FAREWELL VISIT TO DUNEDIN.

Otago Witness, Issue 2934, 8 June 1910, Page 16

FAREWELL VISIT TO DUNEDIN.

PRESENTATION OF ADDRESS. At the Town Hall on Friday, May 27, a farewell address from the citizens of Dunedin was presented to his Excellency iho Governor, Lord Plunket, prior to his departure from the Dominion. It was originally intended to present the address at a luncheon to his Excellency, but on account of the death of King Edward VII the luncheon was abandoned, and in other respects •his Excellency’s last visit to the city had to be shorn of items of pleasure that had been mapped out for him. The proposal to recognise, in the form of an address, the many services of his Excellency and Lady Plunket to the Dominion was warmly taken., up when mooted, and the following committee of gentlemen carried out all the arrangements: —The Mayor (Mr Thomas Cole), Hon. J. B. Oallan, M.L.C., Messrs S. Solomon, K.C., J. F. M. Fraser, K.C., J. Allen, M.P., W. Barclay, J. A. Park, J. H. Walker, G. L. Denniston, W. Downie Stewart, James Hutchison, J. Loudon, M. Cohen, P. Barr, E. R. Smith, R. Gilkison, O. E. Keast, A. H. Brid.ger (Mayor of Mornington), E. A. Tapper, D. M‘Pherson, C. Speight, H. L. Tapley, F. J. Stilling, W. Burnett, J. J. Marlow, C. R. Chapman, D. Tannoek. R. Hawcridge, and Lieu-tenant-colonel Smith. His Excellency the Governor, attended by Captain N. "Gathorne-Hardy. A.D.C., arrived shortly after 2 o’clock, being received at the entrance to the Town Hall by the Mayor and councillors, and on entering the council chamber the audience rose in a body to receive him. His Excellency was escorted to a seat to the right of the Mayor’s chair, vyhere he was supported by the Hon. Mr Millar and Sir George M'Lean. The Mayor, in addressing his Excellency, said: —It would) be presumptuous for me to dwell upon the valued and distinguished services you have rendered the country during your high office as Governor, but I am agreed with by all when I say that you have won the affectionate esteem and devotion of all classes; and that wherever, right honourable sir, you may -be, and whatever position you may hold your distinguished services in this part of the Empire entitle you to, the thoughts and grateful remembrances of our people will be with you. These remarks also apply to Lady Plunket, whose indefatigable energies in the promotion of the health of -women and children will stamp themselves for all time on generation® to come. (Applause.) Your Excellency is carrying away, with you the warm esteem of the people of New Zealand.—(Applause.) It is a compliment to any- Governor that, coming here a comparative stranger, the people should feel on his departure that they were parting from a great friend. —(Applause.V I now call upon the town clerk to read the address. The address was read by the Town Clerk (Mr R. W. Richards) as follows: “ To his Excellency the Right Honourable Raron Plunket. G.C.M.G.. K.C.V.0.. Governor and Commander-In-Chief in and over his Majesty’s Dominion of New Zealand and 1 Its dependencies. “ Sir,—The citizens of Dunedin desire, now that the term of the of your present high and honourable office is drawing to a close, respectfully to express their appreciation of the desire you have manifested at all times during your residence in New Zealand to identify yourself with the highest and best interests of the country. and of the ability and dignity with which you have discharged the manifold duties of yckir position as representative of his Majesty the King. • “ You have received, sir, repeated assurances, with qjjjhich the citizens of Dunedin have warmly -associated themselves, of the fervent loyalty of the people of New Zealand to his late gracious Majesty, whose exceptional services in the cause of peace had, no less than his personal qualities, caused his name to be? revered among the nations of the world, and whose death evoked a universal expression of grief. The citizens now desire to assure your Excellency of their continued loyalty to the Throne and their devotion to the persons of his Majesty King George the Fifth, her Majesty Queen Mary, the Queen Mother, and" the members of the Royal Family. ■ „ , _ “ The oenod of your Excellency s official association with New Zealand has been rendered memorable by the recognition of the increasing importance’ of the, country that is implied in the bestowal upon it of the designation of Dominion. It has also been parked by a large increase in the poi tila.tion of the country, and by steady and solid material progress, of which many proofs will have been observed by your Excellency in the course of the visits you have made to the various portions of the country. . It is a . source of gratification to the residents of New Zealand that the knowledge you have gained concerning the resources of the Dominion and respecting the conditions of its life and the circumstances of its people will be of the highest value both to the Dominion and to your Excellency in your future career’ in, whatever portion of the Empire it may be spent. _ “ In regretfully bidding farewell to your Excellency, the citizens of Dunedin desire also to express their high sense of the active and practical interest which Lady Plunket during her sojourn in the Dominion manifested in _ the social welfare of the people, and especially in the humanitarian movement for the promotion of the health of women and for the preservation of the lives of children. In conclusion, they pray earnestly that the blessing of the” Almighty may rest upon vour Excellency. Lady Plunket, and family. “Signed on behalf of th© citizens of Dunedin, “Thos. Cole, Mayor. “ R. W. Richaeds, Town Clerk.” _ Hie Worship handed the address to his Excellency amid hearty applause. His Excellency, in reply, said: Mr Mayor and gentlemen.—l beg t« return yoa my most cordial thanks for your address, for your renewed assurances of loyalty to the Throne, and for the _ kindly expressions you have used in referring to my approaching departure from New Zealand. You are indeed amply warranted in calling attention to the wonderful material progress mad© by this country during the oast six years: a progress which has ftiJJv instified the important designation of “ Dominion ” rhich it now

bears. I need hardly assure you that it will always be to me a source of pride to recall that during my term of office this distinction was conferred. You have referred to my efforts to make myself thoroughly acquainted with the' conditions of every part of New Zealand, and I assert, as a, result of these observations, that I can see no reason why the present prosperity should not steadily continue to increase, granted the peace of the Empire is maintained. I am pleased to notice your appreciation of the great part King Edward took towards ensuring the peace for his people which has so blessed New Zealand. We all sorrow for the loss of his guiding hand, but we trust, under God's providence, that the strength of the Empire's arms, the wisdom or her statesmen, and thy unity of her people may preserve the present happy conditions. In conclusion, gentlemen, I must bid you good-bye. Dunedin's great steam ship company, its numerous manufactories, and its School of Medicine are unique in the Dominion, and I shall follow the progress of your city and municipality with deep interest. On behalf of Lady Plunket, as well as myself, I thank y;'u heartily for the generous way in which you have alluded to our efforts to make some return to the people of this beautiful and happy land for the kindness and goodwill they have ever shown us, and I acknowledge again, Mr Mayor and gentlemen, you.r loyal and friendly farewell, —(Applause). After reading his formal reply, his Excellency added: —Mr Mayor, Hon. Mr Millar, and gentlemen, his Worship prefaced his address with a number of kind expressions, and I feel it is my duty to endeavour to return to him, to the councillors, and _to the (prominent inhabitants of the city of Dune-din a word or two of sincere thanks that cannot be conveyed in an official reply to an address. In the first place I want to tell you, as I have told numerous audiences I have already had the honour and privilege of addressing throughout New Zealand during my parting tour, that whilst three of my predecessors —I can, speak of three whom I personally know, — Lord Onslow, Lord Glasgow, and Lord Ranfurly—went away from this country with half their hearts left behind, I think Lady Plunket andi J will leave it with about three-fourths left behind. —(Applause.) At any rate, I know the predecessors I have referred to told me, when I first had the honour of being- appointed by his late Majesty as his representative in this country, that I was going to have an exceedingly interesting and pleasant time, and that they envied me starting on my six years' work. I shall so back and tell them they were absolutely right, and I hope when I go to Australia to convey to my successor, whom I expect to meet there, some faint idea of the good time, the interesting time, and the informing time he will have in this country.—(Applause.) In your new Governor you will have' a man who, apart from his official position, will appeal to vou, because Lord Islington has taken a particular interest in municipal enterprise and' municipal wellbeing. He is a very thorough man. From what you have read of him in the papers you have, no doubt, seen that he is a man who, when he takes up a task, carries it through. One of the problems in which he has taken a deep interest —as I have myself to a certain extent —is that of muni' cipal reform. He has done an enormous amount in England, especially in London, in connection. with the general welfare and benefit of the working classes. He has helped greatly in connection with model dwellings for working men, and although you do not require these dwellings as much as they do in the Old Land, everyone will agree, I think, that you require a great many more than you have „at present.— (Applause.) I believe he will%e a persona grata with you in that particular/ tion, amongst others. I have to thank you, too, for the kind way in which you received the sentiments that occurred in the official address concerning Lady Plunket. I should like her to have heard some of the kindly references that I have been honoured with wherever I have been, in New Zealand on this my farewell visit in connection with the work she has helped to do in this country, and coming now, as I do to Dunedin, which is the home of that particular work—and I think Dunedin may be very proud of it, —(applause)— I have, to return to you, on her behalf, my acknowledgments of your kindly appreciation of her efforts, and my assurance that, both as regards her and as regards myself, that work will be always remembered by us, and we hope to do much at Home in spreading the good -work started in this part of New Zealand.— (Applause.) I have only now to thank you for the kind way in which you have received' me whenever I have been in this part of New Zealand, and to tell you that New Zealand will always be very dear to m-"- heart.—(Applause.) His Excellency then took his departure. Description of the Address. The address is engrossed on vellum, backed with crimson satin, with a fall of silver fringe mounted on - a kauri roller, worked in imitation of Maori carving. It is surrounded' with a border of scroll work, on a gold ground, enclosing, at the top, the rose, thistle, and shamrock, and the emblems of Knighthood—K.C.M.G. and K.C.V.O.,—together with the Plunket crest, monogram, and baron's cap, divided by the Southern Cross, terminating in a boweir of ferns at either side. The margins contain characteristic views of southern lake and mountain scenery, with flax, and after the signature of his Worship the Mayor and the Town Clerk is the crest or seal of the Corporation of the City of Dunedin, and at the foot the huia feather.