VETERAN trade unionist and political leader, Senior Counsel Ashton Chase, O.E., was honoured by his “son” whom he mentored in earlier years, also experienced trade unionist and politician, Dr. Nanda Kishore Gopaul, Minister of Labour, on the occasion of his birthday last Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at the new headquarters of the New Building Society. And Dr. Gopaul’s birthday gift to his mentor? Well, from the physical and verbal expressions of the only living founding member of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the precursor to the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), it was the best birthday gift that he could have received.

Ashton Chase dynamo in political and labour struggles
Striding like a colossus alongside the footsteps of Dr. Cheddi Jagan; and these two great men are hallmarked by their humility, Ashton Chase had refused the chair of the PPP in deferment to LFS Burnham on the basis of the latter’s academic qualification and his status as a lawyer – a personal sacrifice that precipitated a chain of events that consequenced a derailment for decades of the primary objectives to achieve which the PPP had been formed, and for which it had struggled unremittingly against the imperialist superpowers.
However, the contributions Dr. Chase has made to national life has been gargantuan; and these were documented, as far as possible, given constraints of unavailability of critical records, by Dr. Gopaul in a publication entitled “Dr. Ashton Chase: The Bengal Tiger” and launched on his birthday last Wednesday.
Fans of Senior Counsel Charles (Bonny) Ramson, former AG and Justice Minister, who were upset at his retirement from the corridors of Guyana’s legal landscape, realized the indeed “to everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven”, when it was revealed at the book launching ceremony, that he had been the person entrusted with the arduous and formidable task of editing the book in time for the designated date for a presentation to be made on Chase’s birthday.
In very brief introductory remarks during the book launching ceremony, chairman of the proceedings, Mr. Kenneth Joseph, succinctly highlighted some points about Chase’s still active participation in national affairs, i.e., his continued interest and involvement in Guyana’s labour movement, as well as the pursuit of justice in the land.
President of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions in Guyana (FITUG), Carvil Duncan, informed the audience, which numbered among it the crème de la crème of Guyanese society, that the political work Ashton Chase began before he had added a second digit to his age.
According to Duncan, Chase’s first involvement in the formal labour movement in Guyana began in the Guyana Labour Union (GLU), where he worked alongside the Father of the Trade Union Movement in Guyana, Hubert Nathaniel Critchlow in the capacities of Asst. General-Secretary, then General-Secretary, in that order and has always been a friend to that union.
In 1953 he was appointed Minister of Labour in the first Cheddi Jagan-led Government.
Dr. Gopaul had revealed that Chase refused to accept his national award, the Order of Excellence, before Dr. Jagan was conferred.
Displaying the mind of an archivist and a respecter of historical records, Dr. Gopaul related years of painstaking efforts to locate, rescue and preserve for the benefit of posterity critical records, from which he gleaned some vital information on the life and contributions to national life of Chase; albeit much critical information was missing as a result of fire, flood, and human neglect and ignorance.
But the bulk of his information was derived from the spoken recollections of  Chase himself, who was being secretively taped in I-spy subterfuge by Dr. Gopaul as he provoked and prodded for responses in their conversational exchanges.
The resultant memoir chronicling in excess of 60 years of Guyana’s political and labour movement history through the recollections of the life of the protagonist is Dr. Gopauls’s tribute to a great Guyanese who strode the corridors of this country’s history for decades pre and post independence.

Dynamic presentations made by someone modest and not militant
Relating his pursuit of relevant records, Dr. Gopaul recalled “….but I was unable to get those records, and then two speeches I found, from Mr. Chase, to NAACIE conference in the days when we were fighting for free and fair elections – very dynamic presentations made by someone who would come over as being modest and not militant; but we could have seen the militancy in (the) words in those addresses to the conference.”
Even after some years of futile search and a computer crash obliterating vital records, which included those historic speeches, Dr. Gopaul did not give up. “…I got the throne speech that Mr. Chase responded to – the throne speech of the People’s Progressive Party then, and it gave me the idea….go and search for Hansard; and with the help of the staff of the National Assembly I was able to pick up several of Mr. Chase’s speeches in Hansard, and I found them to be priceless.”

Vibrant, thoughtful politician with foresight
Another birthday gift for Mr. Chase from Dr. Gopaul is a collection of his parliamentary speeches, bound copies of which was provided to the Cheddi Jagan Research Institute, “…so people will glean what a vibrant, thoughtful politician of foresight… Dr. Cheddi and him were pillars of strength in Guyana’s politics. When you look at his response to the Throne speech you can see the many issues he addressed… the whole issue of the public service, the military, hire purchase legislation, the Rice Act, State of Emergency – all of these were addressed by Chase.
“The volumes of discourse and his strong agitation caused me to continue the work.”
Dr. Gopaul revealed that he found an able partner to put together and edit the book in the form of retired AG, SC Charles Ramson, whom he said completed the project within a short space of time and enabled the publishers to meet the deadline to synchronize with the birthday celebrations of Chase.
Dr. Gopaul attributed his success as a trade unionist to the study of the speeches of Chase that he had discovered from various sources covering a multiplicity of issues. “Subsequently, when I left the university for a short duration to deal with the electricity arbitration in the absence of Chase, I felt very comfortable in taking (on) the likes of Mr. Miles Fitzpatrick and others who were lawyers for the electricity company at that time.
“At the end of the day we won the electricity arbitration with flying colours; so I felt ‘yes’ I followed the lead from a good man…The inspiration of Ashton Chase, I think, whatever I am, whatever I’ve become, was because I was influenced by him.”

Paying tribute to a national icon
The occasion, Dr. Gopaul asserted, was not merely to launch the book, “…but I hope to pay tribute to a national icon, someone who has served Guyana with distinction, someone whom has worked beyond the call of duty – year in, year out…follow the footsteps of our heroes, those who have passed, and those that are among us. We should pay special tribute, we should respect their work, and we should let them know how much we appreciate their work – the value we place on their efforts, and for what they have done for us, and for this country.”
President Donald Ramotar, in his keynote address, said of Ashton Chase “…His life can be used as a role model for young people everywhere to follow and to show, even though young, you can shoulder responsibilities.
Through his life he has demonstrated very strong convictions. He has been a convicted socialist all his life, something he has remained loyal to.”
The President reiterated Dr. Gopaul’s assertion that Chase has “stood at very important junctions in our history.  He was right at the very beginning of the whole national movement – the independence movement…Cde. Ashton was there at the very foundation of the Political Affairs Committee that has formed our party…and I have heard Dr. Cheddi Jagan publicly, on more than one occasion, saying that had it not been for Ashton’s modesty, maybe the history of this country would have been different, because Ashton Chase was supposed to be the first chairman of the PPP but he gave way to Burnham, saying he was a bright guy, so give him a chance….so contributions like these, and lives like these are lives that we must celebrate and use as an example.”
Chase’s relinquishing his right to be chairman of the PPP to the more forceful and aggressive contender was a decision that plunged this country into many dark years of turmoil and suffering for the Guyanese people.

A Bengal Tiger is expected to be fierce, formidable, and energetic, and Chase is none of that.
Senior Counsel Ashton Chase expressed his surprise at the modus operandi used by Dr. Gopaul to gather detailed information for his book, which seemed a well-planned project long in the making, and warned the laughing audience that any information on the tape that speaks of a “more delicate life and other adventures were only put in to show that I was not an exceptional man.”
Expressing his pleasure at deliberations and judgements recorded in the book, Mr. Chase said “…Equally so the book goes on to deal with a number of trade union and labour cases, which trade unionists and workers generally ought to find entertaining, useful, and a good background from which to proceed in their work.”
Chase said that it was not by design that he got into the labour movement; but before age ten he was taken by his trade unionist grandmother (one could see the genes) to meetings and by the time he was just into his teens he was taking minutes at meetings.
From this background he evolved into a budding politician after being introduced by fellow trade unionist HJM Hubbard to Dr. Cheddi Jagan, after which they established the forerunner to the PPP – the PAC, which brought the working class together, and from which was later formed “…the oldest continuous political party in this country, the People’s Progressive Party.”
In the struggle to attain freedom from oppression through various phases of oppressive rule in Guyana Chase related “…I was charged on more than one occasion…”, all on nebulous reasons.
He had abandoned his legal studies for political struggle, which he decided to resume in 1953 when the constitution was suspended. The courage of those who have achieved to give the Guyanese nation the foundation of freedom on which it currently resides can be measured in Chase’s words.
He recalled returning to his studies in England “…with the help of trade unions, friendly societies and others because my family didn’t have the money; my grandmother, to whom I owe almost everything, was a very poor woman.
“When I decided to go (Guyana) Airways refused to book me to Trinidad to catch the boat.”
Chase contended that this was imprisonment in Guyana, similar to his imprisonment in Sibley Hall.  Eventually Grantley Adams and other West Indian leaders were able to persuade the British to allow him to leave Guyana. However, to his “horror and surprise” he was taken into police custody when he landed at Piarco and remained in police custody until his ship sailed.
He expressed his appreciation to Dr. Gopaul for documenting for posterity the eventful incidents of his life, many of which he had forgotten and only remembered when he read the book.
He also thanked Justice Charles Ramson for partnering in the production of the manuscript.
On July 12, Chase received a letter from the International Biographical Centre (IBC), of Cambridge, England, in which they congratulated him for being listed as one of the top 10 professionals for 2012.
The book launch was hosted by the Executive Counsel of the National Association of Agricultural, Commercial, and Industrial Employees (NAACIE), which would receive all net proceeds from book sales for the NAACIE Educational Fund.