The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1930. DEATH OF SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18614, 9 July 1930, Page 8

The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 1930. DEATH OF SIR JOSEPH WARD.

Entering the political arena when great events were afoot nearly forty years ago, and having gained the unique distinction of being twice Prime Minister of the Dominion, Sir Joseph Ward has passed peacefully away leaving behind him a record of public service which is at once an inspiration and a example for all time. In his message to the public on the occasion of his retirement from the Prime Ministership the late Sir Joseph Ward said he could look back on practically a lifetime spent in the country’s service. This was no idle boast; indeed it was a fact. For length, variety of office, and brilliance the late Sir Joseph Ward’s career cannot easily be matched in the history of public life of New Zealand. It has been said that his unbounded faith in his country and the Empire carried him through wherg others might have failed because he inspired public confidence. Fortune smiled on the late Sir Joseph Ward from the outset of his career. He came into prominence in a country in the making, and his career opened in an era of amazing and almost pressing opportunity. His administrative ability and his personality quickly brought him to the front and gave him rich preferment. Although the blows of fate sometimes hammered him unmercifully, he refused to be deterred and the history of political events of the Dominion contain no more thrilling pages than those which record the late Sir Joseph Ward's remarkable “come back” in 1928. Whether in office or out, the deceased statesman never found himself in the ruck. His outstanding personality and his strong optimism made him a big factor in the political life, of the country. His hardest political critics have had to admit that he never feared attempting great strokes of policy and although he at times revealed the human capacity to err, it can be said in ungrudging acknowledgment that he invariably rendered invaluable service to the Dominion. The late Sir Joseph was one of the most picturesque figures that has adorned the political life of the Dominion, and he ranks with Seddon and Massey as a patriotic statesman and Empire builder. For nearly forty years, as an ardent New Zealander whose broad vision and lofty idealism placed him in n high place as an Imperialist, the late Sir Joseph Ward, by his robust faith in the righteousness and destiny of the Empire, established for himself a distinguished reputation beyond the shores of New Zealand. As was pointed out some weeks ago, on the occasion of his retirement, the measure of the late Sir Joseph’s refutation was proved by the universal interest aroused when he was chosen, just before last election, to appear again as leader in the political fray. It was thought that the late Sir Joseph Ward, although- he might render invaluable service to any Party in the capacity of adviser, because of his ripened experience, would hardly return as leader of a Government. But by his return in 1925, and the success of his candidates at the polls, he speedily proved the estimate of the critics was wrong and he quickly showed that he had not lost his appeal to the popular imagination, or liis capacity to arouse enthusiasm for the cause he so fervently espoused. Many comparatively minor factors may have contributed to the success of the United Party at the polls in 1925, but it is generally admitted that the personality and reputation of Sir Joseph Ward were unquestionably the chief of them; moreover the charm of his personality and his invariable courtesy won him the admiration and friendship of men who have always disagreed most profoundly with his views and his policies. These qualities were shown in the farewell message of the late Sir Joseph Ward in which he said farewell’ to office. In a word, the closing words of that eloquent message rightly reminded the country of the wider faith, the robust belief in the high destiny of the Empire which were always a characteristic of the late statesman. For a short period in his career, the late Sir Joseph Ward appeared to disappear from prominent association with Government of the land, and democracy in its forgetfulness revealed its ingratitude, but quite unexpectedly the glamour of his reputation brought him back to office, with only a few short months to hold the reins of office before indifferent health necessitated his retirement. Over a long span of years, the late Sir Joseph Ward served his country so faithfully that all sections of the community and all shades of political opinion will mourn his passing, and the Empire will pay eulogistic tribute to the work of one of the Dominion’s brilliant sons who devoted practically a lifetime in theiservice of the country and the Empire he loved so well.