SIR JAMES MILLS. BANQUETED IN WELLINGTON.

Otago Witness, Issue 2803, 4 December 1907, Page 52

SIR JAMES MILLS. BANQUETED IN WELLINGTON.

(FBOM OITB O™ CoRBESPDNDWfT.) WELLINGTON, November 58. Leading business and professional men Jiere honoured Sir James Mills .by banquet ing him in the Town Hall this afternoon. The gathering, -over which tlie Prime .Minister presided, was -a thoroughly repre--setita-tive -one. Sir Joseph Ward, in proposing the health of i;be jguest, referred to the knighthood recently conferre'l upon him and to tho fitness of honouring .him in "Wellington, which was the pity df his birth. For the. first time in New Zealand .the title bestowed on Sir James Mills had been. I awarded to a " king of industry," and it was pleasant' to find that the head of such a vast organisation as the Union Steam Ship Company 'had been honoured} by his Majesty the King. Fr^m the commencement of hie career till now Sir James Mills has not made a personal' enemy in -the country, und in wotting 'himself up from the bottom rung of -the ladder to the top it was an agreeable feet tha* there was not on a who would not rejoice with him at the honour he had received.— (Applause.) Side by side with the growfli of New Zealand had taken place the growth of the Union Company — an inetitu? tipn of which "they were all proud end which his Majesty bad honoured <by the honour bestowod on ite head. Sir Joseph Ward went on to congratulate Lady Mills, and then, on behalf of all present and o*~ New Zealand, he offered Sir James his warmest congratulations, and expressed "his earnest hope for his success and for -the success oi the -company. Sir James Mills, who was renewed with cheers, in reply thanked fche chairmen and all the ©there for the congratulations bestowed upon him -and his wife. The ap■prov»l of one's fellow citizens w*e alwayp grateful. He -valued the honour, because it had been given to him at the instance of the Government, and because it was a recognition of the part played ihn as a representative of a great company. Several of the chief executive officers -of the company were Wellington-born, as were also the manager in Wellington and. the speaker's brother. He recalled the days of his early association with the company, when it acquired the original Maeri —c. toddler of 135 tons: a baby compared with her latest namesake. To-day -ti». company had a fleet of 60 steamer*, and more were coming. The latest acquisitions — the Maori and the Maroma, which together cost about £300,000 — represented the latest in the art of shipbuilding. It had always been tine polioy of the company to keep ahead of the time and to give the greatest possible amount of satisfaction to supporters and employees. The company tried to be impartial, but of course it was not possible to please everybody. The employees had been most loyal in looking after the interests of the company and the Dominion. He was per-. fectly 6ehiefied that even among £he stokerij and firemen the- great majority were loyal to the company, notwMhstanding _ statements that nad appeared recently in the papers. There was one «soect i»e would lilye to touch upon — the faot that the headquarters of the company were in New Zealand. That meant that a great deal of the money expended had been expended in -tiiis country, and he hoped ifchat before very long the Government would) be able to supply officers from local-born youths. All these matters had been fche etudv of the direct-ore, who had away* had the interests of Now Zealand at h«trt. He was proud that the company of which ho was the head «wae 1;© all intents and purposes a New- Zealand company, and rt was gratifying to find that whenever h» went the Dominionr-vof which he was • native, was so well spoken of. Messrs Beauohamp «nd Nafehan, speaking in connection with other teaste, expressed the hope that the Union Company would soon shift its headquarters to Wellington.