STATESMAN OF PACIFIC.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 May 1925, Page 7

STATESMAN OF PACIFIC.

ms policy of vigour. ATTITUDE TO SINGAPORE. TRIBUTE FROM AMERICA By Telegraph.—(Press Assn.—Copyright. Received May 12, 10.30 p.m. New York, May 12. The New York Tinies, in a leader, eulogies Mr. Massey, saying he was by the force of his character one of the statesmen of the new Pacific. New Zealand and Australia have been forced to think internationally and give special attention to the Empire’s policies in the Far East. This explains the vigour with which Mr. Massey protested against the abandonment of the Singapore base. The {Singapore base to him, as to the leaders in Australia, was vital to the integrity of Britain. It was largely owing to his efforts that the Dominions were represented at the Washington Conference. Such was Mr. Massey’s hold on bis own people that only death displaced him. It is a curious paradox that in a country noted for its excess of Liberalism a man who by nature was so staunch a Conservative so long held power.

“A GENUINE MAN ” GREAT LOSS TO EMPIRE. By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright. London, May* 11. The, Secretary for the Colonies (Mr. L. G. M. Amery), interviewed by the Australian Press Association, said that Mr. Massey’s death was a great loss ; not only to New Zealand, but to the Empire. “I feel a sense of personal loss in the departure of an old friend,” he added. “I had the pleasure and privilege of knowing Mr. Massey for many years, and during the war, as : secretary of the Imperial War Cabinets I of 1917-18, I came into close contact ; with him, and what impressed me most ' was the broad serenity of his outlook j during those anxious times and his un- > swerving confidence in ultimate victory. No matter how long the struggle continued or however difficult the problems, one always knew that Mr. Massey was prepared to play up for the common 1 good, and believed with unwavering faith that New Zealand stood with him. He was a most lovable, warm-hearted, genuine man.” DARK DAYS OF 1914. MR. MASSEY AND THE <VAR. SOME UNRECORDED HISTORY. The departure of the Main Body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force from Wellington under a formidable escort was the result of a display of moral courage on the part of the Prime Minister. It had been suggested that the transports should be convoyed by very light cruisers during the first stage of their long voyage. Mr. Massey objected, bn the ground that Admiral von Spee’s squadron, which later sunk Admiral Craddock’s squadron off Coronel, was at large in the Pacific. There was much delay, and finally Mr. Massey announced his intention to resign rather than expose the troops to possible disaster at sea. Almost immediately a powerful escort was procured from the China Station. The necessity for their presence was dramatically proved near Cocos Island, where the Emden, obviously awaiting the appearance o,f colonial transports, was destroyed by the Australian light cruiser Sydney. “It has always seemed to me a regrettable thing/’ Mr. Massey declared in his . spirited reply to the protest of the United Federation of Labour against the passing of the New Zealand Compulsory . .Military Service Bill in 1i916, “that- there are people who, while readily accepting the rights and privileges of citizenship, ignore the duties and responsibilities that citizenship entails.” During his first visit to the Mother Country Mr. Massey urged the adoption of the system of Imperial War Cabinet Conferences, which subsequently did so much to co-ordinate the war activities and policy of the different units of the Empire. In 1917, at meetings o'f the Imperial War Calbinet and Imperial Conference, Mr. Massey moved resolutions, which were agreed to unanimously, in favour of Imperial preference. The principle was subsequently accepted by the British Government as part of their policy. At the Peace Conference Mr. Massey, in company with Sir Ernest Pollock, K.C., then Solicitor-General, Mr. Massey was appointed to represent the British Empire on the Committee on Responsibilities for War and the Enforcement of Penalties. He appeared on several occasions before the Council of the Principal Allied and Associated Powers in support of New Zealand’s claim for British retention of German Samoa. He submitted a strong claim for the retention by Britain of the small but commercially valuable island of Nauru, and eventually the Council of the Powers gave the mandate to the British Empire. “We do not remember a single occasion on which the head of the National Government of New Zealand has failed to speak worthily on behalf of the splendid Dominion which sent to Europe nearly 100,000 gallant soldiers whose war record is surpassed by none.” —-Daily Telegraph, London. “I heartily congratulate you on the completion of the main portion of your great work,” said Mr. Massey to M. Clemenceau at the historic ceremony of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles. “And let me congratulate you, too,” responded M. Cteineneeau, “on your brave men, and thank them for France.” « At the end o'f the Peace Conference in Paris the hour of departure of the vessel on which Mr. Massey and his family and staff were leaving England coincided exactly with the time for the signing of the Peace Treaty at Versailles, Mr. Massey’s party went aboard the steamer, and the Prime Minister, by arrangement with the Admiralty i and the War Office, raced overland in

a motor-car from Versailles to Havre, and there caught a destroyer, which overtook the giant Cunard liner Mauretania in the Channel and placed the Prime Minister aboard. When in England Mr. Massey strove hard and consistently for the permanent preservation of the Allied soldiers’ graves on Gallipoli, and ultimately succeeded in securing the Imperial Government’s support of his suggestion that a portion of Gallipoli should be placed under British control for all time. Such a provision was Inserted in the Treaty of Peace with Turkey. In addition to being in the official paintings of the Allied plenipotentiaries at the Peace Conference, Mr. Massey is included in a painting for the National Gallery in London for three groups of prominent British soldiers, sailors and statesmen, who gave valuable Imperial service during the war.