LABOUR LEADER DEAD

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 267, 9 October 1933, Page 2

LABOUR LEADER DEAD

MR H. E. HOLLAND

COLLAPSE WHILE VISITING lIUNTLY. TRIBUTES FROM MANY QUARTERS. Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Oct. 8. The Leader of the Opposition, Mr H. E. Holland, died suddenly at Huntly at 4.45 pirn. to-day. Death was due to heart failure. Earlier in the afternoon Mr Hollyand, in company with other members of Parliament, attended the funeral of the late Maori “King,” Te Rata Mahuta at Taupiri. When the funeral procession reached the summit of Taupiri Mountain where the interment took place, Mr Holland complained of feeling unwell to Mr W. J. Jordan, M.P., against whose arm he leaned for support. Half-way through the funeral service, Mr Holland became suddenly pale. He said to Mr Jordan: “Hold me, I feel faint.” After receiving a tonic from members of the St. John Ambulance, Mr Holland rested for a while. When he was sufficiently recovered he was assisted downhill by the ambulance men and others. He was driven back to Huntly in a motor-car. On arrival in Huntly at about 4.30 he appeared to be considerably better and walked without difficulty from the car to the home of Mr W. C. E. George, Mayor of Huntly, where lie expressed a wish to lie down and rest. He was made comfortable on a bed and then collapsed. _ Dr. Macfarlane arrived a few minutes after 4.45 p.m., but life was then extindt. The doctor said that death was due to heart failure. When interviewed, Mr F. Langstone, M.P., president of the New Zealand Labour Party, said that Mr Holland left Wellington by the train at 3 p.m. on Saturday. Mr Langstone joined the train at Ohakune and occupied the same compartment as Mr Holland until Huntly was reached at 5.30 a.m. to-day. Mr Holland was in good spirits throughout the journey. On arrival at Huntly he was met by the Mayor, at whose home he was a guest for breakfast. At about 11 a.m. Mr Holland and other members of Parliament proceeded to the Waahi Pa preparatory to attending the Maori “King’s” funeral. They w'ere welcomed by various tribal chiefs, and Mr Holland was one of the speakers in acknowledging the welcome. The Parliamentary party were later the guests of the Maoris at luncheon. At 2 p.m. they joined the funeral procession to Taupiri Mountain. Mr Holland’s body was taken to Hamilton this evening to be embalmed. To-morrow afternoon it will be returned to Huntly at the request of the Maori people, made through Sir Apirana Ngata. It will rest for an hour at Waalii Pa prior to being taken by train to Wellington, where it will arrive on Tuesday. CAPACITY FOR HARD WORK. “By his life-long battle in Australia and New Zealand, both industrially and politically, in the interests of Labour, Mr Holland made himself a well-known figure in both countries,” said Mr M. J. Savage, deputy-Leader of the . Parliamentary Labour Party. “I think there is no room for doubt that Mr Holland’s untiring activities hastened his end. During his leadership of the Labour Party he was known for his capacity for hard work and, with opponents and friends alike, his word was his bond. His death leaves a gap in the ranks that will be hard to fill. Members of the party always placed implicit trust in him as leader, and to them all his loss will come as a great shock.” MR COATES’S TRIBUTE. Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates, Minister of Finance and joint-Leader of the Coalition, said: “The death of Mr Holland removes a very prominent Parliamentarian and citizen and will be deeply and widely regretted. His desire and determination to pay his last respects to an outstanding figure in the Maori ■world was typical of his spirit. Those near to him knew that the physical effort entailed would be a severe tax upon him, but he would not be dissuaded. It seems hard to realise now’ that, but a few’ short hours ago, when asked how he felt after the exertion of climbing the hill, his assurance w'as readily given that he felt much better.

“In the wide arena of politics, over many years past. Mr Holland has played a prominent part. I believe I am doing him no injustice when I say his mind and actions indicated a preference for radical and socialistic theories, but I feel that he earnestly held that his convictions and views were for the good of the community as a whole. It is as Leader of the Opposition, and in trying, sometimes heated conditions, that the test of a man is often applied. Under these circumstances Mr Holland was always found to be a man of his word. I have never known him to go back on liis -word. A well-informed man, widely read, and with an extensive knowledge of world conditions, a student who applied himself to his onerous duties without thought for himself. Mr Holland has commanded the respect of his fellow members of Parliament. I am sure I am expressing the feeling of all those members closely associated with me in extending to liis wife and family our deepest 5 sympathy in their sad and sudden loss. To this I would like to add my own tribute to Mr Holland’s many excellent qualities and mv personal regard for him as a man. ’ VICE-REGAL SYMPATHY. MESSAGE TO WIDOW. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Oct. 8. The Governor-General (Lord Bledisloe) has sent the following message to Mrs Holland at Westport :—“Lady Bledisloe and I are most deeply distressed to hear of the death of your distinguished husband, whose conspicuous career of public service to this Dominion has been cut short with such tragic suddenness. We send to you and your family our heartfelt sympathy in your sad bereavement and irreparable loss.” PREMIER SHOCKED. “FORCEFUL DEBATER.” Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Oct. 8. Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes issued the following statement to-niglit: ‘ It came as a shock to me when I heard the news of the sudden death of Mr Holland. Those of us who- were in the House on Friday afternoon little thought that no more would we see liis familiar face. He was a forceful debater and 4 liis speeches were of a high order, giving evidence of careful study and serious thought; but no matter how heated the debate, became, he never dealt an unfair blow. “In the arrangements that sometimes had to be made between myself as Leader of the House, and himas Leader of the Opposition, his

word was his bond, and, whilst it was not lightly given, when it was it was never departed from in letter or in spirit. He was a close student of Parliamentary history and procedure and was most zealous in upholding the dignity of the House and preserving the rights of members. “His death leaves Parliament the poorer and there is no doubt his party has lost a leader whose only thought was for its interests. My long association with him in Parliament, although we were in different political camps, gave mo a knowledge of his sterling qualities and made me feel that I could count on him as a friend. My deepest sympathy is with his wife and family in their sad bereavement.”

COLLEAGUES’ SORROW. LOSS A SEVERE BLOW. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Oct. 8. “I cannot adequately indicate what Mr Holland meant to the Labour Party, or what the Labour Party meant to him,” stated the secretary of the Parliamentary Labour Party, Mr P. Fraser, in the course of a tribute to his late chief. “Ho lived every minute of his life for the cause of Labour; its ideals, principals and objectives were a passion with ihm. He dedicated his life to the cause he loved, and without a doubt his days were shortened by his self-sacrificing devotion. Mr Holland was one of the ablest of New Zealand’s statesmen. The welfare of the Dominion and of its citizens as a whole was always uppermost in his mind. He had an analytic mind and could grapple with any question down to the minutest detail. “The New Zealand Labour movement has sufferfed a severe blow in the untimely loss of its beloved leader and of its greatest figure. To those of us who worked with him for many years, who fought hard political battles under his leadership and inspiration, who appreciated his greatness and realised his ability and capacity, and who valued him as a friend and comrade his loss is a personal tragedy.” STOCK EXCHANGE SYMPATHY. Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, Oct. 9. The Wellington Stock Exchange today carried a motion of regret in connection with the death of Mr H. E. Holland. A letter 'of condolence is to be sent to his relatives. HOUSE TO ADJOURN. BODY TO LIE IN STATE. WELLINGTON, Oct. 9. As soon as news of Mr Holland’s death was received in Wellington a flag was flown at half-mast over the main entrance to Parliament House. In accordance frith custom it was taken down at sundown. The House of Representatives will adjourn as a mark of respect to the memory of Mr Holland, and Mr Forbes sa.id last evening that he intended to consult with the Speaker, Sir Charles Statham, as to arrangements for this and the paying of tributes to the Opposition Leader. It is probable that tributes to the memory of Mr Holland will be pa.id immediately the House reassembles tomorrow afternoon and that an adjournment of several days’ duration will then be taken. MR HOLLAND’S CAREER. RISE TO LEADERSHIP. Born at Giniderra, near Canberra, New South Wales, in 1868, Mr Henry Edmund Holland was apprenticed at the age of fourteen to the printing trade on the Queanbeyan Times. For many years he was connected with the Labour and Socialist movement in Australia, and in 1901 led a great strike of tailoresses, in which 2000 women and girls were involved. He suffered imprisonment in 1896, 1909 and 1913-14, the prosecutions arising out of his writings and speeches in connection with industrial troubles at Newcastle, Broken Hill and Wellington respectively. He came to New Zealand for his health in 1912, and in 1914 and 1918 unsuccessfully contested the Wellington North seat. In 1913 he figured prominently in a movement to unify the forces of Labour in New Zealand, and as editor of the Maoriland Worker he led newspaper opposition to conscription during the war. He was elected to represent Grey at a by-election in 1918, Mr P. C. Webb having been debarred from taking his seat on accountof his anti-military attitude. Mr Holland on that occasion defeated Mr T. E. Coates, a West Coast lawyer and farmer, by 210 votes. A petition to the Court of Appeal to unseat him was unsuccessful. At the 1919 general election he defeated Mr J. Q. O’Brien (Liberal) for Buffer, by a large majority, and he had held the seat since then. He was the author of many Labour and Socialist publications, and had written verse. He was elected Leader of the Parliamentary Labour Party shortly after his election to Parliament in 1918, and became Leader of the Opposition after the 1925 general election. When the United Party came into power in 1928 Mr Holland and his party went back to the cross benches, the present Minister of Finance (Rt. Hon. J. O. Coates) becoming the Leader of the Opposition.- On the formation of the Coalition in September, 1931, Mr Holland became Leader of the Opposition for the second time. It is interesting to note that when Mr Holland was appointed to the leadership of the Labour Party the other nominee for the position was the late Mr J. McCombs, member for Lyttelton, who predeceased his chief by about ten weeks. Mr Holland participated in the Lyttelton by-election campaign. He was nearly the last speaker in the House of Representatives on Friday afternoon, when just before the adjournment he rose and asked the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, if he could indicate the order of busines for the present week. He also spoke earlier in the afternoon during the second reading debate on the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Amendment Biff. Mr Holland is survived by Mrs Holland, who resides at Westport, and by five sons and two daughters. The sons are Henry, who has recently acted as private secretary to his father; Roy, who is on the staff of the New Zealand Worker, Wellington; Cedric, Allen and Fred, all of Sydney. The daughters are Mrs Ivar, of Adelaide, and Mrs Forman, of Westport. The latter, formerly Miss Agnes Holland, was her father’s private secretary until her marriage about two years ago and is well known in: political circles.