PUBLIC INTEREST

Wairarapa Times-Age, 28 May 1943, Page 3

PUBLIC INTEREST

ALWAYS PLACED FIRST BY MR COATES IN LIFE OF DISTINGUISHED SERVICE. OPPOSITION LEADER'S PRAISE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. “The tragic death of Mr Coates will come as a great shock to the people of New Zealand, but none will feel the shock more severely than those of us who have enjoyed his comradeship and worked alongside him,” said the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Holland, last night. “Mr Coates has given to the country of his birth a lifetime of distinguished service not exceeded by any other man, and in all situations which confronted him he always placed what he considered to be the interests of the country first.” Mr Holland said that during his term in Parliament he had had reason to be grateful for innumerable acts of cooperation and friendship from Mr Coates. Under the leadership of Mr Massey, Mr Coates quickly distinguished himself as an able Parliamentarian. He volunteered for service in the Great War and endeared himself to all with whom he served. He was not only a fine soldier but a very brave man, and was decorated for bravery in the field. After the war he was quickly promoted to Ministerial rank, and his progressive initiative and driving power led to his selection as Prime Minister after Mr Massey’s death. His services to the nation were well known. No section of the community would deplore his death more than the Native race, for he had always held paramount the well-being of the Maori people. Mr Coates’s sphere of activity extended far beyond New Zealand, and his counsel at Empire conferences was always welcome. His country would recall with gratitude his notable work at the Ottawa conference. He was acknowledged as one of the best informed men in New Zealand on military matters, and his standing in the War Cabinet was outstanding. His place in the War Cabinet could not be readily filled. Whatever criticism Mr Coates had to suffer he did not complain. A feature of his public life was his wide circle of friends in the working class. “Mr Coates was admired as a man, and as an administrator whose sole purpose was to do his best for his country,” said Mr Holland. “Grief will be universally expressed at the ending of a full and useful life. New Zealand will always speak reverently of Mr Coates and his public spirit.”