with this wider policy, greater activity was decided upon, and Mr. R. Semple was appointed organiser for New Zealand, and took up his duties early in 1910. His salary was £4 a week, second-class railway fares, and 8s. a day allowance when away from home. The position of President, vacated by Mr. Semple, was filled by Mr. P. C. Webb.
Shortly after his appointment, the rather unpleasant task devolved upon the organiser of relieving the Secretary of his books, and the Executive appointed Mr. J. Glover to fill the vacancy, a position he retained until the Federation merged into the reconstructed body of 1913.
And never was an organisation more faithfully served secretarially. And never was there a more loyal comrade, Amid a sea of impetuosity, Jack floated calmly on his way, never bustled, never excited, doing his job and doing it well, even when the tempest raged most fiercely. We used to joke about Jack and his books, the tradition being that he slept with them. Jack was our cashier, too. Wherever we were and funds were running low, the decision was a unanimous one: “Send a wire to Glover”; and as prompt as the message could be, back came the cash.
The Federation’s Treasurer at this time was John Dowgray, of Granity. I met John for the first time on the occasion of the first Miners’ Conference in Wellington. He had but recently arrived from Scotland, where he held high office in the Scottish and British Miners’ Federations. I remember one of Jack’s opponents writing sneeringly to the press that “Dowgray landed on the Westport wharf with 15s. in his pocket and with two tons of books.” I did not know his financial position at the time, but
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