FAREWELL DINNER TO SIR JAMES FERGUSSON.

Globe, Volume I, Issue 79, 1 September 1874, Page 3

FAREWELL DINNER TO SIR JAMES FERGUSSON.

The members of the General Assembly entertained his Excellency Sir James Fergusson at dinner on Friday evening last in the chamber of the House of Representatives. The Hon Major Richardson presided, his Excellency the Governor being seated on his

right, and Mr Vogel on his left. After the health of “ The Queen ” and “ The Royal Family ” had been duly honored, the chairman proposed the health of his Excellency the Governor. The toast was drank with marked enthusiasm.

His Excellency the Governor, who on rising was received with loud and prolonged applause, as reported in the Aew Zealand Times, said—Mr Chairman and Gentlemen ; I assure you that I feel it a very high compliment to be entertained in this most handsome manner by the members of the two Houses of the General Assembly. When, as you, Sir, have said, the news came very suddenly to the colony, that at a comparatively early period of my term of office, I had resigned it, I could not have wondered had the effect been a feeling of great surprise, or even had it been one of disapprobation. It is, therefore, most gratifying to me to have paid to me such a compliment as this, which would have been a high tribute of honor even had I passed the whole terra of my appointment with the highest credit and honor. Perhaps no Governor, however distinguished, has had a higher honor paid to him. If 1 may allude for a moment to the terms of the speech of my hon friend the chairman, I might perhaps say that the announcement may, besides surprise, have thrown you into some confusion, because I cannot forget that my presence on the floor of the House may be something more than a breach of order —almost a breach of privilege—but when I think that our chairman is perhaps as little known on the floor that he occupies, as myself, and that he may possibly feel at least as uncomfortable and as dependent as I do on your indulgence ; when I see the legitimate occupant of the position relegated to a corner ; and when the chairman goes still further and proposes, not only female suffrage, but also female members of the House—[hear, hear] —I may well tremble at the confusion I have wrought by this untoward termination of my office most unaffectedly. But, gentlemen, may I say that this compliment on your part is not only gratifying to me, as enabling me to hope that you have given me credit for an earnest desire to do my duty faithfully to the colony—(Applause) —but because, believe roe, it will be reassuring to those elsewhere who take an interest in my career, and to whom so early a retirement might seem ambiguous; but you, gentlemen, to whom a Parliamentary career has been so attractive, that you have devoted to it your best energies, can understand how one who has been for many years engaged in that honorable task, has longed to return to it, has felt in a position, full of dignity and ease, perhaps, too little of an active character. Ido, indeed, doubt whether I am doing right ; I confess that the step I have taken has caused me many'misgivings, but there must be an account which everyone renders to his own conscience in the first place, and I have felt a doubt whether on the whole I was usefully occupying myself. Gentlemen, I may, as I say, have made a mistake, and in great steps in life man must often feel a doubt —(Applause) —but I assure you, gentlemen, had I thought that any interest whatever wonld suffer from my retirement, no personal consideration would have induced me to decide

upon it—[Applause]—and although wishing not to trespass too long upon your attention * 'on this point, I would nevertheless plead on my own behalf that in resigning a position of much honor anywhere, but which in this colony is always treated with special respect, and in returning Home, where to regain a seat in the House of Commons involves in the first place, the gaining of the confidence of a constituency, cannot at all events be reckoned as purely a selfish motive, [Hear, hear,] And, gentlemen, I do know that he who is to succeed me is one worthy of all your respect and confidence. [Applause.] He is a nobleman possessed of abilities much greater than my own; one whom it has been my privilege for many

years to know ; one whom I sat with many years ago in the House of Commons ; and one who I am sure will be found not only equal to any difficulty in which he may be placed, but who will soon win and retain your regard. [Applause.] Thus, gentlemen, I trust I may carry with me those sentiments of friendship which I hope I have gained, and which I trust I may always retain from many in the length and breadth of the colony. It is true the time I have been among you is so short, that there are many whom I now address with whom my acquaintance will still be slight, but, notwithstanding, I have seen enough of New Zealand to know how many men there are in it worthy of a high career, and who have the interests of their country at heart, and of whose friendship any man might be proud. Of one thing gentlemen let -me assure you, that whether it be my lot to regain the envied position of a seat in the House of Commons or not, I hope to do mj duty to the best of my ability in a private station, and I shall always have a most anxious desire to serve the colonies, with which for the last six years I have been honorably connected, andjespecially to serve this colony, in which I shall always take a deep interest, and for which I see so great a future. (Applause), No one, even the least profound of observers, will doubt that New Zealand is only at the commencement of its career of prosperity. As yet you have had great difficulties to content with — difficulties varying in their nature but of a very severe character—.and even now, when so much has been surmounted, those who live at a short distance from the sea coast arc laboring under great disadvantages; but to anyone who has visited the various quarters of this colony, it must be evident that in proportion as means of communication are rendered more easy, the increase of the population and the prosperity of the colony must go on with rapid strides. As each section of your railways, laid out as they are on a uniform and comprehensive plan, is opened, I am certain that great results will constantly be experienced. The settler will obtain a readier market for his industry, will procure his supplies more cheaply and readily, and trade

must be enormously increased and population more readily and profitably placed upon the land, [Applause.] I believe, and I may say that it was a remark made by an old friend of mine, a man not undistinguished in the world—the Governor of Tasmania —who managed in the short period of his visit to see a great deal of the colony—he wrote me on the eve of his embarkation, that from what he had seen of New Zealand he could not doubt that it would justify almost any expenditure on works of intercommunication. Gentlemen, comparing this co’o-’v with the neighboring continent of Australia —and 1 have visited portions of nearly all the colonies —I have always felt since I have been in New Zealand, that comparing their relative advantages, land in Now Zealand is at this moment much cheaper than land in Australia. I speak of facts well-known to most of you ; and if you consider that average pasture-land in Australia will hardly carry one sheep to three acres, while land, even when newly-cleared in New Zealand, can do more than this ; but with the expenditure of £2 or £3 per acre, an acre can carry four, five, or six sheep, and yet the price of land here is not more than it is in Australia, while much greater results can readily be obtained. [Applause.] That is not all, for in many parts of the colony wheat can be raised to double the extent per acre that the best wheat growing colony of Australia can produce. [An Hon Member— Treble the amount.] My hon friend on my right says, treble the amount ; but I wish to be within the mark—and in this North Island, for which I believe there are prospects, at no remote period, even brighter than those of the Middle Island, we have great tracts of valuable land on which, without doubt, crops can be raised, perhaps not of the same character, but certainly of not less value than those of the other island. We are opening out tracts which as yet have been hardly known, and which I am sure can accommodate a population manifold larger than that which we have yet received. I need only allude to the very great resources of the colony—its valuable minerals of all kinds ; its coal, which will enable the colony to compete with any part of the southern hemisphere—a seaboard, on the whole, not inconvenient —a climate well fitted to develop the vigor of our race to the fullest extent —[Hear] —I say no one can doubt that this great country is calculated to receive by degrees millions of our race—[Hear] —with all the happiest results that can flow from its natural advantages. (Cheers.) Well, gentlemen, if that be a true and moderate picture it seems to me that the great Assembly which I have the honor to address has before it a task not less important and far more onerous than those which have already been surmounted. This Parliament of New Zealand has had great problems to face; In the early days you have had difficulties which might have checked the progress of the colony for many years to come ; you have had most difficult and dangerous wars, and all the evil consequences which ensue. But I believe the colonists, from the very first, have never feared the result, and have you deplored the occurrences which in the early days brought the races into collision, but which we all now know can live in peace and amity. You have been always equal to the occasion, and since war and bloodshed have passed away, we hope and believe for ever—[Cheers] — you have matured measures for the development of your country, and to repair your past losses, which struck us elsewhere with astonishment by their boldness and magnitude ; you are sustaining those efforts, and determined to carry them out with a resolution which which shows you look to certain results for your justification. Won, gentlemen, it is evident tb»* the task you have before you will call for efforts, compared with which those you have already made are perhaps trifling. bums which at first seem alarming to a new community seem small when that community has doubled in extent, and has reaped the advantages which that expenditure has chiefly achieved. Who, in the year 1835, could have thought of an expenditure on railways in England of a sum comparing with the National Debt without alarm and disquietude, and yet we who now look upon these things so much as matters of course cannot estimate the alarm which even a portion of that expenditure caused to the last generation. Well, gentlemen, when we look at this great work which has to be done, which your fellow-countrymen look to you to carry out —I say, anyone who watches the public proceedings of this colony with a candid spirit must look to this Parliament with respect and with hope. I am drawing no invidious comparison, but say it without fear of contradiction that New Zealand is entitled to look with respect and pride upon the conduct of the great Assembly which represents her. [Hear.] I say, in this Parliament business is done with despatch, with dignity, and yet with due deliberation. There is an absence of all language which could cause regret to those who wish well to New Zealand, or which could cause ridicule in communities beyond the seas. I say it as a matter of great satisfaction to one who has sat as a spectator to observe the dignity and great business-like habits of this Parliament of New Zealand. Addressing an Assembly which contains so many members, from whom I might learn much, I would need to be chary in offering suggestions, *yct I trust you will believe I would scorn an attempt to flatter; I desire to say these few words with all sincerity, (Hear.) And gentlemen, let me say, in the years I have passed in the Australian colonies I hope 1 have learned much; indeed, one would be insensible if he did not learn something which would be useful for life in witnessing the struggles and efforts of great, new, and free communities, and one reflection I shall carry Home with me—a conviction, I should rather say—which might have been longer in coming upon me, is the great advantage which is conferred upon the working classes by easy circumstances, by the amount of wages which they earn, and by the shortness of the toil they undergo. I think no one can doubt that on the whole these conditions lead to the happiest results upon our population. [Cheers.] No one can compare a newcomer to this country with the working man going and returning in his working clothes to and from his daily toil without seeing the great change that is coming upon men of the same race and class since their arrival in the country. There is an independence of spirit, a dignity of manner—rthere is case in circumstances; there may be often self-indulgence, but I say there is very little excess; and I am not certain that the same amount of work is not done in a few hours at a high rate of pay as with long hours and very small pay. I have no doubt the progress of the country is

checked to a certain amount by the dearth of labor ; but of this I am sure on the whole, you will build up a nation. and have coming generations of a charrcler far higher and more sensible of their responsibilities because not crushed down by poverty. Here, the working man leaves his daily task, unexhausted in mind, with energy still sufficient to enjoy, it may be the family-circle, or it may be social amusements or mental improvement. But, at all events, he has something left in him to take pride in his dwelling, and more than than that he is not so tempted to resort to undue stimulants as the hard-worked and broken-down operative of other days. These are some of the causes which are at work at Horae where the working men arc undergoing a very great change, and you must not be surprised if your agents find difficulty in attracting to these shores great numbers of the best working men of England. We do not want to part with them. I can answer for it, as one who employs labor, that it is very difficult to get the labor we want at any price in the country places at home. Therefore—and I say it to you respectfully—do“ not scrutinise too severely those who come to your shores. I have pointed out the contrast between those who have lived here for some years and the men who cross the seas. Whatever may have been their antecedents, they will be found to turn over a new leaf in a new country. [Hear.] I have seen men in this colony who came from, perhaps, a class as unpromising as any for the purpose —I mean handloom weavers—and yet they have stood before me well filled-out, substantial men, earning daily wages and doing their duty in this community. I confess nothing has given me greater satisfaction than to receive a deputation of these men, who came to me at Invercargill to tell mo of their prosperity. I remember not many years ago I myself contributed, with scanty hopes of their success, to sending these poor fellows abroad. But, gentlemen, you will pardon me making a remark, which, on the eve of my departure, I should hardly venture to make ; it is that some of the institutions of the colony strike me as being inferior to those of Australia. (Hear.) In your gaols, asylums, and hospitals there is certainly an inferiority to be seen to the institutions I have been accustomed to see in the colonies of Australia which I have visited. I do not undervalue your difficulties, and yet I say I think you who have looked into these things will see that the condition of some of these necessary institutions is not so good as it ought to be. But whatever may be the course of events in this colony—and I will not assume there will be any important change in your institutions —I think this Parliament, if it has the good of the country at heart, will set its mind to make these institutions as good as they can be made—as good as those of the colonies around you. [Cheers.] I do not undervalue the difficulties you have had, nor do I forget that it is only two years since our institutions at home were rescued from a state not creditable to the country. How many years labor of devoted men did it take before education was provided for the people of England ? A whole educational generation —six years—passed away after a Royal Commission, of which I myself was a member, had reported on the terrible deficiency of Primary Education in the towns of Scotland ; and reported, as we did, that in the great city of Glasgow twothirds of the children of a school-going age, were not receiving education worthy of the name. I can remember when the Lunacy Commission reported. presenting a report that anp° l,cJ tlie people of the country , and many now living remember when the gaols of England were managed in an unscientific manner. Therefore, I don’t wonder, when I consider the special circumstances in your early days, that your institutions are not all that could be desired. Then, gentlemen, you have established principles and good models to work upon ; and I believe that reproach will lie upon the colony, which you will not endure for many years longer, if the judges of the colony are able to style the gaols of the colony as nurseries of crime, or any of your own members who have devoted themselves to the subject, arc able to point to any public institutions as unworthy of the cause to which they are devoted. [Applause.] But, gentlemen, I am sure I will be excused upon the only occasion on which I have the honor of addressing you if I express the deep conviction I have felt ever since I cameto man’s estate, that the duty of a legislative body is to see to the thorough education of the people of the country. [Cheers.] I know good work is being done in several provinces of New Zealand ; and I know also the scientific management of the schools and their generally efficient character, but there is no doubt that is not the case at present throughout New Zealand. (Applause.) The want of education and the want of zeal on the part of the people in the cause of education, give rise to much anxiety in the minds of many thoughtful men ; and whatever be the course of events in the colony, I am sure there is no subject of more importance than to see that before many years pass over there shall be no child living, except those living very remote from centres of population, who has not received a sound education. (Hear.) But, gentlemen, let me remind you, with all respect, that it is not sufficient to have a school in every hamlet, it is not sufficient to set apart funds for its maintenance, it is not sufficient to compel a child to attend it, but to see that those under whose charge the children are placed are thoroughly competent to teach them. It will not do for those to become schoolmasters with whom other trades have failed. (Hear.) Education, if it be not real will produce but poor effects; and a schoolmaster himself is of a highly honorable and scientific profession. The art of teaching must be taught, and it is not sufficient that children should be sent trooping to school for a certain number of hours every day, unless Parliament secs that the education that is given there gives a fair return for the money that is expended on it; and unless payment be made contingent on results, and these results be ascertained by independent inspection, you cannot for a moment depend that your education will be satisfactory. But. gentlemen, to have schoolmasters, which are absolutely necessary for the purpose, you must manufacture them for yourselves. The supply at home is not greater than the demand, and you must have the means of preparing your schoolmasters in the first place, and to make the profession one of honor, so that the most important profession in the country may attract a fair share of the best men to bo got. I was privileged in the province of Canterbury to lay the foundation stone of the first Normal School in New Zealand, and I was

glad to know that it was to be erected and maintained on a scale which might be expected to produce an adequate supply of schoolmasters, not only for that province, but also for others. 1 know that Otago is doing something in the same direction, but all New Zealand is not comprised in Otago and Canterbury. If 1 might take advantage of my position to do so, I would most earnestly commend this subject to your individual attention. It has often been said that in these young communities one prevalent evil and danger is undisciplined youth. In some countries this has risen to be an evil of great magnitude. How, gentlemen, is this evil to be guarded against and checked, but by home and school discipline. Home discipline the State cannot supply, but school discipline it is its solemn duty to secure. With abundant schools, with organisations such as are wholly within your means to secure, you will raise up a population to whom you may safely confide the destinies of the country, for I firmly believe that among an educated population, no matter how far the the franchise be extended, you may look for the only true panacea against class jealousies, and the only safeguard against national corruption. (Cheers.) I will trespass no longer upon your attention; perhaps I have almost abused my advantage—[No, noj—but I hope I can carry away from New Zealand with me, in taking leave of it, the thought that if I had done any good while here, short as my time has been, great has been my advantages; and gentlemen, in leaving these pleasant shores, believe mo, the tie that binds us will not be severed—[Cheers] and in many happy moments I shall be thankful to recal the proof of your esteem which you have this evening given me. [Loud and long-con-tinued applause.] The following toasts were also given : “ The Army and Navy,” “ Lady Fergusson,” “ The General Assembly.” After which the company broke up.