An Honoured Name

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 134, 27 August 1927, Page 9

An Honoured Name

Mr. Bollard Laid to Rest A Long and Solemn Cortege (Special to THE SUN.) WELLINGTON, To-day. lIJHBN a statesman dies his deeds live, but it is as a man that his friends remember him. So it is with the late Hon. E. F. Bollard, whose last Cabinet meeting is over and whose last legislative deed is accomplished.

TT was to honour the memory of the man that many thousands of people followed his remains to the grave at Karori cemetery this morning, and it will be his attributes as a man that his name will be spoken of in Parliamentary lobbies for many years. Nearly 50 cars left from Parliament Buildings alone, carrying members of Cabinet and all parties in the House of Representatives, the Legislative Council, departmental representatives, secretaries, men of the Press Gallery, and others associated at Parliament with Mr. Bollard. Whatever grain of consolation there was to be gained by the family must have been felt at the touching demonstration of sorrow and regret by hundreds of people, who lined the sidewalks on the way to the cemetery, and the hundreds of cars which formed part of the cortege. Special cars conveying the wreaths were illustrative of the Dominion-wide feeling, for the relatives. A short service at St. Paul's ProCathedral, conducted by Bishop Sprott, Archdeacon Johnson, and the Rev. V. A. Bianchi, was a solemn prelude to the impressive funeral services at the graveside, after which the remains of the late Cabinet Minister were laid to rest among those of other mourned legislators of the past. Archdeacon Johnson officiated at the graveside. The pallbearers were members of political parties and represen tatives of the Masonic craft. The Masonic craft also attended, and the Governor-General was represented by Mr. A. C. Day, official secretary. and Captain Wentworth. All the Crown Ministers were present except. the Hon. A. D. McLeod, who is at Martinborough recovering from a slight indisposition.

SORROW AND SYMPATHY

MEMBERS’ LAST TRIBUTES FEELING REFERENCES IN HOUSE (THE SUN'S Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, Friday. “The loss to the Government is great, but the loss to Mrs. Bollard and to the family is the greatest. Their sorrows are the greatest of sorrows.” These singularly fitting words were used bv the Leader of the Opposition,

Mr. H. E. Holland, as a peroration to his tribute to the memory of the late Hon. R. F. Bollard. Members of Parliament, from the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, to the most silent backbencher, contributed in the House today to a general expression of regret at the passing of Mr. Bollard, and the House passed a resolution conveying the sympathy which was universally felt for the sorrowing relatives. The Prime Minister said he could imagine no occasion when he would be given greater pain to move a resolution in his name than that he felt when moving a motion of regret and sympathy with the relatives of Mr. Bollard. Although not prominent in the public eye, the late Minister, by his quiet manner of working and the trust with which he inspired people, had gradually secured the affection and respect of all who knew him. “It was as a man we knew him best,” the Prime Minister went on, “and it was as a man we formed our judgment

of him. His removal is a loss to the Government and a loss to the country.” Members of the House had lost a friend whom they would remember for many years, Mrs. Bollard had lost a loving husband, and the members of the family mourned the loss of a kind and dutiful father. From the Opposition benches there was a generous tribute to the late Mr. Bollard as a political opponent and as a fellow member of the House of Representatives, Mr. H. E. Holland assuring members that those who were opposed to Mr. Bollard had always regarded him as a friend and an opponent to be respected. Mr. G. W. Forbes, Leader of the National Party, spoke of the late Minister as a man with a strong desire to do the right thing. His death recalled to members the quotation: “What shadows we are; what shadows we pursue! ” Forty years’ association with the late Minister was claimed by Mr. J. S. Dickson, who said Mr. Bollard was regarded in the North as “Honest

Dick.” His friends and members would do anything to lighten the burden which had fallen so heavily on Mrs. Bollard and family. Then followed many tributes from members of all sides of the House. Mr. W. J. Jordan, Manukau, spoke of him as a big man in a political contest; the Minister of Health, the Hon. J. A. Young, assured the House of the wide popularity of Mr. Bollard in the North; Mr. Harris recalled constant associations since he had entered the House with Mr. Bollard in 1911; Mr. W. Parry possessed personal knowledge of his generosity to the poor. Mr. V. H. Potter voiced the regret of the messengers and staff, and conveyed their appreciation of the generous treatment which they had received at the hands of the deceased Minister. The House adjourned till Tuesday afternoon as a mark of respect.