MR E. NEWMAN HONOURED.

Shannon News, 22 August 1922, Page 3

MR E. NEWMAN HONOURED.

BY ELECTORS OF; MANAWATU

ON RETIRING FROM POLITICS

A complimentaray banquet in recognition of years of faithful service, as representative of the district, was tendered Mr. Edward Newman, M.P., who is retiring from politics this year, by the electors of the Manawatu district in Foxton,' last night. The Masonic Hall was filled to the doors Mr. G. Eliott presided. The Prime Minister' (Mr. W. P. Massey) was present and among others were Sir Thos. Mackenzie, Sir John Luke, the Minister of Agriculture (Hon. W. Nosworthy), Mr. J. A. Nash, M.P., and several other members of Parliament. "OUR GUEST." The toast of the evening, "Our Guest," was proposed by Mr. B. P. Lethbridge, who had, he said, been a personal friend and admirer of Mr. Newman ever since that gentleman came to the district and took up residence in Turakina in 1882. Two , years later, -he became a member ot the Rangitikei Council and served on that body for 20 years. He was also a member of the Education Board, and a prominent member of the Farmers' Union. In his many years of Parliamentary service, Mr. Newman had served for a lengthy period as chairman of the Lands committee, and had invariably shown the utmost courtesy to electors requiring information, or making any demands at all on-his time. Mr.'Newman had furthermore distinguished himself by inaugurating the scheme for giving the surplus wool profits during the war period for the benefit of the personnel of the mercantile marine. Mr. T. R. Brice (Marton) bore evidence to the sincere and earnest "representation Mr. Newman gave his elecorate. He was also alive to mat- - ters of national importance such as deviation of the main trunk line from Levin to Greatford. He realised what a great saving and economy that would be (applause). Bfe kept that work steadily in view, and did his best to bring it to fruition. If Mr. Newman had not treated P°l itic jf * n «nch a sincere way, he would have have grown sleek and robust, as many politicians did. (Laughter). The Hon. W. Nosworthy said mi. Newman. came into Parliament m 1908, at" the same time as the speaKer. He could assure everyone that Mr. Newman had been a stalwart of the party, and his services would be keenly missed, hoped that Mr Newman's services would not be altogether in«*t to the Dominion. i Sir John Luke, said if there was any member of the Reform Party who deSvtd Cabinet rank it Was Mr Newman. He could never have carried out 3£work he had done if he hadrunto , fat, (Laughter), as one speaker had suggested. He was a Uv<> wire! and he would not have been able to cariy out so much work if he had been of gVea?er Avoirdupois Mr Newman had been one of the strongest and most faTthful men who had ever sat in Parliament (applause). It tookagoj* deal of genius to discern amongst the multiplicity of patriotic funds the on that was being overlooked and in that connection the fund that had been inaugurated by Mr Newman for the mercantile sailors had done a great amount of good, and his constituents should be proud of his efforts in that direction. "There will b 6i another , sphere of usefulness reserved for Mr "(Newman that will enable him to continue his good work in the interests, of the Dominion," said the SP M? e H. H. Hunt (Rongotea) said they were very proud of Mr Newman •as their representative. He had been vtry keen, to see that his constituents were satisfied. Rongotea had always been satisfied with the attention he had given them. As a member of the Manawatu County Council, and on behalf of the Rongotea Horticultural Society, the speaker bore testimony to the good work done for them. Mr H. Y. Lethbridge spoke m warm appreciation of the personal good qualities of Mr Newman, which he had tested in many years of friendship. Although it was so much to be . regretted that Mr Newman was decided on retiring, it was compensation that a man of Mr J. Linklater s quality had been selected to stand for Mr W. Glenn, M.P., said Mr Newman never missed an opportunity for doing anything for his electorate. He was a keen,,broad-minded man. How much his services were appreciated by Parliament, as apart from the electorate, was indicated by the fact that the Prime Minister, the Minister for Agriculture, and so many members were present. His own experience was that Mr Newman had always been pleased to give him (the speaker) the benefit of his advice' as from an older member of the House. MR NEWMAN'S REPLY.

On rising to reply, Mi*. Newman was received with prolonged applause. ■He assured the gophering he could find no words to express the gratitude he felt for the quite unexpected demonstration that had greeted him. He feared his services were much over-rated (No, no). Beyond giving careful attention to th e wants of his constituents, he certainly had not done more than the majority of members had done. It had been his good 'fortuHie to have been treated with extraordinary kindness and consideration. "It is especially pleasing to me," continued Mr Newman, "to see my beloved chief, Mr Massey, here to-night (applause), and also to see Mr Nosworthy and so many members of Parliament present." He could not lose the opportunity of expressing what he had so long felt of Mr Massey. He had occupied for over ten years the high position of Prime Minister, and from the very commencement he had been confronted by i problems that had never fallen to the lot of u Prime Minister in New Zealand before. At the outset he was faced by a great industrial strike, such as no other Prime Minister had ever had to face. He carried that through, as he had since carried out many similar things, and all the time he had retained the confidence of the workers. The speaker had worked with Mr Massey in opposition and in office, and there had never been any serious rift in the party. At the present time the party stood absolutely behind the Prime Minister. He was recognised as standing in front of all the Overseas statesmen. His war-time services had been recognised by all classes from ,the King down to the humblest citizen of the Empire. He