ROSEBERY ON REEVES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 103, 16 June 1900, Page 2

ROSEBERY ON REEVES.

A CHARACTERISTIC SPEECH. The Loudon correspondent of the Evening Post sends tiie following interesting communication to thai Journal: -Responding to the toast of " The Chairman " at tbe banquet given last F iday by the City Liberal OJub to the Australian delegates, the exPremier made some humoious refeij ences to the proposer of the toast, Mr ( VV. P. Reeves. Lord Rosebery said >« " I sometimes wonder when 1 see our Australian or Canadian friends eome over on official missions to tiiis country in what state they return to that particular part of the Empire in which they live. They seem to come here with pleasure, and yet some lives which are not supposed to be pie i- ant seem to be very agreeable compared with theirs. Tbey spend their d »ys at the Colonial Office, and their nights at public dinners. (Laughter.) I am not at all sure that I would not prefe the days at the Colonial Office, even though my wishes were not exactly carried out, to night'after night at public dinners; Mr. Beeves has, with the accuracy of tin inhabitants of a new country, produced as statistics bis painful experiences of that kind. (Laughter.) He has told us that since ue lias been in England he has assisted at 117 public dinners, at none of which there were less than twelve speeches, each of which began with an apologetic preface. Has he forgotten the luncheons? Laughter.) I myself do not lunch in public, but I observe that the delegates of our colonies lunch in public, though I do not in the leatt Know iu what condition we *hall send them back to their multifatious dutioa alter constant banquets. (Laughter.Y " 1 have said that to-night we I ave had a dinner that is comparatively hew in our experience. I daresay that even with the experience of Mr. Reeves it lias not been altogether of the sameness of custom. We have liad eloquent pleadings from two delegates, one of whom, 1 think, is also Agent* General, on behilf of the Convention , for which they have come. Then we i have had a Balaam suddenly arise—(laughter) —and that has given that squeeze of the lemon to the entertain- . meut which miylit otherwise possibly liave been wan iug. I am not sure if Mr. Reeves wui u Balaam or not—there was something Balaamlike in his touch of the thorney subject which we ! have come here to discuss and avoid—(laughter)—but with the ability of a i practised orator, ha allowed us to remain in doubt as to what his real sentiments wore. (Laughter.) But - i 1 have no doubt that he will cable at sonfe expense to his Government tomorrow, and be able to speak those sentiments in a more certain tene at' i his 118 th bnquet. (Laughter.) I have always had a great respect for New Zealand. I made the greatest i sacrifice that I ever made in my life to attend the Australian Convention in 1881, and by doing so 1 was only able to touch at New Zealand and avoided a meditated visit to those pink terraces which I can now never see, because they have ceased to .exist. 1 M r. Reeves has given me quite a new J view of New Zealand to-night He ' says he speaks on behalf of the third class orators of that country. All I can say is this, that if even the second class orators of the country to which he belongs, and. still more the first class, should think it necessary to come over here to attend publio dinners, I must say I myself should regard any function that 1 had in that connection as superseded, and should retire into private life. (Laughter.) It is painful to think what must be the merits of the first or second class orators of New Zealand if Mr. Reeves represents only the third. (Laughter.)"