MR PERCEVAL BANQUETTED.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 247, 17 October 1891, Page 2

MR PERCEVAL BANQUETTED.

(BY TELEGKAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.)

ChristanuFX'ir, this day. The banquet to Mr W. B. Perceval wa3 very largely attended, and the proceedings were marked with great enthusiasm. Mr C. Lonisson, ex-Mayor, occupied the chair, having His Excellency the Governor and the Premier on his right, and the guest of tke evening and the Speaker of the House of Representatives on his lefb. Apologies for non-attendance were received from Sir John Hall, the Hon. W. Rolleston and others. The Premier, re.poiidirig to the i\.ots. >>i ■•'His ijxcolloiscy'- Auvi.er.," said wit ; , -«- audio the appointment of Mr i'ereiv.; .s j-i--i:- - General thab the only object", a r -:•■■':-.« was thab Mr Percival was too ;..-..( {•::-. .v. -He denied that this was a u-._:», aiiu said, speaking from personal «.•_• perienco, that whenever Mr Perceval had been called on to fulfil any important duty ho had risen to the occasion. Ho was quite sure Mr Perceval would do credit to the colony in London. As AgontGeneral, part of his duty would be to bring "before the people of tho old count;} the advantages of the colony, more .:jp--.ife,U;r the farming classes, and such d_ty could fee placed in no better hands than iir. Perceval's. When Mr Perceval returned in three years he was sure his record would be a good one, and that his old constituents ■would feel proud or" him. The toast of " The Agent-General " was proposed by Lord Onslow, who, after referring in the most complimentary terms to Sir F. J). Beli, expressed the opinion that they would find in Mr Peraeval no unworthy successor. He hoped Mr Perceval, before he left,would give his attention to the emigration question, and that he would get instructions to induce agricultural labourers with small capital to come out. Mr Perceval had brought a blameless character in the conduct of his public life, and he hoped that of bhe many years of his unbroken success none would be more so than his three years as Agent-General. Mr Perceval, fn responding, said he would remember the kind things said of him, not as his due, but as something to aspire to. He fully recognised the difficulties of the task he was undertaking, and he felt a diffidence in following tho illustrious men who had held the position. When he thought of Featherston, Vogel, and Bei|, he thought of men whom the colony delighted to honour, and who had won famo, not only in the colony, but in tho mother country. There was this, however, that in them he had models to copy, and in their records of the office he would have a guide of the greatest benefit. He had his heart in the work he had undertaken, and with God's help he would carry it out. There had been no question thab New Zealand presented a bettor homo for the small farmer bhan any of the other colonies, and it would be his endeavour to try and induce that • class of settlors to emigrate. Mr Percival, the new Agent General, left yesterday by the Penguin for Dunedin, where he joins the Wairarapa to proceed to England via Melbourne. A large numJicr of prominent citizens assembled at the railway station to bid him farewell. '

Russkll, this tiny. The Government are now having a naval parade and recreation ground surveyed so ■i. to secure tothcpublicapcrmanc or rcere.ion ground.