South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-07-09
REMARKABLE
LED BY JOHN WARD
NAVY ORGANIZER
Fights Clean and Hard Both in
Parliament and Battlefield
is Illustration of Self
Made Man.

LONDON. July g. John Ward.
wf0 began life as "a NAVY or common
laoOrer and is now a member OF par
Lament and a lieutenant colonel In
The army Is one Of the most remarka-
ole leaders OF Great Britain in the
present critical time.
II ehas organized the Navvies' Bat
TALON which ne himself explains as
follows.
This is a diggers' war Nayvies are
experts in trench making and they
know things about side supporting
and intricate timbering that even the
army has not yet thought Of
Ward stands six feet two inches
tall and IS broad in proportion. with
the fair hair OF "a Viking. When ne
was seven years old ne began work
FOR "a farmer lie had no education
and 10 was only 10y puzzling out the
letters in the names of the farmers
and their farms on the wagons going
10 Andover, that. with a little help
from "a kind hearted woman he learn
ed his alphabet at the age Of twelve.
A little while later he ran away to
join the British navy. but he was re-
fused because he did not have his par
ents consent He sought TO sleep in
Il freight car and landed in a police
station and later in workhouse,
and scrubbing the floors. Kind visit
Ors learned his story and sent him
home.
Decorated BY Queen.
He worked for a while as NAVY
and then Joined the army He fought
i'm the Soudan with such gallantry that
Queen Victoria decorated him with
a clasp and ne received the Keedive
Star.
once back i'm England he became a
navy again, slept under haystacks,
worked ON the AndOver and MarlbOr-
ough railway and subsequently on
the Manchester ship canal Then one
day the navVies grew dissatisfied with
the conditions of work and few re-
marks from John Ward showed them
that he was the man TO lead them
The result was that. thanks TO his un-
firing endeaVOrs the NaVVles union
shortly afterwards became an accom-
plished fact This was i'm 1889.
The formation OF the union. by the
way. was no easy job. for NAVY
rarely stops more than a year in any
one place. and even sailors are no
more difficult TO organize.
Nine years ago Ward was returned
TO parliament as member for Stoke
on-Trent, and during his subsequent
election contests, ne has shown that
he knows how to put up political
fight.
once in parliament he soon made
his presence felt ON one occasion.
about a year ago, ne so reused the
members 10y his words that they cheer
cd him continuously for three min
utes
Cuts OFF salary.
Before payment of members was
instituted hc had a struggle TO make
both ends meet. FOR he refused TO sign
10 lea o.
sentation committee because ii would
mean surrendering his right of indie
pendent speech and action He thus
cut himself off from the $1,000 a year
which most Of the labor members of
the house of commons received from
that source. and had TO suhsist as best
ne could ON the $3.50 week which
he received as secretary of the Nav
vies union This is no easy matter
when YOU are a member Of parliament
and have wife and four children and
mother to Keep.
His poverty stricken position led
10 some strange situations. once
King George invited him 90 a recep-
ton. but ne had to refuse because he
had not the necessary clothes TO which
10 attend
An army debate four years ago.
long before no had any notion that
fate OF duty would call him To the
head OF q battalion. John Ward adj
dressed the house of commons on the
question OF ~reater facilities being az
fordcd soldiers i'm the ranks TO obtain
commissions. lie urged that if better
opportunities were not given to boys
of the workinc classes to obtain COM
missions. an adequate supply of Off
GERS could only be secured 10y making
use OF private soldiers who had the
necessary ability.