FAREWELL DINNER AT CANTERBURY TO MR. FITZGERALD.

Nelson Examiner and New Zealand Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 53, 4 May 1867, Page 8

FAREWELL DINNER AT CANTERBURY TO MR. FITZGERALD.

Our readers are aware that Mr. J. E. FitzGerald, of Canterbury, was appointed a short time ago to the office of Comptroller of the Revenue, and this appointment necessarily compelled him to withdraw from the General Assembly, and to give up a residence in Christchurch for one in Wellington. Mr. FitzGerald being in Christchurch in the early part of the present month for the purpose of removing his family, a farewell dinner was given to him on the 4th instant, which was attended by Mr. Justice Gresson, tho Bishop and Dean of Christchurch, and nearly all the leading men of Canterbury of every shade of political opinion. The Superintendent was absent, through being in Westland at the time, and another gentleman's absence was explained in the following note read by the Chairman, Mr. C. Bowen, E.M. : — To the Chaibjian of the FitzGerald Dinner. Deab Sra — I regret extremely that I shall be unable to attend the dinner of my old friend, Mr. FitzGerald. My health is not very strong, and the preparations for my departure this week for England, and tho trouble of leaving, have somewhat npset it. I wish, however, to say that among all those who will meet to-night to do honour to Mr. FitzGerald there will be none more closely bound to him by private friendship, by public gratitude, and by strong feelings of admiration for tho man and the politician, than myself. Perhaps in saying good-bye to Mr. FitzGerald, and to you, sir, I may be allowed also through you to take leave of the people of Christchurch, from whom as a public man I have often met such generous support and confidence. Yours very faithfully, April 4, 1867. Fbed. A. Weld. The speech of Mr. FitzGerald, in reply to the toast of his health, we should have liked to print in full, but its length is too great. There are portions of it, however, for which we must find room, containing words of wisdom which should be read beyond the limits of the Canterbury province. Our first extract will be the longest, and although the remarks are specially directed to Canterbury, they may readily be made to apply to Borne of the other provinces of New Zealand. Mr. FitzGerald Baid : — When I returned to this province in 1860 I found the colony just recovering from a period of extraordinary commercial depression. I left it in 1857, in a period of extraordinary prosperity, which increased for another year or two, after which came a great commercial crisis, and when I returned in 1860 I found it in tho position I have described. Gradually that depression gave way, and we had another poriod of extraordinary prosperity, which has again given way, and tro have now another period of depression, which has lasted longer and been more severe than most of us predicted or ever expected, and which we do not see our way out of even now. When I returned to the colony in 1860 I looked round me everywhere, and this idea forced itself on my mind, and ever since has constantly recurred to me — that tho colony was living beyond its means ; not only in its public undertakings, but in its private life, that the colony was anticipating its true resources, anticipating its real credit, engaging in public works rather for tho grandeur and magnificence of those works than for the actual commercial result which would be obtained by them; and that we were gradually coming to that condition to which every country must inevitably come which anticipates its resources and spends faster than it makes. Gentlemen, we live in days when the great questions of political economy are being discussed with an eagerness and intelligence on the part of men who are considering commercial and financial questions which we have never seen in any former period. It seems to me extraordinary that men cannot realize this fact, that money represents substantial wealth, and that credit represents money ; that a country must create year by year a great deal more than ifc expends or destroys, and that if year by year it exceeds in its investments and expenditure that which it creates, and lives to a great extent on its credit, the time must come, sooner or later, when it will be asked to pay ; that the period of financial speculation which, in every active commercial country occurs, from time to time, must come to an end. It is not the action of the Banks, or the interference of the Legislature, or of any laws which can be made, which can (although they may to a slight extent affect tho working of this question), make any great difference to the permanent result. If a country is living too fast, and investing year by year more than it makes, no matter what course the Banks may take, or what public policy is pursued, the day must come, whether with regard to a community or an individual, when everyone must be called upon to pay. There must come a commercial crisis. [Cheers.] Those who thought with me upon this question, and agreed with me as to the position of the province in 1860, were of opinion that the Government of the day were rather stimulating than discouraging extravagant expenditure both in public and private life, and wo felt it our duty to occupy that exceedingly unpleasant position of putting the drag on tho wheel. I know very well from experience that it is far pleasanter to sit on the box, with a handsome coat and gold lace and a fine team to drive, than to act as a drag in the mud. [Laughter and cheers.] If any little service that I may have performed may havo induced any of you, however few, to give serious attention to this subject ; if I may have, in any degree whatever, either by speaking or writing, induced you to look moro closely into these questions, to use caution and inquiry and not to be run away with solely by the magnificence of projects, then I should think that my career for the last few years in Canterbury has not been useless. [Cheers.] Ido not mean to say that all speculation is unwise or wrong. On the contrary, I say there are periods when tho wildest speculation is the greatest prudence ; but I say also, that there are periods when the same speculation is rashness, and other occasions when it is criminal. In tho career of every country such periods occur again and again, and it is the duty of those who guide its policy to form for themselves some judgment as to the proper course to pursue. [Cheers.] And now that lam on the point of leaving Canterbury, if I may without presumption, and with the utmost humility, leave behind one single word of advice with respect to the province and the colony at large, I would most earnestly and emphatically conccntrato it in one single word, — wait; do not be in a hurry. [Hear, hear.] I venture to say that few of you have realised the enormous extent to which the resources of this magnißcent province are at this moment mortgaged. Do you know, any ono of you sitting at this table, to ■what extent, not only tho public landed estate, but private properties, arc mortgaged in this province ? The subject has been brought before mo recently, and I have taken tho trouble to make an estimate of the extent to which tho province of Canterbury is indebted at tho present moment. Between General Government and Provincial Government debts, I can tell you that your estate is mortgaged to the amount of £1,600,000. Ido not mean that the province itßelf lias contracted debts to that amount, but if you tako your sharo of the general debt of this colony, and add to it tlio actual debt of the province, you will find that you owe at this moment the sum of £1,600,000. You have mortgaged your estate to that extent. And to what amount besides are your private affairs mortgaged ? How much do you owe to the two companies and others who lend money for the purpose of carrying on agricultural operations P I believe you owe considerably more than £3,000,000 at this moment. I

do not say this to frighten you ; far from it. I only wish to point out that you owe more than any other province does, and in that point of indebtedness you display, gentlemen, that magnificent pre-eminence over any other province in New Zealand, as you do in other things. [Laughter.] I do not complain that you owe so much money, but I say take care you do not make the burden heavier than you can bear. You may load a full-grown horse with a weight which he can carry easily, but if you put the same load on the foal, there would be a danger of breaking his hack. [Cheers.] Take care you do not break the back of the foal. [Laughter.] My humble advice is — wait. Do not engage in any other grand and magnificent works. You will one day have a population to whose wealth your present burden will be as a drop in the ocean. [Cheers.] If tho opposite course is pursued the province will find itself in a position from wliich it cannot recover for many years, and the weight you put on your shoulders will frighten population away from your shores. [Cheers.] If with our present debt and population we continue our present extravagant expenditure, something more unpleasant than Stamp Duties will be the result. The colony will be burdened with an amount of debt wliich will ruin it for the next fifty years. I say again — wait ; be content as you are at present. You are going ahead, your lands arc coming into cultivation j your people are spreading in all directions. Do not destroy that prosperity by overloading the foal. If you will put a load on which he can bear, he will one day grow into a horse. [Cheers.] The remarks made by Mr. PitzG/erald on the fate impending over our Provincial Institutions, we have already printed, and our next extract will therefore be from that part of his speech wherein he spoke of the necessity of maintaining the unity of the colony : — I don't think I am leaving Canterbury, because I do not think that Canterbury will cease to be a part of the same colony with that of Wellington, and that, none of us will cease to be a part of New Zealand. I see around me several who strove to divide the colony into two, but I am certain of ono thing that we shall never be disunited. [Cheers.] lam certain of that. If I know anything of the spirit of this English community, I say that this colony will never be dissevered. I think that those interests in which we are closely connected are permanent, while those which are antagonistic are merely temporary, and while we are arguing, our antagonistic interests will have died out, and we shall have come closer together in the natural course of time and circumstances. Therefore, when I leave Canterbury to go to Wellington, I shall feel I am still a part of it. [Cheers.] There is not a people in the world, having the instincts of a great people, who are content with a small arena for action. If tho Northern Island were to leave you to-morrow, I believe in ten years you would have it conquered by force of arms. [Cheers and laughter.] You do not want to leave the Northern Island. We may abuse one another in the newspapers, but depend upon it notwithstanding that abuse you will come closer together, and ultimately you will find yourselves that which you will be — one great country, influencing the whole policy of the Southern Pacific Ocean. I say that no people who are not worthy to be trampled out of tho earth, are likely to accept the nationality of a parish when they can get the nationality of an empire. That is what you have got within your reach. The islands of the Pacific Ocean look to you for whatever they receive of civilization and life. You have before you a career which has been given to no nation on the face of the earth, and I do not believe for a moment that that people with whom I have laboured for seventeen years are going to relinquish the prize placed within their grasp. I believe this colony will continue one, and I leave you to give my services to tho colony at large, not that I love Canterbury lees, but that I love New Zealand more. [Cheers.] The good wishes expressed towards Mr. PitzGrerald by the Chairman of the meeting, and responded to so heartily by the company present, will we are sure, receive the ready assent of all persons in New Zealand who have paid any attention to its public affairs.