Vote for Joey Ward

DESCRIPTION: "Vote, vote, vote for Joey Ward! He is sure to win the day. For we'll get a salmon tin, And we'll stick Bill Massey in, And we'll all shout, Hip, hip, hip, hooray!"
AUTHOR: unknown
EARLIEST DATE: c. 1914 (Bailey/Roth-ShantiesByTheWay-NZ)
KEYWORDS: political New Zealand
HISTORICAL REFERENCES:
1906-1912, 1928-1930 - Sir Joseph George Ward (1856-1930) Prime Minister of New Zealand
1912-1925 - William Ferguson Massey (1856-1925) Prime Minister of New Zealand
FOUND IN: New Zealand
REFERENCES (1 citation):
Bailey/Roth-ShantiesByTheWay-NZ, p. 101, "(no title)" (1 short text)
CROSS-REFERENCES:
cf. "Sir Joseph Ward" (subject)
cf. "We'll Set the Children Free" (subject of Joseph Ward)
NOTES [592 words]: Presumable a fragment of a campaign song that was collected after (or during?) an election contest between Ward and Massey. My guess would be that it is from 1914, but 1919 and 1922 are also possible, and perhaps 1912 as well. (For a song almost certainly from 1912, see "We'll Set the Children Free.")
NewZealandEncyclopedia, p. 589, says of Joseph Ward (1856-1930) that he was Prime Minister 1906-1912 and 1928-1930; he was born in Melbourne but was taken to New Zealand at a young age. Starting in politics in 1876, he was a member of parliament from 1887 until after World War I, then was re-elected in 1925. He held the seat until ill health forced him to resign shortly before his death. He held various cabinet posts before becoming Prime Minister. He gave up the post after the 1912 election left him without a governing majority, and William Massey was able to form what amounted to a minority government. Ward "was an able and articulate man of limited imagination."
For background on how Ward succeeded Richard Seddon , see "Sir Joseph Ward" (which portrays Ward as imitating Seddon to the best of his ability).
Jackson/McRobie, p. 251, says that Ward came to New Zealand in 1860. He was still very young when first elected Mayor of Campbelltown (later renamed "Bluff") in 1881; he entered parliament in 1887. He soon received ministerial appointments, but he was forced out of parliament, and eventually into bankruptcy, by the Colonial Bank Scandal of 1895-1897. But his constituents didn't hold it against him; he was back in parliament in 1899. He rose to Prime Minister when Seddon died in 1906. In 1919, he lost his seat in parliament; he was back, as the only self-proclaimed Liberal in the legislature, in 1925. In 1928, against all odds, his so-called Union Party became the largest party in the legislature and formed a government. It was not a success; Ward resigned in 1930 and died six weeks later.
NewZealandEncyclopedia, pp. 355-356, says that William Massey was born in Ireland; his family moved to New Zealand in 1870. After working on farms and stations, he first ran for parliament in 1893, and lost, but became an MP after a by-election in 1896. He was promptly appointed opposition whip, when became Leader of the Opposition in 1903. He was a leading organizer in 1909 of the "Reform Party." This succeeded in taking over parliament in 1912, making Massey Prime Minister.
The election of 1914 didn't show much confidence in Massey. Massey's forces won 40 seats, Ward's Liberals 34, and Labour 6. Massey remained Prime Minister, but without a governing majority; New Zealand was run by a "National" (Unity) government during World War I. The next election in 1919, gave Massey a clear majority -- but the election of 1922 again resulted in a hung parliament in which Massey ran a minority government.
Massey became the subject of significant folklore. NewZealandDictionary, p. 19, defines "Bill Masseys" as a pair of army boots (similarly p. 165 calls the boots just "Masseys"), and "Bill Massey's Tourists" as the members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force sent to Egypt in 1914. Obviously both refer to his position as wartime Prime Minister.
NewZealandEncyclopedia, p. 356, sums him up, "Massey was a stolid, shrewd man with great organizing ability and a domineering personality. In many ways he was a divisive influence, extraordinarily conservative, even reactionary." The Massey/Ward period does not seem to have been a time of great leadership in New Zealand -- which may explain silly songs like this one. - RBW
BibliographyLast updated in version 6.5
File: BaRo101

Go to the Ballad Search form
Go to the Ballad Index Song List

Go to the Ballad Index Instructions
Go to the Ballad Index Bibliography or Discography

The Ballad Index Copyright 2024 by Robert B. Waltz and David G. Engle.