MR H. E. HOLLAND.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIII, Issue 267, 9 October 1933, Page 6

MR H. E. HOLLAND.

The death of Mr H. E. Holland has with tragic suddenness removed one of the best known figures in New Zealand’s Parliament, and the Leader of the Labour Opposition. In his political capacity he attended the funeral of the late Maori King at Taupiri yesterday, and the effort in reaching- the toil of the hill where the interment took place apparently told on a weakened constitution, bringing the collapse that heralded his passinga brief time later. Mr Holland died —no doubt as he would have wished —in harness, and his end, hastened probably by the strenuousness of Parliamentary life and the rigorous attention he paid to his position within the Labour Party, will be widely regretted. An Australian, Mr Holland came into contact with Socialism and its ideals from earliest manhood, but a vigorous association with the cause of Labour in the Commonwealth ended when, with health impaired, he sought to restore it in this country. That was in 1912. On recovering Mr Holland threw the weight of his determined energy behind the Labour movement, and though twice denied a seat in Parliament the opportunity came in 1918. Both in and out of Parliament he had unremittingly toiled to advance the cause he had at heart. In no sense was he an Empire figure; rather was he more concerned with Labour as the movement to advance the social, political and economic wellbeing of those who followed his banner, and this prevented him from taking a wide outlook on the Empire. Unlike Mr Ramsay MacDonald in Britain he could not join in . a Coalition when the opportunity was presented in this Dominion. Again, during the Great War lie was the opponent of conscription when its necessity had been proved. But all to whom his political questions earned no weight of appeal, as well as those who subscribed to them, recognised the undoubted sincerity behind all that Mr Holland said, and pay tribute to him for his honesty and integrity of character. It has been fittingly said his word was his bond. His family and those intimately connected with Mr Holland will be accorded widespread sympathy in his passing.

There are 12 candidates for three vacant seats on the Hamilton Borough Council.

The remains of the late Mr H. 15. Holland, Leader of the Opposition, whose death occurred suddenly at Huntly yesterday, will pass through Palmerston North at 4.47 a.m. to-mor-row on the Limited express en route to Wellington.

Spontaneous combustion in a dump of old signal rockets and Very lights near Aire, on the Lys, France, set fire to crops and caused some alarm among the population. The rockets and flares had been buried in a shellhole and abandoned by British troops when the area was evacuated after the Armistice.

“I think one of- the most striking things about our colonial church life is the way in which the laity comes forward to help and support the vicar of a parish,” remarked Archbishop Julius in his sermon at the jubilee service at St. Barnabas’s Church, Fendalton (states the Christchurch Press). “I came first from an English parish, where I had to do literally everything except sweep out the church. Here we have hard-working vestries, vicars’ churchwardens and many other assistants.” New Zealanders are a race of tea drinkers; they consume about 10,000,0001 b of tea 'in a year, according to Mr G. C. Ash, of Colombo. Ceylon, who is at present visiting Christchurch. The greatest demand in New Zealand is for Ceylon teas, and so this Dominion will be considerably affected by the five-year plan for restriction of output now being carried out by tea producers in the East. Under this plan Ceylon will this year produce 40,000.0001 b less than last—enough to supply New Zealanders with the “cup that cheers” for four years. It is interesting to note that Germany drinks 13,000,0001 b of tea only in a year.

The late Dr. J. T. Pinfold’s gift of his collection of the Arminian and Wesleyan magazines which he presented to the Methodist Connexion al Office has now been forwarded to Christchurch. It comprises 94 volumes and is a complete set from the first issue in 1778 down to the year 1865. This magazine, which was established by John Wesley, is the oldest magazine in the world that has an absolutely unbroken history from the date of its first publication. The volumes are in good order and cover the interesting historical period during which there appeared all the missionary reports relating to the inception and development of the Methodist Mission to the Maoris.

An Italian who rescued several injured people from the ruins of St. John’s Cathedral, Napier, after the earthquake, and has not been in a position to pay his instalments of the unemployment levy, has been granted exemption from practically all payments owing by him. A statement to this effect was made in the Na.pier Magistrate’s Court by Mr E. A. Wood, inspector of factories, when Angelo Valmassoni was charged with failing to pay the levy. “I experienced considerable difficulty in dealing with the defendant, who is not very conservant with the English language,” said Mr AVood. “I got in touch with the Italian Consul and found that \ ? 'almassoni had been instrumental in rescuing several injured people from the Cathedral at the time of the earthquake.” For that reason, said Mr AA’ood, he had interested himself in A r almassoni’s case, and the department had agreed to grant him exemption from most of the payments due. The defendant had agreed to pay the last two instalments, and Mr Wood therefore asked leave to withdraw the information. This was granted.

On view at Tauranga last week was a polyanthus stem on which were 201 blooms, in addition to many buds. It was a red flower. Grand Juries have been abolished in England. The last one to sit in England was farewelled at Hereford quarter sessions on August 25 of this year.

A sedan type motor car was yesterday destroyed by fire on the Mangatainoka side of Pahiatua. Leaving the road, it turned over and quickly ignited. No one was injured At about 4 p.m. on Saturday afternoon the Fire Brigade answered a call to a burning hedge in Featherston Street. The outbreak was quickly dealt with, there being no other damage than that to the hedge.

Some of the copper tokens issued by Christchurch firms 50 years and more ago to supplement the supply of small change are still in circulation, and every now and again they are passed on, often unwittingly, as pennies. A pair of Malay bears has recently been added to the collection at the Auckland Zoo. These bears are by far the most entertaining of the bear family. The Malay bear never exceeds 4}ft. in height when standing upright. It is particularly fond of honey and other sweets.

In Stratford on Friday officials armed with guns set out in a motor car to capture and destroy a dog that had become a nuisance owing to viciousness. During the previous week, the dog, which was without an owner, had bitten five people, including two women. After a long chase the dog was shot. A photograph of the log of H.M.S. Victory, on the day the Battle of Trafalgar was fought, has been presented to the Nelson City Council by Mrs Grace Fox, who obtained the copy from the British Museum for the purpose. The log was made by the sailingmaster of the Victory, Thomas Atkinson.

The Limited express was a quarter of an hour late in passing through Palmerston North this morning. The main cause was the combination of several small delays in the vicinity of Frankton, but the train was catching up the lost time and it was expected that it would arrive at the scheduled time at Thorndon. “I would rather hear your tuis and seo the evolutions of your fantails than anything else in the world,” said ltotarian Frank Milner at a garden party at New Plymouth. “1 was taken many miles in America to hear their mocking-bird and I have heard the English nightingale, but nothing compares with the choice lrymn of the tui.” A paragraph in an English paper mentions that at Rydal Sheep Dog Trials a few weeks ago, the most important of the Lakeland events, a woman competed for the first time. She was Miss E. Hullah, of Cliviger, and the speed with which her dog obeyed her whistle was much commented on. She took third prize in the National Qualifying class. The Christchurch Beautifying Association recently suggested that electric poles should be abolished in favour of underground cables, but Mr E. Hitchcock, general manager of the Municipality Electricity Department is of the opinion (stated Mr W. A. Waters at to-day’s meeting of the Mana.watu-Oroua Power Board) that the overhead svstem was still recognised as the only truly economic method of power distribution. The cost of placing all cables and wires underground would be quite prohibitive. “I never tire of repeating an experience I had at Los Angeles,” said Mr Frank Milner in the course of an address at New Plymouth. “An American came up to me at a gathering there and asked me where I came from.” “I come from New Zealand,” replied Mr Milner. “And in wliat State is that?” asked the American. Mr Milner explained that New Zealand was not in the States and with the aid of a map pointed out New Zealand. “So that is New Zealand, is it,” said the American. “And where do you get when the tide comes in!” A discussion took place on the matter of the proposed extension of daylight saving by half an hour, to make a full hour, at the meeting of the Manawatu provincial executive of the Farmers’ Union at Levin, on Saturday. The opinion of the meeting was that tire extension of daylight saving by half an hour would create undue hardship, especially on children who took some part in the work of the farm, while attending school. The meeting suggested an alternative, that the period for daylight saving should he extended to close in April instead of in March. A statement that the Tangitu Settlers’ Association was very much concerned, owing to the danger of foot and mouth disease, at the proposal to lift the embargo on the importation of livestock from Britain was made at a meeting of the Te Kuiti Chamber of Commerce. It was said to be the opinion of breeders that the stock in the Dominion was equal to anything that could be found in other countries and that there was no need for fresh blood. It was decided ,to communicate with the Minister of Agriculture protesting against the lifting of the embargo on the importation of cattle. i The appearance of the Colorado beetle in England this summer necessitated prompt measures to combat the danger threatened to potato crops by the pest. A start was made on August 25 in the spraying with arsenical compounds of 2000 acres of potatoes within a 10-mile radius of Tilbury, where the beetle had been discovered. Ten machines, eight of them large powersprayers capable of treating 11 rows of potatoes at a time, were engaged in the task, which had to be completed in 10 spraying days. The insecticide used was one manufactured from a formula provided by the Ministry of Agriculture. Referring to railway houses during the course of his address, at the Railway Officers’ Institute gathering in Wellington on Saturday evening, Mr G. H., Mackley, General Manager of Railways, said the Railway Board, through the General Manager, indicated to the various railway organisations that in their opinion—acting on the advice of high legal authorities — the provisions of the National Expenditure Adjustment Act did not apply to railway houses, but that the board had no objection to a friendly action to" see whether the legal opinion on which they had acted was correct or otherwise. At a meeting of the Manawatu provincial executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union at Levin, on' Saturday, a letter was received from the Dominion secretary asking for information in regard to the amount o? absorption of unemployed boys possible in the Manawatu district on farms. The communication said that the Wellington Boy Employment Committee was under the impression that countless numbers of boys could be employed by farmers. The reply by the Manawatu executive is to be. that so far as this district is concerned there is no scarcity in the matter of boys seeking engagements on farms, but that the supply is greater than the demand.

Influenza and the common cold together arc estimated to cost Britain at least £10,000,000 a year in time lost, drugs, doctors’ fees, etc.