Forty Years a Liberal

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 651, 1 May 1929, Page 2

Forty Years a Liberal

LIFE STORY OF SIR JOSEPH WARD

From Telegraph Messenger to Prime Minister

Bv R. A. LOUGHNAN

(Copyright— Sun Feature Service)

ENTERING Parliament in ISS7, Sir Joseph Ward is a veteran among contemporary statesmen and his career is traced and described in this series oE articles by R. A. Loughnan for readers of The Sun.

No. XXXII

Mr. Winston Churchill in his fourth |- book of memoirs—first instalment of ; which has just arrived here in “The j Times” weekly section —places the great gift in its historic prerogative. j ■ In four centuries, he says, Britain has}; headed combinations of European peoples against four powerful as- j saults, with strikingly victorious results. These enemies he names — Philip IT. of Spain, Louis XIV. of France, the first Emperor Napoleon, the Kaiser William 11. of Germany. | At the above gathering at West min- . ster, Sir Joseph’s present to the Navy of the Dreadnought was declared to have been inspired by the spirit of ! those four consistently great ccn- , turies. POLITICAL AMENITY When prominent men are publicly honoured it is usual for them to be publicly congratulated in Parliament at the suggestion of the Leader of the Government and the speeches of the leaders are always cordial, and from them all trace of party feeling is absent. Such speeches are to the credit of the speakers, and they are, besides, an indication of the healthiness of our political life. In this kind of work Sir Joseph has always shown a fine . spirit. As an example his speech con- < gratulating Sir William Russell on his knighthood is well worth quotiug. “The • very pleasurable duty devolves on me . of extending to the honourable member ■ for Hawke’s Bay, Sir William Russell, my heartiest congratulations and ! felicitations. I am sure that I am voicing on behalf of every member of ' the House, as -well as people of all classes of the colony, the respect and esteem we entertain for the honouraJ«3 gentleman and to say how much we appreciate the honour which his Majesty the King has conferred upon him. I can say, on behalf of the members of this side of the House, and \ equally so on behalf of honourable , members opposite, who I am sure will . not think it presumptious on my part to express it, that since Sir William Russell has been associated with honourable members of this House, he has ever, by his courtesy and by his gentlemanly conduct, and by his consideration to members at all times, won their respect, goodwill and esteem. I sincerely hope that both Sir William and Lady Russell, his esteemed wife, may live long to enjoy the honour so worthily won by Sir William Russell in recognition of distinguished services , to his country.” To complete and pleasantly round off a charming episode characteristic of our Parliamentary life, Sir William's reply is now appended: “Sir, —I perceive that no man In j my position could have other than a feeling of diffidence in rising to say a I few words of thanks for the congratulations offered me for the honours bestowed upon him. I appreciate most sincerely the honour which has been conferred upon me by his Majesty the King, and feel that whatever services I have been able to render to my country and my King during the period of a quarter of a century have met recognition by the honour which has been conferred upon me by my Sovereign. But deeply as I_feel the honour conferred upon me, more genuinely T am flattered by the kind expression of opinion conveyed to me in the telegrams and letters I have received from most members of this honourable House, and also do I feel that if a man may flatter himself on any occasion I have a right to do it to-day, inasmuch as I believe that the honour which has been conferred upon me has met with the general approbation of the people, among whom I have lived for a period of forty years.” MOTOR REGULATION The Bill introduced in this session of 1902 for the regulation of motor vehicles makes one smile. That Bill came down from the Legislative Council fixing the maximum limit of speed at 10 miles an hour. Many thought this excessive. Others denied that the motor-car had come to stay. One member very confidently declared th i the motor would never displace the horse, and yet others refused to believe that the raotor-car -would ever be a trouble to the traffic. There was long and rather troubled debate before the second reading, and in committee suggestions were heard that in cities a speed of five miles an hour ought to be the limit. There was much discussion about many things before the control of the speed limit was left to the local bodies and, crowning effort, due to Sir Joseph Ward’s motion, the speed limit was altered from 10 miles to such as is reasonable. We have gone far and fast since that day 26 years ago, but it I is amusing to look back upon the start | of the controlling legislation. CORONATION OF EDWARD VII. j When King Edward was crowned the | Acting-Premier asked the House of ! Representatives to pass a manly, j simple, dignified resolution: i “That this House desires to express j its respectful congratulations to his i Majesty the King upon his Coronation i and to express that the reign of his 1 Majesty may be a long and happy one. j I think it unnecessary for me to add | anything to this motion, which, I am ! sure, voices unanimously the desire of honourable members.” For the manliness and terseness of j this he received many compliments | both in the House and out of it. In this connection he had to endure | rather a wild attack with regard to i the contingent sent from New Zealand !to the Coronation. He was accused | with the Government, of having arj ranged the whole business of the contingent and its pay and transport without any reference to Parliament. That was true. But the fact that every State of the Empire was represented at the Coronation, by a contingent of troops ought, to have at least induced critics of the Government to pause for an explanation. The cx- ! planation made by the Acting-Premier ! in the House against the charge of ! unconstitutional conduct, was of the I simplest. Yet it was quite true. The | Government had not asked Parlia-

ment to authorise a contingent tor the Coronation, and moreover it had not intended to send one. But. after Parliament had risen, the King himself had sent the Government a request for a contingent to appear with contingents from all parts of the Empire, it was a command. Tho Government had to obey, and the contingent was sent. Of course, in face of the Royal command the charge of unconstitutional conduct faded away. There was, however, a dispute between tho Auditor-General and tho Treasury. The Auditor - General thought the payments of the contingent ought to have been charged to ••unauthorised," whereas the Treasury had paid the expenses out of "General Imprest.” The consequent dispute had come before the Public Accounts Committee. which, after listening to evidence which bored it stiff, added to its report a recommendation that some definition for such cases should be made and given the force of law so as to prevent a reseurrence of such disputes between these high contending parties in the future. The committee evidently thought the public time too valuable to be occupied with interminable disputes between Tweeldedum and Tweedledeo. As to the recommendation nobody anticipated any difficulty in giving it effect. Neither was there any. Blit, the opportunity for insinuative attack was irresistible, and a long discussion about “unauthorised” and “General Imprest," about the amounts kept in London on both accounts, about all the gyrations and intricacies of Red Tape, was maintained for quite a time. If that was a fishing expedition, then the Opposition laboured almost all night and took nothing. The episode, of course, found and left the House unruffled. It treated it as just an instance of ordinary party tactics. IMPERIAL CO-OPERATION When Mr. J. Chamberlain was forced by failing health to retire from the Secretaryship of the Colonies, Mr. Seddon moved the House to an expression of regret. The terms of his resolution showed very clearly the grasp he had attained of Imperial problems. Ho moved for the recognition of a statesman “to whom w*e owe the inauguration of a great colonial policy, which he carried out with conspicuous tact and ability, thus securing cordial relationship and mutual understanding between the colonies an<i the Mother Country to the great advantage of the Empire. Realising, as we do, that we are under the flag of Britain, and that it is upon its power and prestige that we must rely in time of trouble. I say that it is the least we can do to take suitable notice of the retirement from office of the man who has done so much to bring abgut the cohesion of the Empire, and who stood out so prominently in one cf the most difficult ordeals the. Empire has had to face.” As he went sailing along in this vein, question was raised by interjection about the addition to the burden of Imperial responsibility. Sir Joseph promptly interjected: “Our attachment to the Empire is a sufficient answer to that.” It entails responsibility, he added, and no true colonist should take exception to it because the power of England, ever since the colonies were established, and her readiness to defend and protect them, have been two of the greatest assets they possess. Can it be expected that we are to have all these benefits without having some responsibility? I firmly believe that the wars of the future will be on the questions of commerce, not in territorial annexation, and it is round the commercial question that Britain and her colonies will in the years to come have the greatest problem. (The truth of this is reflected in the difficulties about navies to-day.) We can without reference to our political leanings recognise the marked ability, strong patriotism and great power of initiative displayed bv the right honourable gentleman since he has tilled the office of Colonial Secretary.” STATE FIRE INSURANCE This matter, side-tracked in 1902 to a committee, came up again in the following session—l9o3 —when the two Houses of Parliament disagreed. The Question between them was whether the clause of the State Eire Insurance Bill amended by the council was or was not a money clause of the kind over which the Council had no power of amendment. A deadlock seemed imminent, In which case the Bill would have been lost. Indeed it was freely said during the debates in both Houses that the dispute had been brought about for that very purpose. After protracted debating, in which the rights of each Chamber were hotly asserted a compromise was effected. The debate was further remarkable for a heated discussion of the constitutional value of the Legislative Council. Attacking the Council Mr. “Tommy Taylor” made one of the most incisive vehement speeches of his life, and Mr. Seddon gave him the greatest dressing down he had ever received, knocking over all his arguments, overwhelming him with facts, imputing to him the motive of prohibit:onist revenge, the Council having thrown out a “dry Bill- . , These two speeches entertained tne House greatly. Inter alia, Mr. Taylor had attacked Mr. Seddon’s Council appointments, declaring with hissing scorn that not one of them could ever have got elected to Parliament. Mr. Seddon snowed him under W ” B 26 names of councillors who had all served many years m the House of Representatives. It was notable that when Mr. Taylor denied the number, in face of the Premier’s detailed list. Mr. Massey, who was pricking a card, decisively corroborated the Premier. After this debate State Fire Insurance was established in the form detailed on a former page. (To bo continued daily.) Conics of previous editions of TWE ; SfJJ V containing “The Life s tory of KtT ' Joseph iVard’ map be obtained on OP ' | plication to the Publisher, THE SL r 1 P.O. Box 630, Auckland.