THE LATE MR SEDDON.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXIX, Issue 8160, 15 June 1906, Page 5

THE LATE MR SEDDON.

A MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN. WELLINGTON, Juie 14. The following cablegram has been sentj to Mrs Seddon: "Accept deepest sympathy in your overwhelming sorrow, which the whole of England shares.—Queen Alexandra." PROBABLY BURIED IN WELLINGTON. FUNERAL TO TAKE PLACE ON TUESDAY. WELLINGTON, June 14. The New Zealand Times says it is expeoted that the remains of the late Premier will be interred in Wellington with all ceremonial attaching to a State funeral. Although not yet fully decided it is believed that the interment will taKe place on Tuesday next, certainly not earlier. The members of Parliament and others at a distance who wish to be present at the last rites should therefore be in Wellington by Tuesday morning. It is understood that for one or two days prior to the funeral the body will lie in State in the Parliamentary lobby, so that people may have an opportunity of taking a last look at the well-known form aud features.

WELLINGTON, June 14. The City Council to-night passed a resolution regretting Mr Seddon's death and sympathising with tbe bereaved family. The ordinary business was not dealt with. Tbe question of a site for Mr Seddon's grave, if be is buried in Weiling- . ton, was left to the Mayor to confer [ with others interested. Incidentally [ the Mayor said that the Council might consider the question of setting aside an area for tbe inter- t taunt of New Zealand's great men it being right that they should be interred ia the capital city of the oolony. The Wellington branch of the Navy League has sent a resolution to Mr Hall-Jones expressing regret at Mr Seddon"s death. OHRISTOHUKUH, June 14. Mr Malaolm Niucol, Grand Secretary of the Masonio Lodge, has received the following cable from Sir Harry Rawson, M.W. Grand Master of New South Wales:—"Freemasons of New South Wales send deepest sympathy to your Grand Lodge «n the loss you have sustained by tb« death of Past Grand .Master Seddon." Mr Nioool has also received a telegram from the Urand Superintendent of Auckland suggesting that a memorial service shook! be 1 held at the time fixed for Mr Seddon's funeral. WANGANUI, June 14. At a meeting [of the Wanganui Rugby Union, to-night, a motion was carried that the Wanganui Kugby Union hear 3 with deep regret of the untimely death of the Right Hon. R. J. Seddon and respectfully tenders its deep sympathy to Mis Seddon and family. '

A MESSAGE PROM THE HASTINGS NATIVES.

HASTINGS, June 14. The following is the translation of a telegram sent by the Maoris here to Mr Carroll :—"We are greatly sbooked and grieved and our hearts filled with sadness and love for our parent who has been reft from ua by tbe strong hand—Death, Do you convey our sympathy to the widow and children in the house of mourning. Although we are not related by blood, his kind protection of the whole people] makes us wonder where we will find a parent now. Great as your grief rmst be, ours is not less. Go! O great one! go, O strong one! Who wert as an impregnable fortress, and a shield of protection. Go! bright star of the morning we shall seek in vain for one great enough to tread in your footsteps." The Hon.fCarroll left for Welling ton this morning. An endeavour is being made to arrange a speoial train from' Napier to'.Wflllington oi tbe night before the funeral. The Hon. Carroll will lay the matter before the Acting-Minis-ter of Railways. A large troop of Maoris from these parts will attend the funeral. THE SUGGESTED MEMORIAL. Apropos to the suggestion made by Mr W. J. Culver, General Secretary of the Liberal and Labour Federation, that a movement for a national monument should Jbe intituted at the big memorial service to be held in the Town Hall on the 22nd instant, the Hon.J, Mr Lee-Smith, of Dunedin, has telegraphed that be will contribute 50 guineas towards the object, and several other gentlemen have also expressed their practical sympathy with the movement. In a oiroular issued by the Secretary of the Liberal and Labour Federation, Mr W. J. Culver, in connection with the' memorial service to be held on the 22nd instant, it is suggested that eaoh branch of the Liberal and Labour Federation should hold a similar gathering simultaneous with the one iu Wellington, and that eaoh branch be constituted a committee to assist in tbe muvement for a national memorial, members being provided with lists for subscriptions. "United aotiou on the part of the branches in this matter would lead to an amount being subscribed by the federation which would greatly augment the a*nount which will no doubt; come rrom non-political sources."

THE WESTLAND SEAT. HOKITIKA, June 14

In an interview with a newspaper reporter Mr J. A. Murdoch, Mayor of Kumara, emphatically denied the statement made in a Qreymouth paper that be wbb likely to oontest the Westland constitue&oy witb Mr H. L. Michel, Mayor of Hokitika.

He asserted that no one had the slightest authority to oiroulate snob a statement. Mr Murdoch thinks it most premature, to discuss the subjeot. When the proper time arrives he will give his support to a suggesion made that a member of the late Premier's family should be offered the seat.

A prominent Dunedin journalist, in a wire to Mr Mandle, ex-Mayor of Hokitika, aud one of the late Mr Seddon'a moat intimate friends, suggests that Westland should receive the late Premier's remains, and become the "Meooa'* of Liberalism. The feeling thioughout the idistriot falls in with this suggestion. GREYMOUTH, June 14. The Borough Council has passed the following motion —"That this Council expresses,its sorrow and regret at the untimely death of the late Richard John Beddon, and places on record its appreciation of the deceased statesman, and tenders to his wife and relatives their heartfelt sympathy with them in their bereavement." The Council will be represented at the funeral.

COMMENT BY THE AGE.

Received June 14, 9.43 p.m MELBOURNE, June 14.

The Age, in a lending article, says that in the crisis of the Boer War Mr Seddon waa tbe inspiration of Australian action. The paper severely deals with tne adjournment of Parliament ns a mark of respect, and says that it seems a pitiful anachronism that gthe death of such a man as this, whose life was Riven up to the service of the publio, should have been made the occasion for another of those unmeaning Parliamentary adjournments that are always seized upon with avidity as a waste of time A Parliamentary adjournment as a mark of respect is a senseless proceeding It means nothing more than neglecting public duty to pursue private amusement. They dignify this proceeding by the title of respect for the dead. In the case of some men, whose lives are a prolonged act of idleness, and running away from duty it would be in keeping, however little it may have in it of respect. Hut to follow that oourse in the case of Mr Seddon, whose whole life had been dedicated to tbe sedulous performance of his duty, was a sorry affair. Yet the members gave up the entire sitting to an empty form of tbe very kind that Mr aeddon despised. If Parliament had voted money for a statue, a scholarship, or any other means of linking the name of Seddon with the nation's sense of honour and gratitude, it would have discharged its duty to a great Australasian Liberal, but to imagine that it did any honour to Mr Seddon by abstaining from tbe performance of its duty is about the severest satire it oouli pass upon his memory.

When the Masterton School Com-" mittee met last evening, the Chairman, Mr R. Brown, mbred: "That the Masterton District High School Committee deeply deplores tbe great loss sustained by the colony and the Empire through tbe untimely death of the Right Hon. |lhe Premier, Richard John Seddon, and extends the warmest sympathy to Mrs Seddon and the bereaved family in their heavy affliotion.V In moving the motion Mr brown referred to the great loss tbe colony and the nation had sustained through the death of Mr Seddon. He felt sure that the warmest sympathy would be extended to Mrs Seddon and family. Toe Oommittee were well aware what Mr Seddon had done in the cause of education. Bj his great exertions the poor as well as the rich were able to receive a good edscation.

Mr Fendall seoonded tbe motion. The motion was carried in silence, and the Secretary was instructed to forward' a copy of it to the AotingPremier and Mrs Seddon.

The Committee, after passing the accounts for payment, adjourned.

1 Before the business at tbe meeting of the Masterton County Oounoil was proceeded wjth yesterday, the Chairman (Mr O. E. Cockburn Hood), referred to the death of the Premier. He stated that he felt sure the Council would join in expressing deep regret at the sudd?n death of Mr Seddon. He moved: "That a message of condolence be sent to Mia Seddon and family expressing the Council's deep sympathy with them in their sudden and terrible bereavement, and trusting they will be given strength to bear up against their great trial" Or Holmes Warren seconded the motion, which was carried in silence.