MEMORIAL SERVICE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1199, 7 August 1911, Page 6

MEMORIAL SERVICE.

THE LATE MR. TAYLOR. GATHERING AT THE TOWN HALL. "Last Sunday afternoon thero passed along tho streets of Christohurch mournfully and slow a sad procession. Tho streets of the city were lined with people who were there lo pay- their respect to the memory of the late Mr. T. E. Taylor. It lias been estimated that that funeral has- not been equalled in our Dominion. We are here this afternoon to pay tribute to Thomas Edward Taylor." Yesterday afternoon, the Itcv. W. .T. C'omrio opened the Taylor memorial service, in Wellington, with those words. There wcro about 2000 people present. The Mayor of 'Wellington (Mr. T. M. Wilford) was among those on the platform. The service included hymns and addresses, and, during tho proceedings, a collection was taken up in aid of the Taylor Memorial Fund. The 'amount given totalled ,£29. Mr. A. 1!. Atkinson, in the course of his address, stated that they had not gathered for- the purpose of mourning nof even for eulogising, but rather for tho commemoration of tho dear friend and great loader whom they had lost. He could not recall any, death in 'New Zealand which .had made Such an impression on the people's mind as that, of Mr. T. E. Taylor. When they considered that Mr. Taylor llad never filled any high official position, it was a. remarkable tribute indeed. It u'as not a tribute io position, or to-any accidental eminence, but to character. What a character it' was! What .courage! How fearless, morally and physically! What spontaneous eloquence was his! Mr. Taylor could have been a rich man, but, unfortunately for himself, he had not exercised his faculty in the direction of accumulating . wealth—not - even to a sufficient extent to leave his family well provided for. "1 consider, therefore, that it is the duty of the people of this country to -see that they do not remain unprovided for," added Mr. Atkinson. Tho speaker then went on to mention •that Mr. Taylor had had a good commercial opportunity in England, but he had said that luoiiey would not keep him out of New Zealand. What would it not' havo been worth to the great inonied intenest of this country for him to have remained silent? And to Mr. Taylor it would have been worth a bigger salary than anyone in this country received tor him simply to hold his tongue. And yet he had gone, fearlessly on. Mr. Taylor was a good force in politics. He was of great inconvenience to .political leaders, but he was a great political, tonic. He bowed to no party, and ineitliET did he bow to the people if he thought the people were wrong, and, after a great life, he had died a glorious death. His courage had been still undaunted; he had looked tho inevitable squarely in the face. • The dying man had said that this would be "our year of emancipation." ' Tho' speaker hoped the people would take up. the banner which their late friend had lain down, and carry it on to victory.

Mr. G. Laurenson, M.P., referred to tho late Mr. Taylor as one of the most remarkable men whom this country' hatl ever produced. What sort of n man was this ivho had made such an impression-? Ho was not rich; he was poor, and born of poor parent's—parents who did not know ono week where the next week's provisions were coming from, and who lived with a simple faith ro the Great Provider. And yet this, man's funeral was one that a King might sigh for. And the reason of it was that-he-fought fear-lessly-for righteousness. , He had raised the standard of public life, and tho believed that, when the history of ■ Nejv Zealand- came to be written, the late - Mr. T. E. Taylor would stand out prominently as a man who had fought for righteousness.. Another feature of tho late Mr. Taylor's character was that he was an intense humanitarian. The last two letters which-Mr. Laurenson had received from him were asking for help, for two widows and their children, and tho last call he had received from Mr. Tavlor was to ask him to accompany liim to' Lyttelton Gaol to see".a prisoner whom Mr. Taylor had heard needed some attention. Mr. Taylor liad fought Ion; and llard for a great cause, but had lint lived to see the victory. However, the speaker believed that "his warfare would be accomplished." The Rev. J. J. North also spoke. He referred to Mr.' Taylor as having been a much-loved and a. much-hated man. Regarding the No-License question, he said that Mr. Taylor had forseen that cveu national prohibition would not wipe out everything that the party desired to trample under foot, and with that knowledge lie hod attached himself to the workers' nart.v, seeing that in the workers lay tho uplifting of tho country.