1912, William Massey: PM faces sea of troubles

Massey speaks to school children in Southland. (NZ Herald Archive)

William Massey led the Reform Party to victory in the 1912 general election and the Herald's praise for him shows he would have been the paper's choice for New Zealander of the Year.

The Herald had always opposed the Liberal Party, which had been in power for 20 years.

It contrasted Massey to the Liberals who, it said, were opportunists; they would blow hot or cold on any and every question just to retain office.

Massey on the other hand, said the paper, had the courage of his convictions and the ability to make the changes he believed necessary.

Massey remained Prime Minister until he died in 1925 - New Zealand's second longest serving PM after King Dick Seddon - and faced more than his fair share of crises.

There were strikes, recessions, the devastating World War I and the flu epidemic of 1918, the worst in the country's history.

Writing in the DNZB, Barry Gustafson judges Massey to be one of the country's most significant politicians.

"He and his party saw farmers as the developers of the countryside, the base of the economy and the personification of the young nation's pioneering spirit.

"This inevitably brought them into conflict with other sectional interests, particularly the emergent union movement and the Labour Party.

"Yet although Massey espoused the cause of conservatism, both his personal instincts and his practice while in office place him in a tradition of humanitarian pragmatism."

From the Herald archives:
'Local and general news', New Zealand Herald, 22 May 1912

'The idle goldmines: Strike pay at Waihi', New Zealand Herald, 2 July 1912

New Zealand's labour troubles, New Zealand Herald, 27 July 1912

'The MIners' strike at Waihi', New Zealand Herald, 21 September 1912

'The Red Federation: Its four year history', New Zealand Herald, 9 December 1912

Miners break strike, New Zealand Herald, 23 December 1912

'Determined workers meeting in miners' hall', New Zealand Herald, 13 November 1912

'Rout of federationists: Obeying orders to quit', New Zealand Herald, 14 November 1912

Further reading:
'Striker fatally wounded at Waihi', New Zealand History Online

'Black Tuesday: the 1912 Waihi strike', New Zealand History Online

Biography of William Massey, Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand