BANQUET TO THE HON. J. G. WARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 2273, 23 September 1897, Page 23

BANQUET TO THE HON. J. G. WARD.

SPEECH BY THE MINISTER FOR LANDS. (Fhom Odr Own Correspondent.)

Invercakgill, Septembsr 16.

A banquet to the Hon. J. G. Ward was given by the electors and residents of Awarua this evening, when, notwithstanding that the weather was unfavourable and there were other important counter-attractions, the big Zealandia Hall, the scene of tbe banquet, was filled, between 500 and 600 being presenb, including many ladies. Mr Wm. Keith, of Wjntoa, occupied the chair. The chief speakers were the Hods. J. M'Kenzie, J. G. Ward, H. Feldwick, and D. Pinkerton, Messrs A.' Morrison and M. Giifedder, M H R's , Messrs John Sinclair, J. Roberts, M'Kenzie, A. Lee Smith, A. Dunlop, and M'Farland. Letters and messages of apology were read from Messrs E. G. Allen and T. Y. Duncan, M.H.R's., J. F. M. Fraser, M'lntyre, and several others, and also the following telegram from the Premier :—: —

Chairman "Ward's banquet, Invercargill, — I much regret not bsing able to be present at the banquet to be tendered to night to my old friend and late colleague, the Hon. Mr Ward. lam glad, however, That the Hon. Mr M'lCenzicis able ro be with you. Kindly express to all present my hearty good wishes, and the hope that they will spend a most eDJoyable evening. — R. J. Seddon, Wellington.

In replying to the toast of "The Government of New Zealand," »

The Hon. J. M'Kenzie, who was received with immense applause, expressed the pleasure he had at being present on that occasion. He was always glad to meet the Southland people, and he was doubly glad on the present occasion, as he did honour to his colleague — their guest, the Hon. Mr Ward. It was not, perhaps, quite correct to say his colleague, bub still he spoke advisedly from the intimacy that had existed between them while Mr Ward was a member of the Government. Furthermore, he hoped and trusted the day was not far distant when

ha would again be restored to that position. Eadeavoura had been made to dtßparage Mr Ward, bub, despite all that had been said againab him, he (Mr M'Kenzie) had stood by him, and he believed he spoke the sentiments of every member of the Government wh«a ho said tha.6 wan the feeling euberbaiaed towards him. For a period of seven years he had been on the most intimete terms wibh Mr Ward, and aow thab he was — temporarily, he hoped — out of bhe Govcrncnenb he felt his absence very much indeed. Amoagab the many attempts thab had been made to disparage Mr Ward it had been anserted that the banking legislation had been resorted to solely in Mr Ward's interest. As a matter of facb the banking legiilation had nothing to do wibh Mr Ward. The Bank of New Zealand had lost a sum of £4,000,000 with whjch Mr Ward had nothing bo do, and it was in thab extremity that the bank had come to the Government and that the legislation in question had been undertaken. He was very glad, indeed, to see so many friends rally round Mr Ward in the hour of: his adversity. Thab was the true test of friendship, and it redounded to the great credit of the electors of Awarua that they had been to «taunoh and true to him in his trouble*. The Conservative Press had sneered at Awarua, and had held it up to public ridicule, and would have them to believe that such were the sentiments of the public at large. He (Mr M'Kenzie) knew otherwise. The action taken by Awarua in this matter not only met with general approval, but in very many quartora, which he was prepared to indicate, ib was looked upon as most creditable. There could be no doubt bub that Me Ward's devotion to his public duties was the real cause of hi* present downfall. Had he given the attention to his private affairs that ho had given to tbe affairs of the colony he. would never have landed into the troubles into which he had now gob. He indicated these and many other insinuations against Mr Ward as Bain pies of the inventions of tha enemy, roads to bring Mr Ward and hia friends into disrepute, hub he waa very glad indeed (o see these had not had the desired effect. A« a -matter of fact, if „Mr Ward had ' belonged to the Conservative eide of poWtcs insbead of being tha pronounced Liberal he wap, he wou'd nob have now been in the B*nkcup'cy Court. A book of revelation had yet to be written of New Zealand politician?, aud when it was written it would astonish a few. And what was more, he could tell them that they would nod written on its pages the names of many of those who had > been loudeet in their howls agaimt Mr Ward. He had only to repeat thab he waa still Mr Ward's friend, and anything that might be said ngainsb Mr Ward would not have the sligfebest effect in changing his opinion towards him, and he thought he was justified in addin?, the opinion of the obher members of the Goverumenb. Seven years had elapsed j since they took office, and now he came before them c'aitning that he had fully carried out the promises he had made to them seven years ago. — (Applause ) The Hon. Mr Feldwick had told them thab there had nob been much opposition to the Government ia tbe Legislative Council, but that was only brought about after they had appointed the ."12 Aposilep." He could recall j hio own Land Bill when it ficet cime back from the Council. It wai so completely altered thab he did not know ib himself. It was their Liberal Government lhab had changed that i atabs of th'iDgi, and it was only on thab sbabe of bhings being so changed that the oppasition by the Council was overcome. As a Government they had had some rathev important changes situe they first to^k office. They h«l lost by d«ath Mr Baliauce and Sir Patrick Backlev. They had, a!s^, from other causes lost Mr It».evfs and their friend Me Ward — (Cries of "No.") Well, at any rate, they had losb him for tho time beiug. Still they had never swerved from their policy. They were equal to the occasion, and they would still continue to be so. Statements had been made to the effeeb that dissensions had arisen in the Cabinet, but that was not tbe casp. It was simply an invention of the enemy. They would assemble in Parliament in the nexb few daya, aud ib would then be found I that they were quite as much agreed as ever tbey had been. Ha counselled them to have no fear of tbe Liberal party. As in the past, ib wou'd bo in the future quite equal to the occasion. When the L'beral Government first took office they were nieered at, and it was loudly stated thab the Liberal patty could not possibly govern the colony, bufc they had now carried on that government for a period of seven years. They had met Parliament regularly with a surplus balance. Obhtr maledictions had been made againßt them, bat these, too, had all proved false. The colony never was at any time more prosperous than ib was at present. The population and revenue had increased, and were increasing rapidly. Money was coming in in abundance, and they bed every' possible c*v»6e to ooDgratulate themselves on the present state of affiirs. It would bo foolish for him to attempt to tell them all they had done daring that term of effica. They had changed the aspect of things completely. In particular they had altered the legislation in one most important direction — in the direction of thess who earned their bread by the sweat of their brow. He contended that no Government was worthy of that name that omitted to deal with the cause of the masses in the direction of them up and placing them in a better position. This was a most important branch of the administration. It was important to everyone — the rich of to-day might be ths poor of the next generation, and ib was as much in their interests as anyone's thab legislation ot tbia kind should be carefully promoted. Thab was the true spirit of a Liberal Government— to look after the masses of the people. The rich could always take care of themselves, but ib was very differenb with the poor. AgaiD, he would tell them the Government bad been very careful in looking after the interests of the settlers. They had provided that great needful, cheap money. Many of the settlers had been paying 8, 9, and 10, per cent-, to the money- lenders, bub now they could get what was wanted at * reasonable rate. In that respect Mr Ward had rendered the settlers great service. He had quite altered tho position of thiogs, and sehblera could now get money at what he considered payable rates. The breaking up of large estates into small holdings was next referred to. As a proposal ib had been denounced by thsir opponents. They were to!d it would never work, and thab ife would ruin tbe co'ony. They wou'd remember the Cheviot estate and all that had ! been said about that transaction. Now, however, they did not hear a singlu word about it. What was the reason of that? It was simply that Cheviot had turned oub a great j success. Formerly the estate was occupied by ' one family and a shepherd or two. Now it was occupied by no fewer than 1000 settlers who naid'nob less tban £14,500 per annum in revenue to the State, while only £92 of renb was in arrears. That was the reason, why they did not hear anything about the Obeviob now. He hoped that the system of buying up lands for settlement purposes would be preserved in its integrity and that no matter what Government came into power, Conservative or otherwise, that that policy would nob be re-

| p:al->rf cr ..Id* red He imagined that after tb« ! si.c; si h !.al a'.lnined no Government would I d>LV to lcptal thab policy. He had travelled a «ned deal throughout New Zealand, und he found that tho colony as a .whole entertained the view of the policy he had just staled. A great struggle had ensned in getting this bill passed into law, and a very mild form of the measure was at firsfc thrown out altogether. Meanwhile a new election took place, and the result of thab election was that out of 27 members who had voted against the bill and otherwise assisted in defeating the bill, 20 never saw the House again. When the measure^ was again brought forward in the form in which ib had since pasaed into law 55 voted in support of the bill, and only five recorded their votes against ib. He repeated his conviction that ib was a description of legislation which should nob be parted with on any condition whatsoever. The railways were next mentioned. When the Government took office the railways had been handed over to the control of a body of wholly irresponsible commissioners. Neither the Government nor the Parliament nor the people had any say whatever in theic administration Their Government had changed this state of things and brought tbe railway* back again under parliamentary control. For that alone the Government were deserving of great credit. It enabled the Government to make reforms in the interest of tho settlers and the travelling public, which oould not and would not otherwise havrf been made. A great deal of talk had been made about Me Seddoa ' and his trip Home. The facts of the oasa were briefly thase : When the invitation to the Premier came Mr Seddon was absent in Australia, and he (Mr M'Kenzie) read the' invitation, and the moment he saw ib he made up his wind that Mr Seddoa should acoapb ib, and g» Home. Nob only that, bat he planned the whole thing for him to go Home. Mr Seddob deserved the ' greatest credit for the manner in which ho sustained the dignity of the colony. Ib would have been a very sorry spectacle iai dead if this' colony had nob been represented iv the late Jubilee proceedings. Tha visit had done good otherwise. Me Seddoa ' had returned to the colony a much better man than he was when he left it. Ho had visited miny new countries, and ha had seen much that would have done him good or be of i great service to the colony. Parliament met nexb