MEMORIES OF MR. MASSEY

Ladies' Mirror, Volume 3, Issue 12, 1 June 1925, Page 12

MEMORIES OF MR. MASSEY

*By ROBERT RILEY

What zoos the secret of the triumph of William Ferguson Massey as Prime Minister of A T ezv Zealand for close on thirteen years? He zoos in the clamour of political conflict for thirtyone years; never made a real enemy; won the personal esteem of his King; zvas hailed as the trusted comrade of the Empire's leading statesman; and had his service and the high merit of his character commemorated in Westminster Abbey. The question is informatively anszvered in the following special article for The Ladies’ Mirror by the Associate Editor of the Christchurch Sun. zvho zoos the close journalistic friend of the late statesman for over a decade, and accompanied him in an official capacity to the Peace Conference in Paris and Versailles. Editor, Ladies’ Mirror.

|MKE Cecil Rhodes, the great Imperial democrat of South Africa, whose tomb lies far and lonely in the Matoppo Hills, Mr. Massey was buried in an exalted grave on Point Halswell, Wellington, overlooking the haunts of his vigorous activities in life, and commanding in eternal peace the majestic solitude of the wide Pacific and the mantled peaks of lofty mountains North and South in his island home. It was an appropriate close to a great career, a noble place of rest for a strenuous worker for the State. His vision was always above the mists in the valley of politics. There were features of his life and administrative achievement that arc worthy of appreciative thought and emulation. His homely character was ever beyond the barbed arrows of criticism. Honesty was the foundation of his policy and it was the strength and success of its practice. Thousands of people in New Zealand had no time for his politics or party (which is the way of the political world), but no one really disliked the Man. His home life was a pattern of simplicity, affection and trust. Home to him was his castle, too strong in its character and happiness ever to yield to any unhappy invader. And now. as Oliver Wendell Holmes would have tenderly phrased it: "There are only two feet on the fender now.” The Secret of ffis Triumph was the secret of his personal and political triumph as Prime Minister of New Zealand for close on thirteen years, and these the most difficult in the history of the Dominion? He fought hard and conquered, but had no enemies. He won and was given the personal esteem of His Majesty the King He was hailed and farewelled as the trusted comrade of the leading statesmen of the British Empire. And in the grey day of his final passing from the familiar scenes of men, the high merit of his service and character was commemorated by the most responsible representatives of the British nation in Westminster Abbey, the mausoleum of illustrious men. The answer might ■well be his epitaph: He made fulfilment of duty the goal of his life. A few weeks before the end came, and when the lamp of life was dimly burning, King George was first in sympathy and hope. The Royal mes-

sage was in itself a rare tribute: “I remember the great services rendered by you to your country and Empire. I earnestly trust that your valuable life may be spared.” It was a kindly, but a vain hope. Even then the sun of his strong life was westering, and the shadows lengthening. The grip of the dire malady that had dragged him unwilling from his post could not be relaxed. But it is good to know that in the last few days of alertness, which in reality presaged the rapid approach of the Pale Messenger, he was able to learn the range and sincerity of sympathy that had been flashed to him from all parts of the Empire. Thus was he sustained to the darkcorridor through which every man must pass to reach the Light. Visit to Winds or Qastle M R - MASSEY had cherished memories of many great occasions. Of these one of the most memorable was the manner in which he was received and treated by the King and Queen on his special visit to Windsor Castle as the guest of their Majesties. The late Prime Minister, who had been invited to spend a week-end at the beautiful palace of British Kings, had been naturally apprehensive. He was a plain, homespun man more familiar with the cottage of a peasant than with the palace of a king. He soon discovered that his anxiety “to do the right thing” (to recall one of his favourite expressions) had been wholly unnecessary. No man could have had a happier experience. There was no formality at all at any time of the visit, and the New Zealander was at home by the hearth of the Royal family. And he knew the pleasure of strolling with the King on the terrace at Windsor in the soft twilight of an English summer day. On that occasion the King presented Mr. Massey with several illustrated volumes portraying the history of Windsor Castle—a beautiful souvenir. ffis Place in Politics JT is really not necessary to discuss his Parliamentary career, and his place in the political history of his country. Although he was first and last a great party leader and an expert political campaigner, he had a national outlook, and laboured with all his strength to advance the

best interests of the Dominion. He was a man of action, staunch in character and ideals, and wise in counsel. Only once in the turmoil of Dominion politics was life threatened. This was during the industrial strife at the outset of his administrative career, when the industries of the Dominion were held up to the point of widespread ruin. He explored every avenue of conciliation before deciding to make an end to the industrial warfare, and he taught disruptive Labour a lesson that has not been forgotten to this day At that hectic time several wild agitators threatened the life of the sturdy Prime Minister, but his courage did not wilt under the threat. Timid triends even provided a weapon of defence for him, but it was kept in a drawer unloaded. • He knew his limitations as a marksman. “I could not hit a haystack,” he was wont to say, when chided for walking home unarmed after midnight when the country was disturbed and agitated. In any case nothing could divert him from the path of duty. He entered Parliament in 1894, and immediately gained the confidence of his party. Soon he was appointed Government Whip, and then leader of the Opposition. For nearly eighteen years he had to fight uphill all the way, against a powerful and popular regime. He was never dismayed, and got his reward on July 10, 1912, when he was appointed to be Prime Minister of New Zealand. The post became a prize for life. It was supposed popularly during the term of the Na-

tional Government to be shared with another, but that, of course, was merely an illusion. He was a single-minded administrative ruler and required no co-operative counsel. He had one ambition, which was not achieved. He had hoped to exceed the great record of the late Richard John Seddon, and just failed to do it. Mr. Seddon took office on May 1, 1893, and died at sea, on June 10, 1906. Mr. Massey’s term of office lasted from July 10. 1912, to May 10, 1925. Thus he stopped short of the Scddonian reign only by a few months. In view of the greater stress of the later period the record of Mr. Massey was the more impressive. The historic Liberal regime enjoyed comparatively easy going all the way. Among the Peacemakers 'JpHOUGH Mr. Massey throve well on the adversities in political warfare he could also enjoy freedom from its wranglings. He was happiest and at his best on the wider field of Imperial politics. His opportunity came with the World War, and contemporary history has proved that he did not neglect them. It was the writer’s good fortune to study his work at the Peace Conference in Paris, and throughout the innumerable sessions of the British Empire Delegation at the Quai d’ Orsay. My estimate of his service under a supreme test can •well be ignored in favour of that given by eminent statesmen. In the words of

Mr. Lloyd George he was a trusted comrade whose counsel was invaluable. In Paris Mr. Massey was the intimate friend of Clemenceau, Botha, Bonar Law, the late Lord Milner, Robert Lansing, a leading member of the American delegation, and Earl (then Mr.) Balfour. Of all the Dominions’ delegates Mr. Massey was most frequently the guest of Mr. Lloyd George, then Prime Minister of England, at the famous breakfast conferences, when the policy of the Empire was shaped with the topping of a boiled egg. Outside the sphere of politics in Paris at that time New Zealand’s statesman enjoyed a rare popularity among famous artists, admirals, distinguished soldiers with real records, and journalists. His social companions with whom he spent many a delightful hour included men differing widely in temperament and achievementsuch as Sir William Orpen, who loathed politicians as a tribe, and the famous, mysterious Colonel T. H. Lawrence, the uncrowned “Prince of the Hedjaz Arabs,” In other words men whose actions had placed them above pretence esteemed the unpretentious farmer-statesman

from New Zealand. Sir William Orpen has enshrined in his book "An Onlooker in France," his own estimate of Mr. Massey. Since it was a first impression by a sensitive artist it is worth quoting: "George Adam (then Paris correspondent of the London Times and a warm friend of Mr. Massey) gave a great dinner one evening at some little country place near Paris. Mr. Massey, of New Zealand, and Admiral Heaton Ellis were the two chief people present." Massey was a most pleasant big man with fine blue eyes; a simple, honest, straightforward person, large in body and big enough in brain to laugh at himself. He made me feel I was back painting the honest people in the war; he has none of the affectation of the "Frocks." To those who are familiar with the mind of Orpen that tribute is a priceless gem. One could write a book in the telling of the popularity of an honest man among the peacemakers in those wonderful days of American ideals and other exalted exaggerations, but space forbids such an exercise in a crowded journal. Enough to say that the Dominion's

plenipotentiary to the Paris Peace Congress gave of his best, did his work thoroughly and well, and won the highest esteem of the great men of all nations. After all, character is like granite. It endures the test of time. Mr. Massey sought no honours, but had many thrust upon him. Famous Universities were delighted to confer honorary degrees, and each one of the great cities in the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland made him a freeman. On one occasion he exercised his privileges as a freeman of London, voting at a poll for the election of aldermen, and chuckling with pleasure at the return of his selected candidates. He was the first oversea statesman to receive the freedom of the City of Londonderry. He could have had the greatest honour that can be bestowed by the King on a citizen of the Empire, but resolutely refused the offer of a peerage. It was with a grateful pride that he declined the proffered reward. which was promulgated by the then First Lord of the Admiralty on the eve of the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.

Once only at the Peace Conference was Mr. Massey nonplussed and embarassed. This was due to an official discovery that it was essential for each delegate with full powers, to sign the Treaty and seal it with his personal seal. As everybody k the only seal a farm- , . , ~ . er ever has is a branding iron for + , Q - ,• , , , ~ ~ the mark,ng of I,v ? st « k Mr - Mas ‘ fy was m a quandary for a day or w °* T ere w as no time to have a designed seal manufactured, and there was nothing else for it than to search the shops of Paris for a makeshift. Pie and I set out on a round of exploration and succeeded, despite an atrocious exercise of the French language, in discovering a tunic button on which was stamped in relief a fern. It cost exactly two francs, when thirty francs were equal to a sovereign, and went on to the historic treaty as the personal and symbolic seal of the Right Honourable William Ferguson Massey, Prime Minister of New Zealand, And it at least symbolised the man whose memory will live in the history of his country.