WRITER, SCHOLAR, STATESMAN

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVII, Issue 21529, 16 December 1939, Page 32 (Supplement)

WRITER, SCHOLAR, STATESMAN

WILLIAM PEMBER REEVES

CHRONICLE OF A VARIED LIFE

p (lie course of her history. New I Zealand has been forunale in her public men, in her leaders in many i fields, in her spiritual directors anti . in many other ways, ami to this in I large measure, coupled with the | courage and resource of the pioneers must be attributed the transformation which has marked the hundred years 1810-1910. A large proportion of the leaders were able to adapt themselves to the environment in which they were placed with extraordinary aptitude, and were able ? to play useful parts in many spheres. Among these must be in- j eluded William Pember Reeves, whose I success in many spheres certainly I singles him out as a man of exceptional I talent, and to-day there are many who recognise that the Dominion suffered an immense loss when, at a comparatively early age. he transferred his ] labours to the Mother Country, where. ■ however, to the end he continued to I work in the interests of New Zealand I and the Empire. He was. it is universally conceded, among the greatest intellectuals to participate in the public I life of this country. Mr Reeves, a son of the Hon. Wil- | liam Reeves. M.L.C., who was Minister of Public Works in the Fox-Vogel Government of 1872. was born at Lyttelton on February 10, 1857. At the . age of 10 years he won a scholarship | to Christ’s College, where he studied I for several years, winning another scholarship. In 1873 he won the j Somers Scholarship, and in the follow- | ing year two University Scholarships, | securing first class honours in classics | and mathematics. Later he went Home with the in- I tention of pursuing his studies for the \ Bar, where his maternal uncle held a foremost position. However ill-health I prevented him from entering the uni- i versity. and he returned to New Zea- I land. For a short time he went into : the country to recuperate, but he soon j tired of this and returned to Christ- j church. In due time he was admitted : as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court. However, he did not practise and adopted journalism as a profession. Journalistic Career He began his new career as a contributor to the '•Lyttelton Times.” and he quickly rose to the position of 1 leader-writer. Scon afterwards he be- ■ came editor of the “Canterbury Times." . and in 1889 rose to the position of i editor of the “Lyttelton Times.” His literary labours, however, were not confined to ordinary journalism; he | made several contributions to the lit- i erature of the Colony. His best known I early works were “Colonial Couplets.” “In Double Harness” and “Pharos." In the two first named volumes, Reeves shared the labour of author- i ship with Mr G. P. Williams. These i publications met with a success hitherto unknown in the history of New I Zealand literature. “Pharos" was a ' brief historical outline of Communism and Socialism from the time of Plato to the present day, and threw much ; valuable light on a subject which was then beginning to interest considerable numbers and becoming a question of | political importance of increasing interest. Elected to Parliament At the general election of 1887. the • Stout-Vogel Government being then m I office, Mr Reeves was prevailed upon ■ to offer his services to the electors of i St. Albans in the Liberal interests, when he stood against the sitting mem- • ber, Mr F. J. Garrick, a supporter of • the Atkinson party. The struggle was a keen one, but Reeves emerged from the fray with a comfortable majority. During his first session he made his mark as a debater, and was at once I marked out as a coming man. During I the next three years, during which the Atkinson party was in office, Reeves | was a foremost speaker in all debates, and no further doubt was entertained | but when his party secured the Treas- | ury Benches he would receive prefer- . ment. In 1891 Ballance came into office as | a result of a general election in 1890 I and in the new Cabinet Mr Reeves ■ accepted the portfolio of Education, later becoming Minister of Justice and Commissioner of Stamps. His chief ! works as Minister of Education were the revising of the public school syllabus and the code of the Native Schools, , and passing the new School attendance 1 Act. Under his direction the working , average basis of computation was res- j tored. He was the first to recognise the 1 Educational Institute as an important factor in connection with educational matters. When the Labour Department w r as established. Mr Reeves took the portfolio, and was instrumental in placing on the Statute Book a large number of Acts affecting the various interests of labour in the Colony. These included the Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, designed to facilitate the settlement of trade difficulties; the Factories Act to secure better conditions of labour for operatives in the various industries; the Shop and Shop Assistants Act regeulating the hours of labour in shops, and making provision for sitting accomodation for women in shops; and the Employers Liability Act, intended to protect workmen from negligence on the part of employers. Becomes Agent-General In 1896 Mr Reeves was selected by the Government to succeed Sir Westby Perceval as Agent-General for the Colony in London, and consequently resigned his seat in the Cabinet and for Christchurch City, of which he was l the senior member. He held the posi- [ tibn of Ageht-General till 1905 when I the post was raised to that of High Commissioner, and he filled this posii tion till 1908, when he retired from I the public service.

| On relinquishing office he at once threw himself into other work, becomI ing Director of the London School of ; Economics, a position which he filled with marked distinction till 1920, when , he retired to take up other activities, i in the meantime becoming Dean of the Faculty of Economics. j During the time he held the position ! of Agent-General and High Commissioner for New Zealand he was on several occasions preferred titv’' - distinctions. but these he refused. ’.ong rhe honours and positions he.d by Mr Reeves were: PhD. University of I Athens. Chairman of the Anglo-Hel-lenic League: High Commander of the I Order of Saviour (Greece*; member • of the Senate of the University of i London <1902-19*; member of the | Pacific Cable Board; member of the | Commercial Intelligence Committee of the Board of Trade; member of the I English Committee on Shipping Rings. | He represented New Zealand at various ! conferences in Europe. America and I Australia. In 1917 Mr Reeves was ap- | pointed chairman of the National Bank , of New Zealand, a post which he held till the time of his death, and won a | strong place among the bankers of the i Home country. Literary Career As already stated. Mr Reeves was a writer of distinction, and his activities iin this field were extensive. From the j day of publication “The Long White | Cloud," a brilliant sketch of the history I of New Zealand, has been recognised as one of the most authentic records i of the Dominion, the picture of the | transformation being presented m striking language. The book received i universal praise on its first appearance, | and is regarded as one of the standard works on the Dominion and its affairs. I Had Mr Reeves not contributed any- | thing further to tlie literature of the I Dominion, he would still have been I entitled to a high place among its literary men. Yet this was but one of lU'Js literary efforts. Other publications I from his pen afe 1 : “State Experiments 1 in Australia and New Zealand” (two I volumes); “New Zealand” (illustrated); pamphlets on the Near Eastern question; contributions to supplemental y volumes of the Encyclopaedia Britannica and Dictionary of National Biography and a volume of New Zealand verse.