A POLITICAL BIRTHDAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7391, 1 May 1902, Page 2

A POLITICAL BIRTHDAY.

To-day is the .tenth anniversary of tho birthday of the Seddon Government. The Liberal Ministry formed by the late Mr Ballance in 1891 had been in office little more than two years when its .chief- died. It became necessary to appoint a fresh leader, and the choice of the party rested between Sir Robert Stout and Mr Seddon. Most people whose political recollections date back a decade will .read'ily 1 call to mind the events which followed Mr Bal- | lance's death and preceded Mr Seddon's as- J sumption of the Premiership. At onetime it looked as if the latter was not destined j to become Premier, but in the end those qualities which have marked him as a great leader, prevailed, and on May 1, 1892, the Seddon Ministry began its career. Since then it has seen many vicissitudes and had many changes. Of the seven colleagues who sat with Mr Seddon on the Ministerial Benches then, .only two. remain with liim now. Two arc dead, one is representing the colony in London, and the other two, amid the comparative calm of the Legislative Council, play a useful but less <jouspicuous part in the administration of the country's affairs. But through all the changes and chances of its political life the Cabinet has had only one leader. lie lias reigned supreme among his colleagues, among his -party and in the hearts of a huge majority of the electors. Few politicians have ever exercised such a sway over the minds of their fellow-men, and fewer still have been so personally popular as tho msn who for nine years has held New Zealand in the hollow of his hand. Here, indeed, lies the secret of -Mr Seddon's success. His great abilities might have landfd him in the position which he now adorns, but if they ivadi not been accompanied 'by that ready tact and unfailing geniality which invariably characterise Mr Seddon's attitude towards his fellows they might not have kept him there for more thin the average period allotted to political leaders.