LE CAREER

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 July 1940, Page 4

LE CAREER

' SIR WALTER Uncross i URY OF SERVICE 7 ;gislature. j J x , IN BOTH HOUSES. • i j (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON. This Day. Service extending over 50 years in the Legislature was reviewed when members of the House of Representatives last night paid tribute to the memory of the former Speaker of the Legislative Council, the Hon Sir Walter Carncross, whose death occurred at the weekend. The House met at 7.30 p.m. and after the transaction of formal business the Prime Minister, Mr Fraser, moved a motion of condolence with Sir Walter Carncross’s relatives. This was seconded by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Hamilton. The House adjourned at 8.20 p.m. as a mark of respect to the dead legislator’s memory. The House will resume at 7.30 p.m. today, when the debate on the Financial Statement will be inaugurated by Mr Hamilton. Sir Walter Carncross was a member of the House of Representatives from 1890 to 1902 and of the Legislative Council from 1903 till the date of his death. He was Speaker of the Council from 1918 till July last year. “He was a notable figure in the political life of this country and het played a prominent part right from' the moment of his entry into politics,” said Mi - Fraser. “He was conspicuous in the Liberal Party in the time of Ballance, Seddon and McKenzie, and was chief whip of the party at a time when social legislation was in the ascendancy and when controversy waged very bitterly. As a man he was kind and obliging, and Parliament will be all the poorer because of his passing. In the Legislative Council his name will endure as one of its greatest Speakers.” Mr Hamilton- said he understood Sir Walter was one of three men in the Empire who had a record of 50 years’ service in the Legislature. His was the longest service in the New Zealand Parliament. “We look out on a very different world today,” said Mr Hamilton, “and he was one who played a very large part in its rpaking.” Other tributes were paid by the > Minister of Defence, Mr Jones, whose electorate of Dunedin South includes part of the Taieri electorate represented in the House by the late Sir Walter; by Mr Frcfst (Government, New Plymouth), on behalf of the Taranaki members of Parliament; Mr Tirikatene (Government, Southern Maori), on behalf of the Native race; Mr Jull (Opposition, Waipawa); the Minister of Labour, Mr Webb; the Minister of Agriculture. Mr Lee Martin.