Robert Stout

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Robert Stout

Sir Robert Stout (born September 28, 1844 in Lerwick , † July 19, 1930 in Wellington ) was a Scottish-New Zealand politician, twice Prime Minister of New Zealand and later Chief Justice of New Zealand . He was the only one who held both positions. Known for his support for liberal efforts such as women's suffrage , he believed that philosophy and theory should always take precedence over political opportunity.

Early life

Stout was born in Lerwick in the Scottish Shetland Islands . He remained closely associated with the Shetland Islands throughout his life. He received a good education and became a teacher and, in 1860, a surveyor . Through his extended family, who often met to discuss political issues of the time, Stout developed a great deal of political interest and came into contact with many different political worldviews in his youth.

In 1863 Stout emigrated to Dunedin , New Zealand . Here he quickly became involved in political debates and became active in the circles of the city's free thinkers . After failing to get a job as a surveyor in the Otago gold fields , Stout returned to education and held a number of senior apprenticeships at the high school level.

Eventually, Stout got involved in law. In 1867 Stout worked for the law firm of William Downie Stewart Sen., the father of William Downie Stewart , who later became New Zealand Secretary of the Treasury. In 1871 he was admitted to the bar and proved to be a very successful criminal defense attorney. He also became one of the first students at the University of Otrago (possibly the first, but this is controversial). He studied political economy and moral theory and later became the university's first law lecturer.

In 1876 he married Anna Paterson Logan, with whom he had six children.

Early political career

Stout's political career began when he was elected to the Otago Provincial Council. During his time as a council member, he impressed many people with his energy and his rhetorical skills. Others found him too rude and complained about his lack of respect for those who held different views.

In the parliamentary elections 1875-1876 Stout was as MP for Caversham in the Parliament elected. It was unsuccessful in opposing government efforts to abolish the New Zealand provinces.

On March 13, 1878, Stout became attorney general in the government of Prime Minister Georg Gray . In that capacity, he was involved in a number of important legislative processes. On July 25, 1878, Stout was also Minister for Land and Immigration. As a strong proponent of land reforms, Stout sought state ownership of the land, which would then be leased to individual farmers. He often voiced fears that private property would lead to a kind of "powerful landlord class" like the UK.

On June 25, 1879, however, Stout resigned as both cabinet member and MP, justifying this with the need to concentrate on his legal work. His partner in the law firm became increasingly ill and the company's success was important to the economic existence of Stout and his family. His legal career may not have been the only factor contributing to his resignation, as Stout and George Gray had recently fallen out.

Around this time, a friendship developed with John Ballance , who had also left Grey's cabinet in an argument. Stout and Ballance shared many political views. During his time outside Parliament, Stout began to form ideas about political parties in New Zealand and believed in the need for a liberal united front. In the end, however, he came to the conclusion that parliament was too fragmented to establish political parties.

In the parliamentary elections in 1884, Stout was re-elected and tried to rally the various Liberal MPs behind him. He formed an alliance with Julius Vogel , a former prime minister. This amazed many observers, because while Vogel shared Stout's progressive social views, the two had regularly argued over economic policy and the future of provincial governments. Many believed that Vogel was the dominant partner in the alliance.

prime minister

In August 1884, just a month after his return to parliament, Stout managed to overthrow the conservative Harry Atkinson by a vote of no confidence and to become prime minister himself. Julius Vogel became Chancellor of the Exchequer and thus gained considerable influence in the administration. Stout's new administration only survived less than two weeks when Atkinson again passed a vote of no confidence in Stout. However, Atkinson himself failed to form a new government and was deposed by a renewed vote of no confidence. Stout and Vogel came back to power.

Stout's second administration lasted considerably longer. Its main achievements were civil service reform and a program to create new secondary education institutions in the countryside. She also organized the construction of the Midland Line , a railway line between Canterbury and the West Coast . However, despite attempts to get it out of the crisis, the economy did not flourish. In the 1887 election, Stout lost his parliamentary seat to James Allen with 29 votes less. This ended his term as prime minister. Harry Atkinson, Stout's old rival, managed to form a new government.

At that time, Stout decided to leave parliamentary politics entirely and focus on other ways to spread his liberal views. He was particularly interested in solving the increasing labor disputes of the time and was heavily involved in building consensus between the growing labor movement and the world of middle-class liberalism.

Liberal Party

During Stout's political hiatus, his old ally John Ballance had continued the fight in Parliament. After the 1890 elections, he had garnered enough support to topple Atkinson and become prime minister. Shortly thereafter, Ballance founded the Liberal Party , New Zealand's first real political party. However, only a few years later, Ballance fell seriously ill and asked Stout to return to Parliament and become his successor. Stout agreed and Ballance died shortly afterwards.

Stout moved back into parliament on June 8, 1893 as the winner of a supplementary election in the Inangahua constituency. Ballance's deputy, Richard Seddon , had temporarily taken over the party leadership at this time. It was assumed that later a caucus in the party should finally decide on it, but this was never held and Seddon remained in office. Stout had the support of those who viewed Seddon as too conservative and tried to counter it, but was unsuccessful. Many of Seddon's supporters believed that the progressive views of Ballance and Stout were too extreme for the New Zealand public.

Stout stayed in the Liberal Party, but repeatedly objected to Seddon's leadership. He claimed Seddon betrayed Ballance's original, progressive ideals and criticized his autocratic style of rule. Ballance's idea of ​​a common front for all progressive forces had turned into nothing less than a vehicle for the conservative Seddon, according to Stout. Seddon defended himself against these allegations by claiming that Stout was only bitter about not being in charge.

Women's suffrage

One of the last major campaigns that Stout participated in was aimed at introducing women's suffrage . He had long been a supporter of this cause and had tirelessly promoted his own 1878 bill and that of Julius Vogel in 1887, both of which failed in parliament. He was also active in efforts to improve women's property rights, particularly the right of married women to keep property regardless of their husbands. He attributed his convictions to the work The Subjection of Women by the English philosopher John Stuart Mill .

John Ballance had been a supporter of women's suffrage, his attempts to get appropriate bills through parliament, but had been blocked by the Conservative Legislative Council , the then upper house of parliament. Seddon, on the other hand, was against women's suffrage and many believed the cause to be lost. However, a new major initiative by suffragettes under Kate Sheppard generated considerable support for women's suffrage, and Stout believed that a bill against Seddon's objection could come through parliament. A group of progressive politicians, including Stout, successfully passed a law on women's suffrage in 1893 through both houses of parliament. The narrow approval in the upper house was owed to two members who, although opposed to women's suffrage, nevertheless approved the law. They found Seddon's tactics and his attempts to overturn the law passed in the House of Commons in the House of Lords as dishonest.

Stout was also involved in the bankrupt Walter Guthrie group of companies in Southland and Otago, supported by the Bank of New Zealand . After Bourke, Seddon was willing to hide Stout's involvement in the event that Stout retired from politics.

In 1898 Stout retired from the political scene. He was elected to the constituencies of Caversham (5th Parliament, 1875), City of Dunedin (6th Parliament, 1875–79), Dunedin East (9th Parliament, 1884–87), Inangahua (11th Parliament, 1893) and electoral districts represented the city of Wellington (12th and 13th Parliaments, 1893–98).

Further life

On June 22, 1899, he was appointed Chief Justice to succeed James Prendergast , who had resigned on May 25, and remained so until January 31, 1926. In his capacity, he showed particular interest in the rehabilitation of offenders, which was in contrast to the focus of his time, which was more on punishment. He had a leading role in compiling the New Zealand Code, completed in 1908, and was appointed Privy Councilor in 1921 . In the year of his resignation as Chief Justice, he was appointed to the Legislative Council , his last political office. He was succeeded as Chief Justice by Charles Skerrett .

Stout also played an important role in the development of New Zealand's university system. He became a member of the Senate of the University of New Zealand in 1885 and remained so until 1930. From 1903 to 1923 he was Chancellor of the university. From 1891 to 1898 he also served on the council of the University of Otago . He played a major role in founding what is now the Victoria University of Wellington . The University's Stout Research Center and Robert Stout Building are dedicated to the strong bond between Victoria University and the Stout family .

In 1929 Stout's health deteriorated and he died on July 19, 1930 in Wellington.

Honors

In 1886 he was knighted as Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George .

Works

literature

Web links

Commons : Robert Stout  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jad Adams: Women and the Vote. A world history. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2014, ISBN 978-0-19-870684-7 , page 107.
  2. ↑ Kevin Bourke: Kelburn, King Dick and the Kelly Gang: Richard Seddon and Political Patronage , Hit or Miss Publishing, Wellington 2008, ISBN 978-0-473-13450-1
personal data
SURNAME Stout, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Scottish New Zealand politician, Prime Minister of New Zealand
DATE OF BIRTH September 28, 1844
PLACE OF BIRTH Lerwick
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 1930
Place of death Wellington