N.Z. NATIVES' ASSOCIATION

Otago Witness, Issue 2362, 1 June 1899, Page 21

N.Z. NATIVES' ASSOCIATION

I A meeting of members of the New Zeal na Natives' Association was held in the Odd allows 1 Hall Stuart street, on Monday evening-, the chair being taken by Mr C. I>. Arlidge, vice - president. There vtas * I large attendance to v listen to an address by Mr Scobie Mackenzie, who expressed himself as feeling flattered at being requested to speak to young men, because ifc showed that he hud retained something useful about himse]f.-,(Laughter.) He was down for a lecture on "Patriotism,"' but that was amistake. They required no lecture on that subject. They had patriotism — (applause), — and the mere cant of patriotism was objectionable. The subject he would speak about was the equipment of young New Zealanders. • Attempts had been made in politics to establish a Young Inow Zealand party, but it had always failed, and always would. The reason wa3 that claims on account of mere locality of birth would no more be admitted by common sense than claims on accoimt of quality of birth. The question was, what was in the man. Tho equipment of the young New Zealandor who had ambition, and who wanted to> acquire power and influence over his fellow-men, would have to be a mental equipment. The physical was* by no means to be despised. It was of great assistance. But the difference was that, whereas the physical equipment was of small use without the mental, the mental could be vastly powerful without much of the physical. Mr Mackenzie then went on to describe in what the mental equipment should consist. He quoted Disraeli to the effect that, after all, "the successful man, in the long run, was the man who had the best information." He then described the advantages of reading,' and the character and method of it. Reading should be carried on not only for ideas, but for weapons, which the words put in the' hands o! the individual. He quoted largely from Cardinal Newman and a variety of authors, both of prose and poetry. The remarks • were listened to with close attention, and the speaker was. frequently applauded. At the conclusion of the address a hearty vote of thanks wan passed to Mr Mackenzie, on the motion of Mr E. Withers, the president of the association Before breaking up songs were sung by Messrs J. Mollison, R. Armstrong, G-. Stephenson, s,n& *W. E. C. Reid, and Messrs D. Cooke and T. "Walsh, besides playing the accompaniments, contributed a pianoforte duet. h