POLITICIANS OF THE PAST.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 231, 29 September 1928, Page 22

POLITICIANS OF THE PAST.

FOUR PIONEERS.

AUCKLAND, HAWKE'S BAY

CANTERBURY.

"THE AUCKLAND RATS."

, (By S.S.)

Few of the Canterbury Pilgrims—the First, Four Shippers as they sometimes are alternatively styled- —did more for their adopted country and for their fellow colonists than did Charles Christopher Bowen, a Rugby boy and a Cambridge graduate, who brought to this end of the world all the best traditions of bis school arid university, as well as the inspiring influence- ofa refined English home. a matter of fact, Sir Charles Ho wen, »» he afterward? became, was neither a Pilgrim nor a First Four Shipper, having landed at Lvttelton as private secretary to John Robert Godley. pi.ntically founder ot the Canterbury -i t t lenient, some eight or nine months in advance of the tirst. batch of permanent -e tiers. Ironi the very beginning, however, he associated himself > ( , eh-ely with the aspira.iens and undertaking ot the later comers that, he rca.liTv accepted as a companion and a lead-r in their various enterprises. n l>r ,. , hH| . ( , no • pace for a rechal of hi, association will provincial polities, to which he con-I rmuted a measure of efficiency and di» mi v for which Canterbury is* -till his I deotor. lli- lir-it introduction to the wider sphere of national politics was aa member of the Legislative Council j,', 18,4 a distinction he retained for "just live days before resigning to contest the Kti lapoi seat in the other branch of the legislature, which he won and held until the dissolution of 1881. He returned to the Council in 1801. became Speaker in 1905, and held that office till two years before his decease in 1917. The great achievement of his political career was the passing in 1877 of the Education I Act, n measure which remains on the Statute Hook to-day in all essentials unchanged'by the passage, of the year*. This is not to ,iiv that the present. Act tonforrng :<> the original proposals of itauthor. Sir Charles had not intended to make the -v-t.eni of primary education Tree, -eciihir, and compulsory, but. like

the big man he was, he accepted these provisions from an insistent majority rather than delay the boon lie sought for the children of the young country. The Veiled Prophet. The Hon. .J. D. Ormond, in Hawke's Bay, was caught up iu the lure of colonisation in much the same way as Sir Charles Bovven was in Canterburv. Coming to New Zealand in the train of an early Governor of the colony while still a young man, he quickly realised the potentialities of the country and the magnitude of his own opportunities. Freeing himself from obligations to ViceRoyalty, he entered whole-heartedly into provincial politics, passing through all the gradations of local administration and proving himself a man of action and daring. His casual acquaintance with Sir Donald McLean, the greatest of all Native Ministers, ripened into a warm friendship, and together the two men did much in .the 'sixties and 'seventies to avert serious trouble with the Maoris along the East Coast of the North Island. Mr. Ormond first entered the House of Representatives in 18(51 as member for C'live, and continued to represent this constituency until 18S1, a period, that is, of twenty years. He was absent from the iloune between 1881 and 18S4, but he came back as member for Napier in the latter year, and held the seat until 1890. when lie accepted an appointment to the Legislative Council ami occupied it until his decease in 1917. Mr. Ormond had not en joyed the early opportunities w hick gave Sir Charles Bowen his charm, and some of his critics were over-ready to blame a certain reticence he sometimes maintained. "He has become taciturn, reserved and angular in his general relations to other public men. ' Mr. William Uisborne said of him while he still was in active public life. W hat lie says and does always has weight, but it would have much greater weight were he able to work heartily with men generally. As it is, he is more M~c the veiled prophet of politics than statesman of the modern i worrU t olne ei ? htocn years after these wtds were written it was my aood fortune on several occasions to vhlt Mr • nond in Ins own home and enjoy the , H S" «!"> hosjiitalitv "The Auckland Rats." -MWilliam Swanson, who sat con muously in the House of tives between In, I and 1884 as member for Newton, and ain-rwurds occupied a

seat iu 111 c Legislative Council from 18S-3 to 190:!, probably will be best remembered as one of the four Auckland members who decided tha fate of the <irey. Ministry in 1879, when the electors had failed to do so at the polls. At any rate, this is the incident that first brought me imo personal contact with Mr. Swanson l years later, when he vouched for the, accuracy of a summary id the conijiact between the four Auckland members and Sir John Hall con - corning curtain Liberal proposals. "Mr. Reader Wood lirst consulted Mr. William Swanson,'' the material part of the summary runs, "and thev jointlv consulted Mr. William John Hurst and Captain (. olbeck. All four men were Auckland member-, all pledged and willing supporters ~t Sir Coorge (hey; earnest, intelligent Liberals; determined to get mannotd as soon as possible; to oppose denominational education in the .State schools, and to get the borrowed public money which they believed to be due to their province. The terms agreed upon were put in writing by Air. Swanson in a very brief, in for" mal manner on the back of a not very large envelope, which he carried to Mr. Hall, and which that gentleman marked with his initials. ":f.lf."' After the envelope had been marked "confidential." the report was consigned to Mr. Swanson's pocketbook. where it ])robahlv remained until its custodian's death in 190.'}. Needless to say. the title "Auckland Hats" no longer - 1 tears an offensive interpretation. Sir George Grey himself subsequently bore testimony to the loyalty of his former colleagues and supporters. and congratulated the Liberals upon having secured from their opponents legislation' for which they hail long been striving themselves. Sir John Hall, on his part, could claim to have been a life supporter of several of the reforms the "rats" demanded, and he was careful to reserve for himself a free hand in dealing with the question of Bible teaching in the State schools, and so everyone should have been happy. One Session Enough. Mr. John ring's statue stands in the Square at Ashburton, to prpclaim to the passerby that the man who evolved the "Finest Farm in the World" at Longbeach, rendered a very real service to "be oceiipM". s ( f the wheat area in Canterbury, and their successors, in holding fast to the faith that led him into the wilderness to convert its waste places into a land of plenty and smiling homesteads. Mr. Crigg had been known as a i member of road boards and of the l county council, of Anglican Synods and j agi icnltura I and pastoral associations,] new- T. " into the local j "paper oIi ;CL - aI1( j announced his

intention to enter Parliament by way of the approaching general election, the editor stood aghast. Other arrangements had been made for the representation of the party, and the announcement of another Richmond ill the Held would dislocate the whole machine. Hut Air. Grigg knew nothing of the party or of the machine. He simply was going into Parliament as member for Wakauui. and he won Id be obliged il the editftr would let the public know of his intention. Obviously the matter was deliniiely settled, and the editor could oulv acquiesce with the best grace he could summon to his-aid. Acquiescence indeed was the sole part he was allowed to play in the campaign. Mr. (irigg addressed perhaps a score of meetings with the same i-asy coniidence as he had sil"iiced the newspaper man, and cvorvwhere seemed to take it for granted that lie already was elected, and that a new era >ii politics had begun. But few of lijs friends shared his assurance and liis opponents laughed it to scorn. In the end. however, his candour, rather than his ardour, and his sincerity, rather than his eloquence, prevailed, and on the fateful day he defeated his well-equipped opponent, by a respectable majority, to ;he surprise of everyone but him.-elf. Cnfortuna-tely lie did not find the House •>t Representatives a congenial place. At the close of his first session he resigned his seat, and the count ry lost a po'enfiai reformer of many parts and possibilities.