John Ballance

John Ballance

John Ballance (born March 27, 1839 near Glenavy , County Antrim , Ireland , † April 27, 1893 in Wellington , New Zealand ) was an Irish-New Zealand politician , founder and editor of the Evening Herald in Wanganui , founder of the first political party in New Zealand and the 14th Prime Minister of New Zealand .

Early years

John Ballance grew up in good circumstances, the firstborn in a Protestant Irish family. His parents, Samuel Ballance , farmer and descendant of a Puritan family from England, and Mary McNiece , Quaker and daughter of a prominent family in the area, were not rich but were able to give him a good education despite the 10 other children in the family. He attended Wilson's Academy in Belfast , Northern Ireland .

He was described as a rather lazy boy in his early years who only seemed interested in reading. John's interest in politics was aroused through his father, who was one of the Orange and was politically active in the Conservative Party. He was confronted with the radical political conflicts in Northern Ireland of those days and shaped by his mother's liberal views.

He left school at the age of 14 to do an apprenticeship at a hardware store in Belfast. During the four years of his apprenticeship, he learned about the practice of commercial business life and also helped his father with his speeches . After a series of major religious riots in Belfast, he left the city in 1857 and went to Birmingham , where he returned to the hardware store in order to earn a living . Through business trips on behalf of the company he gained impressions of the social conditions in industrialized England in the 19th century. His keen interest in politics led him to study history, biography and politics at the Midland Institute in Birmingham in addition to his job . He was a member of various literary societies and debating clubs , where he quickly gained recognition as an article writer and speaker. During this time he was supported by the lectures and speeches of John Bright (1811-1889) and Richard Cobden (1804-1865), who represented the so-called Manchester liberalism, of the physicist Michael Faraday (1791-1867) and the liberal politician Joseph Chamberlain (1836-1914) influenced.

During his time in Birmingham Ballance also met Fanny Taylor , daughter of a grocer, whom he married on June 17, 1863 in Aston , a suburb of Birmingham.

Statue of John Ballance in front of the Whanganui City Council building

New Zealand

In April 1866 Ballance left England with his wife. Via a stopover in Melbourne , Australia , both reached Wellington on August 11th of the same year and then went on to Wanganui, where Fanny's brother already lived. The decision to emigrate to New Zealand was probably made due to the poor health of Ballance's wife, who died 1½ years later in March 1868.

Ballance initially tried to sell jewelry in Wanganui, but was not very successful. In 1867 he came into contact with AD Willis, a local printer, and together with him, on June 4, 1867, the evening newspaper, the Evening Herald , which appeared three times a week, was renamed The Wanganui Herald in 1876 . He used the paper for his political ideas and for his convictions, which he also spread against the government in the Titokowaru War (1868-1869). For his criticism of the warfare of the government troops, while at the same time acknowledging Titokowaru's achievements, he ended up in prison for a day as a troublemaker. This was also because he had refused to go to the front as a reservist. Later, however, he decided to go to war as a soldier and made a name for himself as a realistic and extremely critical reporter.

Two years after the death of his wife Fanny, Ballance married Ellen Anderson , daughter of a Wellington merchant, on May 19, 1870 . In order not to remain childless in this marriage, they adopted Ellen's 4-year-old niece Florence Anderson in 1886, who they later renamed Kathleen.

Politician

Statue of John Ballance in front of the Parliamentary Library in Wellington

In 1873, John Ballance made his first attempt to enter the political arena. As a representative of Egmont Village , near New Plymouth , he stood up for the centralist policy of Edward Stafford (1819-1901), but briefly left the constituency Harry Atkinson (1831-1892), who was ultimately also elected.

Three years later, in 1876, he narrowly won a seat in the House of Representatives for the constituency of Rangitikei district . He advocated the abolition of the provinces and two years later gave up support for Atkinson in order to join the government of George Gray (1812–1898), committed to his liberal stance .

In January 1878 he was Minister of Education and authorized representative in customs matters of the government Grays and in July of the same year the treasurer of the colony appointed. During his tenure, Ballance tried to introduce a property tax , a tax on profits and a consumption tax on beer , but failed in parliament . After differences with Gray, he finally resigned in July 1878, but continued to support the government.

In 1879 he became a member of the House of Representatives for Wanganui, but lost his seat in the 1881 election. Re-elected in 1884 with a sizeable majority, he joined the administration of the governments of Robert Stout (1844–1930). In his responsibility for the areas of land, defense and internal affairs, Ballance tried to implement the ideas he had always published in his newspaper, including the abolition of land in the hands of monopolists , as well as supporting the formation and strengthening of village communities in order to reduce unemployment to reduce. As defense minister, Ballance responded to the " Russian Fear of 1885 " with extensive expansion of coastal defense.

When the Stout government lost power in 1887, Ballance also went into the opposition and made a name for himself as an outstanding leader of the opposition over the next four years .

prime minister

In the sign of the Great Depression of 1873-1896 , strikes in England, Australia and New Zealand and with the theme of a major land reform, John Ballance won a great victory for the liberal movement on December 5, 1890 with 56.2% of the vote, brought some Labor -People and independent members of the House on his side and caused Atkinsons to resign and resign on January 24, 1891.

This made John Ballance the 14th Prime Minister of New Zealand to become the first in the country's young history to win the election through a party-like group. During his tenure, the Land Act 1892 and the Land for Settlements Act 1892 introduced two important pieces of legislation. A tax adjustment and a household in surplus were on his earnings list. Furthermore, Ballance was a supporter of women's suffrage and supported by John Hall (1824-1907), Robert Stout, Julius Vogel (1835-1899) and William Fox (1812-1893), the suffrage movement .

Party founder

For the general election in 1890, John Ballance knew how to rally the liberal forces and lead them to election success. Until then, parties were actually just loose political ties between people with similar political views. There was no party organization. During Ballance's reign, his government ministers traveled around the country to listen to people and study their problems and views. At the same time they became known and could inspire people for liberal ideas. In November 1891, Ballance announced in a speech his idea of ​​establishing a National Liberal Federation , which would support the Liberal Party's candidates in matters of press, public relations and defense of the seats won in parliament in a kind of election campaign fund. He won Thomas Lindsay Buick (1866-1938), historian , journalist and politician, to take over the organization of the party.

Tombstone in Whanganui

death

John Ballance died on April 27, 1893 after two unsuccessful operations from cancer , making it the first Prime Minister of New Zealand to die in office. John Ballance was buried in Wanganui a few days later. The statue of Ballance, which was erected in his honor, can still be seen in front of the General Assembly Library (Parliamentary Library) in Wellington (see photo above).

literature

• Ballance, John . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 ( online [accessed December 13, 2015]).

Web links

Commons : John Ballance  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Tim McIvor : Ballance, John . In: Dictionary of New Zealand Biography . Ministry for Culture & Heritage , September 1, 2010, accessed August 19, 2012 . 
• Brian Easton : John Ballance: Nation Builder . Brian Easton , August 7, 2004, accessed August 19, 2012 . 

Individual evidence

1. ^ General elections 1890-1993 - seats won by party . Electoral Commission New Zealand , September 9, 2013, archived from the original on December 30, 2015 ; accessed on September 14, 2019 (English, original website no longer available).  
2. ^ Votes for Women . Electoral Commission New Zealand , archived from the original on February 8, 2013 ; accessed on January 17, 2016 (English, original website no longer available).  
3. ^ Bernard John Foster : Political Parties - Liberal Party . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 ( online [accessed September 17, 2019]).
4. ^ A National Liberal Federation , Evening Post, Wellington, Volume XLII, Issue 119, Page 2, Nov. 16, 1891
5. ^ David Oswald William Hall : BUICK, Thomas Lindsay . In: Alexander Hare McLintock (Ed.): An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand . Wellington 1966 ( online [accessed September 17, 2019]).