BANQUET TO MR. BRYCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7645, 24 May 1886, Page 5

BANQUET TO MR. BRYCE.

fBY TELEGRAPH.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.! Wellington, Saturday. This banquet to Mr. Bryce took place this afternoon in the Drill-shed. About 140 guests were present, including some two score of ladies. The Mayor was in the chair. Messrs. Stout and Ballance represented the Ministry, and besides these the two Speakers, Major Atkinson, Colonels Whitmore and Brett, Mr. Rolleston, and a large number of members of both Houses were present. The local toasts were first on the list, followed by "The Army, Navy, and Colonial Forces," " Parliament of New Zealand." and "The Ministry." The principal speakers connected with these were Sir G. M. O'Rorke. Sir W. Fitzherbert, Sir G. Whitmore, Mr. Stout, Messrs. McDonald, Duthie, and Pearce. The Mayor (Mr. A. W. Brown) then proposed " The Health of the Guest of the Day. In doing so, he said that when Mr. Bryce left New Zealand to prosecute his action he took with him the hearty goodwill of every colonist. (Applause.) There were some who were doubtful of the result, for the accusation was so gravenothing less than murder—and the greater credit was due to Mr. Bryce for the readiness with which he confronted his accuser. The slander reflected not only on Mr. Bryce but on the people of New Zealand, and they owed him their gratitude for his action. The men most vilified in Mr. Rusden's book were just those who had faithfully served their country, and in many cases had been honoured by the Queen for it. Everyone, therefore, would be glad if they should find that in the .next Birthday honours the name of Mr. Bryce, who had likewise been slandered, and had triumphantly refuted the calumny, also appeared. (Applause.) . Mr. Bryce, on rising, was received with lengthened applause. He said, the first thing he had to do was to acknowledge the heartiness with which he had been welcomed on his return by everyone, which, he was bound to say, had been a surprise to him. He adverted to the presence of ladie3 as particularly appropriate when the honour of a public man was concerned. He wbb gratified at the presence there that day of members of the Ministry and political opponents, and he paid a graceful compliment to the Premier's broad and sympathetic cast of mind. He could not rind words to express his thanks to the friends who had stuck to him through thick and thin. He was advised from the first by able lawyers that his opponents had no possible ground of defence at law, and, as he knew in his own heart he had never slaughtered women and children, he felt he had right and confidence on his side. Yet there was one point, and one only, on which danger lay. The colonists of New Zealand had been charged with treating the natives unjustly, and knowing there was a prejudice against them in some quarters tho defence was solely conducted from the Exeter Hall point of view. Sir John Gorst tried to impress on the jury that the native history of Now Zealand was " one tragedy," and this was the view that by some people had been persistently urged in England, and which in places had found belief. If they really had treated the Maoris like that they certainly would deserve the execration of their countrymen, at home, but actually there was no instance in all history of subject races being treated with the same kindness and generosity as in our own case. Mr. Bryce, in support of his statement, alluded to the quantity of land left in the possession of the Maoris, to the reserves made for tribes who had once borne arms against us, and to their representation in Parliament. They had equal representation with the Europeans, and even now tho Ministry wore considering the propriety of giving the Maoris another seat in the Legislative Council. Yet the treatment of the Europeans was made a point against him, and was an element of danger in the case to which he had never shut hi 3 eyes. He had two things to be proud of— reception and confidence shown in him by the colonists, and the knowledge that while the defence relied on tho prejudices of certain classes in England, and particularly iu London, he had put his trust in the justice of an English Judge and jury, and it had not failed him. (Applause.) After the verdict had been given in his favour, he had nevertheless felt great depression for several days, even after he had stepped once more aboard the steamer, and he could not account for it. It was, perhaps, because he felt bitterly totowards certain opponents who had struck him, as he thought, below the belt. He had not mentioned them before, and he did not intend to do so now, further than was necessary to vindicate the character and memory of Dr. Feathcrstone. A man whose defeotiva memory must bo a curse to him had professed to repeat a conversation with Dr. Featherstone, which had occurred eighteen year& ago, to his (Mr. Bryce 'a) disadvantage. Though not always on the same side as the doctor, they respected and had regard for one another, and the latter was not the man to go behind his back if he had anything to say, but on the contrary, would have been tho first to come boldly to his face mid censure him openly had he deserved it. He desired distinctly and openly to avow that he did not believe one word of the story with which Dr. Feathcrston'B name had been connected, and he was satisfied he had never said anything of the sort. (Applause). In conclusion ho would say that the welcome he had received on his return to New Zealand, and tho gathering that day, showed that the fame of its public men was dear to the colony. (Great applause.)

Our Wellington correspondent, referring to the banquet, says :—Sir Goo. Whitmore made the first speech which called the attention of the company to one of the special references made by Mr. Ru3den's book. This was the passage in which the late Dr. Featherstone was referred to as the authority for the principal charge against Mr. Bryce. Briefly stated, Sir. G. Whitmoro's speech amounted to this in his own words :—" I cannot believe that the late Dr. Featherstone had anything to do with such a statemont as has been attributed to him. I was in command of the force that was in the field against the Maoris at that time. I saw Dr. Featherstone every week. I had roports made to me by various officers and men under my charge every day. If Dr. Featherston had ever heard of such a thing, I believe he could not have failed mentioning it to me. If the incident laid to the charge of Mr. Bryce ever happened, it was morally impossible that I should not have heard of it; but I never did." In responding to the toast ("Our Guest"), Mr. Bryce made an eloquent allusion to the treatment of the native race by the English colonists of New Zealand, as compared with the treatment of aboriginal people by other nations. He said: "They are fully represented in both Houses of Legislature; they have all the rights of British subjects, and their lands are not taxed. It was necessary at one tima to confiscate a portion of their lands, for that was the only way of putting down rebellion. There are about 29 million acres of land in this colony, and after nearly half a century has elapsed 13 million acres still belong to the natives. That is more than sufficient to keep the natives and their descendants idle in perpetuity. Ido not say that idleness is best for the natives, but that so vast an area is left to them speaks rather for the generosity of the colonists than for any desire to deprive the aboriginal people of the land." All the speeches were very good. There was a remarkable sentence in the speech of Sir W. Fitzherbert, in returning thanks for the Parliament of New Zealand. He said, "We must ever be grateful to our noble mother country for these beneficienfc institutions of Home Rule." Sir Maurice O'Rorke made an excellent speech, in which he referred to Mr. Bryce's well-known moderation of speech and manner throughout the whole of that gentleman's Parliamentary life,