SIR JOHN McKENZIE.

Observer, Volume XXI, Issue 118, 17 August 1901, Page 2

SIR JOHN McKENZIE.

A Loss to Liberalism

THE passing of Sir John McKenzie is the most distinct loss that the cause of Liberalism in New Zealand has suffered since the death of the late Mr Ballance. No man, with the exception of Mr Seddon himself, has left the impress of his personality and principles upon the legislation of the country more strongly than Sir John has done. It may also be truthfully said that no man has exercised a stronger influence in recent years in promoting the welfare of the country than he. A man of humble origin himself, and one who knew what privation and hardship meant, he was broad and large-hearted in his sympathies with the cause of the people. ••• *• .«. In his earlier years, John McKenzie saw much of the wrongs suffered by the crofters of his own country, and throughout his public career he has been inspired by the desire to bring tho land within the reach of the people, no matter how poor they might be. No better example of this can be furnished than his policy of bursting up big estates and acquiring land for closer settlement, his cherished

system- of lease in -perpetuity for which he was prepared to sacrifice his seat in the Cabinet, and othe^r legislation designed to assist men without means to take up land and establish homesteads for themselves and their families. • •• ■••••• _■ «••-■ ••• Staunch Liberal "us he was, John McKenzie had his own misgivings concerning the Labour legislation upon which the country has embarked, and which has become more extreme since his retirement from, the Ministry. He was strenuously opposed to class legislation of any kind, whether in the interests of capital or labour, so that in recent years he has acted as a kind of brake, upon the wheels of the Ministerial coach. The powerful restraining influence that he exercised upon the party will be sorely missed by Mr Seddoii in a crisis such us the one that is approaching-. ••• ••• .«. It was attributed to Sir John McKenzie. as one of his characteristics, that he had little sympathy with this part of the colony, and at one time in his career the expression of " dom Auckland " credited to him aroused a great' deal of feeling. He was wrapped up heart and soul in Otago. And yet it must be confessed that the sunny North has benefited most materially from the wisdom and liberality of his land administration. Moreover, Sir John was too staunch a New Zealander not to lie concerned for and proud of the progress and prosperity of the colony as a whole rather than of any particular part of it. Konph and often uncouth in manner, he was often misunderstood by those who did not know him. but judged by •his life, his sentiments, and his actions, he was one. of the iinest typos of colonists this country has seen, whether we consider him as a fanner, a legislator, or a man.