THE LAST TRIBUTE

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2239, 27 August 1914, Page 7

THE LAST TRIBUTE

LATE MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT HONOURED

SPEECHES IN THE HOUSE

Only formal business was transacted in tho House of Representatives last evening, the adjournment being taken early as a mark of respect to the memory' of threo ex-members who have died since tho House last sat. Moving that the House record its high sense of the faithful services rendered to New Zealand by the late .Hon. T. Y. Duncan and tender to his family an assurance of its sincere sympathy with tfhem in their bereavement, tho Prime Minister said that Mr. Duncan had spent a long and honourablo career in the., service of tho Dominion. From his personal experience of the Departments of Lands and Agriculture he was able to 6ay that Mr. Duncan, when in charge of these Departments, bad done particularly good work. The lato Mr. Duncan was a member of the House of Representatives for some thirty years and besides being during that period a prominent and useful legislator was liked and respected by men on both sides of the House. He was respected by all with whom he came in contact and also by the people of the country as a whole. Mr. Duncan was one of the first friends he made'on ■ entering Parliament and ho was very glad to be able to say now that although thojr were on opposite sides in politics their friendship continued to the end. Mr. Duncan was not ppsJiessed of showy accomplishments, tut he was a shrewd, man of strong and sound common sense. They could all say that "Tom Duncan," as they familiarly spoke of him, was an honest man.

Sir Joseph WflTd in supporting the motion, said that ho had known Mr Duncan before either of them entered politios. Ho had never known Mr. Duncan do anything to ffiond or foe that an h'onMurable man would not do. On two occasions he had invited Mr. Duncan to accept a- position in tho other branch of _ the Legislature. and the indomitable spirit of the man was indicated in tho faot that on each occasion !he said that so long_ as hie electors continued to return him, he would continue to irork in the interests of the district he represented. The late M.r. Duncan was, a kindly and loyal man who would be remembered as one of the finest citiBens that this .country possessed. That ho had lived for fifty years in one place and died there without leaving an enemy behind him was about the best" tribute that could be paid to a worthy man and.-settler. '. v Mr. E. P. Lee, member for Oamaru, heartily endorsed what had been said by the party leaders and declared thai; for Mr. Duncan politioal bitterness did not exist. He had faithfully fulfilled the trust reposed in him. ' The motion was supported also by Mr. Buddo (Kaiapoi) : and passed. Similar motions were passed in reference to the deaths, of the'lato Hon. John Blair Whyte and the late Mr. Wm. M'Lean. Mr. Massey said that hehad not personally known the late Mr. Whyte, but that he. was remembered and honoured by the older members of Parliament and by many other people as a pioneor sot--tier in the Y»aikate* Sir Joseph Ward again heartily endorsed what tho Prime Minister had said. '< Of the" late Mr. Wmi M'Lcan, the Prime Minister said that ho waß a popular, useful, and highly-respocted citizen of Wellington, and his death ivould be sincerely regretted by thoueands of his personal and public'friends. Sir Joseph Ward said that all who had known the lato Mr, M'Lean would endorse what the Prime Minister ■ bad Raid He was a generous man as far ns his means would allow, and there wero many people in Wellington who ivould greatly miss him.

Mr. T: M. Wilford said that he had counted the late Mr. M'Lean a personal friend. _ He eulogised Mr. M'Lean as a far-sighted idealist, and a man who was' generous to a fault in helping those who stood in need.

MOTIONS IN THE COUNCIL.

FAITHFUL SERVICES. The Legislative Council, on its rising, adjourned as a mark of respect to the memory of the late Hon. T. Y. Duncan. Tho Leader-of the Council, the Hon. H. D. 8011, moved that tho Chamber should record its sense of the faithful service rendored by the late Hon. T. Y. Duncan, and tender to his relatives an_ assurance of its sincere sympathy with them in their bereavement. Mr. Bell said that members of the Council in the last two years had seen him in his failing health, and had observed how ho struggled to as far as possible fulfil his publio duties. He had a long publio career, and an honoured private life. . Mr. Bell said he had for many years enjoyed.tho lato Mr. Duncan's personal friendship, and knew how greatly the late Councillor was respected in his district of North.Otago, which hcuhad served before serving his country in the House and in'the Council. , The Hon. G. Jones, who seconded the motior*, said that Mr. Duncan was above all an honourable man, and lived ever in the affections of his acquaintances in North Otago. The Hon. 0. H. Mills spoke of his old colleaguo as a generous, chivalrous, unassuming, and genuine man, whoso word was indeed his bond. Tributes were added by the Hons. William Hall-Jones and T. Parata, Tho motion- was carried. Motions of respect to the memory of the late Hon. 3. B. Wh'yte and the late Mr. W. M'Lean were passed, also. Of Mr. M'Lean, Mr. Bell remarked ho had once defeated him'(Mr. Bell) nt a by-election for a Wellington seat in Parliament, and he knew him to be a perfectly fair and- honourablo opponent. Tho Hon. J. Duthie said that he was associated with the lato Mr. M'Lean in the House, and looked back on that association with pleasure. Mr. M'Lean was a man of great earnestness, a clear-minded man, who worked assiduously in the best interests of man'kind. He was of a courteous temperament, and was regarded with feelings of kindly friendship by fellow-members. As a private citizen he was pushing, energetic, and shrewd. Wellington City had lost a good citizon, who could not well bo replaced.