THE GOVERNOR'S DEPARTURE.

Evening Post, Volume XLII, Issue 129, 27 November 1891, Page 2

THE GOVERNOR'S DEPARTURE.

— «• — — An animated jlisqussion w(is,evoi;od \n the City Gonnoil last cv wring, Wy & renplutynii of the. Mpvgr {%',A'..W, Bwf'i;', "That this Conijcil "'lly appreciates tho able manner in *.Vhich His Excqllcnqy the Earl of Onslow lias discharged his duties as Governor of this colony, and recognises the great interest ho has taken in tho affairs of the colony, and in regretting his approaching departure, trusts His Excollcnoy and the Gounte a 8 ttlfty be spared to a lonif fwu\ hrDspe^ouß dai'etfr." His Woijsliin p^ifiiet' w"'x, that Uthor fifties in tha wrto*!**, liau jjimscd resolutions of farewell to His Kxcelloncy, .and it would ill bocomo the capital city not to do so. Councillor Petherick (to the Mayor) — I am astonished that you should have proposed Buch a resolution. Councillor Fraser seconded tho motion. Councillor Smith said that ho oould not agree with the resolution. Whatever His Excellency's political .virtues we*o, it was certain that Bopjaljj- hq; haa, behaved very badly io .Weljingtoa., .The peoplp of WollingtoH Kid been more severely snubbed by Lord Onslow than they could have beon had he been tho Prince of Wales. Without disrespect to the Governor, but with some disrespect to tho man, ho would Bay that lie had proved {also to the position in which he had been placed by Her Majesty. He had aotod disloyally and broken his trust by showing diutinotly that ho thought the . pepblo •nf Wellington w) f1;:('.?1(1t f 1 ;:('.? 1(1 t (ij t« as&oiato with him' mv'Tj c aim associate with the pooplo of Auckland and Chrifctchurch because they toadied to him. He (Councillor Smith) had | thought the people of "J^a^ Wou H stjvna at p n(s ftn( j not make fools of themselves by passing such a motion. He did not blame tho Mayor for bringing forward tho resolution, because it was perhaps his Worship's duty to do so, but he (tho speaker) asserted that tha citiEons did not want such a resolution passed. Councillor Petliefiok, who followad, wtts even stronger 1 in his remarks. The 1 Governor, he said, had treated th 6 pp.ople Of Wel : lingtoa vciy btidly , &H Jubilee t)ay, and had also sllghtdd the tlicn Mayor of WolJijigtdit fey not attending the picnic given by that gentleman; On 1 Jubilee Day tho Governor boM:airiJy went tip ipth&Basm Hesorvo, br.yie.cid not nil* fjteely with the peqplp\ rtm' lie dido to-ljsten to Major 4-nmp and other distinguished Midori ohiefs, who wished to addres.s him, although they had come long distances for the purpose of doing so. By going away on the morning of the p.icnio Lord Onslow gave tho Mayor a very nasty knopk. Hi's Exoellency not only msnitod, tho natives, but ho also insulted the JjUbiJoo ■ .Cqmmittoe, . of which ho (Councillor Petherick, one of tile Old residents of Wellington) was a membor. Tho resolution now before the Council was totally uncalled for, and ho advised tho Mayor to withdraw it. Lord Onslow was not alono to blame for discourteous conduct, as Lady Onslow had insulted tho factory girls, of Diuicdin, by inviting thorn tO'GovernniontHonsq In order to daneo with French m'on-of-warsmen, for whom she thought her own sorvants too good. It was not becoming of the Mayor to laud a man who had not proved himself worthy of laudation. Tho Governor had dono nothing for Wellington) ho had stayed away from it idieHev'fir" 110 aould j and had ho not branded it fts a city of typhoid, not fit to lite In P , oouncillBr Willeßtpii corisidtfied it a greqt pity that this fyntroTeray hod iiriset. Tt wdiild li'dvtj b'eoa better 1 td haVo lot tUo dovefnoi: leave without pouring such a tirade upon him. Councillor Fraser was also sorry that tho discussion had taken place. The Council might not agree with all the Governor had done, but there was no reason whatovor why they should not bid him farewell. It was not wise or dignified on their part to return evil for evil, If evil they had received, which he Very milch questioned. He did not think that the GtoVeWdr h^d behaved so badly on Jubilee Day as Cduncillar Fetlieriok had" tried to make out. He was on the Basin BesSrVd that day. There was a very large 1 crowd of people, and thick smoke was pouring ovot tho ground) itrid with so niuch inconvenience He Wolldered that His ExCdllofldy r(?ni»i«G<l there sd ldng. Thero was, ho considered, no intention on 1 tho part of tho Governor to slight tHo Maoris. His Excellency wanted t3 (Speak" t9 thtf children 1 , and attci shaking hands wllfl sOffle Of tlie MlHn hSwtort j&er to where the little ones were siandiiig". L'ot'd Onslow was not, perhaps, the kind of man most colonists cared for, but ho was Her Majesty's representative, and was entitled to roßpeot. Lady Onslow had several times visitod tho Hospital, and the pationts were vory plcasod at the manner in which she troated thorn. Councillor Vogel said ha agreed with tho very nioe remarks which Councillor Frasor had made. ( Tho Council ought to be unanimous In bidding his E\cellonoy and Lady Onslow farewell. Ho quite agreed that perhapo Hift Excellency had not done all tllat lie fdlOUlft liflvS dOno for Wellington, but for all that the Co'dncil fihou-M hot tun discourteously. Tho rival claims" of AVel-" lington and Auckland had placed Him' in an ombarrassing position .oh Jubi ; Ipn Dnyi attd a3 lor living awa^ from Wellington, it was only human naturo to conceivo a distaste for tho place whoro ho had nearly lost his eldest son. Lord Cranley had suffered severely through an attack of typhoid in Wellington, and it was not surprising to find that Lord Onslow did not for that reason appreciate Wellington as much as he wonld otherwiso have done. He (Councillor Vbgel) knew for a fact that Lady Onslow was very much enohanted with New Zealand. Lord Onslow had dono the oolony good service by endeavouring to bring New Zoaland frozen mutton into favour in England, and all things considered, the Council ought not to refrain from bidding him good'byo. Councillor Worth said that this was an ago of sham and toadyism t and this was a very gribd. opportunity Of bidding- the Governor good byo. Hd (Coimrfllor Worth) should VHVy much like to say good byo to oth'or p'Cr*sons besides Lord Onslow. Sir Geo. Grey, when Governor, was not above walking down the stroet with ordinary peoplo. Lord Onslow was very peculiar in hie manner, but no doubt he could not help it. He was haughty by temporament. He (Councillor Worth) did not always admire tho actions of the present Mayor, but ho admired his Worship for bringing forward his motion, seeing that no one had been more snubbed by Lord Onßlow than the Mayor. Councillor Parsons hoped that the Council would bid tho Governor good-byo as representative of Her Majesty. Tho Mayor hoped that the resolution would be carried unanimously, as Wellington was the largest, city in the colony, and ought to bo loyal. If thfj rosdltition wufi paased with only one dissentient the fact would bo telegraphed all over the colony, and people would say that there was one idiot in the Council. Councillor Pethoriek took offence at this latter observation, and said that if there was one idiot in the Council it was tho Mayor himself. (Laughter.) His Worship went on to say that every Councillor would appreciate his difficulty in i bringing forward the motion. Everybody j who knew him knew he was a Eadical of tho I Eadicals. (Councillor Petherick— ln tho dark.) Thero was nothing of the toady in him, but there were duties devolving on the I Mayor which must be carried out whatever | wore his private feelings. He did not wish to say, however, this particular duty was forced upon him. Thero was nothing effusive or fulsome in the motion. [ After aome furthor remarks from the Mayor, who replied, defending the Governor from somo of the charges made by Councillor Petherick, tbo resolution was put and carried \ almost unanimonsly.