Opinion 100 years ago Mr Massey died on May 10, 1925. To use a trite, but not idle saying, it seems but yesterday that New Zealand was in mourning for one of the greatest statesmen she ever possessed, a man who dominated the politics of the country with admirable efficiency for many years, including a period of crucial anxiety. It was a national mourning, for Mr Massey’s supporters and opponents alike recognised that the nation was sadly poorer for the loss of a real-hearted patriot whose prolonged service to the State and the Empire had been marked by a singularly disinterested quality. It is hardly too much to say that Mr Massey spent his energies to the point of ultimate collapse in the performance of public toil.  When men of light and leading have been dead for a while it is sometimes said that they are forgotten. There is a cynical hint that the world is getting on very well without them. This is one of those bitter half-truths in which sour souls delight.…