THE LATE SIR JOHN HALL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2121, 2 July 1907, Page 1

THE LATE SIR JOHN HALL.

Sir ' John ' Hall, K.C.MJG., was born'at Hull on 18tli December, 1824, and married in 1861 Koso, tho' daughter ‘of’Mr. Dryden, of'Hull.! He emigrated to Canterbury in ' 1852, ■ and was knighted by the late Queen in 1882. .From the timo of his election to tho House of Representatives, at the end of 1885, for “Christchurch Country District,” till 1894, liejiivas a member of every one of ’• the ton Parliaments that mot, and with three short intervals, he sat either, in tho Legislative Council or the ' House of Representatives for very nearly forty years. Those ’ Intervals werb caused; one by a forced business visit to England in 1860, and two by illness brought on by continuous ovorwork at liis Parliamentary duties. And,

concurrently with his work'in the ■General Assembly lie took jiart—and no minor’one, either —in out Provincial Councils as long as they lasted, i He brought the Road Board system into-work into Canterbury under the Road Boards District Ordinance, '1863. He inaugurated the County system of government in Westland, and was first chairman of the county, and lie was chairman of the Selwyn Countv Council from the establish-, ment of the county till he took office as Premier of the colony in 1879. POLITICAL HISTORY. A sketch of Sir John Hall’s public career wouldibe almost a resume of the political and social history of the colony for the first ha'f-centiiry of its enjoyment of representative institutions. The mere enumeration of his various terms of office, colonial and provincial,makes a record sufficiently large and important to shed honor on the lives of a dozen ordinary citizens. tie was elected member of tlio first Provincial Council of Canterbury in 1853, sitting for Christchurch Country District, and was re-elected in 1855. In February, j. 855, he took office as Provincial Secretary, but re-, signed that position and his seat on the. Provincial Executive in the followin'* May. At the dissolution of tile first New Zealand Parliament in 1855 he was elected member for Christchurch Country .District in the House of Representatives, (thus obtaining a .seat when representative institutions in the colony were only jin. their third year—i n tlieir very infancy. From then till 1894 he sat almost continuously, and saw them' grow till the present full ’constitutional liberty was obtained, f In May, 1855 lie was appointed Colonial Secretary for New Zealand, but resigned that office after only a- short tenure. Ho was appointed Resident ; Magistrate for Lyttelton, also Sheriff and Commissioner of Police, in November, 1856; Resident Magistrate for the colon-, in April, 1857; and (Resident 'Magistrate for Christchurch District tn 1858,’ holding these offices kill July, 1863, when he resigned them. In 1860, being compelled to visit England, lie resigned liis seats' in tile ■Provincial Council and in the House of Representatives,- and on liis return to the colony he was summoned to the Legislative Council in July, 1862.

PROMINENT EVENTS. In December ,1863, he was elected a member of the Provincial Council for Mount Cook District, land in the following March was appointed member of the Provincial Executive, accepting the position of Secretary for Public Works. In May, 1 1864, ,he resigned his seat in tile Provincial Council (as was then required b- the Canterbury law), and was re-elected by the Mouilt Cook constituency in June, 1864, and again chosen by the same provincial constituency at the election in May, 1865. ■ In the following month he succeeded the late lion. W Rolleston as Commissioner of the Canterbury Waste Lands i Board.. Early in 1866 he resigned' the Secretaryship for Public Works, the Commissionership of Waste Lands, and his seat-in the Provincial Council. He also at this time resigned' his seat in the Legislative Council, and came, forward for a scat for the Heatlicote District in. the House of Representatives, which he won after a very hot contest. In July the same year lie was elected to the Provincial Council for the Ralcaia. At about the same time he joined the Hon. E. W. Stafford’s Colonial Ministry as Postmas-ter-General and Commissioner of Telegraphs. In 1867 lie represented New Zealand at the Melbourne- Intercolonial Conference on the Ocean Postal Services. In 1868 he acted as Colonial Treasurer, and delivered the Financial 1 Statement !in the House in -the absence of Mr. Fitss- ' herb'ert. In June, 1869, he went out or office- on the defeat'and resignation of -the Stafford- Ministry. At the general- election in 1871; he was returned 1 a' second time'to the House for the Heatlicote constituency, but resigned.his seat in July, 1872, and was called to ’the Upper House, ■wheredie 1 -represented the Fox-Vogel Ministry in that Chamber as Minister: without portfolio; but went out - of office on the defeat and resignation of that Ministry. Mr. Stafford again became Premier, but was shortly after defeated, and s on the formation of the Waterhouse Ministry lie took office as Colonial Secretary in June, 1872. 111-health compelled him to resign office in 1873, and he visited England, returning in' 1875, when (being still a member of the Upper House) he joined the Atkinson Ministry without portfolio. In 1879 a dissolution of the House took place, and lie resigned his seat in the Council, and standingjfor Selwyn, was returned to the 'House/ where, he became Leader of the Opposition, and, defeating Sir: George Grey, he became Premier, holding the ’ portfolios of Colonial Secretary, Postmaster-General, and Minister for Public Works. In 1882.i11-liealth again compelled him to resign office, and lie went to En'dand. On his return he was again elected to the House of Representatives for Selwyn. In'1890" ho represented New Zealand at the Federal Conference held in Melbourne. At tile general elections in that year he was^ returned to the HOilse bv the Ellesmere constituency, which ho continued to represent till the dissolution in 1893, when he retired for some years from public life, after a long, arduous, and honorable career extending over close on forty years. At the request of tho citizens of Christchurch he allowed himself to be elected Mayor of the city for the Exhibition year, but his failing health prevented his taking an active part, in the social functions connected with tho office. WOMEN’S FRANCHISE.

To Sir John Hall more than any other one man is clue that women in New Zealand enjoy the franchise. It is tlio recollection of some that as soon as the Bill was finally passed Sir Seddon walked across the floor of the House'and asked Sir John if he would accept as a memento of the important event a copy of the Act printed on parchment. The offer was gratefully accepted, but we believed was never fulfilled —certainly was not a few years ago. AN APPRECIATION.

The Press, in its leading- article of Juno 26th, gives the following appreciation of Sir John Hall: The death of Sir John Hall has removed from our midst one who has left an enduring name for himself in the history of the colony by liis statesmanship, and who at the same time : made himself revered and be r loved for liis high standard of per-sonal-conduct, both public and private. It is difficult for the younger generation of New Zealanders, born in prosperous times, when all our political institutions are working smoothly, to realise how much they owe to Sir John Hall and those associated w'ith him in the storm and stress of the late seventies and early , eighties. - -They know it was his admimsirati.oh wliich carried manhood suffrage, triennial Parliaments, and representation according to population, and they know-that it was chiefly owing :to Sir John’s personal influence that the women of the colony secured the .franchise, Yvhat

is, perhaps,, not’.so generally realised is the fact that Sir John Hall and the strong men whom lie called: to his councils actually saved the colony in 1879 from financial ruin. It is impossible to exaggerate the gravity of the position, when in. the year, mentioned he came forward to rescue the affairs of the colony from the chaos into which they had fallen. Sir George Grey, the then ’Premier, was a man of raro culture .and orn-

torical power/ but of the faculty of sound administration ho had not a trace-, and, unfortunately, most of the colleagues with whom he surrounded Jiinjsolf were equally incompetent,- niid'SQine of them even more reckless. One man there was who

might l>o trusted to exercise a sound restraining influence, but with him Sir George Grev had a violent quarrel, and ho left the Gfubinet. That

was Mr. Ballance. In tlie Session of 1597, when Sir George Grey met the House, he was without a i Colonial Treasurer, and, assuming that office himself, was unable, or unwilling, to brina down the usual Financial Statement. It was discovered, after his removal from office, that the credit of the colony was absolutely dependent upon such arrangements as the Agent-General was able to make in London'for the pavment of interest as it became due, and that the failure of such negotiations, or even the breakdown of the cable, would have meant, the posting of New Zealand as a defaulter. It was further' found that a loan of five millions sterling placed on the market by the Grey Government had to a very large extent been forestalled before they knew whether it would be floated. As if this were not enough, the operations; of the financial year showed a deficiency of close on a million sterling 'on the ordinary revenue and expenditure acoiint. The case was, in fact, desperate, and it called for qualities of firmness, prudence,; and rcsoucefuluess very rarely found in combination. Sir John Hall’s difficulties in dealing with the financial crisis wex-e increased by the political embarrassments with which he had to cope. As is shown by the narratve which we publish in another coluinn, ho was actually in' a minority of two for a time after he had formed his Government, and a determined attempt was made to oust him from office before lie had time to bring down his policy. It was at this juncture that Sir John Hall’ wariness, coolness, and skill as a leader became strikingly manifest. lie successful v grappled with the crisis, and aided very largelv by the * coui-age and financial ability of his able lieutenant, Major Atkinson, placed the affairs, of the country oil a sound footing. Another great legacy of trouble left to the Hall Government bv their-predecessors-was the Maori disaffection on the'West Coast of the North Island, culminating fin the rebellion at Parihaka. How this great crisis, which might easily have led'-to' a- serious native war, was successfully dealt with without the loss of a single life, and with absolute justice to the Maoris, has been told at length in our columns.- To Mr. Bi-yce was due both "the initiation and the actual carrying into effect; of the polioy which led to the breaking up of the focus of disaffection at Parihaka, and on Sir William Fox dovolved the delicate and responsible task of enquiring into the native grievances and devising a just-scheme of settlement. Sir John Hall lost no oppoitunity of exjxressing his high sense of the. , debt of gratitude which ’New Zealand owes 1 1 both these able and patriotic statesmen for the services they performed. Nevertheless, we . cannot forgot that it was the Prime Minister who had to take the responsibility of the policy—a responsibility the more serious,' seeing that the, then Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, was utterly opposed to it, and would have refused his assent to it if lie. could have found other advisei's prepared to give effect to his views. It was a characteristic of Sir John Hall

that, he considered nothing too small to engage his most painstaking attention, so long as it came ,to him in the path of duty. This conscientiousness in regard to detail more than once led to a breakdown i,, his health during his public career, and there is only too much reason to beleivo that it ultimately shortened a life which might hare been; spared for some years had it been spent in the leisure and retirement which an octogenarian ought to enjoy. There is something very pathetic when we look back , upon the last year or so of his life. At the:request of a large number of citizens ;he consented to act as Mayor of i Christchurch during the Exhibition year. He had been the first Mayor of the town when it was a tiny pioneer settlement, and the idea was grateful to him of being able to render it some important service at the close of his career. It was fully intended that he should not be burdened with any of the details of civic administration, and lie himself thought that his work would consist simply qs acting as honorary head of the city to dispense hospitality on a befitting scale to the distinguished guests who were to visit Christchurch in

the most important year of its history. Little by. little his extreme conscientiousness led him to undertake labors and to impose a strain upon himself which his constitution, never very robust, was unable to withstand. It was not his nature to lay 'down any task which he had taken in hand, and he struggled strenuously against the weakness which tlioso around him saw must surely end in collapse. At length there came a day when his doctor peremptorily ordered him to bed,’ and from that time Sir John Hall

had to perform by deputy,-the duties which lie had hoped to discharge in person. Jt : was a great disappointment to liiin, but lie determined to the utmost of his ability that the city should not suffer through his physical breakdown. In the midst of severe bodily suffering he was continually worrying as to what ought to lio clone to maintain the city's reputation for hospitality.-ami to add to the pleasure of its inhabitants. No visitor of note arrived without receiving due attention, and with the help of an executive committee, eiitertainiunts on a generous scale were devised and carried out. As was inevitable, there was ever . a tinge of sadness to the festivities, because the giver of the feast was absent, but no one coiild not but feel that his generosity was all the more unselfish in that ho was unable himself to share in the pleasure which he gavo to others. That the colony will mourn the loss of such a distinguished public mail, whose services must ever bo remembered with gratitude, goes without saying. Those who were brought into closer association with Sir John Hall will I grieve over the departure of one who was in the truest sense a Chris-

tiar. gentleman. He -was not one of those of whom Seneca tells us that “Some men, like pictues, are fitcr for a corner than a full light.” Public distinction ‘never turned his head nor impaired his natural modesty or lessened his consideration for others. Inflexible in matters of the hour, gentle and thoughtful for the feelings of all, lie has left an.example which is perhaps one of his best claims on our gratitude, we should all have preferred that he might .have been spared to us a little longer but ,

It matters not at what hour of .tlie day The; righteous»fall asleep. Death , cannot come To him untimely who is fit to die.