I move, as an unopposed motion—

I ask that that esteem and appreciation which this House has always entertained towards this great South African statesman during his lifetime shall be again recorded by this House. It is true that for several years prior to his death he ceased to be a member of this House. I think I am voicing the feelings of everybody in this House when I say that his great services to the country, the great influence which he always exercised in this House, the feeling of respect and friendship which all members of this House have constantly felt, in spite of his being no longer a member of Parliament, have really contributed to make him a member of the House, even though strictly and officially he ceased to be so. It can be truly said of him that, his efforts to maintain the loftiest traditions of parliamentary government have been unceasing, and I know of no man whose example and influence have contributed more to a high tone in debate, and to a sound and healthy parliamentary feeling in this House. His devotion to South Africa and to the people of this country has been unfailing, and in championing from time to time the cause of the weak and defenceless, I do not know of any other man who has shown such courage in the face of difficulties and prejudices. I can only say he has been a great South African, and it is with a feeling of deep appreciation of what he has been to the country, and what Iris memory will continue to be to South Africa, that I move this motion.

On behalf of the members on this side of the House, I second the motion and wish to associate myself wholeheartedly with the generous sentiments expressed by the Prime Minister. It is very difficult for us to realise what his loss has been to the country. Mr. Merriman was for many years one of the most •outstanding figures in this Parliament. Latterly he became one of the elder statesmen of South Africa. He passed from the fighting arena of South African politics, and became an elder statesman, a wise adviser of this House, and of the country. There was not a member of this House whose speeches were listened to with so great attention and reverence as those which fell from Mr. Merriman. It is difficult for us to appreciate the change which has come over South Africa. He was, probably, the last link with a great past, a last link with the great statesmen who built up South Africa. We are called upon to honour the traditions which he built up. Those traditions are of the highest character. It would be difficult for us to do better than follow the example of Mr. Merriman. He championed the weak, and stood for the highest and noblest things in our public life. He was always free of animosity, and free from small feelings, and set us all an example which should be one of the traditions of this country. He spanned an enormous period. He began public life at the time when we were a minor Crown colony. He himself thought that we were fit to be better than a Crown colony, and he lived to see us an independent nation. He played an outstanding part for fifty years. Best of all his services to us were those at the time of Union. I do not think justice has been done to him in that connection. His extreme desire for Union, his zeal for Union, made that one of the great causes which he fought to bring about for South Africa. But for his active participation, his driving force as Prime Minister of the Cape in the National Convention and outside of it, I am doubtful whether we would have carried the day which probably was the greatest day in the history of South Africa. Standing here to-day, I think it is our duty to record the great past, and to pay our tribute of respect to one of the great heroic figures of our country. Although he was not a born South African, he was so identified with South Africa that we look upon him as one of our great sons. We are pleased that in his passing from us there is not a blot on his escutcheon.

For many years while Mr. Merriman was in Parliament, since the first days of the Union Parliament, there was one occasion in the year, one of those happy occasions when all parties could join in bearing him tribute, on the occasion of his birthday. It was my duty on those occasions, on behalf of my friends and myself, to associate ourselves heartily in this tribute to Mr. Merriman of the great esteem and infinite respect in which he was held in every part of the House. To us, who only came into Parliament at Union, I think Mr. Merriman will probably stand with us as a sort of example of how a man could use the rapier or the bludgeon in debate, how he could hit severely, but always without his wounds leaving any rancour. I will not detain the House any longer, but I wish, on behalf of my friends and myself, to be associated very thoroughly and sincerely in the expressions which have been used by the Prime Minister and the right hon. the leader of the Opposition.

I do not wish to introduce a provincial note, but still I feel that the late Mr. Merriman became a statesman in the old Cape Colony, and, as a Cape Colonist, I wish to say a few words in honour of his memory. If there was one of his characteristics that I admired it was his amazingly great love of our parliamentary institutions. He had a great ideal of Parliament and of parliamentary institutions. When I occupied your position, Mr. Speaker, he often stated, in private conversation—and perhaps, before his demise, had similar conversations with you—that he believed in Parliament as the foundation of the people, and that is one of his characteristics which we can retain in the history of our people. Although he was born in England, here is another point which arouses admiration, viz., the wonderful confidence which he enjoyed in the country parts, particularly in the Cape Province, but also in the whole of South Africa, which was for the most part due to his great prudence with reference to our State finances. It is wonderful how the memory of Mr. Merriman is still honoured to-day in our country areas. Our farmers had confidence in their English friend, their fellow-Afrikander, and in this respect also he exhibited a characteristic which we can develop—namely, that of mutual respect even when the other man is born outside South Africa. This is not the time to make a long speech, but as Mr. Merriman was so well known, particularly in the Cape Province, I just wished to say these few words, and hope that we shall always honour his memory and think of it with affection.

Motion put and agreed to, members rising.

I move, as an unopposed motion—

While in the case of our old friend, Mr. Merriman, we had to do with a man who had served the country for more than fifty years as a member of the House, we have, in the case of our departed friend, J. H. Brand Wessels, lost a comparatively young person, in the vigour of his life, out of our midst. It can be said of him that he was a thorough farmer’s son from the Free State, and a thorough son of South Africa, one who shared with his people in all the events during his lifetime, and one who always received praise for what he did. He was a member of this House since 1914, and I think that all who knew him will acknowledge that he was a person who never, as a member of this House, shirked work. There is hardly any standing select committee on which he did not serve, and hardly any important question in which he did not take a considerable part. He was incontrovertibly a man from whom much was still expected. As a member of the House he had often to fight and to talk in the House, but I think I am saying nothing but the truth when I say that Jan Brand has departed without having left the feeling with any one that he did anything of a hateful kind. He was undoubtedly a loyal party man, and loyally took part in every battle of his party, but always with the conviction that the fight was in the true interests of the country. That is what is expected of every one of us.

I wish to second the motion, and I associate myself with the words of the Prime Minister about our deceased friend. The death of Jan Brand Wessels was a great surprise to all of us, and a tremendous blow. He was one of the younger and useful members of the House, and I agree that he was a clean fighter, not only in the House, but also out of it. In the years of the Boer War, in which he took part from the beginning to the end, he showed that he was a man, and he also showed this in after years. The passing of our friend in the strength of his life is a great loss to the House and to the country. I wish to express my sympathy with the family and relations, and support the motion heartily.

As an old comrade of J. H. Brand Wessels, and as a schoolmate in Bloemfontein, I may say that my experience of our late friend always was that he was a man on whom you could call in time of danger and when his services were necessary. I found this during our school days and later during the war. He was a man who hit hard in the House, and often he possibly felt that he was too sharp, but when one subsequently got into conversation with him in the lobbies you felt that he was a large-hearted man. With these few words, I wish to add my regret at his passing.