Richard Seddon

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Richard Seddon (1905)

Richard John Seddon (born June 22, 1845 in Ecclestone , † June 10, 1906 at sea), also known as King Dick , was the 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand and the one with the longest term. He is considered one of New Zealand's greatest political leaders by some, including the historian Keith Sinclair .

Early life

Seddon was born in 1845 in Ecclestone, England, near St Helens in Lancashire, the son of a school principal and a teacher. His father Thomas Seddon was born in 1807. He married Jane Lindsay on February 8, 1842 at Christ Church in Eccleston. Thomas and Jane had the following children:

  • Thomas (* 1842; † 1849)
  • Phoebe Ellen (* 1843, married William Cunliffe on May 9, 1863 in Eccleston).
  • Richard John (* 1845)
  • Edward Youd (* 1847)
  • William (* 1849)
  • James (* 1849)
  • Mary Jane (* 1857).

Seddon did not perform well in school and was considered unruly. Despite attempts by his parents to give him a classical upbringing, Seddon developed more of an interest in engineering. He left school at the age of 12. After working for a short time on his grandfather's farm at Barrow Nook Hall, he had several jobs in foundries in Liverpool .

At the age of 18 he emigrated to Australia and started to work in the railway workshops in Melbourne . He was caught in the gold rush and went to Bendigo , where he worked as a gold digger for some time without much success. In 1865 or 1866 he got engaged to Louisa Jane Spotswood, but her family refused to marry until Seddon was in more secure financial circumstances.

In 1866 Seddon moved to New Zealand's West Coast . At first he worked in the gold fields of Waimea . It is said to have made some fortune there and returned shortly to Melbourne to marry Louisa. He founded a shop, later he also sold alcohol and the shop became a pub .

Early career

Local politician

Seddon's first political activities took place in various municipal bodies, such as the Arahura Road Board . He was later elected to the Westland Province Council, where he represented Arahura . Gradually, Seddon became known on the West Coast as an advocate for the rights and interests of miners and was widely consulted on various political issues.

In 1877 Seddon was elected the first mayor of Kumara , which was in the process of becoming a major gold prospecting town. He had staked a claim in Kumara the year before and moved his business here shortly afterwards. Despite occasional financial problems - he was insolvent in 1878 and could only avoid bankruptcy by reaching an agreement with his creditors - his political career went well.

Entry into parliament

Seddon ran for the first time in the parliamentary elections in 1876 for the constituency of Hokitika for the New Zealand parliament , but without success. He was successful in the 1879 elections and represented Hokitika until 1881, then the Kumara constituency until 1890, then Westland until his death in 1906.

In Parliament, he aligned himself with George Gray , a former Governor General of New Zealand who then became Prime Minister. Seddon later claimed to have been particularly close to Gray, but this is what some historians call a politically motivated claim. Initially, Seddon was ridiculed by many MPs for his “provincial accent” and lack of formal education. Nevertheless, it proved to be quite effective in parliament, particularly in delaying certain legislative initiatives. His political focus was still largely on the West Coast, he had little interest in many other topics.

Liberal Party

Seddons first received a ministerial post when the Liberal Party under John Ballance came to power in 1891 .

In contrast to Ballance, Seddon had little interest in philosophical liberalism or other ideologies. He saw the liberals as the representatives of the "little man" against economic interests and large landowners. His dedication to what he saw as the interests of ordinary New Zealanders earned him considerable popularity. Attacks by the opposition that focused on his lack of education and sophistication - one opponent even described him as "only partially civilized" - tended to reinforce his newly acquired reputation as an enemy of elitism.

Seddon soon became popular across the country. Some of his fellow politicians, who were not so happy, accused him of putting populism before being principled and anti-intellectual. Prime Minister John Ballance devoted himself very much to the liberal cause, such as women's suffrage and the rights of the Māori , for which Seddon could not care too much. Still, many members of the Liberal Party believed that Seddon's popularity was of great value to the party and Seddon gained a larger following.

prime minister

In 1892 Ballance fell seriously ill and appointed Seddon as incumbent Prime Minister. After Ballance died in 1893, Governor General David Boyle asked Seddon, as usual, to form a government. Despite the refusal of William Pember Reeves and Thomas Mackenzie to acknowledge his leadership role, Seddon managed to win the support of his Liberal Party as acting head of government, assuming a vote when the parliament was convened. Seddon's main competitor was Robert Stout , who like Ballance had a strong belief in liberal principles. Ballance had preferred Stout as his successor, but he died before that claim could be secured. However, despite Seddon's promise, there was no vote. He convinced his party colleagues that a competition for leadership would divide the party or at least leave deep contradictions. Seddon was thus able to maintain leadership over the long term. Stout continued to be one of his toughest critics. Seddon officially took office on April 27, 1893.

Seddon was a strong premier and he carried out his authority with great energy. At one point he went so far as to claim that all New Zealand needs was a president and that the cabinet could be abolished. His opponents in his own party and the opposition accused him of being an autocrat - from which the nickname "King Dick" arose.

Seddon gave various political offices to his friends and allies, especially those on the West Coast, while his enemies regularly received no important positions in the Liberal Party. Many of Seddon’s appointees were not qualified for their positions - he put loyalty over ability. Once - so it is alleged - he was said to have given an ally a high official post, even though he was illiterate. He was also accused of nepotism . In 1905 it was alleged that one of his sons received an unauthorized payment. But this turned out to be wrong.

Seddon himself accumulated a large number of ministerial posts, for example, in addition to his post as prime minister, he was also finance minister (for this he dismissed Joseph Ward ), labor minister (here he replaced William Pember Reeves ), education minister, defense minister, minister for Māori affairs and immigration minister .

As Minister for Māori Affairs, Seddon took a generally “benevolent” but “paternalistic” approach. As Minister of Immigration, he was well known for his hostility towards China. The so-called “ yellow danger ” was an important part of his populist rhetoric. He compared the Chinese to monkeys and in his first political speech in 1879 he had stated that New Zealand did not want to see its coasts "flooded with Asian Tartars". He would "rather address whites than these Chinese", you could not talk to them, you could not argue with them, everything you could get out of them was "nothing to understand".

He also accused previous governments of lack of firm stance towards the Maori. He said: "Instead of buying Gatling Guns to fight the Maori, the colony should wage war with locomotives," enforce roads and railways, and expropriate the "land on both sides" for compensation.

politics

One of the political activities Seddon is known for today is the Old-age Pensions Act of 1898, which laid the foundation for the welfare state built by Michael Joseph Savage and the Labor Party . On this basis, the Labor Party claimed a certain proximity to Seddon. Seddon pursued this project with great energy despite opposition from numerous directions. The fact that the law was successfully passed through parliament is often seen as a testament to Seddon's political power and influence. Other social programs attributed to Seddon include teacher pensions and housing improvement activities for workers.

Seddon's grave in Wellington

Seddon's worst defeat was women's suffrage in New Zealand . John Ballance, founder of the Liberal Party, was a strong supporter of women's suffrage and declared his belief in "absolute equality of the sexes". Seddon, however, opposed women's suffrage. This led to considerable discussion in the Liberal Party. Eventually, the advocates of women's suffrage, against Seddon's opposition, managed to pass a law to that effect. When Seddon realized that the law could no longer be prevented, he changed his position, claiming to respect the will of the people. In fact, however, he took steps to ensure that the Legislative Council would veto the law, as it had previously done. Seddon's lobbying on the council was viewed as underhanded by many, with two council members voting in protest in favor of the law despite their opposition to women's suffrage.

In foreign policy, Seddon was a supporter of the British Empire . After participating in the colonial conference in London in 1897, he became known as "one of the pillars of British imperialism". He supported the British in the Second Boer War and advocated preferential terms in trade between the British colonies. He is also known for advocating New Zealand's rule as "Britain of the South" over the Pacific Islands. Seddon's plans focused on gaining supremacy over Fiji and Samoa . In the end, however, only the Cook Islands came under New Zealand control during his tenure , with Samoa being added later.

Private life and death

Seddon was an Anglican . In 1869 he married Louisa Jane Spotswood and had nine children with her. Seddon remained prime minister for 13 years, but eventually calls for a retreat from politics became more frequent. Several attempts to replace him with Joseph Ward failed. On his return from Australia on board the ship Oswestry Grange, Seddon suddenly fell ill and died. He was buried in Wellington and his grave was adorned with a large memorial. His successor in office was William Hall-Jones .

Honors

A statue of Seddon stands outside the Parliament building. A place in New Zealand and a suburb of Melbourne in Australia were named after him. His son Thomas Seddon followed him as MP for Westland. Wellington Zoo grew out of a young lion donated to Seddon by the Bostock and Wombwell Circus . The lion was later named King Dick in his honor , and its stuffed fur can be seen on the ground floor of the Wellington Museum .

Web links

Commons : Richard Seddon  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 114.
  2. ^ "Ask That Mountain: The Story of Parihaka" by Dick Scott, Heinemann, 1975, chap. 10.
personal data
SURNAME Seddon, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Seddon, Richard John; King Dick
BRIEF DESCRIPTION 15th Prime Minister of New Zealand
DATE OF BIRTH June 22, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Ecclestone
DATE OF DEATH June 10, 1906
Place of death at sea ( Tasman Sea )