Refieir of Revieics, If 7/06. 



TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE R, J. SEDDON, 



PREMIER OF NEW ZEALAND, 



On His Attaining (as he would have done), on the 22nd June, the Age of 



Sixty-One Years. 



[A pathetic interest attaches to the following, as it arrived in t'. e office on tne morning of the Uth June, and a 

 half hour afterwards I got word of Mr. Seddon's untimely death. — EDITOR.] 



Strong son of toil, whose firm right hand 



Dii-eots the course of this young State: 

 So passing rich, so fair a land! 



So full of beauty, rare and great! 

 On this the morn when thou dost pass 



Atlother milestone on tliy way, 

 I raise tiie goblet, drain the glas.s. 



And wish thee joy through all tho day! 



I serve thee not as helot bound, 



Nor follow at thy chariot wheel. 

 Where they wlio worship gather round. 



And in obeisance humbly kueel ; 

 But churl were he who would not praise 



For work achieved, for labour done; 

 Who would not wish thee many days 



Of life and happiness to run. 



For thirteen years the highest place 



The State can give has been thine own; 

 Elected by the people's grace. 



Thy seat has ever firmer grown. 

 Triennial battles fiercely fought. 



Triennial victories always won. 

 Thy friend and foes alike have taught. 



The people hold thy work well done. 



The breaking up of large domains. 



So lony; h.eld fast by greedy hands. 

 By which the poorer .settler gains 



The us* of rich and fertile lands: 

 Tlie law which grants the freeman's right 



Of ardous toil the fruits to share: 

 The law which makes taxation light 



For those who find it hard to bear: 



The Court which hears the workers' suits 



For fairer wages, better hours ; 

 Which trying calmly, sharp disputes, 



Exerts impartially its powers* 

 The widening of the Temple gates. 



Where Higher Learning sits enshrined, 

 ^liere Knowledge feeds, but never sates 



The seeking soul, the searching mind: 



The homes beyond the cities' bounds, 



Designed and fitted to provide 

 Pure air, more comfort, ampler grounds. 



Where thrifty toilers may reside 

 And nightly rest fi-om busy work, 



Compelled no more in slums to stay, 

 WHiere fell diseases wait and lurk 



In .stealthy ambush for their prey: 



Tlie kindly law of timely aid — 

 For even in these favoured isles 



Are tho.se who pale beneath the shade 

 Of Fortune's frown, though Nature smiles- 



lu bygone years, when life was strong, 

 They toiled in patience — toiled for years — 



In struggles hard, and labour long, 

 To raise themselves above the fears 



Of sore privation, grinding need, 



W.ien Age should .steal their strength and health; 

 And now- they hare a welcome meed 



Bestowed on t!iem from public wealth. 

 But soon a larger, broader scheme. 



The law's benignant work will crown; 

 Approaching nearer to the dream 



Of him who first the way made known.* 



Til -«' are thy deeds, a record pioud. 



And yet the roll is not complete! 

 I blame not those who cry aloud. 



And shout t'ly name from street to street. 

 I marvel not that at the call 



Which last was made t'lroughout our coasts, 

 Thy foes who prophesied thy fall. 



Themselves should fall iti stricken hosts! 



Resourceful, cool, of mastering will. 



And cast in Nature's strongest mould; 

 In keen debate, of practised skill ; 



A leader tried, sagacious, bold: 

 The foremost man in all the land: 



The Premier of a prosperous State; 

 I vield to iMerit's fair demand ; 



I love thee not, but hail thee Great! 



WiLLi.\M Cooper. 



Avondale South, Auckland, X.Z. 



*The credit of initiating the movement in New 

 Zealand for the establishment of a State system of 

 Old Age Pensions belongs to the late William Leys. 

 of Auckland, founder of the Leys Institute in that 

 city. The writer was present, many years ago, at a 

 small meeting in an upper room, in Wrndham-street, 

 Auckland, when, to about a score of interested lis- 

 ten rs, Mr. Leys expounded his scheme. Wlien the 

 sc'ieme was first mooted publicly, it was assailed with 

 ridicule and scorn as being "absolutely impossible. 

 Then, for years after, it was tabooed by irost public 

 ir.en as being "beyond the region of practical politics,'' 

 a phrase which has been employed so many times, and 

 with fatal success, as an extinguisher of luultitudes of 

 desirable reforms. Tlie establishment of Old Age Pen- 

 sions was^ however, effected by the present administra- 

 tion in New Zealand, and during the coming session 

 of Parliament Mr. Seddou will introduce (intended to 

 introdiiO(>. — Ed.^ a Bill providing for the establishment 

 of National Annuities. — W. C. 



