Chapter XII.
Mr. Seddon as Premier.
Mr. Ballance’s health was still very bad, and Mr. Seddon had a great deal of extra work thrown upon his shoulders. He did not hesitate to take up the burden. No Minister ever worked harder than he did. He travelled from town to town, finding work for the unemployed, denouncing the Legislative Council, telling the people that there was every reason for them to have full confidence in themselves and their country, hinting at the coming surplus, and outlining the Government’s policy. He seemed to delight in the task he had in hand.
He courted opposition, and no prominent Conservative expected to speak in public without having to meet the facts and arguments he would be sure to array against him. The longer he appeared in full light before the people the more he seemed to be liked. He seldom gave an address without receiving a highly laudatory expression of opinion, all of which, he said, was meant for the Government, not for him.
Before 1893 was half through, Mr. Ballance died at his residence in Wellington. The Liberal Party was thrown into the deepest sorrow. Although it had been known that the end was not far off, the announcement came as a great shock. Mr. Ballance’s close association with politics for many years, and the valiant fights he had fought, in which he was more often defeated than successful, had made his name revered in the colony. His Liberalism was of the broadest type. His splendid intellect had enabled him to bring his principles to the front and to put into operation the plans that his mind mapped out as the proper ones for a young country.
His death was peculiarly pathetic. He had spent many of his best years in a struggle against heavy odds. At last he had been victorious, with a greater victory than anyone had thought the Liberal Party would ever achieve. He was taken away at
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