage impelled him to figlit to the last possible moment. We sadly read that he gave his last messages to his fellow, workers and friends in a whisper—but he gave them. That was the real "Tommy Taylor." He set out to do a thing, and did it. The immutable decrees of Providence are net to be understood, for here dies a man in tne prime of a life that has been useful far beyond the average. It may be believed that in a larger sphere the late Mr. Taylor would have achieved even greater distinction, but in the somewhat narrow groove of New Zealand public life he was able to shed light on many dark places. It is impossible to fill his place as he filled it, for he was the only one of his kind in the House of Representatives.