William Massey

William Ferguson Massey (26 March 1856 – 10 May 1925) was a politician who served as the 19th prime minister of New Zealand from May 1912 to May 1925. He was the founding leader of the Reform Party, New Zealand's second organised political party, from 1909 until his death.

Massey was born in County Londonderry in Ireland. After migrating to New Zealand in 1870, Massey farmed near Auckland (earning his later nickname, Farmer Bill) and assumed leadership in farmers' organisations. He entered parliament in 1894 as a conservative, and from 1894 to 1912 was a leader of the conservative opposition to the Liberal ministries of Richard Seddon and Joseph Ward. Massey became the first Reform Party Prime Minister after he led a successful motion of no confidence against the Liberal government. Throughout his political career, Massey was known for the particular support he showed for agrarian interests, as well as his opposition to organised labour. He pledged New Zealand's support for Britain during the First World War.

Massey led his Reform Party through four elections, although only the 1919 election was a decisive victory over all other parties. Following increasingly poor health in his fourth term, Massey died in office. After Richard Seddon, he is the second-longest-serving prime minister of New Zealand.

A state funeral for Massey was held on 14 May 1925, followed by a burial at Point Halswell, at a site that became the Massey memorial in 1930.

Early life Massey was born in 1856 into a Protestant farming family, and grew up in Limavady, County Londonderry, Ireland. His father John Massey and his mother Marianne (or Mary Anne, née Ferguson) were tenant farmers who also owned a small property. His family arrived in New Zealand on 21 October 1862 on board the Indian Empire as Nonconformist settlers, although Massey remained in Ireland for a further eight years to complete his education. He resided for a time with his grandmother Elizabeth Ferguson (née Barnett) at her home at Kennaught, Limavady, attending Limavady National School. Subsequently, Massey went to live with his uncle Matthew Ferguson at Sheephill, Ballykelly and from there he went to school in Derry. After arriving on 10 December 1870 on the City of Auckland, Massey worked as a farmhand for some years before acquiring his own farm in Māngere, South Auckland, in 1876. In 1882 he married his neighbour's daughter, Christina Allan Paul. They had seven children.

Early political career Massey gradually became more prominent in his community. This was partly due to his civic involvement in the school board, the debating society and farming associations. Because of his prominence in these circles, he became involved in political debate, working on behalf of rural conservatives against the Liberal Party government of John Ballance. Massey was a member of the Orange Order, Oddfellows, and Freemasons, and espoused British Israelite ideas. He became Grand Master of the North Island Grand Orange Lodge, under the Grand Orange Lodge of New Zealand.

In Massey stood as a candidate in the general election in the electorate, losing to the Liberal candidate, Benjamin Harris.

Opposition

Massey joined the ranks of the (mostly conservative) independent MPs opposing the Liberal Party, led by Richard Seddon. They were poorly organised and dispirited, and had little chance of unseating the Liberals. William Russell, the Leader of the Opposition, was able to command only 15 votes. Massey brought increased vigour to the conservative faction and became opposition whip.

By June 1900, following a heavy defeat at the 1899 general election, the opposition strength fell considerably. The conservative MPs could not agree on a new leader after holding their first caucus of the session. James William Thomson, rather than Russell, chaired the meeting where it was decided to not elect a new leader, but each MP should be free to criticise the government in their own manner. The meeting also resolved that Massey, as chief whip, should be empowered to call the Opposition caucus together at any time should he wish. For over two years the conservatives were virtually leaderless and many despaired of ever toppling the Liberal Party. Massey, as chief whip, informally continued to fill the role as leader and eventually succeeded Russell as Leader of the Opposition formally in September 1903.

As leader, the conservatives rallied for a time, though support for the Liberals increased markedly during the Second Boer War, leaving the conservatives devastated at the 1902 general election. Massey's political career survived the period: despite a challenge by William Herries, he remained the most prominent opponent to the Liberal Party. Massey announced the creation of the Reform Party from his New Zealand Political Reform League. The party was to be led by him and backed by his conservative colleagues.

In the 1911 election the Reform Party won more seats than the Liberal Party but did not gain an absolute majority. The Liberals, relying on support from independents who had not joined Reform, were able to stay in power until the following year, when they lost a vote of confidence.

Prime minister Massey and James Allen head for Bellamy's to celebrate their assumption of government. New Zealand Spectator, 13 July 1912. Massey was sworn in as prime minister on 10 July 1912. Two days later it was reported in the press on 12 July that he had accepted the appointment of Honorary Commandant of the Auckland District of the Legion of Frontiersmen. Some members of the Reform Party grew increasingly frustrated at Massey's dominance of the party. He earned the enmity of many workers with his harsh response to miners' and waterfront workers' strikes in 1912 and 1913. The use of force to deal with the strikers made Massey an object of hatred for the emerging left-wing, but conservatives (many of whom believed that the unions were controlled by the far left) generally supported him, saying that his methods were necessary. His association with the Legion of Frontiersmen assisted him greatly during this period as a number of mounted units, including Levin Troop, rode to Wellington in mufti and assisted as Special Constables. In the Levin Troop was a young Bernard Freyberg, who would shortly earn the Victoria Cross near Beaumont Hamel.

Amongst the first Acts enacted by Massey's government was one that "enabled some 13,000 Crown tenants to purchase their own farms."

First World War All we are and all we have is at the disposal of the British Government. Cable from Massey to the British Government, 1914 Although turning down knighthoods and a peerage, he accepted appointment as a Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown (Belgium) from the King of Belgium in March 1921 and a Grand Officer of the Legion of Honour by the President of France in October 1921.

Massey has also been criticised for his policies regarding phosphate mining in Nauru, with Massey University scholar Matt Wynyard claiming he was "behind its utter devastation".

Coalition with the Liberals

Partly because of the difficulty in obtaining consensus to implement meaningful policies, the coalition government had grown increasingly unpopular by the end of the war. Massey was particularly worried by the rise of the Labour Party, which was growing increasingly influential. Massey also found himself fighting off criticism from within his own party, including charges that he was ignoring rural concerns. He dissolved the coalition in 1919, and fought both the Liberals and Labour on a platform of patriotism, stability, support for farmers, and a public works programme. He successfully gained a majority.

The Red Scare

According to New Zealand historian Tony Wilson, Massey was known for his anti-Bolshevik and anti-Soviet sentiments. He disliked domestic socialist elements like the "Red Feds", the predecessor to the New Zealand Federation of Labour, and the New Zealand Labour Party. As prime minister, Massey was opposed to Communist influence. He regarded the Red Terror (1919–20) in the Soviet Union, which followed the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, as proof of the "inherently oppressive orientation" of socialism. In response to the Red Scare the government passed the War Regulations Continuance Act, which continued wartime emergency regulations including censorship. This led to a ban on Communist-oriented literature, which continued to 1935.

1922 election

Economic problems lessened support for Reform. In the 1922 election Massey lost his majority, and was forced to negotiate with independents to keep his government alive. He was also alarmed by the success of Labour, which was now only five seats behind the Liberals. He began to believe that the Liberals would eventually disappear, with their supporters being split, the socially liberal wing to Labour and the economically liberal wing to Reform. He set about trying to ensure that Reform's gain would be the greater.

In 1924 cancer forced him to relinquish many of his official duties, and the following year he died.

Honours

Grand Officer of the Order of the Crown

Family His widow, Christina, was awarded the GBE in 1926, one year after his death.

Two of his sons became Reform MPs: Jack (1885–1964), who represented his father's Franklin electorate from 1928 to 1935, and from 1938 to 1957 for National; and Walter William (1882–1959), who represented Hauraki from 1931 to 1935.

His son Frank George Massey (1887–1975) enlisted in World War I, and transferred to the British Expeditionary Force where he commanded a battalion as a Major.