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IN ENGLISH EYES.

THE LATE MR MASSEY. TRIBUTES BY LEADING WRITERS. irtOU OTJB OWX COBBXSPONOBBT.) LONDON, May 22. Amongst the published appreciations of New Zealand's late Prime Minister iis a special notice written by the Et. Hon. T. P. O'Connor, M.P., for the "Daily Telegraph," which states: — "When you looked at Mr Massey, at his thick and robust, figure, his white hair, his bristling white moustache, his ruddy cheeks, and his clear, kindly, yet rather defiant eyes (he says), you felt yourself in the presence of the typical mrm of Ulster. With a slight change in the circumstances of his life, he might well have occupied the same place as w.is afterwards held by his fellowcountryman, Sir James Craig. He had the same resolute temper, the same impatience of political opposition, the same stern, simple creed.

"But in order to understand the man and his appearance, you must add that, instead of having spent his life in the Army or in the House of Commons, Mr Massey, up to the time of his becoming an active politician, was a farmer, naked and unashamed.. It was his life on the farm that accounted for that ruddy colour of his cheeks and the brightness of his eyes .and the robustness of his physique. If he had been in England, he would have been taken for one of the solid yeomen who have cultivated the soil for generations and only came to the town to sell their cattle or their sheep, and to enjoy the contrast of its ebullient life with the silence of the countryside. He had also a farmer's frankness and pleasantness of manner. He could beam on even a strong Nationalist who, in addition, had the misfortune —from his point of view—of being a Catholic. But the beaming face did not conceal the strong convictions, the quiet purpose, and the incurable suspicion. If you begin by the study of his hereditary tendencies, the whole career has an extraordinary consistency; us he was in the beginning, so ho remained throughout his life. Not even the adroitness and occasional concessions that political life imposes on every man could really transform him. Limavady he began, Limavady he always remained. . . .

Early Political Life. "He must have had a certain instinct that politics would some day or other claim him, for he became a member of many of the local bodies around him, and thereby was perhaps unconsciously training himself for what was to- bo the main concern of his later years. Tlieso things had probably drawn attention to him, with the result that—apparently, very much to his surprise—he was asked to staud for the Legislative Chamber. There is a very good story told of the manner in which he received the nomination. Ho was at his work on the top of a haystack when a boy approached with a. letter; he held out his long-handled fork with which he was working, and the letter reached him spiked on one of its prongs. Tho missive was n. request to Mm to come out as a Prwlianientary candidate. He accepted the invitation, and the choice proved to have been. a wise one. for he retained his seat continuously for the.rest of his days. When he entered political life he found things very much .-lgninst htm. The Liberal Party had been in power for a considerable period; it commanded a big and docile majority, and attacks on it seemed to be hopeless. This was .iust the situation that suited a man. like Massey, and brought out all his qualities. He had immense. courage and tenacity; he began to learn hi 3 business as Whip of tho Opposition; then he became its leader, and finally, in 1912, he reached the Premiership. . . .

"As migbjt be gathered ; *i'rom the general trend of Iris thought and from some of his expressions which I havo quoted, he belonged to the school of which most of the Colonial Premiers are. also memliers —that; which fights for Preferential Tariffs. Again and again, sometimes at moments rather awkward for those at Home, he urged this system as necessary for the maintenance of'the Empire, and even went the length of saying in his somewhat blunt manner that without such an arrangement tho security and the unity of the Empiro might be jeopardised. Naturally, observations of this kind received a mixed reception in accordance with the widely different opinions of the politicians at Home, but Mr Massey was never really concerned about .the impression any of his opinions made on those he regarded as benighted political opponents." More British than Britain.

The Press has been unanimous in its praise of the personality and character of tho late, statesman. The "Morning Post" says: In his own Dominion, Mr Massey's domestic policy was based on the prime importance to the nation of the agricultural and pastoral industries. As an Imperial statesman his one principle was to follow the Mother Cduntry wherever she led. He was never critical of the Imperial Government. He interpreted fuithfully bis New Zealand—which is more British in outlook than Great Britain herself —when he took up the attitude on every question that what was good in the eyes of the Home Country was good. From other Dominions at Imperial Conferences there might come sometimes a note of question; never from New Zealand, whose inhabitants are descended from "the Wakefield Colonies," which revived the ancient Greek plan of transplanting complete sections of the people of the motherland to a colony. A Personal Sketch. "The Times" brings to a close its appreciation thus: There were sides to the character of the late statesman with which even those who knew him intimately in this country were probably not acquainted. He was, for instance, a great Bible student and a man of simple Christian faith. A keen- reader, he devoted most of his spare hours to the study of selected books, and these with characteristic thoroughness lie committed to memory. His wonderful memory wa3 one of his greatest assets. As a Parliamentary debater his methods were direct, vigorous, and "from the shoulder." He was singularly unable to employ sarcasm or biting wit. It was this very inability to hurt, even when his opponents had rendered him exceedingly angry, that helped to retain for him the respect and kindly esteem of those from whom he so strongly and even vehemently differed. Labour members of the House of Eepresentativea were always pleased to crack a joke with him at the rising of the House, notwithstanding any characteristically fierce denunciation he may have made of them or their creed. A Call to Duty. The "Yorkshire Post": A determined fighter, always pledging his

(Continued, at foot of next colxnnnj

energy to the best interest of the State, he was a democratic Conservative, a firm believer in the solidarity of the British Empire, and a determined anti-Socialist. In an estimate of Mr Massey's personal qualities, a correspondent writes: He might have ended life as he began it, a plain farmer at Mangere—a successful one without a doubt, but perfectly content with his lot —had it not been that when still in his thirties he saw that co-operation of effort was needed if the agriculturists and pastoralists of his own immediate district were to get what they required in the matter of railway transport to Auckland, and some share of State encouragement which was being so lavishly given to other industries. Thus he became a member and ultimately a leader of the Farmers' Society. The present writer well remembers the meeting in Auckland—held . with but few over 50 members present —above a stock auctioneer's, when it was /decided to form a Farmers' Party and put Mr Massey up to fight the country constituency of "Waitemata. He took the nomination as a soldier would obey a call to duty, and rose to be Leader of the Opposition. His chance came : in 1912, when.he defeated the Ward Ministry on a vote in the House of Representatives. Five months afterwards Mr Massey became Prime Minister.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/CHP19250629.2.114

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18420, 29 June 1925, Page 14

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,337

IN ENGLISH EYES. Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18420, 29 June 1925, Page 14

IN ENGLISH EYES. Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18420, 29 June 1925, Page 14

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