Sir Joseph Extolled as Liberal Flag-Bearer

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 536, 13 December 1928, Page 9

Sir Joseph Extolled as Liberal Flag-Bearer

VICTORY DINNER GIFTS FOR MR. DAVY (TUB SIB'S Parliamentary Reporter) j WELLINGTON, Wednesday. Enthusiasm and legitimate pride in J a great achievement were radiated in j a United Party Complimentary dinner to Sir Joseph Ward this evening m the Royal Oak Motel. Speeches were all full of praise for the great figure, the sole survivor of the Ballance Administration. Mr. A. E. Dav\, organiser, also came in for praise and thanks, and was handed a locket from Auckland members and a well-filled wallet from all the members. The Ron. W. B. Taverner, Minister of Railways, spoke appreciatively of the way in which old politicians and new had mingled in the campaign for their chief, whom all were glad to see looking so fit and well. He offered his personal congratulations to Sir Joseph Ward, and expressed the assurance that old members would freely help those who were young in the ranks. Proposing the toast of the Prime Minister, Sir Apirana Ngata said he deemed it a privilege to have been Sir Joseph Ward’s colleague. Sir Joseph Ward’s leadership had confounded the old question of “What’s in a name?” The speaker ranked himself in the rearguard of the old Liberal Party, for whose leaders he had so much reverence. Paying tribute to the late Sir James Carroll, Sir Apirana said that he hoped to see, as on the Seddon Memorial, the name of Carroll. (Applause.) A STEP FORWARD The country had demanded a step far ward, continued Sir Apirana, and with Sir Joseph Ward as leader the same methods as of old had to be adopted by the same type of man. To-day the customs of men were smoother, but the purpose was the same. Replying, Sir Joseph Ward said he appreciated the high honour recorded. “We wouldn’t be descendants of the British and Maori races,” he said, “if we failed at the present moment to put the country in a much better position. I will not disguise the fact that the United Government is surrounded by many difficulties.” Sir Joseph did not want the party to run away with the idea that the passage ahead was smooth. Sir Joseph believed, with ordinary luck, that he would live long enough to convince the country that the humblest man in politics was as worthy as the highest. It was only a matter of time when the bright intellects of the United Party would forge ahead. The speaker would look on it as a duty to co-operate with the man who regarded himself as the weakest of the party, in helping to bring the party to the highest plane. From his travels Sir Joseph Ward was convinced that New Zealand was the best country of the world. EFFECTING A MIRACLE Proposing the toast of Mr. Davy, the Dominion organiser, the ITon. G. W. Forbes said that a great deal of credit for the United Party’s win belonged to Mr. Davy. He spoke of the organiser’s early struggles and unconquerable optimism. Sir Joseph Ward was the coping stone to the edifice that Mr. Davy had built. In the history of New Zealand’s Parliament there had never been so overwhelming a victory as that of the United Party. Mr. Davy had affected a miracle by methods that often savoured of audacity. On behalf of members of Parliament of the United Party, the Hon. A. J. Stall war tli y presented Mr. Davy with a locket from Auckland members, inscribed with a relief map of the North Island, and the inscription “The Glorious Fourteenth. Auckland appreciates your efforts,” and the names of Auckland members. He also handed him a well-filled wallet from members of the party in Parliament as a whole. Returning thanks, Mr. Davy praised the men associated with him in the early part of the movement, and Mr. Forbes in welding the Nationalists and Uniteds. They also owed a debt of gratitude to Mr. IT. Masters, Dominion chairman of the party. Mr. Davy did not think the people of New Zealand, even now, realised the great personal sacrifices made by Sir Joseph Ward in accepting the leadership and producing order out of chaos. Mr. Davy also mentioned the great work of Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Ward for the party. “RAT FROM REFORM” Mr. Davy said, at the end of his speech, that he had been accused of being a “rat from Reform,” but he assured the party that if the United Party did not carry out its programme within two or three years, he would not hesitate to secede from its ranks, as he had done from Reform. Proposing the toast of the United Party, the Hon. T. M. Wilford spoke of the Liberal principles underlying the party, and of the interest of the old Liberals. The public realised that the party would practise what it preached. The party stood for the national good and leadership. Mr. Masters, Dominion chairman, responded on behalf of the party and paid tribute to Sir Joseph Ward and Mr. Davy. He urged on members the importance of carrying out their promises, and the importance of the difficult problem of land settlement, which had solved unemployment in 1890. Other toasts honoured were: “Parliament,” proposed by Mr. Ransom and responded to by Mr. Veitch; and the “Ladies,” proposed by Mr. T. V/. McDonald and responded to by the Hon. T. K. Sidey.