SIR JOSEPH WARD

Hokitika Guardian, 21 May 1930, Page 2

SIR JOSEPH WARD

THE POLITICAN.

FOUR DECADES OF SERVICE

(By S.S. in “Christchurch Times.”)

His-surrender of the high office of Prime Minister at the command of his medical advisers does not necessarily mean Sir Joseph Ward will vacate his seat 'hi Parliament. There is good ground for'hoping that, relieved of tho heavy' national burden he lias been bearing' during the last eighteen months he may in the House ol Representatives continue to render valuable service to his constituents and to the community at large without over-tax-ing his physical resources. His fortythree years’ of close' association with the politics of the country, and with its development and expansion, have left him with such an intimate acquaintance with the needs and potentialities of the Dominion that his complete retirement from public life at this particular time would be no less than a calamity. Happily, there is no need just , now to contemplate such a .development, and for the present the briefest indication of Sir Joseph’s Parliamentary career will suffice.

A FRUITFUL ELECTION

The election of 1887, which brought the retiring Prime Minister into the House of Representatives, was fruitful in the production of other young men who were destined to make their mark in the Legislature of the country. .Among these untitled at the time were Sir James Allen, Sir Thomas MacKenzie, Sir Westby Percival, Sir James Carroll and the Hon. W. P. Reeves. “AH these,” Mr Reeves wrote ot his companions and himself nearly fortv years later, ‘‘became more or less well known in the Dominion, but Ward, though the youngest, attracted notice at once. Bright-looking and with a pleasant manner a merchant in a large way in the South Island he could talk with knowledge about commerce and finance, and . since his business brought him in touch with working farmers, he understood the wants and difficulties of that important class,” Ths was a sufficiently lifelike picture cif the young man to associate him with his subsequent achievements and to establish his identity to-dav. It is perhaps superfluous to . mention that Sir Joseph was not the youngest o* the ; group of , budding members. For the sake of accuracy, however, it may' be well to state that this distinction was shared between Sir James Carroll and Mr. Reeves himself, who had just entered upon their thirty-second year.

HIS FIRST SESSION.

If only for the guidance of the historian of, the future, it may be well to mention that the first volume of “Han sard” to which P’r Joseph Wai’d’s

speeches had access, that covering the first two months of the first session of

the tenth Parliament, over which I pored for the best part of half an hour contain a ludicrous blunder which un-

til now seems to have remained undetected by the confiding explorer. In the list of members of. the House of Representatives appearing in the front pages of this volume figures the name of “Ward, Joseph George, Awarua” plainly enough, but turning over the pages further on purporting to : b| “Index to Parliamentary Debates, volume 58” I could find no trace of “Ward Joseph George.” There was mention of “Ward, Mr A. G. Oamaru,” however, and this gentleman appeared to have talked quite a lot during the opportunities he had enjoyed. But at that time the Oamaru seat was occupied by the Hon. T, W. Hislop, a member of the Ministry of the day, and thebe was no trace of any person named A. G. Ward having made his way into the House or having been given the privilige of speech there. In the succeeding volume of “Hansard,” which was at hand, Mr “A. G. Ward” still held sway, but his constituency doubtless in deference to Mr Hislop had been changed to Awarua. It was not until a third volume was unearthed that Mr J. G. Ward came into his own and was given credit for a number of very excellent brief speeches. The first of these-, to be precise, was delivered on October 13, 1887, and was a spirited protest against the action of some of the members of his own side

of the House in seeking to embarras the Government of-the day before th Prime Minister, Sir Harry Atkinso; had been given an opportunity to ma ture his pronosals for the session. Thi was characteristic of the man who dur ing the last fortv odd years has stooc in the very forefront of party strife without casting aside any of his higl ideals and without uttering a word ai opponent could not readily forgive

IN OFFICE

When Mr John Ballance succeeded Sir Harry Atkinson on the Treasury Benches in 1891, he had no hesitation in calling to his assistance young men who had proved themselves during the previous three years of party strife. Mr W. P. Reeves was entrusted with the portfolios of Education, Justice, and Labour, while Sir Joseph Ward was appointed Postmaster-General and Telegraph Commissioner, and Sir James Carroll was given a place in the Executive Council as the representative of, the Native race. When Mr Seddon sue-1 ceeded Mr Ballance in 1893, the status of these three young men was very I materially revised. Mr Reeves remained Minister of Education, Minister of

l ~ Justice and Minister of Labour, while 11 Sir Joseph Ward became Colonial Treasurer (Minister of Finance as we t style the position to-day), Postmaster. 6 General, Telegraph Commissioner, Comimnissioner of Customs, Minister e of Marine and Minister of Industries | and Commerce. It was not until Sir' I- Joseph Ward took office in 1906 that Sir James Carroll, meanwhile having a Assumed the representation of a Euro--1 pean constituency, was loaded with the 0 responsibilities attaching to the offices * of the Native Minister and the Minister,of Stamp Duty. Sir Joseph Ward " j inherited from his predecessor in offi- - 1: ce, Mr Seddon, the largest majority i j that ever had been recorded in the 1 ! Parliamentary history of the Domiii--3 j ion, and when he lost half this big 1 battalion in 1908 and what remained 1 of it in 1911 the public, not unnaturally ’ , were disposed to attribute its disappear- ’ j ance to the change of leaders. It is 7 quite true that Sir Joseph Ward was > a less spectacular leader than his great i j predecessor had been; that he could ■' not readily adapt himself to the eor- > diality to which Mr Seddon so readily ■ i responded; and that he often seemed | cold and unresponsive to a crowd, that j ' | would gladly have absorbed him in 1 their harmless conviviality. Mr Seddon ' 1 was a man of the people; Sir Joseph I . strange as it may seem to those who

is know him well, Was often regarded as e reticent and exclusive. It was this n delusion, associated with a epumsy t- system of election, which one benights ed authority'describes as a “modified •- form of proportional representation’’ d that brought about the Liberal debt, acle of nineteen years ago a a

SWING OF THE PENDULUM.

Mr Reeves’s collaborator in the production of the third edition of the “Long White Cloud ’* who apparently j has kept as close abreast of New Zeaj land affairs as Mr Reeves himself has | done, tells the story of 1911 very hap- | pilv. “When Seddon died,’’ he writes “the first symptoms that denote a desire for change were beginning to be apparent. Sentimental enthusiasm had been maintained at so high a level for so many years that tnere was bound to be a relanse. Moreover, the LiberalLabour combination, which had held to gether for so long, began to show signs of disruption, whilst the Opposition had improved their organisation. Sir Joseph Ward was not less skilled in statesmanship than his late chief; but he was sensitive of the personal criticism levelled against him from time to

time and when he eventually accepted an hereditary title lie greatly offended the susceptibilities of. his democratic supporters. When the people went to the polls in 1911, therefore, there was a distinct feeling that the power of the Government was waning.” But this was not the whole story.' When Sir Joseph Ward assumed, the leadership of the Liberal Party in 1906 the Ballance and Seddon politics had propitiated the working man and the small farmer, and the whole position had materially changed. The struggling

i farmer, as one authority put it, was now. a man of standing with a real stake in the country, with leanings towards Conservatism which seemed at the time to be offering the greater share of the good things that were going. It was not that Sir ' Joseph Ward had, failed; it was that the improved conditions brought about in a large measure by his own hand, had allayed the prevalent discontent of the early nineties and placed the whole community on its feet again. Something of the same kind occurred at the general election eighteen months ago. Rightly or wrongly, a large proportion of. the electors persuaded themselves they would be better served by a new Government than they had been by the existing one.: They tried the experiment and now they probably have another eighteen months for reflection. To-dav Sir Joseph Ward can look hack upon these happenings with philosophic content. The Domonion’s warm acknowledgement of f four decades of faithful service to his country should salve every wtiimd.