A SUDDEN CALL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXVI, Issue 31, 11 June 1913, Page 5

A SUDDEN CALL.

DEATH OF THE SPEAKER.

BUSY TO THE LAST. SIR ARTHUR GUINNESS DIES SUDDENLY. [Per Press Association.] Greymouth, Juno 10. Sir Arthur Guinness, Speaker of tie House of Representatives, died at I o’clock tliis afternoon.

There was a great shock in town when the death became known. Sir Arthur was about his duties on Saturday, cleared the mail at the Post Office the same night, going through a budget of correspondence till midnight. He was unwell on Sunday, and complained of a severe headache. Ho took a very bad turn yesterday, and became unconscious, and with one brief interval remained so till his death at 4.20 p.m. to-day. Sir Arthur had been very busy for a few weeks forming branches of the Deep Sea Harbor League. On Wednesday night he addressed a public meeting at Hokitika, returning to Greymouth on Thursday morning in time, to take part in the official visit to the battleship. The party went out in the tug. Heavy rain fell during the trip, and the sea was very rough, and Sir Arthur suffered severely from seasickness and was thoroughly drenched. It is thought that this may have brought on ins illness. .Deceased was born in Calcutta in 1836, and was educated at Christ’s College Grammar School, Christchurch. He was admitted as a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court on May 26, 1867, and was appointed notary public in 1888. He practised in Greymouth from December, 1867, to date. His last appearance in the local S.M. Court was cn Monday, June 2. Ho was elected a member of the Westland Provincial Council in 1874, and continued a member until the abolition of the Provinces in 1876. He was elected a member of the Grey County Council in 1876, and was elected chairman of tne first and every subsequent meeting far nine years. He ceased to be a member in 1890. Ho was a member of the Borough Council in 1888, and held a seat for one year. In 1884 he was elected M.P. for the Grey district, and sat continuously for it till no present date. He was appointed a member of the Grey Harbor Board in 1884, and held the position till date, except for the two years in 1887 and 1889 when Sir H. A. Atkinson’s Government removed representative members and appointed Government officials on the Board. Ho was elected Chairman of Committee of the House of Representatives on ( July 13, 1893, and was re-elected till June, 1903. He was elected Speaker of the House oi Representatives in June, 1903, and re-elected in June, 1906, 1909 and 1912 He was knighted in 1912. He was appointed Governor of the Greymouth District High School in 1893, and held that position up to the time of his death. Ho was captain of the Westlaud Cricket Eleven from 1876 to 1888. and patron of innumerable societies throughout the district. He leaves a widow, hut no children.

‘‘ABSOLUTELY IMPARTIAL.” TRIBUTE BY MR WILFORD. Wanganui, Juno 10. “Is it true? I am dreadfully shocked,” said Mr Wilford, M.P., when the news of Sir A. Guinness’s death was conveyed to him to-day. ‘‘l had a letter from him only a few days ago. saying that lie hoped to meet me ali well on the 26th. I knew him very and was a personal friend.” But. Mr Wilford added, apart from that, ho had been in the House fourteen or fifteen■ years with Sir Arthur. He was a strong partisan on the floor ol' the House, but absolutely impartial when in the chair. His position would be very hard to fill. There was no man in the House capable, in Mr Wil ford’s opinion, of carrying out the duties as Sir Arthur Guinness carried them "out. It could only be done by, a man having exceptional ability and possessed of knowledge gained by long experience of Parliamentary methods and procedure. <r

PRIME MINISTER’S TRIBUTE

“FIRM, RUT TACTFUL.” Wellington, Juno 10. The Prime Minister, the Hon. W. F. Massey, paid an appreciative and sympathetic, tribute to the personal qualities of Sir Arthur Guinness, when seen by a pressman to-night. “The news of his death came as a great shock to me,” said Mr Massey. “Only yesterday 1 received a letter from him on a matter affecting the West Coast, written in his own handwriting, and without anything to show that he was other thah in his usual health. Sir Arthur Guinness was not only my fellow member for many years, but he was also my personal friend, and J need hardly say that I sincerely regret his,death. As Speaker of the House of Representatives, he was a great success, firm, but tactful, and very considerate towards new members. He had won not only tho respect, but also the affection, of tho House in a degree very seldom experienced. He was a painstaking member, neglecting no detail .and bis death will bo a loss to his electorate and to Parliament and the Dominion as a whole.” A telegram of sympathy and condolence with the relatives of the deceased Speaker was dispatched by the Prime Minister to Lady Guinness this evening.