The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1912. THE PARTING GUEST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 161, 25 November 1912, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1912. THE PARTING GUEST.

We have not seen a great ileal of Lord Islington or Lis good lady in Turanaki during his sojourn as the King's representative in our midst, hut this has been our misfortune rather than our fault, and we can still join heartily and sincerely in a frank expression of regret at their departure, and a hope that their lives in the future may lie in pleasant places. Mr. McLaren, the Mayor of Wellington, probably expressed the general feeling of the community at the official farewell in Wellington when he said that Lord and Lady Islington had "stolen a way into the hearts of the people and won their affections." We have had many good Governors duriag our short span of .national existence, but it is no deprecation to those who have preceded him to say that Lord Islington is quite the most practical viceregal representative we have had. He has associated himself with the life of the Dominion in the most intimate manner, and his advice and assistance in several of our experimental essays has been more helpful than even he himself knows. Blessed with a quality of quiet enthusiasm and equipped with a wide personal experience of men and manners,'he has been enabled to speak with tie voice of one having authority, and he lias willingly placed his "talent" at

the use of the community instead of burying it in a napkin of pomp and circumstance. He has been of real; use in the evolution of an improved system of local government, lias materially assisted the authorities in perfecting our defence scheme, and has shown the, farmers of the country that he is no theoretical farmer himself, but a sound and solid practical husbandman. As he himself very rightly said at the farewell function in Wellington, the agricultural and pastoral interests must be regarded as the corner-stone—the very blood and marrow—of the Dominion, for their progress in such a country as New Zealand reacted on all parts of the community, whether they lived in urban or in rural districts. Wherever he went, he added, he would take a deep interest in what he hoped would be the rapid and extensive development of this magnificent country. He would watch also improvements in transport, the progress of agricultural education, and the spread of scientific methods. He stressed this matter, because he would like to feel that his voice had impressed some of his auditors with the importance of their being in close touch with the interests of country life in the Dominion. Not only would this great industry secure the ground-work of national prosperity but its development would afford the best possible guarantee of the continued security of the country as an integral part of the Empire. These are words of solid sense that the people may well consider, and, in course of time, thoroughly justify. Nor has Lady Islington failed in upholding, the dignity and the usefulness of her husband's office. Her charm, her graciousness, her sincerity, and her ever-readiness to assist those who required it have made for her a name in New Zealand that will not readily be forgotten. More particularly has this been noticeable in her beautiful concern for the welfare of the children, and her name will long be associated with the progress of the kindergarten movement in New Zealand and her personal interest in the hospitals and maternity homes of the Dominion. Lord Islington is leaving us to take up higher duties in the interests of the Empire, and it may be safely depended upon that those important duties will be conducted with the tact and thoroughness that have characterised his public life throughout his career. We arc a heart-loyal as well as a lip-loyal people, and Lord Islington and his wife will leave us with the assurance that they will be remembered for many years with esteem and affection by a people who are grateful for thenhelp, and who are loth, indeed, to spare them even for a wider sphere of wider usefulness. .. .