COMPLIMENTARY BANQUET AT METHVEN

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14326, 11 April 1912, Page 7

COMPLIMENTARY BANQUET AT METHVEN

AN ENTHUSIASTIC GATHERING

(BY nt-R SPECIAL REPORTEK.)

METHVEN. April 10

A well-descn-cd compliment to the ex-member for Selwyn, Air C. A. C. Hardy, was paid this evening by Unpeople ot the Alethven district, which is part of tho Selwyn constituency. Air Hardy was the guest nt a complimentary banquet by a very* large mini- < ber of residents. The gathering. I which was attended by over two hun- | dred ladies and gentlemen, was an c.\- j ceptionally cordial one, and indicated in the most pleasing f-uhinn the esteem ! in which Air Hardy personally is hell j in the Alethven district. Among those j present were the Leader of the Oppo- ■ sition, and Messrs AA". Noswnrthy (Ash- j burton), E. P. Lee (Oamarui. and F. Smith (AVaitaki). member-, of the Re- • form Party. The chair was occupied < by Air P. Druainiond. senr. ~ The : gathering was a very representative ■ one, many oi those present having ■ travelled long distances in order to h; , present to do honour to the man who ! had so faithfully served the con- | stituency and the country <iuring his i twelve year., term of Parliamentary ! lilt*. Owing to another encagement. Air James Allen. ALP., found it im- j possible to be present. Tho company ■ sat down to an excellent dinner, and ; then a short list ol toasts was ' honoured. A number oi apologies were received, among them being one ; from. Mr John Studholme. who tele- , graphed that the organisers of thi.* ' public recognition of Mr Hardy's loitj*. and faithful services deserved their , heartiest thanks, and he hoped thai Air Hardy's services would be again availed of at the first opportunity. The i sentiment contained in thi,-. message j was most heartily endorsed by the audience. Apologies were also re- j ceived from Alessrs R. Heat on Rhode.*-, i James Allen, and AY. J. Dickie, mem- I bers of the House. '■

The toa*;t of "Our Guest" was simply proposed by the chairman, without the usual accompaniment of a laudatory speech. The audience, however, rose splendidly to the occasion, and Air Hardy was the recipient of an ovation, which would have profoundly moved most men. The chorus "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" was sung with enthusiasm, and Avas followed by round after round of tho heartiest cheering. Air Hardy said that both ho and Airs Hardy were exceedingly pleased to see tho splendid gathering assembled to do honour to him. Ho had attempted whilst thoir representative to do his work in a quiet, unassuming manner in the interests not only of his constituents, but also of the w-hole of the Dominion, (.\pplause.) AVh**n first returned he toid his constituents; that he was not, aud would never be, a speaker. He only wished that ho could express the ideals of tho people. He had therefore to content himself with being th© "silent" member, and speaking only when necessity arose. He was glad that his Leader. Mr Massey, was present. (Prolonged cheering.) If they knew a., inch about Air Massey as he did, they would recognise "that he was tho man for tho people, and that they could trust him. (Applause.) He could assure them that the talks bo had had with Air Massey during the time he (Air Hardy) was AVhip, were concerned less with party affairs than with affairs affecting the Dominion as a whole. The Opposition was sometimes accused of being captious critics, but their attitude was not animated by a spirit of captiousness, but becauso they felt that the.other side was on the wrong track. The chairman was hinting that he was on this occasion speaking too long, and as he had to speak later, be would reserve his further remarks.

The toast of "The Reform Party" was proposed by Air F. Paws'on. who said that the Party were not the old Conservative Party in new clothes; they wero a Liberal and progressive party, and were out for honest and clean administration. (Applause.) They had had a long fight against big odds, but they had achieved a very considerable amount of success, and if it had not been for Selwyn's decision to swap horses in the middle of the stream, Mr Massey would probably have been with them in a capacity other than that of tho "Leader of the Opposition that night. (Applause.) SPEECH BY AIR AIASSEY. Mr Massey w-as received with prolonged cheering and applause. He thanked the company for their hearty reception of tho toast. He was exceeding pleased to see such a splendid gathering to do honour to Mr Hardy, who had represented them thoroughly and well, and whoso services, in tho words of one of those who had sent an apology, were too valuable to the country to permit of him retiring into private life. (Applause.) Ho was glad to see that they agreed with him. As far as the Reform Party was concerned he could speak about it with somo authority. This day was an anniversary with him. as it was just eighteen years since he had been elected member for Waitemata. (.Applause.) He had been connected with the one party all those years, and he Ai-as proud of it, and of the men with whom he had been associated, both in and out of the House. He felt good enough for another eighteen years, and perhaps for a good deal longer (applause). He had been one of the rank and file of the party for some years and became its leader just prior'to the election of 1906. It was after that election, when the party was in a weak condition, that he felt that it was part of his life's work to re-establish the party. He had worked to that end and to establish a party that would work for the good of the country—a true Liberal Party, not a sham Liberal one, a Democratic Party and a Progressive Party. They had kept that object steadily in view. Sometimes they had been defeated and sometimes they had been successful, sometimes they had been attacked in tho open and sometimes in the dark. He had no objection to an attack in the open from an opponent worthy of his steel ("applause). Tho party in Opposition had to contend with the r*xpenditure of public money, which was sometimes snent for party objects, and also with public patronage, which was sometimes similarly used. The result of the Reform Party's efforts came ;u December last, when the people returned the Opposition with a majority pledged to turn out the party in power The position of the party now was that there wen* thirty-eight good men and true in the party who intended to do the best they could for the country ..» which they belonged and to the people they represented. They did not pro fe-ss to "bo saints or angels, but he could say that their first thought was not for "themselves but for the people (applause). He appealed, as the leader of tbo party, for the support to which the Reform Party were entitled He predicted that within the next few months there would not bo an electorate which would be without a strong branch of the Reform Party established in it Capplause). He again thanked the company for their reception of the toast. (.Applause).