THE PROCESSION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 55, 6 March 1900, Page 3

THE PROCESSION.

, The formal farewell procession over, the volunteer companies began the march to the wharf. Colonel Bole-Penton, Commandant of the Forces, accompanied the procession, which was directed by Lieut.-Colonel Banks, Officer Commanding Auckland Volunteer District, the staff officers being: Major White, commanding Ist Battalion Auckland Infantry; Captain Reid, District Adjutant; Captain Major, Adjutant First Battalion; and Battalion C,Juarterm.aster Dormer. The order of the procession Avas: —

Newton Band, under Bandmaster McMahon.

'"A" Battery Artillery, under Captain O'Brien and Lieut. Bosworth.

Auckland Naval Artillery, under Lieut.-Commander Clemens and Lieutenants Salmon and Endean, accompanied by lion.' Captain Little and Hon. Lieut. Smith.

Ponsonby Naval Artillery, under Lieut.-Commander Patterson, Lieuts. Spinley and Watson, accompanied by Hon. Lieut. Dacre.

Devonport Volunteer Torpedo Corps, under Lieut.-Commander Parker,Lieutenants, Davis and Robinson.

Devonport Coastguard Artillery, uuder Captain Napier, Lieuts. Gardner and Tarrant.

Auckland Engineers, uuder Captain Walker and Lieut. Johnston.

Waikato Mounted Rifles, No. 1 Company, under Lieut. Reid.

Waikato Mounted Rifles, No. 2 Company, under Captain Aubin and Lieut. Berry.

, Waikato Mounted Rifles, No. 3 Company, under Lieut. Wallis.

Victoria Uifles, under Captain Skinner and Lieut. Cox and Derrom. College Rifles, under Lieuts. Wither and McHardy.

Native Eifles, No. 1, under Captain Hutton and Lieuts. Potter and Gaudin.

Native Rifles No. 2, under Lieuts Ratjen and Warnock.

Auckland Rifles, under Captain Caughey and Lieuts. Gower and Boj'ce.

Native Rifles, No. 3, under Captain Baume.

Victoria Rifles, No. 2, under Lieut Knight.

Newton Rifles, under Lieut. Shaw. Onehunga, Rifles, under Captain McIntosh and Lieuts. Robb and Ward.

Volunteer Bearer Corps, under Brigade-Surgeon Lieut.-Colonel Dawson; other medical officers present being Surgeon-Major Walker and Sur-geon-Captains Lindsay, King, Naylor, Moir and Parkes.

St. John's College Cadets, under Lieut. Craddock.

King's College Cadets, under Lieut Stuckey.

Eighteen veterans, various ranks

Ministerial carriage, containing the Premier, the Hon. J. G. Ward and Mrs Seddon.

Ministerial carriage, containing the Hons. J. Carroll and A. J. Cadman, and Mr Geo. Fowlds, M.H.R.

Mayor's carriage, containing His Worship the Mayor (Mr D. Goldie), Mr J. H. Witheford (chairman Auckland Harbour Board), Richard Hobbs (chairman Auckland Education Board), and the Rev. W. E. Gillam.

First committee carriage, containing Messrs A. M. Myers, 11. T. Gorrie, J. Kirlcer, and R. .11. Hunt,

Second committee carnage, containing Messrs J. H. Upton, L. D. Nathan, Dr. J. Logan Campbell, and Rabbi Goldstein.

First vice-reg-al carriage, preceded by escort of Auckland Mounted Rifles, and containing Lady Constance Knox and Captain Wilfred Smith (private secretary to Lord Beauehamp).

Second vice-regal carriage, containing His Excellency the Governor, and the Countess of Ranfurly, Lord Beauchamp (Governor of New South Wales), and Captain Dudley Alexander^ private secretary to Lord Ranfurly).

Garrison Band, under Bandmaster Hunter.

Auckland Rough Riders' Contingent, under Captain F. W. Abbott, Lieuts. G. H. Walker and W. Thomson.

THE PREMIER'S SPEECH,

Owing to the lateness of the hour at wl\ieh the Premier delivered his speech yesterday afternoon, our report was necessarily curtailed. The following- is a full text of the speech:—"Your Excellency, ' officers, non-commissioned officers, and members of the Fourth Contingent, it gives me great pleasure indeed to be with you on this great occasion. Before speaking, I will read to you some communications which I am sure you will listen to with great pleasure." Mr Seddon then read a number of cablegrams (published yesterday), messages from Her Majesty, Lord Roberts, and the Premier of Natal. These were received with great applause. The Premier continued: When His Excelhicy mentioned the name of that great soldier Lord Roberts, every heart swelled with pride. The little ones of New Zealand conveyed to him their good wishes, and amidst all his cares, worries and anxieties, he has found time to thank them for their congratulations. Later on the populace in the centres of our grand old Motherland will welcome him back, our Sovereign and Parliament will heap upon him all the honours it is possible to heap all the glorious a soldier and patriot. Joy will be there, and let us hope that it will to some extent assuage the anguish our Queen must suffer knowing- the great loss she has suffered in the Transvaal. To-day, however, the circumstances are much altered since His Excellency and I and others were in Canterbury sending off the Third Contingent. At that time our forces in South Africa had met with reverses, and all we could hope and pray for was that success would attend their efforts, and each and all expressed the determination which Is paramount in the breast of every true Britisher that we must g-o on no matter what reverses were met with, and the reverses and adversities experienced in South Africa had only proved that those ''■ fighting the country's battles there were as true as those in the colony, and as determined that success must attend their efforts. (Cheers.) Last week came news of the surrender of Cronje, and then of the relief of Ladysmith, but don't think for a moment, lads, that because Cronjle and his troops are prisoners, and Joubert has crone back, that the fighting in South ; Africa is over. You have stiff workbei£>re you. Go away with a determination to take a glorious part in the struggle. (Cheers.) Did It not make the hearts of all' lovers of our country ; swell with pride when the news came of the heroic fighting under General Buller, and did it not bring tears to the eyes to read .of the hardships endured by the gar- ; rison imprisoned in Lady smith. These men would go down to history as the ideal of our race.'They were living on small rations, sickness was in their midst, but notwithstanding this, ! they kept a bold front to the enemy I and held out -till succour came, and toi day each and all of .us rejoice that

General Buller relieved Ladysinith. There is rejoicing all over the Empire to which we belong. Auckland is only true to its traditions to-day, and this ia only the natural outburst that might be expected. Auckland was for years a military centre of our colony. We have the veterans in our midst, and the youth and pride of the district are only following in the footsteps of their fathers, proving themselves worthy sons of worthy sires, and carrying with them the love of mothers, whose only hope is that they will be true to the traditions from which they spring". We have been making history very fast for the last two or three months, and the story of this scene would be a very bright page in the history of the colony, and it will be looked on as a bright page.in the history of the Empire. This is bringingus closer to our beloved sovereign, if that were possible, and is bringing us into closer touch with our kindred at Home. A.few years ago those writing of current events could never have contemplated that Aye should have had a message such as the one just received from the Queen, or that the FieldMarshall commanding our forces would have conveyed his thanks to the children in this distant part of the Empire. In the history that we are now making is a departure, but in that departure is our strength; it ia strengthening the bonds of union that bind" us together in the maintenance of our Empire, and that grand old flag, the Union Jack, that ever'floats over the free. There have been those who carp at and criticise the British Army, but I have always held that they were doing- their best. T held that the'section of the press in the Mother Country who adversely criticised The actions of our generals were doing them an injustice. I will take you back a few years. It took Her Majesty's forces two years to go from Auckland to Mercer, a distance of only 40 miles, i and that ag-ainst the Maoris, whose arms and positions could not be compared with those o£ the Boers. Gauging then by this, we come to the conclusion that there has been no deterioration in the British Army. Coming to the cause of the quarrel, was it just? The answer must now be yes. (Cheers.) At first there wore those who held the opinion that the British Government was forcing the Boers into an unfair position, but events had proved to adverse critics that there were only two courses open to Britain, either to uphold her flag and her Empire, or to suffer dishonour. For years those whom we had befriended, had, under the guise of friendship, been arming with the object of wresting from the British nation the territory under their flag. They waited their opportunity, they sent their ultimatum, and they got their answer, and the time is not far distant when that answer shall be complete. Our first trouble with the people was that we abolished slavery. That was the cause of the hatred of our people in South Africa ■and the groundwork of the quarrel. You members of the contingent think what you have to do in sustaining a country and supporting an Knipire that said there shall be no slavery. There is one thing our enemies nevtfr calculated upon. They never thought the colonies were so powerful as they are, to help our kindred, and to aid the Empire. it is true New South Wales sent a contingent to the Soudan, and that we offered one for Samoa, but when wo sent our first contingent they said it was only for moral effect. The stand our men have taken has dispelled that notion. They had fought, and when their ammunition was used up they had pelted the Boers with stones. Victory to our arms means the maintenance of our Empire. Defeat means decay, but there must be n'.o decay so long as we have men like you of our contingent capable of bearing arms, and only waiting the opportunity of proving that they will do or die. Nominally, we are only fighting the Boers, but I aayit with a due sense of the responsibility. Where did the arms and ammunition come from? Where did the officers come from? Behind the Boers are the enemies of our race and of our country, and it is them tha.t we have to fight against. It is that that is causing some anxiety at the present moment, and your fathers never cared for them in the past, and you shall not care for them in the future. (Cheers). Men of the contingent, do your duty, emulate those of your kindred, the other sons of New Zealand wh:o are now at the front. Your mothers are like Spartan mothers, and your fathers are also like the heroes of Sparta. You are about to proceed to join the Imperial army, your comrades have so comported themselves that those in the British array, from the men their comrades to the "commanders respect the New Zealanders. Follow in the footsteps of those wh;o have gone before you, and yoti will also command their respect, and I hope to see you mentioned in the despatches as the other New Zealanders have already been mentioned. You are taking your lives in your hands, fight to uphold the Empire, and our supremacy. Now that the tide had turned in onr favour other nations said Britain must not set aside the republics. We in New Zealand would have something to say about that. The blood of New Zealand's sons had been spilt. Men who cannot go themselves have provided the means of equipping the contingent, and as we have all borne our share of the work we must tell those other nations, as we must tell those controlling affairs of our mother land that the Republics in South Africa are a menace to the British flag and to the British nation. They have waited the opportunity before and will again. We must place them .in such a condition that there will be no further necessity of spilling our blood. We have taken our part in the battles, and I hope they will consult us with regard to future doings in South Africa. Nothing has given me greater pleasure since I have "been in the colony than t:o have the honour of saying good-bye to the several contingents, and I can give yon this assurance, that a fifth contingent will follow after you. The British Government has asked f.or 500 men. I said yes, and if they asked for we should send 5000 men. It, is almost painful to me, as it is to Col. PolePenton, to have to refuse so many men Avho ate volunteering. We made no mystery about the request from the Imperial Government, there was no alarming request. We went quietly to work, and we have the men in camp, and almost as you leave New Zealand we will send the fifth contingent after you. More remounts were, ! wanted and we sent them. When you lin Auckland first talked of sending remounts we pointed .out that barebacked horses were not so good as a contingent. The committee set to work land this glorious send-off is.the result !of their efforts. I take this opporjtunity of thanking them for the patIriotism they have shown and the good

work thej- 'have done. May you men of the contingent distinguish, yourselves as true soldiers iof the Empire, and we will welcome those of you who come back with greater honour than we sent you away. Good luck to 3 Tou, and God-speed.