SERVICES IN PARLIAMENT

Taranaki Daily News, 27 September 1933, Page 9

SERVICES IN PARLIAMENT

DEATHS SINCE LAST SESSION.

TRIBUTES PAID BY MEMBERS.

By Telegraph—Press Association, Wellington, Last Night.

Expressing, appreciation, of the services rendered to New Zealand by Mr. J. McCombs,.late member for Lyttelton, and expressing sympathy with the relatives, •the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes in the House of Representatives to-day. said it. was with a feeling of sadness that he had received the cabled news of Mr. McCombs’ death. Mr. McCombs had been a keen and very able debater. He had held strong views, and expressed them strongly. He had believed most sincerely in the opinions he held and the things he stood for, and had been a man to whom one could listen with a good deal of interest and respect. Despite a difference in the shades of political opinions one had come,to regard Mr. McCombs as an old comrade.

The Leader of the Opposition, Mr. H. E. Holland,.. seconding the motion, said Mr. McCombs had joined the Labour Party at a time when the road of the Labour advocate : was not an easy one and was more likely to lead to prison than to Parliament. His greatness of character had never been more outstandingly demonstrated than during the war years, when he had never subordinated principle to expediency. It was interesting to recall that Mr. McCombs had been the.first member to introduce a Bill to give women the right to sit in Parliament, His temperament had been permanently buoyant and cheerful. “It is fitting,” Mr. Holland concluded, “that she who was his help-mate in life —and to whom he owed so much of Iris success—should come to represent in this house the people he loved and served; fitting, too, that- she - should occupy the place he filled with such outstanding capacity and distinction. He sleeps the long sleep of death in Waimairi cemetery. The skies were leaden the day we laid him to rest, but in the hearts of those “who stood around that open grave there was no bewildering sensation of doubt or despair, ■ for we knew that he had not lived in vain. His monument is the record of his life’s work written into the annals of the nation and engraved imperishably on the hearts of the men and women with whom and for whom he laboured.”

Tributes were also paid by Messi's. D. G. Sullivan, H. S. S. Kyle, A. J. Stallworthy and E. J. Howard.

SIR THOMAS SIDEY’S CAREER.

Moving a similar motion with respect to Sir Thomas Sidey, Mr. Forbes said Sir Thomas had always been a most searching and helpful critic, whose views had always been the outcome of searching examination and study. He had always been scrupulously fair and had been trusted implicitly by the .members. Throughout his long fight for daylight saving legislation he had never lost the friendship of anyone. He had been devoted to the cause of education, and in particular had regarded his services to Otago University as a sacred duty. Seconding the motion, the Leader of the Opposition said Sir Thomas Sidey had had a -wonderful record. He had been keenly interested in everything related to education, and had been deeply concerned about the welfare of - women and children. He had in every possible way advanced . the interests of art, science, mus;c and literature, and had always been extremely courteous to everyone with whom he had come in contact.

Tributes were also paid by other members.

Moving' a motion of sympathy and appreciation with respect to the Hon. G. M. Thomson, Mr. Forbes said Mr. Thomson had devoted a life-time to the study of scientific questions and had left behind a very admirable record of service to the country. . .. .

The Leader of the Opposition also paid tribute to Mr. Thomson’s services to science and education, and the motions were adopted. Similar motions were passed with respect to Messrs. A. MeNicol (Dannevirke) and Wiremu Rikihana, members paying tribute to their services to the Dominion and the manner in which they had carried out their duties. • The House adjourned, at 4.48 p.m. as a mark of respect.