One People— One Dcstiny.
Sib Hbnby Paekeb' Speech. The President proposed the toast, " One People ~bne Destiny." Sir Henry, on risiug to hia feet, was received with great oheering, t and this, having eabsided, he Baid:— "My ■■-;.' J^Ord, -Ladies, and Gentlemen. I am about ; tof-K'you io drtuk ft toaßt whiob, I venture to say. is full of true meaning to thiß . gathering. ' lam about to: nek you to. drink the eentimeut, '* Ono people— one Destiny, 1 ' V. (Oheers.) I saw a ourioußiannqunoemont in V,. one of the , papers wbioh was to the effeot that Our good friends in London were wondering waat this could mean. Well, that prily shows that they ore only a little behind Aastralians in intelligence. (Laughter.) We know what it meanß. This gathering interprets what it meant-, and the resolutiona of the Convention now sitting in (Sydney will Bhow to all the world what it means. It means this -that in a few days the records of the census will show to tho world that Australia haß upwards of i ,000,000 of people, (Cheera.) And 4,000,000 of suoh people I— because when blowing our own trumpet we may fairly olaim not to be behind the other nationß of the earth. (Cheers.) Wo are not behind in adventure. We are not behind in the work of founding an empire. We are not behind in the pursuits of modern clviligation, and we are not behindhand in national faith. Already these new Aus>' tealian off-shoots of the mother-land havo : led the way in many great reforms, and our email Parliaments have Bet examples which the Imperial Parliament haa followed. ■•' ■ (Oheers,) But we are not assembled here o '■'. say muoh in the way of boastiag. We are assembled here to testify what we can do, and I am euro the representatives from the •■■'.. pther' colonies will acknowledge that we O « have ia marvellous capacity in getting up a <• ba&ojnet— (laughter) -and I am sure thoy will acknowledge tliat we have marvellous taste in the decoration of our assemblage, , '*:■ because, though our friends from Viotoria '.'■>-. feMtedue .right royally about this time last " yWi ; we did nob have one fair taoe looking •W down upon ua, suoh as we have to-night, ■.'; '(CUeetß ond laughter.) We have beaten our Viotorian friends at all events in the matter ? : of the^presence of the ladies, and I trust we ,ahaU show that we are equal to every de* i ,r_and made; upon üb. (Hear, hear.) Mow, ■it cannot be. denied, notwithstanding the ■'■'. unanimity that prevails here-it cannot be denied that we have carpers who qnestiou the wisdom of What we are doing. They Bay, in effeot, that we are strong enough in the v vision to look upon the sun, and they take .'Vottt their eye glasses aud Borew them into their ewe ..to look at what we look upon v j with the naked eye. (Oheers.) We who are ■ -■ •: ; aWr/ibled in this great cauße of Australian ? ''ftrfjjrraon can look Bteadily at the noon-day ;;. . : ! 'jWtttt and, y/Q-e&l not blink, We have no in>Vi-'■' flrasity in that direotion, and it does seem ; - O stiMige to nie, as it must aeem atrango to when we are engaged in the A*&>©a*aie of union, in the cause of peace, in the $0 WW ol neighbourliness, and iu the oause of it does eeem Btrango to us that £ft^oW'*ott should befjuestioned.onrobjeotsmis. and bur motives traduced. We ipAwft'oU that-ttrtlme has come for Aug. il/tialia.to torn} -rgfetft fedemtioa^lmpJy ; say Pft^ f ttPw!P» fprnnlon; Thoae
who are againßt ue muet be the promoief « of ' (Cheers,) We say that the time , Mn come when there should be only , peace 'and goodwill, and agreement between, these :Mi eat colonies. (Cheers.) That is our contention. Those who are against us miist be in favour ot the absence of peace, in favour of distraction, and turmoil, and dissebsion. , They cannot, if they disagree with us— they cannot be other than opposed to the objeots whioh we seek to attain, they cannot be other than opposed to the union of these great colonies, We seek to break down the barriers whioh have hitherto divided ns. They, if they oppose us, must seek to. keep up these barriers and keep us apart. Seeing that we have at tbis moment a population of upwards of four million people living in a land whioh is enringed by the everlasting sea, and a land that has no coterminous neighbour— seeing all this, we say that the time has oome wbon thiß Australian people Bhall be one. (Cheers.) And that this Aus tralian people shall be one now, henoeforth, and for ever. (Cheers.) Hence, therj, we say that ttys one people must make oommon I cause and inherit one common destiny. (Cheers.) . But does this imply any disloyalty to the empire of whioh we are a part ? (Cries of " No.") Does this imply any wanton and unnecessary attempt at Betting up an independent Government? I ooatend that it means nothing of the Bort, but it does mean that this great Australian people, increasing day by day, and year by year, increasing not only in number but in all the power whioh is oonferred by bring* ing soienoe as a harnessed steed into our service, and by bringing to bear upon, our fortunes all the elements of adva'noed civilisation— l oontend it means jthat thia people, with all these ad* vantages, desire to live aB one people, and to rival in a friendly way every power in the oonstellatiou of states known as the British Empire, We wish to be an Australian people, and as such, we wish to be the brightest source of power and the brightest jewel in the orown of the empire. (Chqerß.) Now, I shall not to-night attempt to point out the advantages that mußt flow from, the federation of Australia, 1 would only point out the signs of the times— l would .only point out that the foundation stone is laid, and that the superstructure. , must riße, I would point out that the seed is sown j and that it must spring* up to 'maturity, . No power on earth oan throw baok the cause of Australian federation. (Cheers.) i Eve4 to. night, surrounded by all the encouraging eyidenoes that I see, I do not disguise from my mind the greut obstaeles that are before ns, and the reasons that might be urged as tending to a probable partial failure. It may possibly be tbat the Convention now sitting in Sydney will not aohieve al| we desire ; but it will do this, ae sure as the sun will rise to-morrow— lt will lay a stone in the foundation whioh all the forces in the world oan never remove. (Cheers.) And a little longer space of time will certainly bring about a solid and completed edifice. (Cheers.) N0w,, 1 should like to ask those ] who doubt the Wisdom of the cause in wbioh we are engaged -1 should like to ask whether they are prepared to go on for ever as we are going on now 1 Would they go on for ever with New South Wales divided from Viotoria by a narrow stream and a line of Custom-house officers ? Would they go on for ever with another line of Custom-house officers dividing South Australia from Viotoria I Would they go on for ever with all thtae causes of irritation ? Ido !not believe there is an intelligent man in! all this community who would say he would go on for ever in this state of things, If not, when are we to try to turn over a sew leaf, and start on the new mission? Is. it not time when wo have a greater population than that of many old nations of Europe ? It is not time when we have four millions of men, women, and ohildron of British origin who are prepared for every fate in the woik of laying down the base of the new empire 1 But the gentlemen assembled in Sydney today and those who sympathise with them— and I am sure by far the greater part of this company sympathise with them)— those gentlemen aDd those who support them must be prepared to address themselves to this cause in downright earnestness. Hence it is, wo embody in this toast that we are cue people, and prepared toßhare one destiny. (.Cheers.) We seek to convey to tho outside world that we have the resources, that we have the material wealth, that we have the material strength, and that we have the { intellect and the enterprise that result from well balanced intelleot to win our own distinction amongst tho nations of the earth, We seek to win a plaoe in the great congeries of free States that form the British Empire, and to take equal rank with the best in all good qualities. We seek no separation, We only seek . to draw closer the bonds of true loyalty, and to continue to share in tho rights and privileges that belong to every British subjeot. (Cheers,) We seek a proud place undoubtedly, but it is the proud place of being equals of the best of the British nation, and at the same time preserve our Australian identity, We seek iu the beet way that ia possible, by federated power, to master our own destinies, to win our own position in the world, and in entertaining this lofty and enlightened ambition we are not prepared to take any second placo amongst the oivilißed people of the world. We seek to remain side by side with that dear old England that we all love so well— I mean in using that expression, the throe kingdoms, and I use the expression beoauße it is briefer, and more suited to my purpose, We olaim to take our place Bide by side with her ; to share all her difficulties, and honours, and glories, and to be equal in everything beneath the sway of the British Crown and under the benefioent rule of our sovereign lady the Queen. And in olaiming tbat, we seek to give to our interests an Australian oharaoter and Australian colouring, so that the name of Australian shall not be eclipsed by the name of Englishman, or Sootohman, or Irishman, in any part o! the world. Tbe Australian soldier shall bare no superior, ihe Australian sailor shall have no superior, the 'Australian workman shall have no superior. We "seek then .to build np here an Australia for ourselves, but believing that no form ot government would be better for us than that under whioh we now live, we seek to rend no ties ; we seek, to shatter no edifice— bat only to create what we think is necessary for bringing oat all the great faculties of our own individual interests, (Cheer.) I have often wondered why any person oould quarrel with ns ih this cause. We are making war npon no one, We are seeking to promote no principle to whioh just exception oan be taken. Our oause is well | known, our oause is peace, our oause is. the oomolidation of Australian interest. (Oheen.) Eaoh oolony— New South Wales, for example — will be aa free as she ever was. Viotoria in like manner will ba as free as she ever was, but Viotoria and New South Wales and the other oolonies will bave a power that they can only attain by federation, and tbat ' power alone will give them their proper plaoe in tbe family of nations. (Cheers.; I ask Jon then— and I shall not dwell on the toast am about to propose- 1 ask you with unreserved feeling, with true hearts, earnestly engaged in this work to drink " One peopleone destiny." (Loud obeers.) Tbe toast was drank witb musical honours.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NEM18910311.2.16
Bibliographic details
Nelson Evening Mail, Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 69, 11 March 1891
Word Count
1,960One People—One Dcstiny. Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XXV, Issue 69, 11 March 1891
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