MR. REYNOLDS.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5295, 15 March 1878, Page 3

MR. REYNOLDS.

(From the Dunedin Morning Herald.) There are few men in all Otago who will refuse to recognise the fair claim of the Hon. Hr. Reynolds to retire upon the laurels which’ he has honestly won in,the course of a long and active political career. We-do not pretend to have been -at, any time an over-ardent admirer of his. But, whatever may be the exigencies of party warfare in political circles at times of need, there can be no justification on the part of the journalist in refusing to mete out the Tull measure of just praise to which every public man, according to _ his deserts,' has made an unimpeachable "title. We concede that at times Mr. Reynolds has gone far beyond the length which even party ties or political emergencies required him to go; and occasionally he has embarrassed his many personal friends by his somewhat vacillating proclivities, But, in saying this,

we’believe •we"hi(r upoirthe- only-bloto-whioh* have ever marred Mr.,Reynolds’,career. It may. be truly said of him that no man was more thoroughly .accessible./ If a good or charitable object was to be gained, either on behalf of an individual or a collective body of men, there was no public man more readily f elected asamediumof appeal thanMr.Boynolds. Whether it was the case of a 'widow whose husband had been killed when employed on a railway contract '/ whether it was a. question affecting the Pcinoes-street Reserve, the Harbor Board, or our Educational Reserves; Mr. Reynolds .was always ready, in season and out of season, to urge just claims. Even in - the matter of the petitions presented by Bishop Moran and his co-religionists, praying for a share of the local education grant, we believe we are correct .in saying that the Catholic body stand indebted, to Mr. Reynolds as the sponsor of their petitions to the Provincial Council. No man better earned a right to the speakership of that body than Mr. Reynolds, and no Speaker ever, .exercised so. mild and .suave a rule over its deliberations. It was fitting, therefore, that his retirement from the Speakership of the Provincial Council should have elicited the little demonstration in his favor which culminated in a presentation of plate. As a member of the House of Representatives, Mr. Reynolds will always be thought of as the sturdiest and most irrepressible claimant Otago ever sent there. Into the far hours of midnight watches Mr. Reynolds was always to be found carefully shepherding Otago Bills. For the ballot system we are. or rather the colony is, almost entirely indebted to him. He was a warm supporter of the Public Works and Immigration scheme, a foretaste of which he had previously enjoyed when “ Reynolds’ girls” (as Mr. Cutten upon oue occasion jocosely observed) were brought out to Otago. For the training ships, for many improvements in our lighthouse and harbor accommodation, Mr. Reynolds has become oue of the largest creditors of the colony. It would be idle to attempt the exhaustion of even a wider repertoire. In local concerns, whether in connection with shipping, commercial, or banking interests, Mr. Reynolds has always been ready to contribute his fair share of time and trouble to the successful development of any commendable enterprise. While we desply regret the increasing number of retirements on the part of our representative men, who are still qualified to render the State some service, we are glad to think that Mr. Reynolds will not probably be wholly losttous. His elevation to the Legislative Council has been fairly earned ; he not unnaturally looks for it, and Sir George Grey’s Government, in. conferring a well-deserved honor, will at once. pay a compliment to the people who have been so long aud faithfully served aud the object of their undeviating trust and confidence, with one slight exception, for wellnigh a quarter of a century.