THE LATE MR SEDDON.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVII, Issue 8137, 20 June 1906, Page 3

THE LATE MR SEDDON.

ST PAUL'S MEMORIAL . ' SERVICE. , Received 19,10.18 p.m. London, Juno 10.. •In the Commons Sir U. CampbellBanuernun said it was unnecessary to liold''a memoml service at St. Margaret's, Westminster, smco tlie service s it St, Paul's would enable Commoners to sho»v relpect to the niomory of Mr I Seddon; jrhosedoath ell deplored ' COMMONWEALTH REPRESENTATION. . Beceived 20, 1.8 tt.in, Mhlbochnp., June 19. ! At tlie requests of Mr DeaLin, the Commopwealth will be represented at Mr Seddon's funcraJ' by some prominent public men, who 'will lay a wreath on the erave. Mr Deakin received a cable from the Hon; Mr Halt-Jones to-day stating that Mrs Seddon and fanjily were bearing up bravel/, and expressing gratification at Mr Deakin's request, and thanking him on behalf of himself and Ministers, THE FRIEND OF THE NATIVES.) Received 19, 11.17 p.m. 'v Melbodene, June 1-9. Amongst many resolutions of?: sympathy on the death of Mr Seddon adopted by public bodies in Victoria, one was by the Board for the Protection of Aborigines, which wished to show l admiration for his great work for the protection and just treatment of the Maoris. The resolution specially mentions Mr Seddon as;the humane friend of the native race. THE FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS Wellington, June 19. Tho matulobby in the Parliamentary Buildings has been set apart for the display of the numerous wreaths which have been sent to the late Premier's family from all parts of the Colony. They are being' arranged on stands, classified into provincial districts, and among thein arc included some remarkable specimens of the florists' art, The number sent is being increased every hour, and it looks as it even the accommodation of the lobby will not be sufficient. Many members of the Legislature are already here to attend the funeral and others are arriving daily. In addition, representatives from almost every public institution in the colony are coming to Wellington to pay a last tribute to the doceased statesman. It has been decided that the funeral cortege will be headed by a party of . fifty numbers of the Permanent Artillery under Major Hume. Then wil- 1 come' tho bands, which will be foil 1 lowed by tho gun carriage bearing the ' remaius of the lq,te Premier, with , members of the Cabinet as pallbearers. Immediately behind the 1 e,olfin will be the deceased statesman's ' family, aud after them members of , Parliament. All vehicles, with the exception of |the Governor's carriage and the carriages containing the relatives, will follow at the rear of the ' people who are on foot. ,

When the head of the cortege reaches the top of Sydney street, the coffin will be removed from the licayy gun carriage which brought it from i Parliament Baildijjgs, and bo placed on a gun carriage of lighter construction, which will be hauled up to the grave by men from H.M.S. Encounter,' Minute guns (61 in number) will be fired from the Ngahauranga battery. j VISITORS POURING INTO WELLINGTON. , WiaLi.va'toN, J»ne 19. The local telegraph office closes from 1.30 to 5 p.m. on the day of the Premier's funeral. Accommodation in the city is taxed to the utmost, and it is feared that many late arrivals will find difficulty in spcuriug rooms. Even at present shakedowns arc being eagerly snapped up. The features of the late Premier ' will not bo exposed during the lying in State. The route of the procession will extend iver two miles, and it is fully anticipated that the first of the cortege will be near the graye before the end leaves the Cathedral. Volunteers and cadets will line the route. The forts will fire minute guns, and the Permanent Artillery will provide a firing party. Visitors from all parts of the colony ( are pouring into Wellington to attend the funeral. A special Gazette announces that Mr Scddon's funeral will leave the Parliamentary Buildings at 2 p.m., and not 2.30 as previously stated. SUPREME COURT REFERENCES. Prefacing his address (q the Grand Jury at the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning, His Honor made peferonce to the death of the lato Premier. He said he was sure that the jury would with hiin greatly deplore the loss of incomparably the greatest man ill this little republic which for want of a better name we. called tlie colony, under such tragic circumstances, Whatever their personal feelings towards that great mm they would join with bun in extending sympathy to the wife who had so long, so well, and so nobly aided him, aud with the children in the loss of so dnliful a father. Dunedin, June 19. Before adjourning the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Cooper, in announcing that the Court would be closed on Thursday, the daynf thejate Premier's funer il, said : " I wish to add that I personally regret vory much tlmt the state of p'iblic business here will nit permit of my attending tlie funeral uF the lats .Mr Scddon, and paying a last tribute of respect to his memory." | After expressing regret that he hadnol ; had a previous opportunity of referring from the Bench to the death, His' Honor said he echoed the expressions of admiration for Mr Seddnn's past i, career, and of the sense of less which s the nation and the community have suffered in his death, which bus been announced from time to time by everyj body from His Majesty the King throughout the British dominion, and 1 down, he was going to say, to the 8 smallest society we havo in the colony. " Mr Soddon's loss was a national i./.s t and a colonial loss also.

SIR WRI. RUSSELL ON MR SEDDON. Writing' in tlie Lyttelton " Times," Sir Wm. Hussell says:—"The personality of tlie man, oven more than the work of t!ie statesman, was the all pervading characteristics of Mr Soddon. It is about a quarter of a century since first I remember him silting somewhere about the ecnlrt of the House of Kepresentatives, aggressive, . arrogant, and resolute. For several ; sessions Air Seddon was remarkable chiefly for his determination to bo heard. His style of spee.cli was vigir- ) OUB, bill verbose, and lent itself readily i to the tn'lics of instruction, in which , his resolution and determination were assisted by his intimate knowlodge of tiie Standing Orders and Parliamentary proi'edu.'e. He was a forceful, hardfighting, though genial adversary, givinir and receiving hard knocks, but bearing no malice, a personality no person could ignore. The opportunity of bis lite came at the lamentable death "f John Ualluiu'o, and he seized it. A weaker man would have seen but not grasped it. Mr Seddon was bold and ivso'ulv, be felt'ffapable of ruling mfcn, and, pushing aside those who. only thought, he acted and achieved distinction. Prom that tune forward, year' by your, month by month,- almost - day by day, he educated himself iu all the methods which command success, and no colonial statesman has supplied the columns of the press at Home or abroad with so much material. He became known to the leading men in the British Parliament. That many differed from him, it is unnecessary to state, but that he made a vivid impression in England no one would deny. In our. own Parliament he has been a New Zealand Bismarck, of indomitable will and endless fertility of resource and he unquestionably deserves the epithet' Great.' It may be objected that many of the measures he placed on the Statute Book were not of his origination, but he had at least the wisdom to know what the people wanted. He had the personal influcnce wliich persuaded mi often uiiwilling Parliament, and tho tactical ' ability to realise what he might insist upon. No man had more uncompromis- - ing antagonists than he had, yet, with rare exceptions, no personal bitterness was engendered by his political con- j duct. Any person who lias seen him in the House conducting the business of the Ministry, night after night, and defending and explaining his colleagues' ' as well as his own Bills, ready to reply " to all attacks, must have been amazed J at his knowledge, his powers of ondurance, his vigorous personality, and c (lis perseverance. Year by year he in- * creased in wisdom and feet. The perpetual contact with men of ability, character, and education, had softened many of the asperities of his method o and manner, and-had formed him into ( a man resolute, autocratij, controlled, and self-contained. Many have asked, ' Had Mr Seddon enjoyed the benefit of a university education, would he have been a greater man p ' I doubt it. Education polishes the exterior, but God alone creates the material out of which a man is fashioned, Men of all shades of political thought will agree that he was a most remarkable' personality, and that be laboured long I and strenuously for the people of New Zealand, in whose history his name will ever endure." 1