VISIT OF J. E. REDMOND TO NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6828, 5 October 1883, Page 6

VISIT OF J. E. REDMOND TO NEW ZEALAND.

PRESENTATION OF AN ADDRESS,

SPEECH BY MR. REDMOND. Mb. J. E. Redmond, M.P. for New Ross, who has been on a visit to Australia to' advocate the interests of the National Land League in Ireland, was a passenger to Auckland by the Manapouri yesterday. A number of persons were present, and a suitable reception was - afforded to the visitor by some fellow-countrymen. Mr. Redmond was warmly received, and four cabs took the round of Mount Eden, Epsom, Onehunga, and the surroundings of Auckland, to give ■ Mr. Redmond, in as brief a space as possible, an outline of Auckland's scenery. Mr. Redmond is a comparatively young man. He has' an engaging and taking manner when animated. The lower portion of his face manifests a man of steady and resolute purpose. He has, besideu, a nice easy demeanour and a ready fluenoy, which cannot fail to make him a marked man. Mr. Redmond's stay in New Zealand will be very brief. He will address a public meeting in Auckland on Monday next, and then travel rapidly through the principal towns of the colony, and return to Melbourne in time tor the conferemse to be held there. Such is the programme. As we havo stated, Mr. Redmond received an informal reception on his arrival. Iu the evening he was met by about forty gentlemen, icclading members of the committee, to prepare for his lectures, at Gleeson's Hotel, Customhouse-street. Mr. Redmond on entering the room was received with cheers, and was introduced to those preseat by Mr. Clifton. Mr. Clifton, who was called to the chair, said he was,proud to see that there were some ladies present, and had there been proper notice there would have been many more, as many of the ladies felt more warmly on the subject than their male friends. Their absence was not attributable to .want, of feeling, but to want of notice, and their pleasure waa deferred until Monday night, when Mr. Redmond would address a meeting at the Theatre RoyaL He would now call on Mr. Mcllhone to read the address which had: been prepared. . Mr. Mcllhone, after a few preliminary remarks, read the address as follows : — To J. E. Esdmond,.Esq.,M.P.: Dear and respected Sir,—We, the Irishmen and descendants of Irishmen, resident in Auckland, hail with pleasure your arrival lu this city. We heard with regret a few days since that your engagements in connection with tho great Australasian Irish Convention, coupled, as we feared, with adverse reports of the dispositions of Irish colonists of New Zealand, would deter you in coming here, but we are glad to' know that thoso forebodings are unfounded. It is unnecessary for us to dwell .at aay length on the subject on which you have come to addtess us, knowing as w* do that your mission is a truly noble and humane one, free from all petty distinctions of class or creed, and that your object is to claco before us in its true light the groat practical disabilities under which 'the people of Ireland labour through defective land laws and the want of selfgovernment, and, by pointing out a remedy, to ameliorate their condition. We believe your mission here will—perhaps unaware to you—effect a twofold

purpose, as that great root of all Irish evils, viz., land monopoly by the few, to the oppression of the many, is slowly bat surely establishing itself in this fair "Britain of the South," a fact of which we have been repeatedly warned by the leiding statesmen of this colony. We beg to assure you of oar sympathy and assistance in the cause you so nobly advocate, and in conclusion fondly hope that it may meet with that success it so well merits.—We have the honour to remain. Sir, faithfully yours, &c. Mr. Redmoxd, who was received with cheers, said he wished to thank them for the welcome they had accorded him. It was to him an evidence that the inhabitants of this district were anxious to prove their sympathy with the cause of the Irish people. It was a source of great gratification to hear that length of distance and change of climate did not alienate, them from the love for the land of their forefathers. (Cheers.) But that was not what he had come here to advocate, although his object was to obtain subscriptions to support the movement, but to inform the public what they asked. The publio had been hearing a great deal of him on one side and the

other. In politics, as in all other matters he had believed the happy medium, was in the mean, aud they did not claim to be infallible, either in England oi New Zealand, but it was equally true that they were not aa black as they were painted, Whatever fault might be found in the method of Irish political parties wa3 to be ascribed to the state of government in which they were forced to live. Hence the defects in. Irish politics. But whatever their failings, he felt convinced that he would be able to prove to an unprejudiced public that the men who guide Irish politics were honourable men, that they had no object or emulation but to raise Ireland from the slough of despond into which she had sunk— (cheers) —■ that the men who were at the head of the Irish political movement were not sympathisers with crime ; and that crime bad always been looked on a3 an injury to the national cause. He had not come to arouse ill-will of class against class, or sect against sect, but for the benefit of every class and sect to promote a system of independent legislation for Ireland similar to that which they now had in New Zealand. They asked reform of the land laws, a subject on which the thoughts of intelligent men were with them—to transfer the land from the privileged few to the people. They asked local self-government, and the franchise, not on the broad level of New Zealand and Australia, but as it was exercised in England and Scotland. The object of the Land League was neither more nor less. It was not revolutionary or disloyal, and the methods pursued were consistent with their oath 3 as members of Parliament, and their allegiance as subjects of Her Majesty. On Monday nie;ht at the Theatre Koyal he would address them on the subject of Home Rule for Ireland. There were one or two requests he should make—first, that the public should not judge him till they knew his principles and the cause whiuh he advocated, and that the Pr<;sa should report what he had to say. If these were granted they would have the same results as in Australia. Prejudices would be dispelled, and many who thought that Redmond ought to be hanged as a madman went away convinced that there was method in his madness, and that it was difficult to answer his arguments. He ventured to ask intelligent men who. took an interest in politics to come and hear fcr themselves. Men of every creed and - class were invited, and no one would hear a syllable offensive to his creed or nationality. He was obliged to his Auckland friends: for the cordial reception they had afforded him, and asked them to use every exertion to prosper the association, as hatl been done in Australia. There he had delivered over 100 lectures and transmitted home £12,000. He trusted New Zealand would follow the example, and at the convention in Australia New Zealand would be represented to send a message of hope and good cheer to their suffering brethren in Ireland. (Cheers.)

The meeting then terminated, and a committee met to arrange preliminaries for Mr. Redmond's meeting on Monday night.