Papers from Box File No. 7

Containers:

Box 23

Component identifier:

Series

Content Summary:

The private letters covers the key period between the finalisation of the Paint Case in August 1925 (after which both Gaze and Chambers threatened to resign) and the termination of the Royal Commission in July 1926.

They give a fascinating 'behind the scenes' view of the intrigue and the utilisation of political, commercial and bureaucratic pressures that were brought into play in order to force a political decision upon Prime Minister Bruce.

Perhaps, more importantly, these letters reveal the vulnerable human being that was kept hidden behind the facade of unemotional and unflustered efficiency which was the public facade of Harold Gaze the brilliant Manager and Administrator.

They reveal, too, the nervous sensitivity of Prime Minister Bruce to his own weaknesses as a cockpit politician.

In the handwritten correspondence most of the central characters mentioned are identified simply by a single letter of the alphabet.

Thus Pope is 'A', Dickinson is 'C', Bruce is "J", Reakes (the main NZ official concerned in the affairs of the Commissioners) is "V", and the proposed move to Auckland is referred to only by the letter "W". I am less sure about some of the other identification letters but would guess that "U" is the NZ Prime Minister, "R" is one of the leading figures in the Phosphate Industry (possibly Haynes of Mt. Lyall who was a bit of a politician). As a long shot I would suggest that "O" is the Secretary of the Australian Prime Minister's Department, Percy Deane, but this is guesswork.

This collection of personal and confidential correspondence mainly from Gaze to Ellis, is typical of a separate and uniquely significant stream of communication regarding most major aspects of the Pacific Phosphate operation in the critical 1925/1926 period.

The most interesting section is that which deals in a surprisingly frank manner with the intrigue surrounding the conspiracy to get Pope dismissed.

The rest of the collection reveals the informal and private attitudes of the Commissioners and senior staff to matters that were dealt with in a more circumspect fashion in 'open' correspondence and formal reports.

Note: Quelts, referred to in these letters, were a form of coded telegraphic cabled communication used by the conspirators to keep Pope in ignorance of various aspects of their activities.

Names:

Masyln Williams

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