THE LATE SIR JAMES WILSON

Manawatu Herald, Volume L, Issue 3940, 9 May 1929, Page 2

THE LATE SIR JAMES WILSON

Referring to the death of the late Sir James Wilson, the Wellington Post says: “Within recent times Sir Jamies Wilson might have been seen walking round his belo'vei.l Massey Agricultural College with all the zeal of a young man, following his life’s enthusiasm to the utmost of his limit. To see this octogenarian die voluntarily in harness, active to the last, provides some insight into the quality of an older generation, and some inspiration for a younger one. Evidently it is not always the pace that kills, for the amount of work that lias been done in New Zealand during the life-span of the last*generation, and of the one that preceded it, is enormous. One who knew Wellington in ISB2 recalls that when Sir Jaimes Wfilson was elected to Parliament in that year his electorate ran from the Rangitikei River to the Wellington Bq,tnnical Gardens and Tinalkori road. The several considerable towns between Palmerston North and Otaki practically did not exist. Sir James Wilson has seen this great pastoral tract built up, and New Zealand generally has seen such transformation that the ’eighties seem as far away as the dark ages. Yet the span of one man’s lifetime easily covers all that, and more. Honour to the old stalwarts! They leave gaps that must be filled, for the tempo of progress docs not moderate, and the need for whole-time workers is as clamant as ever.”