TRIBUTE TO FALLEN OFFICER

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3112, 16 June 1917, Page 8

TRIBUTE TO FALLEN OFFICER

THE LATE CAPTAIN ATKINSO

Members of tho Bar met in the Supremo Court yesterday to express the regret of the profession at the death in action of Captain S. A. AtMnson. Mr Justioo Chapman and Mr, Justice Hoskwg occupy the Bench. There waTa . largo attendance. ' , Si , r ™}"> K.C., as vice-prcsi-dont of the Law Society, said that thoy had assembled to join with tho Bench in an expression of the sorrow felt at the death ot \an ho7ioure<l member of tho profession. Sir John spoke at length of tlie late' Captain Atkinson's civilian career, and of tho industry, care, and patience ho had always displayed in his ■ work. Hie private and personal character possessed frankness and manliness. J ho activities in which he engaged, outside his professional life wore national and Imperial. Early in his military work lie had given evidence of that ■unselfish sense of duty which only tho other day had led him to a great and noble ■ lfic <>. He had entered with Br. ' M Nab upon a tireless campaign for tlie introduction of military training, and had by his persistency assisted the Government to overcome what opposition thcro was to the passing of tho Act of . WlO. . Ho had helped: to promote the 'Round Table" magazine,' and so render more intense the Imperial spirit in New Zealand. No man had a 'higher appreciation of the blessing of British freedom,, and no man was more persistent than ho in imposing upon tho people Bonio eense of their obligations to the Empire for that freedom. Tho late captain had left New Zealand with many '■■ a responsibility on his shoulders and . with many an anxiety in his heart. In the trenches he had shown the same determination, industry, and courage as had marked his life in New Zealand. iHis whole life might well bo/expressed in. one word—eelf-abnegatibn iri the pursuit of high ideals. Those ideals were shared by his wife, who willingly approved of his leaving one of the happiest of homes to go into the littlelino. In his blood pulsed the heroic sol-dier-soul of his gallant and illustrious father, Sir Harry Atkinson. He fell in a manner worthy his name and lineage. At the supreme moment one might see ' tho best index of the natural bent, of a man's soul; and in the supremo moment in which Captain Atkinson gave nip his life he was engaged in the heroic work of attempting to rescue a brother officer. His widow had been left with sis.children, the eldest of wliom was 13 years of ago. It was felt, however, that the memory of a lifo eo nobly epent and of a death, so nobly met would Iμ a solace to the widow in years to come. Mr. Justice Chapman said{ "I am sure I am voicing tho opinions of my colleagues as well as my own when'l say that the event which has been referred to has caused the deepest feeling of dis-i .tress to tho Bench, as well as to the profession and the publio at large. I am sure that as a tribute to the memory of the deceased Captain Atkinson, both'tho Bar and tho public will feel indebted to Sir John Findlay for the summary he .has given of Captain Atkinson's career. I do not think it necessary or desirable that I should say .very much, but what I do wish to say is that both as a member of the profession and in his personal aspect, also as a soldier, tho lato captain has earned in the highest degree the appreciation of the Bench of this Dominion. I am sure that it i 3 only bare justice to him to say that, and in this, respect the Bench is entirely in harmony with the public of New Zealand.,, I have always understood, and I have had it from the best sources—the leaders of the Bar—and from observations of my own, that Captain Atkinson as a rising member of the Bar was at all times not only painstaking and efficient, but thoroughly conscientious in all the work he undertook. His position at the Bar was what may bo termed a growing position. Ho was on the threshold of a high career, and it is a, matter of deep regret that he should have been cut off at suck a period. As to his personality, I can only endorse what Sir John Pindlayhas said. It scarcely needs such endorsement froin me; Captain Atkinson was so well known as a man whose ideals were always of the highest, aud lie always 'lived up to his ideals.. The final career of Captain Atkinson as a soldier is.one which, in every way should set an example to hie generation. He left .his] homo and sacrificed his life as many thousands are doing, even from this sin,all community. He. did so in circumstances of exceptional strain, leaving a wifo and numerous young children behind him; but ho did so in pursuance of a sense which is expressed in one word, duty. That word was. to Ca

tain Atkinson the touchstone' '"of his whole life. The sacrifice that a man makes in going to battle is, however, secondary to the sacrifice- that is necessarily imposed on his wife and children. A man -who is lulled in the open field deserves onr sympathy, but the long wait that is left ahead of the family must be recognised. I am quite sure ■that the members of the.Bar will look forward to the future, and will always bear in mind that with respect to opportunities for employment' and matters of the kind, tho children of the deceased

officer must bo regarded as a charge of honour on the present generation. I have only to.recill the fact that Captain Atkinson was the. son of Captain Atkinson, Major Atkinson of older times, Prime Minister of New Zealand—Captain Atkinson of iiie days when the Dominion

was a struggling colony, ivrestlins with a difficulty which looks small in the light of what is' occurring to tho whole of the world now, but which was a real difficulty in those days—the distinguished son of a distinguished father. You have met here to say a few words, and to hear a few words, in honour of this upright and high-minded gentleman. I have only to join with you, gentlemen of the Bar, in tho expression of tho .sympathy of the Bench witli tho widow and children of the deceased."