SAVAGE, MICHAEL JOSEPH (1872-1940) was born at Benalla, Victoria, on 7 Mar 1872, the son of Richard Savage, a small farmer from county Cavan, Ireland. Educated at the Benalla state school, he learned a good deal about farming as a boy. On leaving school, at the age of 14, he entered the employ of a Benalla storekeeper, where in the course of seven years he learned every side of the business. The bank failure of 1893 throwing him out of employment, he carried his swag in search of work. For some years he was employed on the properties of Sir Samuel McCaughey, in New South Wales, where he was engaged mainly in the digging of irrigation ditches which converted the district into one of the most prosperous in New South Wales. Of medium stature, Savage was athletic and powerful, and delighted in feats of strength with his jaws and teeth. He was interested in football and racing, but rarely betted.

In the last years of the century Savage returned to Victoria to visit his brother at Rutherglen. There he met Patrick Webb (later his Minister of Mines), and they were employed together in the A.M.A. mine. Conditions were so bad that most of the work had to be done in a stooping or crawling position, and a candle would not burn within 10 feet of the working face. Savage and Webb became close friends and took an active part in the infant labour movement in Australia. The sympathetic nature of the older man warmed to the aspirations of the Australian workers, who were then suffering both from the depression of the nineties and from the penalties which still attached to trades union activities. They read deeply the working-class literature of the time, mainly Blatchford, Henry George and the Webbs, the Clarion and the Labour Leader. Webb was a mine steward, and he succeeded in organising practically all of the 300 A.M.A. workers into a union. He was also secretary of the North Prentice branch of the Political Labour Council, out of which evolved the Australian Labour Party. Disliking underground work, Savage seized the first opportunity of escape. While in the Great Southern Consols mine he was employed on the winding engine and qualified for a first-class ticket. Thus equipped, he took charge of a small mine on Garibaldi Hill belonging to Dr John Harris (later Sir John Harris, Minister of Education in Victoria). He took part in the miners' co-operative movement, and helped to organise the Rutherglen Co-operative Society, Limited, which operated a store and a large bakery. Of this he was manager for nearly a year.

In the early years of this century Australia was much interested in the condition of labour in New Zealand, where the workers were in the full enjoyment of rising prices for farm products and of the social legislation of the Ballance and Seddon governments. Webb came to New Zealand in 1906; Savage remained in Rutherglen and assumed some of his secretaryships, including that of the North Prentice branch of the Political Labour Council. Webb, who was working in the mines at Denniston, expressed the opinion that New Zealand offered an excellent opportunity to a man possessing the personality and qualities of leadership which he recognised in Savage. Eventually Savage decided to come to the Dominion and, resigning his position in the Co-operative Society, he landed in New Zealand on Labour Day 1907. What he heard about the West Coast climate decided him to remain in the North Island, and he took employment for some months at George Seifert's flax mill at Tokomaru. He was then invited to assist in the formation of a co-operative society in Auckland. This movement failed, but Savage remained in Auckland and found employment as a cellarman in Hancock's brewery. There he was employed throughout the remainder of his life as a worker, and for eight years he walked to and fro every day between Herne Bay and Khyber Pass. His settled position enabled him to take a new interest in working-class politics, and he was an active trades unionist. He greatly admired the social legislation of Ballance and Seddon, and when the Liberal regime came to a close he co-operated with other labour leaders-notably H. E. Holland, W. E. Parry, P. Fraser, P. C. Webb, H. T. Armstrong and R. Semple-in organising New Zealand labour to play an independent role in politics. At this early stage his clear thinking and flair for essentials, combined with a real understanding of working-class needs, a deep humanity and personal integrity marked him out as a sound adviser even to those who did not foresee his eventual promotion to the leadership.

When Savage first attempted to enter Parliament (in 1911) as a candidate for the Auckland Central seat, the Labour party had not been organised for political purposes and he was a member of the New Zealand Socialist party, which had its headquarters in the Federal hall in Victoria street. In the middle of the campaign a strike of the general labourers' union broke out which caused a stoppage of municipal services in Auckland. At a large strike meeting at the Grey statue (on 28 Oct) Savage seconded a resolution calling on the various sections of labour to get together. Amongst those concerned in the strike negotiations were P. Fraser (then president of the general labourers' union and later Prime Minister), and P. Webb and R. Semple, president and organiser of the Federation of Labour. The result of the election in Auckland Central was: A. E. Glover (Liberal) 4061; M. J. Savage (Labour) 1800; F. C. Gleeson (Independent) 1177; W. Richardson (Prohibitionist) 601. D. McLaren, who in 1908 was elected for Wellington East as a Labour member, lost his seat in 1911, but four Labour and Socialist candidates were elected-namely W. A. Veitch (Wanganui), J. H. Payne (Auckland), J. Robertson (Otaki) and A. H. Hindmarsh (South Wellington).

In Jan 1913, at the invitation of the Federation of Labour, a preliminary conference was held in the office of the Maoriland Worker at which a committee was appointed to organise another conference with the object of unifying the labour movement. That conference, which met in Jul, included representatives of the Federation of Labour, the trades and labour councils, the Socialist party and the United Labour party. In Jun a parliamentary vacancy had occurred in the Grey electorate owing to the death of the Speaker (Sir Arthur Guinness). Webb, who had taken a prominent part in the formation of the Federation on the West Coast, and was its president, left the conference to contest the seat as a Social Democrat. He won it as a direct representative of the new Labour party. The conference resulted in a merger of practically all of the labour groups into two new organisations, the United Federation of Labour and the Social Democratic party, the former being the industrial and the latter the political wing of the movement. The Labour and Socialist representatives already in parliament elected A. H. Hindmarsh as their chairman and functioned as the Social Democratic party. In Dec 1913 the group was strengthened by the election of J. McCombs for Lyttelton. At the election of 1914 Savage again stood for Auckland Central as a Social Democrat, but without success. With the memory of the Waihi strike so recent and a war just beginning, conditions for Labour candidates were not favourable, but the party gained eight seats, as compared with four in 1911. The result in Auckland Central was: Glover, 4053; Savage, 1751; W. Richardson, 1315.

In 1916 another conference was convened at the instance of the national executive of the Social Democratic party, which approached the labour representation committees. The outcome was the Labour party as it is known to-day, composed of branches and affiliated trades unions. Savage was now well and favourably known in Auckland, and his eventual advancement in politics seemed assured when he was elected (in 1918) to the Auckland City Council and the hospital board. These duties satisfied his yearning for social reform and gave him an insight into local government, which is essential for success in New Zealand politics. In 1919 Parliament (which had been extended as a war measure) was dissolved, and the election afforded Savage his entry into political life in the fuller sense. The National Government had achieved its purpose and dissolved, and the election was fought nominally in peace conditions but with many war restrictions in full effect. Savage contested Auckland West in place of the retiring member, C. H. Poole. He was opposed by two candidates supporting what were regarded as nationalist tickets. At one of his meetings in this campaign he outlined a social programme which included the widening of the old age pension to something like the present social security scheme, based on rights of citizenship. The election resulted as follows: Savage, 4008; C. F. Bennett (Reform), 3475; A. J. Entrican (Liberal), 1493. Labour still had only eight seats in the House. Savage speedily accustomed himself to the technique of Parliament, and when McCombs resigned the deputy leadership of the parliamentary Labour party in 1923 he was elected to succeed him. This addition to his political duties compelled him to resign from the City Council and the hospital board. At the election of 1922 Savage defeated J. Farrell in Auckland West by 5694 votes to 4345. Labour on this occasion made a marked advance, gaining 17 seats, as compared with 22 held by Liberal members and 38 by Reform. In 1925, following the death of Massey, the Reform party gained 55 seats in a House of 80 members. Labour lost four, but by the discomfiture of the Liberal party (which had only 12 members in the new Parliament) it became the official opposition. Savage's electorate gave him 5677 votes, while the Reform candidate (S. Oldfield) polled 5201.

In 1926 Savage visited Australia as a delegate of the New Zealand Parliament to the conference of the British Empire Parliamentary Association. In 1927 he was again elected to the Auckland City Council and the hospital board, on which he continued to act until the death of his leader (H. E. Holland, q.v.) in 1933. At the 1928 election the anti-Labour vote was again split and Savage, though in a safe position at the head of the poll, was again a minority member: Savage, 5361; R. B. Speirs (United), 4020; F. A'Deane (Reform), 2021. The Reform following in Parliament was now reduced to 29, and the Liberal party (under Sir Joseph Ward) had 26 seats. Labour, with 19 seats, gave a general support to the Liberal government which took office on 10 Dec 1928. On 28 May 1930 G. W. Forbes succeeded Sir Joseph Ward as Prime Minister. The country was now feeling the full force of the economic depression, and unemployment had attained unprecedented dimensions. On 22 Sep 1931 Forbes formed a coalition government from the United and Reform parties. In the elections at the end of 1931 Labour registered another advance in strength, the new house being composed as follows: Reform, 22; Liberal United, 29; Labour, 25; Independent, 4. Savage's majority was the greatest he had ever polled: Savage, 6442; H. R. McKenzie (Independent Coalition United), 1925; J. A. C. Allum (Independent Coalition Reform) 1870. In 1933 Henry Holland died, and Savage was elected unanimously as leader of the Labour party, which was again the official opposition. During that Parliament (extended for one year against Labour's protest) he greatly strengthened the position of the party and improved the foundations already laid for the triumph of Labour in 1935.

In the election of 1935 New Zealand unequivocally returned to power its first Labour government. In a house of 80 members Savage had a following of 55; the Coalition opposition (now called the National party) numbered only 19; and there were six independent members. In Auckland West Savage polled 8567 votes; E. D. Stallworthy (Nationalist), 2387; and J. A. Govan, (Democrat), 792. On 6 Dec 1935 Savage was sworn in as the first Labour Prime Minister of New Zealand. The party caucus entrusted him with the choice of his colleagues, and he nominated the following: P. Fraser (Minister of Education and Health); W. Nash (Finance and Customs); D. G. Sullivan (Industries and Commerce and Railways); H. G. R. Mason (Attorney-General and Minister of Justice); H. T. Armstrong (Labour and Immigration); R. Semple (Public Works and Transport); W. E. Parry (Internal Affairs); P. C. Webb (Mines); F. Jones (Postmaster-General, Minister of Defence); W. Lee Martin (Agriculture); F. Langstone (Lands and Commissioner of State Forests); M. Fagan (member of Executive Council without portfolio). On assuming office Savage lost no time in implementing the programme upon which the Government was elected. Wages, salaries and pensions were at once restored to the scale existing before the economy cuts of 1931; the powers of the arbitration court, which had been suspended during the depression, were revived; and a 40-hour week for industry was enacted. The Government assumed control of currency and credit; bought out private interests in the Reserve Bank and abolished the railways board. A vigorous programme of public works and housing helped materially to reduce unemployment. To assist farmers, guaranteed prices were introduced for dairy produce and a marketing department instituted and the state took over the mortgage corporation. Savage took the keenest personal interest in the passing of the social security legislation, which consolidated existing pensions and public health law and made comprehensive provision for medical services and old age and invalidity pensions. Savage had a good command of parliamentary practice, and in his control of parliament was firm and conciliatory. He once insisted at a Labour conference that a gain made by subtlety could only be held temporarily. Frank and straightforward, he was never a florid speaker, but he was a keen and effective debater, making his points by sincerity and simplicity of expression rather than by oratorical effect. He made quick decisions which were generally accurate. In his administration of the prime ministership he reverted to the English convention and assumed much less departmental responsibility than his immediate predecessors. Though he did control External Affairs, Native Affairs and some minor portfolios, he conceived his post as that of a presiding and co-ordinating head of the executive, and in this role he was singularly successful. To him as Minister of Broadcasting was due the introduction of the broadcasting of Parliament, which New Zealand was the first country in the world to adopt. He had firm faith in broadcasting as a political instrument and when his health forbade him longer to transact public business he broadcast a series of earnest personal addresses on 'New Zealand's problems as I see them.' Savage's reaction to the Imperial connection was instant and unquestioning. The crises of 1938 and 1939 prompted an immediate declaration of solidarity on behalf of New Zealand, and he took a whole-hearted part in the war preparations in vindication of the voluntary basis of service.

On 30 Apr 1936 Savage was appointed a member of the Privy Council. In the following year he attended the Imperial Conference in London and the coronation of King George VI (5 May 1937), and on 28 May he was sworn of the Privy Council. He received the freedom of the City of London and the honorary D.C.L of Oxford University.

At the elections of 1938 the Labour government was again returned with a majority independent of any possible combination: Labour, 53; Nationalist, 25; Independent, 2. Opposed by J. W. Kealy (Nationalist), Savage retained his old seat by 11,591 votes to 3584. During the session of Parliament in 1938 his health had begun to fail and for some weeks in 1939 Parliament was led by the deputy Prime Minister (Hon Peter Fraser). The death of Savage, which occurred on 27 Mar 1940, was marked by great public demonstrations of sorrow. The body lay in state at Parliament House in Wellington and was interred at Bastion Point, Auckland, after a remarkable progress from the capital. Savage was a bachelor and a member of the Roman Catholic church. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by the Hon. P. Fraser (1 Apr 1940).

Who's Who N.Z., 1932; Who's Who, 1939; N.Z. Herald, 13 Oct 1933 (p); N.Z. Railways Magazine, Aug 1936 (p); Auckland Star, Evening Post, 27 Mar 1940; The Dominion, 28 Mar 1940 (p); Grey River Argus, 1 Apr 1940; The Standard, 3 Apr 1940; N.Z. Listener, 5 Apr 1940 (p); The Observer, 1 Nov 1939.

Reference: Volume 2, page 276

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