A LEADER OF THE TRADE

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XII, Issue 733, 24 March 1904, Page 24

A LEADER OF THE TRADE

SIR THOMAS li. DEWAR, M. 8.. J.P

Sir Thomas R. Dewar is an admirable instance of a man working his way upwards to one of the most honourable positions it is possible to attain. Born in the year 1864, he received his primary education in Perth and Edinburgh, its completion being effected in later years in entering practically and thoroughly into commercial life both at home and in almost every part of the civilised globe. He is the fifth son of the late Mr John Dewar, of Perth, who in 1846 founded the celebrated business of -John Dewar and Sons, Limited, of Perth and London. Probably the reason why the name of Dewar has become so well known is because the original John Dewar brought to a high.level the art of blending. The mantle of his genius seems to nave fallen on the should pr « vf Mr John A. Dewar, for he ha,s superintended this part of the business, since the loss of his father, and for many years past has been recognised as ont?. of the finest experts in blending, or, in fact, of anything connected with .whisky that can be found in Scotfen'tl.; ' . or, for the matter of that, .els.ewhcb * The head.office, of the coffipany is' in -.Perth, and ‘the distilleries at'Aberfeldy, Tullymet, etc., •a'rb/cbntrolled from there. Everything connected with the -shipping and execution . of orders for ..abfio.Hd' is th4re attended to, so, ,one\qah luhdiVstand that both Ihrger a.' '-larger irtaff of clerks are'Hqtfir.ed. in' t-h'e city , of. the ’“Fair, Maid-’’pre.-fio'- be .found <t' the bld 1 Shot’ Tower' bn' tn? beautiful mud-ban ks-Oerther,-Thames--.-- - V V r It "is e'en years' .since .Sir' Thomas Jtondon, convinced that there?. was’rhi'' la-Ege business to be done, bn ■die Fng r lk<?h side-'of the- Border.- At., that .time’then.- .'had- .only been two” customers bn thq‘books iij.' Lonclon, ’and, one of-these happened to be dead, whilst, the other account . had been . practically closed for some little time. • It is almost a matter .of history, now as to the difficulty Sir Thomas had in. obtaining offices in which to start, business, for everybody seemed to regard him with suspicion, and when at last he did fix upon two small rooms in Warwick Street, Charing Cross, negotiations nearly fell through owing to the difficulty of finding references ! This obstacle was got over, and for some years these two little rooms composed the. em tire London establishment of John Dewar and Sons. When the. business had been

fairly established, and warranted the expense of an extra set of ledgers for the London Trade, the Warwick Street offices were found not to be large enough, and more commodious ones were taken at 48, Lime Street. When the finishing strokes had been given to the home business, Sir Thomas, who had already been in South Africa, started on a grand tour round the world, to see what could be done with regard to an export connection. Since then he has made two other tours of the earth's circumference, and has visited the principal business centres on the Continent. It is unnecessary to say much as to the enormous growth of the business,, but it seems strange that whereas about a dozen years ago the name of Dewar was hardly known, everywhere now the name is familiar, and both it and its whisky are held in high esteem

’! he beverage is to found in the cellars of the Vatican, and no stranger to that part of Mhite House where wines . and spirits are stored. A large hostelry on the heights of the Rockies makes a speciality of it. About four years ago an enterprising friend of the firm took the trouble to bring from India, as a curiosity, the fragments of one of their whisky cases picked up by him in the Khyber Dass when travelling in that district. There are one or two other interesting mementoes- in the London office sent from South Africa at different times during the war, such as the capsule taken from a stray bottle found in a Boer farm, the label from a bottle found on a battlefield, the capsule and cork of the first bottle opened in Ladysmith after the relief of that town —these being verified by authorities. Another curio is- a letter written by Sir Thomas during one of his ; voyages round the world, offering the findec a case of whisky. This letter was 'enclosed in-a bottle which was - securely sealed and thrown overboard soon after leaving Fiji. Some fifteen months . after this was found by a “mining prospector” within a few miles of Manila. . The gentleman - claimed and received the whisky.; Sir Thomas- has served on the London County Council, representing West Marylebone -from 1892 to 1895, and was sheriff of London in 1897-1898. Of. course there are many mementoes retained- by the hold-?.- of such a position to remind him of his term of office, but the only souvenirs in portable form retained by a retiring Sheriff are the two staves carried by his footmen on State occasions. People say, and they are not far wrong, that a year of office costs a sheriff between four and five thousand pounds, and these two staves, kept to look at now and then, are all that represent this expenditure.

Mr John A. Dewar was Lord Provost of Perth for six years, and is now M.P. for Inverness-shire on the Liberal side. Sir Thomas is M.P. for St. George’s-in-the-F.ast and Mapping on the proper, or Unionist side. His knighthood was one of the Coronation honours, and it is, perhaps, on this account that more pride is attached to it than would be the case under other circumstances.

He is a thorough sportsman, and is always ready to encourage genuine sport. In order to commemorate his year of Shrievalty for the City of London he presented a committee with a valuable Challenge Shield, said to be the best in the world, called the “Sheriff of 1 ondon Football Charity Shield."’ It is of more than usual value, and is higly prized by the winning team, and is played for each year between a selected team of Amateurs and a well-known professional eleven. The proceeds of the matches are distributed amongst the various charities in the metropolis and in the district from which the visiting team hails. Up to the present there have been six contests, and the total sum distributed is very little short of £1,300. He is an expert whip, and for some years ran the coach from London to Boxhill during the season. He is now an ardent motorist, having a 16-h.p. Panhard and two other, small cars of different makes. Although he has done over 30,000 miles on his Panhard in various .'parts of England, he has as yet. not had the honour of an official interview with a county bench qf ; magistrates. He is a Justice' of -the ■ I’eacC' for the County- of Kent ; and-on; the . Commission' ; of Lieutenancy. for; the .City iof London.; .:■ <. . ; •Although; much ; occupied \kith..business an'4; parliamentary -duties' (meetings.' in his constituency and the like);.’ during'the .season he •generally manages; to: get aj-webk-epd ; ;in. i Kent.’ .'During;'the summer Le spfends -week-ends on his houseboat;, /the’ Fair 1 ' Maid .: of Perth, on the Thames?. I ■ .' •

. Though.' a good- all-round sportsman and.-fon-d'of shootihg; :driving, and’-ram ing '(keeping a good, stud in: training at Newmarket)." .Sir ; Thomas' sets an example in the. fact that: he'never bets. '

He is an author of .'no mean ability, numbering amongst his' published works, “Prohibition in the United States, Canada, and New Zealand,” “Experiences of the Gothenburg' System,’’ and “A Ramble Round the Globe.” This latter book, though first issued several years ago, is still so popular that there is yet another edition in the press. He has ever been ready to champion Trade interests, has attended numerous Trade meetings and rendered valuable help in supporting its philanthropic in-

stitutions alike, by presence, time, and purse, whilst his ready wit and fearless outspoken speeches have charmed and captivated his audience as well as having carried conviction to numbers outside the Trade. i,'' Me particularly call to mind, fine occasion when, as president of the old Licensed Victuallers’ Protection Society of London, he occupied the chair at the final banquet of that society, at St. James’s Hall, on December 1, 1891. It was hi.; first real public appearance amongst the Trade, and many were present who came smiling at “young Dewar’s” precocity, but all were fairlycarried away by his outspoken and telling remarks, and the energy with which he exhorted every member of the Trade to do his duty by standing shoulder to shoulder against their enemies and unite in one common cause, determined to uphold their rights and have the justice which was their due. Since then he has never deviated in the slightest from his allegiance to the Trade, and coming to more recent periods, we have his presidency and equally telling speed', at the banquet of the annual conference of the Licensed Victuallers' National Defence League at Bristol on May 15, 1901, condemning the Sunday C losing and the Beer Bill, and approving Mr (’nine’s Registration of Clubs Bill. Also, his speech at the. City of M'estminster Licensed Victuallers’ Association Dinner ,on October, 1901, when he urged the necessity of trade combination and licensed victuallers working both individually and collectively.

Qn' February 5, 1902, aVc again find Mr . presiding', qvgr the Brighton and . OjQurity.LieepseciVictual lor s' Association .and dgjijing ,'wj'tn (the" Child Messengers . Bill,’ . which .he . qesci:il?.ed as a measure both ,chi]dish ,'jn .name” and childish in chai;act<?r, .adding that he was confident it • would serve, no ,good purpose. He then touched, op- the question of bogus clubs, .and, Jetting' himself go, he expr.essed lb?, . hope that the Government w'ould; at once deal with them, justly describing them as the hells that harboured the; bully, the s.trumpet, the thief, and the receiver of to-day and to-morrow. • On March 12, at the North Camberwell, Peckham, Dulwich, and Penge dinner he again dealt with the Child Messenger Act, urging all the licensed victuallers to be on the alert and look well to their organisations. On December 5, alive as ever, we find him at the South London Licensed Victuallers’ Banquet speaking on the subject, of Compensation, and pointing out how the licensed victuallers and licensing Trade had honestly and loyally acquired their property, and he then said that he

should at all times as a member of Parliament do his best to uphold the rights and interests of the Trade. > i In 1903 we find him still busy as usual. On March 25, at the twenty-first annual dinner of the North Marylebone and Paddington Licensed Victuallers’ Association, amidst much enthusiasm, he called attention to the pronouncements made by the Head of the Church, the Head of the House of Lords, and the Head of the House of Commons that they would not allow spoliation in this country. A.t the ‘ Central Board dinner on May 13, in replying to the toast of the House of Commons, he was able to assure his hearers that the party they had supported so long would stand by them in their hour of need, and that fair play and justice would be meted out to the publican. Besides attending these philanxhropic Trade meetings, looking after the interests of Licensed Victuallers in Parliament, where he also carefully watches and does his best to correct other abuses, he yet finds time for such things as. presiding at the annual distribution of prizes at the Children’s Hospital, at Shadwell, when, by-the-way, the subscription reached the recdr d amount of £l3O, and .also taking the chair, on November 30 last, at the Bohemian concert of the St. George’s and Wapping Constitutional Club, when dealing with the Fiscal problem and the way free imports affect the working man, he said, “ A prominent statesman had said what the country wanted to improve its trade was commercial repose. After looking through the figures for many years past, he had come to the conclusion that we had had that repose for thirty years, and that what we wanted was commercial activity all round. As was generally the case, opportunity brought the man, and there was now Mr who had ■ put matters with such clearness that it ■seemed almost impossible for anyone not to see things in the light in which he had placed them. ■ “It has been proved beyond all doubt that our present fiscal policy hampered the British manufacturer, and was bad

■for the workers, for n the employer s prosperity the employees participated, and in his downfall they also had to suffer. Employment was a greater advantage to the working classes than even cheap bread, and with a policy of protection wo could have employment without an increase in the price of bread. But even if bread were increased in price •by an almost infinitesimal sum, would that not be preferable to having so many thousands almost utterly unable to purchase it at its present price ? “ During last year the ready-made doors, window frames, staircases, and such things imported into this country from America and continental countries amounted roughly to £2,500,000. AVhy •was not that portion of it consisting of wages distributed amongst our own British workmen ? Because the foreigner was •-allowed to ‘ dump ’ his goods here under the banner of ‘ glorious free trade,’ free <tf duty, to the disadvantage of the British workman, the British taxpayer, and British condnercial prosperity. “ Had the proposed fiscal .policy been in force that year, the carpentry and -oinery firms of America would have ■found themselves handicapped to the tune of £2,500,000 (or 10 per cent, duty) before they could have competed with the •Britisher over this business, and thus our own men would have stood the chance of work and wages and prosperity in •their homes.

“ British capital settled the lands of •other’ countries. British capital develop•ed enterprise abroad ; we educated the -world to manufacture, and now when we find in return for all this there are ar•rayed against us hostile foreign tariffs, what were we to do ? Sit quiet, or put our foot doiwn, and show the world that we were alive to our danger, that the old country had been told to ‘‘ wake up,” .and had done so, and that in the future we would do to others as we are done by.”—“ L.V. Gazette ” (London).