STATESMAN’S MEMORIAL

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1082, 20 September 1930, Page 10

STATESMAN’S MEMORIAL

PARTY LEADERS PRAISE MR. MASSEY “A ROCK AND ANCHOR I Press Association WELLINGTON, Today. Before the official unveiling of the Massey Memorial at Port Hals well was performed by the GovernorGeneral. Lord Bledisloe. the ActingPrime Minister, the Hon. H. A. Ransom, said it was regretted that the Prime Minister, who was abroad, could not be present, and also Dame Christina .Massey, who was ill. The fact that the Prime Minister was on his way to the Imperial Conference , recalled the debt of gratitude That the country owed to the late Mr. Massey, who had rendered valuable services not only to Xew Zealand but to the I Empire on those occasions when be attended similar conferences. His utterances at these conferences and the part he took in them were regarded as being of great value to Xew Zealand and the .Empire, During the war Mr. .Massey gave valuable service to Xew Zealand and during the past-war period he was willing to set aside anything in the nature of party politics, being pte- j pored to associate himself with other parties of the House in the restora- . tion of this country’s prosperity. Their united sympathy went out to Dame Christina and her relatives. DEVOTION TO DUTY It was realised that his devotion to i duty was probably one of the causes | oi liis death, but if his life were looked upon from the point of view of s service, rather than years, then his j had been a life of ripeness. United j sympathy went out to Dame Christina ■ Massey and the late Mr. Massey’s rela - 1 lives. Mr. Ransom paid a tribute to those who had been concerned in the I construction of the memorial. The memorial was then unveiled by the Governor-General, who paid o glowing tribute to Air. Massey's , achievements as a leader. The Leader of the Reform Party, tlie Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, said: —“We• can truly say that the passing away or Mr. Massey marked the loss of p statesman and a true son of the British Empire. We can speak of him as a ■ friend, as a colleague and a man 1 in whom each and every one of us had implicit faith and confidence: a man who carried the mistakes of others. | who never whimpered nor complained. |He was a rock and an anchor, and it is i these characteristics that his colleagues today call to mind. “We remember him, and I think the country will remember him. as a stranghtforward and unsefisli man. He saw his duty and did it. It was that faith which. I think, radiated to the people of this country in the very . darkest hour of our trial. HELD IN DEEP RESPECT i The memorial was not too beautiful for the man. It was possibly the finest tribute to any single individual in the world. His example would be a guide and lesson to men and women in the future. Air. Coates said be believed that in the hearts of the people that day, whether they supported Mr. Massey’s particular form of politics or not. there was no man held in deeper respect. “I would like to re-echo the sentiments expressed by each of the previous speakers,” said Mr. H. E. Holland, Leader of the Labour Party. “As you know Parliament is a battleground of ideas, and on the floor of tho Parliament Building, especially in the chamber of the House, men come into conflict with one another. I think those of us who figured as opponents of Mr. Alassey knew one side of him, probably, better even than those who were his close colleagues and were in line with the policy he advocated. We got to know the human side of him. “Oneo his word was given it was honoured. That was my constant and unvar: ing experience with Mr. Massey. .t is fitting that he who gave the better part of his life to -the turbulent fighting in the realm of politics should sleep his last long sleep here, surrounded by the magnificence of the hills, in view of the harbour where the sea will betimes murmur its lullabies; where all God’s wildest storms will reach. “This splendid memorial which has been officially unveiled by his Excelj lency is a fitting tribute on the part of the people, not only of Wellington, but of the whole of Xew Zealand, to a statesman by whose tomb we are standing today: a statesman whose name is written very largely not only in the records of these little islands, but largely into the records of the British Commonwealth of Xaliens.” Bishop Sprott, of Wellington, led the gathering in prayer at the opening of the ceremony and gave the Benediction. The Rev. George Budd. moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, conducted the dedication service.