Joseph Ward (politician)

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Joseph Ward

Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet GCMG (born April 26, 1856 in Melbourne , † July 8, 1930 in Wellington ) was a New Zealand politician and Prime Minister. He was Prime Minister of New Zealand for two separate terms .

Life

Early life

Ward was born on April 26, 1856 in Melbourne to a family of Irish descent. Ward was raised a Catholic. His father, William Thomas Ward, who is believed to be an alcoholic, died in 1860 at the age of 31. Ward was raised by his mother, Hannah Ward (née Dorney). In 1863 the family moved to Bluff (then Campbelltown ), in New Zealand's Southland region, for economic reasons . Hannah Ward opened a shop and a guesthouse.

Joseph Ward received his education in elementary schools in Melbourne and Bluff. He did not attend secondary school, but read a lot and inherited his mother's business acumen as well. He is described in most sources as energetic and enthusiastic, and eager to move forward. Much of this is attributed to his mother, who was very anxious to see her children in financial security. In 1869 Ward found a job in the New Zealand Post Office , later as an employee. Later, with the help of a loan from his mother, he began working as a self-employed trader supplying the new farming communities in Southland.

On December 5, 1883, he married Theresa Dorothea de Smidt, ten years his junior, daughter of Joseph Henry de Smidt. The marriage resulted in a daughter and four sons between 1884 and 1901. The daughter, Eileen Josephine Ward, married the cricketer Bernard Bedingfield-Wood .

Early political career

Ward quickly got in touch with local politics. He was elected to the Campbelltown Borough Council in 1878, when he was just 21, and later became mayor of the city. He also worked in the administration of the port of Bluff and became its director.

In the general election in 1887, Ward was elected to parliament for the constituency of Awarua . Ward gave political support to Julius Vogel and Robert Stout , the leaders of the liberal parliamentary group. This political orientation was rather unusual in the extreme south of the country. Ward became known as a strong partner in debates on economic issues.

In 1891 the newly founded Liberal Party came to power. The new Prime Minister, John Ballance , appointed Ward Postmaster General . Later, when Richard Seddon to Ballances death was Premier Ward Colonial Treasurer ( finance minister ), later Minister of Customs and received the Marine Department and the Department of Industries and Commerce . Wards saw the purpose of the state in supporting and promoting the private sector, which was also reflected in his behavior as finance minister.

Ward's increasing preoccupation with government affairs led him to neglect his own business. His financial situation deteriorated and in 1896 a judge declared him "hopelessly insolvent". It was also a politically difficult situation for Ward as Treasury Secretary. On June 16, he therefore gave up his office. In 1897 he had to declare bankruptcy, which, under the law of the time, forced him to give up his parliamentary seat. However, the law did not prohibit simply running again afterwards. Due to the loophole of the by-elections in his constituency Awarua, required by his departure, he was re-elected with a larger majority in the same year. His financial problems even brought him some popularity, he was seen by many as a benefactor of the Southland region: the public perception was that he was being persecuted by his enemies for his dishonorable mistake.

Gradually Ward rebuilt his business and paid off his creditors. Prime Minister Richard Seddon was able to appoint him to the cabinet as Minister of Trade and Customs and in January 1900 as Minister of Railways . He gradually became Seddon's most prominent supporter and was traded as a possible successor. When Seddon dragged out long tenure as prime minister, some suggested that Ward challenge Seddon for leadership, but Ward was not ready.

In 1901 Ward was raised to the personal nobility as Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG).

In 1906 Seddon died unexpectedly. Ward was in London at the time . There was consensus within the party that Ward should take office but his return would take 2 months so William Hall-Jones served as prime minister until his return.

First term

Ward took the oath of office as Prime Minister on August 6, 1906. He was not considered by most to be the same great statesman as Seddon. The conflicting interests in the Liberal Party, many believed, were held together only by Seddon's strong personality and persuasiveness. Ward was not considered to have these characteristics. Frequent internal party disputes led to indecision and frequent political changes that ultimately crippled the government. The two major support groups of the Liberals, the left-wing urban workers and the conservative petty farmers, became increasingly quarreling. Ward lacked a clear strategy for solving the problem. Any attempt to please one group upset the other. Ward became increasingly focused on foreign policy, which was seen by his opponents as a sign that he was not dealing with the country's problems.

In the parliamentary elections in 1908, the Liberals won a majority. On November 6, 1908, Ward hammered the symbolic last nail of the main railway line of the North Island at Manganui-o-te-Ao . His government financially supported the Nimrod expedition (1907-1909) of the British polar explorer Ernest Shackleton . As a thank you, Shackleton named Mount Ward in the Transantarctic Mountains after him.

In the 1911 elections, the ruling party and the opposition had the same number of seats. The Liberals survived for a while with the help of the decisive voice of the Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives . However, Ward resigned from office in March of the following year, disappointed by the election results. He was succeeded by Thomas Mackenzie , his Agriculture Minister . Mackenzie's government survived only a few months.

Ward, whose political career most believed ended, took a position as backbencher and turned down several calls to take over the leadership of the disorganized liberals. He dealt with relatively insignificant questions and went with his family to England, where he was bestowed the hereditary title of Baronet , of Awarna in the City of Wellington by George V on June 20, 1911 .

Opposition leader

On September 11, 1913 Ward again took over the leadership of the Liberal Party. Ward demanded a number of important concessions from the party, particularly aimed at great personal influence. Ward saw the party's poor leadership as the main cause of its previous failures. Ward also worked on alliances with the growing labor movement, which now put its own candidates for many parliamentary seats.

On August 12, 1915, Ward accepted a proposal by William Massey and the ruling Reform Party to form a joint administration for the duration of the First World War . Ward became Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of the Treasury. Relations between Ward and Massey were not good, however. In addition to their political differences, Ward was an Irish Catholic and Massey an Irish Protestant. The joint government ended on August 21, 1919.

In the 1919 election, Ward lost his seat for Awarua and resigned from parliament. In 1923 he ran in a by-election in Tauranga, but was defeated by an insignificant Reform Party candidate, Charles MacMillan . Ward was actually used up as a face on the political stage. In the 1925 elections, however, he managed to return to parliament with a tight decision, this time as a member of Invercargill. Ward put a "Liberal" label on his seat, although remnants of the Liberal Party now appeared under different names. His opponents therefore accused him of living in the past and wanting to fight the same lost battles again. Ward's health began to deteriorate.

In 1928, however, the remnants of the Liberal Party united as the United Party , which rallied around leaders George Forbes (leader of a faction of the Liberals), William Andrew Veitch (leader of another faction) and Albert Davy , a former organizer of the Reform Party. Forbes and Veitch both went for the lead, and neither gained a clear advantage. Finally, Davy asked Ward as an alternative candidate, perhaps believing that Ward's status as former Prime Minister would create a sense of unity.

Second term

Ward accepted the offer and became the leader of the United Party. However, his health was still poor and he found his job difficult. During the campaign for the 1928 election, Ward astonished supporters and audiences alike when he announced that he would take out £ 70 million in loans over the course of a year to stimulate the economy. The number is believed to be a mistake attributed to Ward's dwindling eyesight. Despite resistance from his party to this promise, it was enough to massively increase support for United. In the elections, United received the same number of seats as the Reform Party. With the support of the Labor Party , Ward became prime minister again, 22 years after his first appointment.

In January 1930 he was awarded the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).

However, Ward's health was deteriorating. He had several heart attacks and George Forbes was running the government. However, Ward was determined not to resign and remained Prime Minister even after he was unable to fill that role. On May 28, 1930, Ward gave in to strong pressure from his colleagues and family and turned the office over to Forbes.

Ward died shortly thereafter on July 8th. and was buried in bluff with considerable ceremony. His son Vincent (1888-1946) succeeded him as a member of parliament for Invercargill. His eldest son Cyril (1884-1940) inherited him as 2nd Baronet.

literature

  • Michael Bassett: Sir Joseph Ward. A Political Biography. Auckland University Press, 1933.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The London Gazette : No. 28577, p. 797 , February 2, 1912
  2. ^ Baronetage: WARD of Wellington, New Zealand at Leigh Rayment's Peerage
personal data
SURNAME Ward, Joseph
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ward, Sir Joseph George, 1st Baronet (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION New Zealand politician and Prime Minister
DATE OF BIRTH April 26, 1856
PLACE OF BIRTH Melbourne
DATE OF DEATH July 8, 1930
Place of death Wellington