PRESENTATION TO MR. W. C. KENSINGTON.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 11869, 22 January 1902, Page 7

PRESENTATION TO MR. W. C. KENSINGTON.

Theto was . a representative gathering of member 1 of the legal profession yesterday forenoon at the Supreme Court library on the occasion of a presentation by the Auckland District Law Society to Mr. W. C. Kensington, who has recently received his appointment as Under-Secretary of Lands. Mr. Hugh Campbell (president of the Auckland District Law Society) presided, and in making the presentation said that it gave him great pleasure, on behalf of the legal profession of Auckland, to present Mr. Kensington with an address and purse of sovereigns. When it became known that Mr. Kensington was about to leave Auckland to take up officii sis Under-Secretary of Lands at Wellington, there was a general feeling on the part of the profession that they might acknowledge tho relations which during so many years had existed between him and the profession. He had always treated them with the most unfailing courtesy, and had made transactions with the office easy, and in all respects their relations had been most pleasant. He had much pleasure in handing to Mr. Kensington the purse of sovereigns and the text of the address. The address itself was in the course of execution, and would be forwarded to Wellington in a few days. The address was then read. Mr. Kensington returned thanks, and said that it was a proud day for him when a number of citizens representing an august body like the Auckland Law Society met together and expressed their appreciation of the way he had acted in the years that were past. It was perhaps unusual for a civil servant to be thus presented with a token of the good wishes of his fellow citizens, but he had met- with nothing' but kindness from the legal profession, and lie had considered it his duty to give them every assistance lie could. He would treasure the address they had presented to him, and would go from Auckland with feelings of pleasure at the happy associations he had had with its legal profession. Tho text of the address, which is to be handsomely bound in morocco and engrossed in book form, is as follows:—" W. O. Kensington: Dear Sir, —We, the undersigned members of tho legal profession, practising at Auckland, offer you our sincere congratulations upon your appointment as UnderSecretary of Lands, although we cannot but deplore that your well-deserved promotion should involve the loss of official and personal association with you. We cannot suffer you to leave our city without expressing to you our appreciation of the never-failing courtesy and consideration you have always shown in the transaction of business, and of your high personal character. We feel that your perfect knowledge of the' work of your Department in all its details, aided by your zeal, capacity, and honesty of purpose, already assures your success in the onerous position to which you have been promoted. We beg the acceptance of the accompanying purse, and wish you and your family all health, happiness, and prosperity.We are, dear sir, faithfully yours, (Signed) Hugh Campbell (president Auckland District Law Society), F. Earl (vtice-president)." Then followed the signatures of nearly all tho members of the legal profession in Auckland.