A LIVING MEMORY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 141, 1 April 1940, Page 4

A LIVING MEMORY

TRIBUTES and expressions of sympathy from all parts of the world, serve to indicate only too well the great reputation of the late Mr M. J. Savage, New Zealand's first Labour Prime Minister. The week-end was a solemn occasion for hundreds of thousands, whether they clung to the political views of the deceased leader or not. The observation of ten minutes silence on Saturday morning was carried out tShrcughout the length and breadth of the land while on Sunday when the internment took place the attendant thousands stood bareheaded in silent tribute to the memory of a 'great humanitarian' and thousands of others listened-in to the proceedings. To-day. the memory of the late Prime Minister serves as an inspiration and as an ideal to New Zealanders as a whole. What the future of the party will be, or who will act as the new leader, are secondary things; for the moment. The thoughts of one and all are concentrated on the life and actions of one whose name will go down in the Dominion's history with those of Grey, Seddon. and Massey. The memory of the late' Prime Minister will always be recalled with pride and affection by those who knew him as a man, as a statesman, and as a humanitarian.