LATE MR. PERCY SMITH.

Taranaki Daily News, 23 September 1922, Page 6

LATE MR. PERCY SMITH.

A GLOWING TRIBUTE. IN AN ENGLISH JOURNAL. The English journal of science, Nature. refers with regret to the death of the late Mr. S. Percy Smith, of New Plymouth, describing him as probably more widely known than any other among students of Polynesian ethnology, and adding: —“His ability in affairs was recognised by the New Zealand Government on several occasions, perhaps most notably when he was dispatched to Niue, where he drew up the constitution under which that island has prospered ever since. In spite of his varied services to the State it is in another capacity that he will be best remembered, namely, as the . leading authority in Polynesian tradition, and his services to ethnology, almost as important as his own works, that were performed by Percy Smith in the capacity of president of the Polynesian Society and editor of its journal. By these means for the rapid publication of ethnological facts in New Zealand and the Pacific he performed a service for anthropology in that nart of the globe, probably greater than has been rendered by any other worker in the field. No one could meet Percy Smith without recognising the strength and range of I his intellect. He rendered ready help I alike to great and small. His loss will be felt not only by those who knew him personally’ and experienced hia I generous help, hut by every student who begins research in the field in, which he was the unchallenged master.”