DOC. THACKER-A JOHN BLUNT SIDNEY JOHN HARRISON

NZ Truth, Issue 1141, 13 October 1927, Page 4

DOC. THACKER-A JOHN BLUNT

SIDNEY JOHN HARRISON

A LTHOUGH he is somewhat m the back-wash now, he would be a bold jM man who would prophecy that Dr. Henry Thomas Joynt Thacker will never again play a prominent part m Christchurch municipal affairs or will not be carried along with the surge of, say, an anti-Reform tide into the wider sphere of Dominion politics. His recent public utterances lend color to the belief that he would swing Labor-wards rather than Reform-wards were the 'Liberal-Nationalists to be further decimated or entirely eliminated from the political arena. The doctor is still able to employ the storm tactics and the vigor which characterised the crusade he led against the conditions obtaining at Trentham Military Camp way back m 1915. As both mayor and M.P., he' has been the target of virulent criticism, but nevertheless there are thousands of ex-soldiers with their parents and wives who hold Thacker m high esteem for what he did for them and theirs. He could never be a dumb dog nor — politically speaking — could he be the kind of dog that meekly comes to heel at a leader's command. Having convictions, he must voice them even if it means taking issue with his friends. It was the deep-rooted conviction that Dick Arnst would develop into a world-beater that prompted the doctor to back his conviction m the only really practicable way — even to the length of accompanying Dick to the championship sculling course on the Zambesi. He still barges into print betimes and descants upon a wide range of subjects. And he reaches a wide circle of readers with his refreshing candor and unconventional methods. Although a pioneer sponsor of the League code, Thacker hopes some day to see test matches between League and Rugby Union teams. Just a bit optimistic, perhaps, but he is none the worse for displaying m that attitude a truer conception of sportsmanship than some of the most ardent supporters of both codes. It is, m fact, a fine gesture to the football world*. He is Doctor John Blunt — calling a spa.de a spade — when applying his healing skill, which, after all, is not very surprising, for he adopts a John Blunt attitude about most things.

li \ II H Helping Lame Diggers Over A Stile v II ii ii ii II FJLODDING away m the cause of his old comrades, one finds || If 1 Sidney J. Harrison still the virtual head of that great body |1 ll of returned men m New Zealand, the R.S.A. 11 If Quietly and unostentatiously these many years he has If II guided the affairs of the organisation through troubled waters §§ II and smooth, always bearing m mind the one great axiom: || if "Service for others." || || Soon after Fritz tossed m the towel and the Empire no * ll II longer had. need of Sidney's services as a soldier, on his return II \\ to New Zealand he directed his attention towards helping old H \\ comrades of the battlefields. II II His is the task that shows little return or thanks for weari- II some and painstaking labor. r Hr r v n n m I "*