THE PREMIER AT NELSON.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1728, 17 February 1874, Page 2

THE PREMIER AT NELSON.

At the banquet given to the Hon Mr Yogel, at Nelson, on the 10th inst., in reply to the toast of his health Mr Yogel thanked the meeting for the hearty manner in which the toast had been received, and the flattering character of his reception in Nelson, which^at one. time might be looked upon as the centre of the strongest opposition, yet dow it accorded to him a welcome which he felt to be of fair and honest approval. (Cheers.) ;_lfc was exceedingly gratifying to him to experience, and it was equally pleasurable to him to find such signs of a change of opinion — (Cheers)— -and a recognition of that policy of colonisation with which he had become identified. It was only natural that at first this policy should have been coldly received here, inasmuch as the policy of Nelson was of an opposite character. (Laughter.) He was quite s are they would much rather he should speak plainly and frankly on this ocoa«ion than utter compliments that had no sincerity in them. (Cheers.) There were two different types of colonisation,: one which sought for the early pioneers an undue division of the wealth they were developing, who felt a dread of future taxation and a disinclination to burden posterity, the other type attached a value to their Waste Lands, and incurred liability without considering it any hardship to tax those who came after. the coloniser, if they were put in possession of a property which enabled him fully to meet those liabilities... Say that .these two types were represented by the Provinces of Canterbury and Nelson ; indeed, he believed, it was at first intended to place the pioneers of this settlement in Canterbury, and it was only by the arbitrary determination of Governor Hobson that its present location was fixed. Nelson, if he might be excused the pun, was "Hobson's Choice" from the first. (Laughter. ) All who watched these two types should ask themselves this question, "If Nelson had been Canterbury and Canterbury Nelson, what would have been the result now?" He could not help thinking that : the Nelson policv^ would have left Christchurch in the; sam^ position that Nelson is deploring for herself now. With all heir lands parted with at a nominal price, no tunnel from the port to the chief town, no public works, nothing in fact to show the r advantages of borrowing money. On the other side, 'had the Canterbury' policy been carried out in Nelson, there -might have, been a capital road and perhaps a railway through the Province, no part of it, like the Amuri, completely cut off from the rest, and the chief city, without having formed the object of any particular care, the natural outlet of a large and prosperous country*" JEfif had heard Bince his arrival here of a general wish to pursue an opposite coursetto that hitherto followed. People said, "We have failed ■in one policy, let us. try the other.!' (Laughter.) But it must be remembered ; that the work of years could not be effected in a few days. We must not expect immense radical changes and large borrowings atafew hours' notice. The adoption of another policy had found impatient en-, thusiasts in the new direction, add somW now talked of the necessity of carrying out large works "this summer;" but he would ask how many summers they were content to abide in their former condition ? (Cheers and laughter.) He could not be, expected to give an indication of the future policy of the Government, but liewould not be indiscreet in saying that he thought it, and the Assembly, could not fail to see that this Province possessed every claim to an assistance and to share in a policy which had been extended to v other Provinces. (Cheers.) He had looked very carefully through the projects of our Council, and he thought they had adopted a policy which would be the best ~ for it and for all successful colonisation. With regard to the through railway, Mr.. Yogel said it had been on the tapis for. mapy years, and Mr Curtis, had endea-' vored in every way to get it constructed. The Government were quite ready to perform their part of what hail been agreed upon with regard to it, and before next session would be in possession of the neoessary information as. ..to whether it ; could be done within anything like reasonable limits. With respect to the. late immigration" arrangement with' the Agent-General, Mr Yogel said that "i the Marlborough immigrants would come oh with our own instead of going 16 Wei-? lington ; that at the request of the Superintendent and Provincial Treasurer, 150 per month would be sent to Nelson,, irre- . spective of the nominated immigrants, who, he was glad to find, were to be in addition. For these suitable barracks and proper shelter would be provided, quarantine arrangements would have to be made, and other details arranged for. , the suitable keeping of these immigrants pending their gradual distribution all over the Province. (Hear, hear.) ~ Of the Province and its " immense mineral re- Z sources," Mr Yogel said large results might be expected to follow, without unreasonable delay, after our intercommunication plans were fully established and new blood and renewed energy present. Nelson in many of its social forms might claim to be an example. Our. educational - institutions were frequently referred to as such, and he was glad to find that we had not allowed water and gas to go into the • hands . of . Joint Stock Companies, but would ultimately enjoy, as public properties, advantages which many- large cities were paying large Bums for. (Cheers.) Of the beauties of the city Mr Yogel said ; he could not say too much. Anyone who could find fault with it must be hypercri'ical indeed, it reminded him of those Frequently quoted lines from Byroij's Bride of Abydos : — ' •■• '' ■ ; Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine, i And all, save the spirit of man, is divine. He believed in Nelson— we had a paradise at our hands. (Cheers.) A child whose parents had neglected him, when at length sent to school, made immense progress, and" this was the parallel for Nelson (great- laughter) ; but he hoped we should not view the matter as a scramble for money with the day of reckoning far off. (Hear, hear.) If we did so we were only half-hearted after all.. Tha expenditure we proposed to lay out on our estate was a perfectly right thing to do. No injustice was done to those who came after, as, we <•• left them a debt for which : they had al •? larger amount of which they could pay it;: = —(cheers)— and instead of. the cry of those who wished to run down this policy — that as soon as property rose in value {they ■ would sell out and let their successors bear the brunt— being true, there 'were • innumerable instanoes of their having in-

creased their stake in the country, ani hrotighout the Colony those wh threatened to be the first to clear ou vrere the very persons who were no\ seeking to increase their holdings It was a purely business matter, the re venuea of the Colony were so increaein; that the policy must be a success, if n< undue speculation were resorted to, am without the least approach to what M Anthony Trollope called b'owinp," Ne\ Zealand was bound to become a pros perous and successful Colony: (Cheers. It had been somewhere asserted that th< prosperity of the Colony was solely attr: butable to the improved value of wool but tkis was sufficiently answered by th< fact that the provinces which were th< most prosperous, were those which 'iac carried out the colonising policy in tin fullest manner. (Cheers.) Mr Voge concluded by saying he should be verj sorry if Mis Honor the Chairman though! anything he had said that evening had a personal reference. (Hear, hear, from Mi Curtis.) They had always a high respect for each other, and much that had been said did not apply to his Honor, who was not then in power. He had considered that at this meeting they would think the better of him if he spoke his mind frankly and fully ; they had borne him out in this idea, and he had done so. He trusted that on the next occasion of his addressing them he should be able to congratulate them upon possessing a Province as prosperous as any other in New Zealand. (Continued cheering.) To the toast of " The Ministry," Mr Yogel, for himself and the Minister of Public Works, the Hon. E Eichardson (who was incapable through severe cold of making himself heard) replied : — Mr Richardson wished him to acknowledge his sense of the very kind remarks made of him, and to express a hope that on some future occasion he (Mr Richardson) •would have the opportunity of addressing them himself. He would add to his previous remarks by saying that a successful Government meant hard work in every department. The charge of the whole of the affairs of the Colony was too onerous for it to be possible that two m three men could undertake the duty. Every membei of the Ministry held a responsible position, and success could only be ensured by each individual member doing his work faithfully and well. Much of the success of the public works scheme was due to the application, capacity, and energy displayed by Mr Richardson. The Government owed its acknowledgment to his Honor the Superintendent for the candid manner in which he had alluded to their public workpolicy in the opening address to the Provincial Council. His Honor, although not a supporter of the Government, had done justice to them by frankly expressing his approval of the manner ( For remainder of News see Ath page.)

in which the puMie works were being cafriefl'ont. and at t>ie patne time he had vindicated his (Mr Oiirtis's) owa opinions. They had drank the toast of the Ministry that evening with great enthusiasm, and from what he had seen here and in other parts of the Colony, the present Government stood high in thepublie esteem, and was eminently popular. (Cheers.) He would ask them, under any system of Government which finds favor with Britons, to whom Bhould belong the real power of the State? He thought their answer would be to the people themselves. (Applause.) After eleven years' experience in the Colonial Legislature he could say it was not so in this country, and what was the reason for it 1 Look at Gfeau Britain at the present moment. A general election of members of Parliament was taking place, and out of the seven hundred members to be elected he ventured to say that not twenty, not even ten held a sufficiently distinguished position, by a life-long attention to public affairs, to enable them to show the slightest hesitation in saying to which party they will give their support. If any one of them were to go to his constituency and say .that he would not pledge himself to support this side or the other he would not be elected, as it would be felt that it was endeavoring to take to himself that power which should by right belong to his constituency. Some very few distinguished men might venture to adopt an independent line, but it is recognised that independent membership meanß the taking from the people the power of deciding by what Ministry they should be governed, and placing it in the power of individuals who might be influenced by a thousand caprices for which there was no accounting. In this Colony a man comes to a constituency and says, "I mean to support measures and not men. So long as every action of the Government now in power meets with my approval I shall support them, bnt I will not bind myself to vote with them on all occasions." When he gets into the atmosphere of the Parliament House a hundred different influences are at work, and he turns up his speech to bis constituents, finds that he has reserved to himself the right to vote with or against the Government as he thinks best, and he exercises that right, thus taking out of the hands of those by whom' he was elected the power they should possess of saying under •which Ministry they wish to remain. Everywhere else a Ministry goes to the country when they consider themselves justified in so doing, but it is not so in New Zealand, and a Government sometimes goes out of office on a question which really does not greatly affect the people. But the people alone are to blame for this, for they have, by sanctioning such proceedings as he referred to, voluntarily deprived themselves of the power of deciding.. Let them place themselves in the position of a hardworked Minister, and here a Minister is hard worked, especially during the session, when work is done in three months that in other countries occupies six, and they wonldseethe difficulties he has to contend against. The system of government by telegraph was gradually growing. A telegram comes in from a certain district in the morning, and a reply is expected in the afternoon, whereas the question may be one that requires much time for consideration. Again Ministers think they may arrange the details of certain measures, a member whom they had gooa reasons to look upon as a legitimate supporter comes and says, " Oh, I don't like this measure, yon have the word 'whereas' here instead of 'h* eafter,' and Irauet vote against you." (Great laughter.) Then the whips are always at work, and they go perhaps to some vain member who had not .pledged himself to support the Ministry any longer than he pleased, but who perhaps had hitherto always voted with them, and they say, " What, havn't you heard what is going to be done ? Havn't you been consulted ? Really the Government are behaving very badly to you in not asking your opinion." And the vain member does what is wanted of him. He gets offended, goes to the Government, and says, " I do not consider that I have been treated with proper respect in this matter ; I shall vote against yo_v M ■ This was far from being a desirable state of thinga. There were difficulties in the way of a newly-elected Minister appealing to his constituents. In accordance with every theory of Government by the people, a man should always upon accepting so high an office under the Crown place his resignation in the hands of the Speaker, and go to his constituents for reelection. It surely was not humiliating for. men in New Zealand to declare their colors when everyone seeking a seat in tile English Parliament does it, and indeed would deem it beneath him not to do &o. He was speaking in the face of the fact that in eighteen months time there would be a general election, and he (Mr Yogel) would say to the people of New Zealand that they should be most careful in retaining in their own hancs the power of deciding to what Ministry they would entrust their affairs. He warned them against being .caught by any such shallow platitudes as independent membership, and recommended them to look carefully to what should be the very basis of constitutional Government, and not to part with a power to which they alone are entitled. The speaker concluded amid loud and renewed cheering.

The ' Sorts of Fortune are busily proceed* ing with the work of tunnelling under the falls of the Arrow river, Otago, where it is supposed so much gold is concealed. Judging | from the good claims that have been worked both above and below the falls, the falls themselves- should be very rich in the precious metal. The falls are not a natural depression of the bed of the river, but are formed by an enormous slip of rocks from a neighboring hill, and which has completely filled up the river bed ; under these circumstances the Sons of Fortune may possibly be so in reality as well as name. A correspondent of an Otago contemporary says :— "The Arrow Flat Company are busily engaged sinking their chaf t, .but as to their getting gold or the prospects of their doing so lam unable to say. It must be some ten years since I saw any active mining operations carried on here, while the ground has since been buried tip tCvAvery great <iepth by the debris from the workings higher up the Arrow river. The affairs of this company may, therefore, be said to be purely a venture. There is everyprobability of gold existing in large quantities, while, using a mining' phnuw, the company might be ' duffered I