NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10761, 27 March 1897, Page 6

NATIONAL ASSOCIATION,

The firat annual meeting of the Otago section of the National Association v;a3 held in the Oddfellows' Hall, Stuart street, last evening. Mr A. Sligo (the president) occupied the chair, Some 30 members wsra present, and a number of apologies were receivscl for non-attendance. pkesidest's address. The annual report, which has been already published, was taken as read. He Si.igo, in moving the adoption, said • Ladies and gentleman,—There is almost always some drop of bitter iv the cup, aud my regret to-night is that the time of our meeting hag not been too happily chosen perhaps, as'other engagements deprive us of "the pleasure ot Geeing with us a number of our frieads, who will certaiuly be disappointed at not being able to be with us. Amongst other things the annual meeting of the Bares Club has caused the enforced absence of some, and I know there are some here who would have much liked to have been present at thut meeting, j Our date, however, was fixed befdre we had j any inkling of the other, and it U always j difficult to fix a time which will not clash S with something. Uoming to the report, I suppose you have all received a copy," and I may therefore assume that it is your pleasure that it be taken r.s read. Well, you will have observed thai; :i portion of the report j may be designated as historical, and on that portion it is not necessary, thit much should I be said, except that I may remark in passin? | that a good deal of earnestness and eathv° siastn was evinced in connection with the birth of the association, and a number of the earlier members aeemed determined that it should not fall stillborn It will be recollected that at the general meeting of members in March of last year there was large competition for seats on the council, sud I think that—just heie—l may say that it would have been very difficult iudead to have selected a better team than those chosen on tbat occasion. Ido not forget that good men and true were not amougit the elect, raea who—notwithstanding their non-election—have since given lully and freely of their time and their money, and have supported the association in every possible way. Still having for 12 months worked with the couucil then eleete;! I am in a position to say that I have never bseu associated with a body of men who more faithfully attended to their duties than your council has done. The mestings were well attended all through, and, although differences of opinion arose on many occasions as to what should be done, or left undone, no bitterness ever remained ;. while I take it that it may be fairly claimed that the »ff,u-s and acts of the association have been guided with tome degree of discretion and tac:, I hesitate at goisi* (to far as to claim wisdom on behal£.,of the council. You know, however, that it is very diffiiult— especially during the stress aud strain of an election contest—to always do just the right aud the best thing, and I am aure that you realise that it is migiity ea>y to fall into the error of doing the wrong thing, or doing the right thing in the wrong way or at the wrong time. Well, now, to ÜBe'a Scobieism, there are a few words iv the report to which I do-sire to direct your attention for a moment. They are these "It is gratifying to be able to report tha,t the members of the association have taken a lively interest iv the work"; and again, " We feel assured that the members have'been loyal to each other and to the association." I was frequently extremely gratified at the evidences of interest displayed by the members in all that was going ou, and I was even more gratified at finding how largely diffused was the reeling that we should stick togethor, hold by each other, sink or swim. Members frequently criticised, but they always expressed their determination to be loyal Some told we iihey were not fully' sa'.isßed with the | selection of caudidntes* which was made, but most all said, "Never mind; I will Gtand by the choice nevertheless." Now, that i* the true spirit—the right and proper I spirit—which should permeate such an organisation as ours, aud without it I take leave to say it might as well bs uou - existent. Ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely hope that I am right and do uos deceive myself when I say that whatever of bitterness and animosity may have existed and been displayed at other centres during the ki.e election contest the:e was in Duntdin a gratifying abseuca of extrem • pttrsoual animosities, aud of the gall and wormwood kind of feeling. (Aojthing of that kind there may have bern was, of course, on the other side.) And. whan the battle was over, I -take it as true Gosijel that there never remained less of strained relationship or glowering hostility amongst and between the ! citizens generally than aftsr the close of the_ late contest. I hardly veuture to a?seit —tnough I suggmt it -that thii may in some decree have re-mltad frooi the " owcet reasonableness" of our friend J3.r Scobie Mackenzie : a sweet reasonableness which, while we fear and tremble, we will pray and hope will be maintained, although that is a somewhat large order. Now, I nuppose it would have been almost impossible—politically situated as we were—to have prevented' our association from being regarded as a party organisation of a more Or less pronounced type To have buen entirely colourless during the receut election would have beau tv be useless, and yet I am \vM convinced that it was a strong desire to do something to lifr, the politics and th« legislation of the country out of the almoßpuern of nitre, party that induced many to join the ranks of the National Association. We have all heard much talk of th« massei and the classes, and it has been endeavoured tv- place th >cc intended j to be typifi-d by the two words iv nSry an/ hostile antagonism Bur. surely there can ba no just and righteous gov K .ument or legislitien which is not lor. the masse?, which word surely dots »ud should include, not one or more, but all of the classes. I have had nesirly *5 years' colonial experience, aud I tell you th« world never saw such times as when the working classes were being f uily employed aud taming big wages in the early dajs of the Victorian diggings, and nothing would rejoice me more !hau to ste the workman aud the labourer having plenty to do nud getting well p*id for it; but the prosperity of the workman can ouly result from the prosperity ot all other fi'.asse.*, and the truly patriotic organisation—in the iarga sense of the word—is that which will endeavour to secure the most favourable conditions, and the gre»te-t security, for the enterprise, industry, and the ability of the wbole mass of the community. Now, I hol.i that there has been ample reason and justifi-aHou for the formation aud continuance oh workmen's unions; but one cannot he-1;) regretting some of the methods adopfcgri ao<3 the statementa msde by'iabour leaders. The other ds.y, for example, we had amongst us a distinguished labour leader, Mr Ben Til'.ett. In the course of otic of his speeches here he wanted to dinplay to his audience a " shocking example" of the horrid capitalistic class ]?or this purpose he selected Mr Barney Buruato AY ell, he told hi^ bearers; that r.iiere was a time when Mr Baruato ii\ South Africa had not so much as' would procure blacking for his eyebrows (I auppo-e Barcato was a. good and commendable man then), bub that by-and-bye he made 15 millions of money, and m (Mr Tillett) inquired if bi9 nearers thought that South Africa was the better of tbis man taking away 15 millions; of her resources? Now I don't know much about Barney B*rnatu's millions bat I venture i;o hdlisve that a good many of them came out of the pockets of London capitalists, aad that if some of them came out of South African soil in the shape of gold or diamonds that the loss to South Africa (if any) is hardly much to be deplored, while there was surely some gain to tho world in general as weil as to Mr Barnato. Take an illustration. A little while since we had iv Dunedin one of the working miners who discovered the Londonderry mine in West Australia. He was a capitalist when he was here, end I suppose ought to hAve bei-.n h?:\d up to reprobation ; but a few months before that, wheu he was ot;e of the party who discovered the Londonderry, he had very little. Now, you know tho mina was sold for a large sum, and that it was quite a legitimate and straight transaction, uud the discoverers became capitalists; but would it b'J just to speak sneeriugly or slightingly of these men, or truthful to aay that in acquiring their wealth they had robbed Westralia ¥ The money came from London capitalists, and it is a pity that it seems doubtful whether iii will, in that particular case, be got out of West Australian Boil by the purchasers. This is a divergence for which I crave your pardou. The point is, that it is surely reprehensible and to ba condemned that circumst*nces and events should be twisted aud distorted in order to the inflaming of m^n's minds, and the leading to erroneous and unjustifiable conclusions productive of mischief and of wrong to the individual and the community. To return to the report with the asuurauce that I will not detain you | long, you will notice that .financially we hnd a little leewayl to make up when the accounts were closed. I am pleased to say it has been made up, and we are now just about square. A i few subscriptions for tee new sesaion have been j paid, and we have been favoured with two or ! three donations. You ■,»i\l understand that it. will hardly pay t., employ a collector to gfct in shilling subscriptions. lam nure your will forgive me if I ask those who have not paid to ba | kind enough to hand in their own" sub.-crijj- ■ tions and ask th'-ir l'riucils io do tho hriiih j to Mr Hatty's office, or to any member of I the couucil. The members for this yaar hnvn \ pu far paid 2i of a subscription, and I think id | should bo understood that the subscription should not be lees tliau 2s after the fuse year. 'Of course we take as much more as our i'riendi |As a medicine for euro and relief of coughs I i ! colds,' and any throat complaints, Bonning- j ton's Imsh Mossj still stands to the fore, I iThoae who have not tried it for an annoying j coid—old or joung—should do sc— Advb, '

may choose to give. Now, a word as to the retiring member?, of council. Where all did co well it wag impossible to undertake to ballot out in the usual way, consequently the names were decided by lot. I do zsiave you we hid splendid work from all of those whose names appear iv the report, and they are all eligible .for re-election. I don't know what wb would have done without some of them—all of them, I may s:\y. You will nllow me—and Ido it most sincerely—to tender my beat and veryhearty thanks to my colleagues oiirthe executive and to the council geucraliyk for the efficient aid I haw: reecived and the kiaduess ! shown me by all of them. ¥ou will, lam sure. | join me iv hoping that our City member, Mr ! Fish, who has beea passing through a period of ! trial arid suffering, will eoou be amongst us I again, fully restored to health and fit for the j duties of his honourable position. I now beg j to move the adoption of tf.ia report: j Mr T. Scott seconded the motion, and in j doiug so complimented tha president, whose advice.and methods had, he said, proved wise and successful. Hu believed the colony would profit by tha sucsess the association had achieved. The motion was carried unanimously. Tho balance sheet was also submitted and adopted. ELECTION OF COUNCIL. The following gantlemeu wer& elected members of council iv lieu of the n'va who retired • Messrs William Brown, C. Morris, J. A, Park, J. A. Stewart, sud H. Baron. COMPLIMENTARY. On Use motion of Mr G. L. Denniston, seconded by Mr J. A. Kirby. a cordial vote" of •thanks wxs given to the secretary, Mr T. K. Harty, for the eminent services rendered by him to the association during the past year. The proceedings closed with a vote of thanks 1 to the chairman.