Farmers' Banquet to Mr Newton King.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 11778, 28 September 1901, Page 2

Farmers' Banquet to Mr Newton King.

iX ENTHUSIASTIC GATHERING. Pe->ba.bly the greatest and most enthusiastic gathering of its kind ever held in I'uranaki was the banquet tendered to Vlt Newton King by the' farmers of tbe district, which took place at the Tbeatie Royal on Friday night. Despite the wet afternoon, which prevented many from a distance from attending, fully 200 gentlemen sat down. Mr John Elliot, of \tahoenui, presided, having on his right the guest of the evening, Mr Fred Bayly (Toko), and Mr J. S. Glynes, and on his left the Mayor of New Plymouth (Mr E. Dockrill), Captain Mace, and Mr O. ■Samuel. The vice-chairmen were Messrs J. G. Harkness (Midhirst), H. Brown Inglewood), A. Southey Baker, J- B. Connett, J. J. Elwin (Warea , W. L. Newman, and R. Cock, and among others present were representative farmers from every part of the district besidts the leading business people of the town. After the usual loyal toasts had been proposed by the Chairman and duly bonoured, torL. B. Horrocks proposed "The Army and Navy, Reserve Forces, aad Taranaki Veterans," referring to the good work done by the colonial forces in South Africa and to the debt the present generation iv this district owe to the veterans who fought for the country in the Maori wars. Captain Mace briefly responded. At this stage the Chairman read apologies he had received from Messrs F. S. Canning (Normanby), G. Rutherford (Pungarehu), R. L. Stanford, S.M., W. Symes, M.H.R., and F. McGuire, M.H.R. Apologies were also made for the absence of Messrs E. T. Petty, L. W. Alexander, J. £. George, and C. W. Govett. "The Parliament of New Zealand" was next proposed by Mr Dockrill, who said New Zealai d bad to rtason to be ashamed of its Parliuuifcttt, a fact greatly due to the able manuor in which its de liberations were controlled by Sir Maurice Oilorke. He also spoke in glowing :erms of the great services, boch as a soldier and a statesman, rendered by the late Sir Harry Atkinson. (Applause). Mr' Harkuess replied, and, in one of ihe best speeches of the evening, referred to some of the able statesmen who had in the past guided the destinies of New Zealand—Sir Julius Yogel, Sir Harry Atkinson, Sir George Grey, Sir Robert Stout, Hon John Ballance, Sir John Hall, and the Hon W. Rolleston. The colonies, he Baid, owe as much to their free institutions and free Parliaments as to the military and naval forces, but purity of administration is a first essen tial, and to secure this their powers of votes for roads and bridges should be caken away, and the money granted to local bodies 1. Sir S-imufl a'so replied, saying that members of Parliament deserved tbe sympathy and pity of the people in that tf'er spending three or four, months in Wellington, sitting late and enduring many d omfrrts, they were co seldom ible to enjoy the satisfaction of having lone good work for the benefit of the ;ountxy. In looking back he thought it v pity the provinces and provincial institutions were swept away, for they were a mrsery for statesmen. In addition to hose mentioned by Mr Harkness, he recalled the names of Mr James M«canIre.v, Vir W S. Moorhousq, Dr. Fsather?ton, Sir W. Fitzherbort, Mr John vVilliamson, aud Sir Frederick Whitaker, aB conspicuous among the 'statesmen of be pi.st, adding that there wers still able ■nen on both sides of the House, willing to give their services to the country. The next toast was that of "Our Guest," proposed in felicitous terms by the Chairman, who said Jie felt proud, as one of the old settlers, to think that the farmers had manifested such good feeling for one who had done so much for Taranaki as had Mr King. Going back to~the time Mr King started in bnsiness" he traced the growth of the district, a growth which their guest had largely helped by his energy and enterprise. Wherever settlement went there was Mr King assisting it. In every industry that was started he was one of the first to see daylight, and one of the first and most energetic in pushing it forward t« success. Settlers ilways found him ready with his advice ;nd in other ways to assist them. Es•peciully was this the case with the dairy fidustry, which owed a great deal of itp prosperity to Mr King, Mr J. C. George, iiid also to Mr W. X, Hulke, who years ■go was probably the besi read man in I'aranaki on the subject, and to whose persuasive powers was due the starting «)f the first factories at Tikofangi by Mr leorge, and at Waitara by the late Mr P. Bayly. He went on to quote figures showing how in 1887 Taranaki's exports of dairy produce amounted to £2512 for butter and uo thing for cheese, while for tbe year ended August 31st last the figures were: 8utter,£463,123; cheese,£6s,B27. Many now prosperous farmers owed their success in the first place to the assistance of Mr King, who being a good'judge of haracter, was always ready to assist in giving a start where he was satisfied of a man's houebty. To further show how the dairy industry had progressed he said that between 1886 and 1890 summer butter was frequently down to 4d per lb., and even in 1803 only 5d was given. Now they were receiving as much as lOd for their season's output. The total exports of the district last year amounted to £776,442, which showed tho great progress Taranaki was making, and Mr King and the Crown Dairy Company were largely responsible for the progress. He started with saleyards at Waiwakaiho, now his business extended from Opunake nearly to Kawbia, and he hoped his pluck an 1 energy would be amply repaid and that he would be long spared to enjoy the fruits thereof. (Applause). v r Burgess, Captain Mace, and Mr S. Hill ea?h spoke a few words in praise of iheir guest. Mr King, on rising to respond, was greeted with prolonged applause. He expressed his great pleasure at meeting so many old school-fellows among those present, and his pride at the hearty reception accorded him. He proceeded to relate how it was that he took hiß present line of business, and then refcrrod to his recent trip to England, which was partly one of pleasure, and partly to his anxiety to learn something of the prospects of tbe Siberian butter triido, which threatened 10 becomo a serious rival of our own. Warming to his subjeot, Mr King gave his hearers the benefit of the knowledge and experience he had gained in Kng.'and about tbe butter trade. He had been delighted to find that New Zealand butter was regarded as wonderfully good, and improved out of knowledge during the las. four or fire years, bo that now it was worth 3s or 4s a cwt. more than Australian, instead of, as before that much less. Australia started ahead of New Zealand with factories and insulated chambers, but the positions were new reversed. He never, in the course of his travels, heard a complaint about New Zealand butter, except at Manchester, where a dealer wanted a white butter. But at Liverpool he was told that coloured butter could be aold in Manchester, so that it appeared to be one man's fad. At any rate he advised them to stick to their colour. He found New Zealand butter packed nnd sold as prime Devonshire, which he took as a high compliment, but he did not like to see, as he had done, good Taranaki butter being worked up with poor foreign stuff to make a tenpenny retail article. The Danish butter which held pride of place, was a pasteurised, uniform, white, texturoless, tastelef-s article, and he would not advise pasteurißation. He had met with dealers who sold Danish butter, but preferred New Zealand for their own consumption. The trouble was that there was not sufficient New Zealand but c-r to keep the Danish down. Tbe be«t imported butter sold in England was Normandy milled butter, worked up as it used to be in Taranaki, but then it was perfectly fresh when consumed. Danish came next, New Zealand third, the rfst nowhero. Siberian butter, however, would have to be reckoned with in tho future. It was onlyinila itjfunoy, and they had not

adopted the factory system. Canadian also was a formidable rival, fie he found it sold as a substitute for New Zealand, before the latter arrived on the market. Many countries were trying to capture the English maaket, but he thought we had nothing to fear from any of them except Canada, the Argentine, and Siberia. Even these countries' products were put ou the market at a different season from New Zealacd. Regarding our meat, he found New Zealand lamb in excellent favour; it was well advertised and looked in perfect condition. He, however, never had a good potato daring his travels. A Voice : Why didn't you cross over to the little island ?] He had never had a happier day than when he reached Taranaki again. Mr King, after again ex pressing thanks for the hearty reception he had received, resumed hrn seat .tmidsfc applause. Mr J. B. Connett proposed, " The Dairying Industry, ' refening to the advent of the separator, the early difficulties with regard to transport, tbe establishment of freezing works, for which he claimed farmers were largely indebted to the townspeople, and w«nt on to express his confidence in the future of the industry. The only drawback was the labour difficulty, and he contended that the Government should assist farmers in this respect. Mr J . J. El win replied, speaking iv very high terms of Mr King's abilities and straightforwardness, and also of the assistance he had givta to the dairy industry, which would entitle him to an epitaph reading, "He did good in his generation, and his generation knew it." Mr H. Wallath also made a short speech. "The Farmers' Union." was proposed by Mr U. Brown, wbo spoke of the necessity for farmers to combine. Unless they did so they would find that the labour unions would rule the colony, lie also referred to the excellent paper upon railways and roada, by Mr James i*urge9s,' appearing' in that evening's f ABANAKi Herald. Mr Burgess, in reply, said the Farmers' Uoion bad couie to stay, and he was delei mined to do all he could to forward its interests. The farmers numbered 120,000, but unless they were united they would be dominated by the labour unions. Mr G. V: Tate also replied, laying emohasis on the fact that the Uoion was not organised for party reasons, but for the support of farming' interests. Mr Cock proposed " The Agricultural Industry and A. and P. Societies." He triced the early history of the Taranaki Agricultural Society, and urged farmers to give it more support. Hawke's Bay had 800^ members, whilst this bad only abouV f2O, half of whom were townspeople. Farmer! ought to support the Society, and also pay more attention to breeding, whereby they might increase their average yield per cow from £6 or £7 fo £8 or £9, or even more. Mr King replied very briefly, urging the amalgamation of the Wanganui, Egmont, and Taranaki Societies, holding peripatetic shows. They should support tbe societies not for the sake of tho towns, but for the sake of the industry. Farmers could combine if they liked, and be claimed that Taranaki farmers were as shrawd and honest a class as could bo found anywhere. Mr Samuel proposed " The Commerce of New Zealand " aud took the opportunity 6f expressing the thanks of those wbo were not farmers for the opportunity of being present that uight. Commerce; he was pleased to say, ht>J received more attentou from Government during the las fa tea years than ever before. The w6nderful progress made by the colony was' largely due to the Government, but still more to the enterprise and honesty of those engaged in Commerce. - ' Mr W. L. Newman replied m a few words, Baying he thought the cycle of .prosperity enjoyed by the country was chiefly due to the capabilities of the oolonißts. .v r King then proposed " The Health of Mr Chew Chong," as one of the pioneers of the dairy industry. Tbe toast was very heartily received and Mr Chong gave some interesting porticulars of his connection with Taranaki, referring particularly to the fungus exports.' He bad paid as much as £60 in a day for fungus, and he believed it had brought £600,000 into the country. " Local Bodies " was proposed by Mr T. _S. WfcStou, wno spoke of tho good work dene by local bodies, churning that much of the recent progress made was due to them. He referred particularly to the ;services rendered by Mr H. Okey, County Chairman. Mr Okey, in replying, said there was a great amount of work devolving on members of local bodies, upon which new burdens were continually being placed. Mr Rangi Haemata, of Okato, addressed the gathering in vaori, which was interpreted by Mr W. Gray. He said he was pleased to be present on the occasion' and to be treated as- one of the farmers of Taranaki, a fact which was due to his supplying one of Mr King'b factories. "The Bresß," proposed by Mr Tate, and responded to by Mr W. J. Perm (Takanaki Herald and Budget) ; " The Ladies," proposed by Mr Glynes, and " The - Caterer," proposed by the Chairman, and received with cheers, brought the toast list to a conclusion. During the banquet Mr McKinnon Bain's orchestra played a number of selections, which added to the enjoyment, . and during the evening songs and recitations were given by Messrs Perry, Trebilco, Gray, Rapley, Blytb, bouthey Baker, aud Mr D. Thomson danced a hornpipe iv excellent style. "Auld Lang Syne" brought a very .successful function to a conclusion at about half -past twelve.