OPENING OF THE PORT CHALMERS RAILWAY.

Evening Star, Issue 3078, 31 December 1872, Page 2

OPENING OF THE PORT CHALMERS RAILWAY.

About 150 ladies and gentlemen accepted Messrs Oliver and Proudioot's invitation to proceed by special train to Port to-day, to witness the formal opening of the railway. At half-past twelve, the Governor, accompanied by lady Bowen and the Misses Bowen, his Honor the Superintendent, Major Pitt, A.D.C., Captain Machell, the lion. Dr, Buchanan, &c,, arrived, and immediately the train, which was drawn by the Rose, gaily decorated, started. A stoppage was made at Burke’s brewery, the Port bong reached a few seconds before one o’clock At the Port terminus wore assembled the Mayor and Corporation, together with a Mr sprinkling of the townspeople, while the ships alongside the Railway Pier and in the stream profusely displayed bunting _ tin his Excellency alighting from his carriage, he was addressed by the Mayor of Port Chalmers (Mr Dench) in a few well-chosen words, to which Sir George replied as follows :

Mr Mayor and Gentlemen,—-I thank you for the kind terms in which you have just spoken regarding myself; and I have to congratulate you on the completion of this important work, which connects the commercial capital of the Colony with the principal Port of the Province. 1 hope that the working men employed on this railway, and on the other railways now in progress or approaching completion in the Colony, will find happy homes for themselves on those broad lands open in this colony for agricultural purposes, and 1 would have them remember that under the expansive freedom of our Colonial institutions, even more surely than in the parent isles, Britain opens for all her sons a cheering prospect of wealtli and fame, if genius be combined with virtue and industry. 1 now declare the railway to he formally open for public traffic. (Cheers.) Cheers were then given for his Excellency, Lady Bowen, and family, for the railway, and, at his Excellency’s request, for the Port. The vice-regal party then proceeded down the railway pier, when it was intimated by Mr Dench that advantage would be taken of Lady Bowen’s visit to get her to christen the pier. This her ladyship consented to do, and the customary bottle of champagne having been produced, it was broken, the pier being named at the same time the Lady Bowen'Pier. The return to town was done in 22 minutes, the quickest journey yet made. The vice-regal party and the promoters’ guests then proceeded to the University Hall, where THE LUNCHEON Was laid. The chair was occupied by Mr Oliver, general manager of the railway and one of its promoters, and he was supported on his right by the Governor and Sir F. D. Bell, and on his left by the Superintendent and Judge Chapman. About 10 > gentlemen sat down to a cold collation, served in Host Jones’, of the Club, best style. The orchestra was occupied by Mr West’s band. After the doth had been removed The Chairman proposed the toast of “Tire Queen,” which was enthusiastically received.

Mr Justice Chapman, in proposing the next toast, spoke as follows : 'I he chairman has requested me to propose what I think I may call the toast of the day. I find by the cards that this luncheon, as we may call it, though I dare say it will serve many of us as a dinner (laughter), has been given to do honor to hia Excellency Sir George Bowen, the Governor of this Colony (hear), soon, I am sorry to say, to be our Governor no longer, t have to propose “The health of the Governor,” and I think I shall be doing no violence to the feelings of the numerous meeting, it I request the permission of the chairman, and your permission, to add to it a sincere wish for the health and happiness of Lady Bowen and her family (hear) in the country to which they are about to proceed. I have no doubt, gentlemen, you will alnjost anticipate the difficulty I am about to shadow forth in proposing the health of a person who is present, 'this meeting is to do honor to the Governor, and if we did not think well of him, that is to say, if the U>() or 170 persons now present had not a good opinion of his Excellency, he would scarcely have been asked here to day, —(Hear). 1 am expected to satisfy the feelings and sentiment of all persons now present, and in doing that I must ncc ssarily deal with praise ; and if 1 fall short of the gencr 1 conceptions of those present, I shall fail to satisfy them. But there is a dilemma in this. 1 have to deal with praise of a person who is present, and I feel myself restrained by the danger and difficulty of violating good taste, and offending his delicacy by saying just so much as will satisfy the re quirements of the company* This is the difficulty 1 find myself m j I have to steer between two extremes. That difficulty is, however, considerably modified from the position which his Excellency holds. Had he been a mere private gentleman, and I had to propose his health, I should feci very little difficulty in the matter, and 1 would then say a good deal which I should be only too proud and too glad to say if he were not present. But, fortunately for us, his Excellency is before us in his public capacity ; he is our property, and we may deal with him with less delicacy than if we had to deal with si nip 1 e Sir George Bowen. He is Governor, and wo are entitled to pay something of him, though wc may slightly offend his taste and delicacy. I say we are entitled to say a great deal of him in his public capacity, which we would shrink from saying if \vo were dealing with the man. Now, let me ask why is it that we have just drunk the health of her gracious Majesty the Queen so enthusiastically ? Why is it in the present age, amongst Englishmen, whether they be Tories, Conservatives, Whigs, or something ipore ; or even Radicals or Democrats, that, in proposing her health, we are so enthusiastically loyal? I take it that the reason is that our Queen is the most constitutional monarch that ever sat upon the throne, (Applause.) I he loyalty which we should accord to a constitutional monarch is not mere cold loyalty, and the warm affection which wo feel for our Queen is no doubt generated by her domestic relations. I believe that the Queen of England and of these Colonies —therefore our Queen —is one of the lißSt of WIVCB, tV9 she was one of the best of daughters, ami one of the best of daughters as she is one of the best of women, (Cheers.) 1 guard myself against saying she is the best, because we have our English wives, mothers, and daughters, thousands of them, equally good ; but it is something to say of our Quecu that we

esteem, reverence, and love her, because she can take rank among the best families of her subjects, either as a wife, a mother, or a woman. (Oncers.) Not only does that reflect back on the constitutional character of the Queen—not only does it generate a great deal of our personal affection towards her—but it augments th- loyalty which EnMishmen feel towards their constitutional monarch. If that be the ease, if those are our feelings of loyalty towards our Queen in the circumstances which I have just described, is not a constitutional Governor entitled to our respect!—(Applause.) I hope my voice will reach Victoria. I think I am justified in saying this. lam not using the slightest flattery, f.»r 1 detest flattery, b ;t 1 am justilied in saying that, as the Queen has been one of the most constitutional Monarcha that ever sat upon the English throne, for the same reason his Excellency is one of the most constitutional Governors that ever took charge of the Colony. (Applause) >ie has been singularly fortunate in many respects; but, more than that, his services have been appreciated by the Home Government, which is not always the case. At all events, the Queen has been advised to confer upon Sir George what I may venture to call the best in all Colonial Governorship? wi’hin the gift of the Crown.— (< ‘beers.) It is a Colony which is peculiarly grati fying to a Governor who has tiny thing in him. It is an advancing Colony, as Sir George will find it when he goes there in 1873, and if he continue there his whole six years of office, at the end of that time he will leave it far more prosperous, far more populous, wealthy, intelligent, ami better educated than when he

found it. This is a gratifying circumstance to a man of honorable ambition. There is another circumstance to be considered. He will there be able to bring his charming family, without fear of pestilential vapors endangering their health. I trust, therefore, that under all the cirminstances that he will find where he is about to go, there will not only' be a field for his peculiar ambition—bigh and honorable aspirations I should rather call them—and that it will contribute to the health and happiness of Lady B »wen and her family. 1 think lam justilied in asking you to couple that wish with the toast. (After some further remarks, his Honor resumed his seat amid loud cheers).