DUNEDIN NOTES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1870, 13 February 1892, Page 3

DUNEDIN NOTES.

(From our own Correspondent.)

The farewell banquet tendered to the Governor on Saturday evening w.xs at once the most enthusiastic and representative, as well as the most harmonious and genuine in tone and sentiment, that I have ever had the pleasure of attending in this city. There was no class of the citizens that was not represented ; and amongst all the feeling was one of demonstrative and thorough regret at the t impending departure of Lord Onslow.begotten of a strong admiration of the man ; for his success, honourably achieved, in his exalted positiou ; for his interest in tho people and thoir welfare; for his high character and abilities, and for the readiness with which he has always placed his services at the disposal of Ihe public in presiding atfuctions and ceremonies, and, perhaps, most of all, for his social and personal qualities. The manner in which the arrangements were carried out left nothing to be desired, and so pleased was Lord Onslow with the completeness of the arrangements iind the perfect smoothness with which everything passed off that he personally conveyed to the .Mayor, under whose direction the feast was organised and the speakers apportionrd their tasks, a graceful acknowledgment of his success. The chief dread was that some of the politicians present might break out ; and this feeling was still further intensified when the Governor began to distinguish, in language that left no doubt as to its application, the difference between the genuine labour representative and the person • that, with marked and significant emphasis, he described as " the j would-be-champion of the workingman, the smooth-tongued, plausible demagogue." But the appropriateness and point of the remark were instantaneously grasped and evoked a hurricane of approving applause.

It was generally regretted that Sir Robert Stout's littleness of mind prevented him from being present, and yet, everything considered, perhaps it was just as well that he was not there. Had he been present, in all probability we should have had the unhappiness of witnessing something like a triangular duel. The chances are that Sir Robert's petulant temper would be unable to brook the Governor's trenchant references to " the men who regarded working men as only men with shoulders broad enough for them to climb up on, if not to fame, at least to notoriety." This and some other very accurate descriptions of the political fungus, of whom our Knight is so true a type, would, in all probability, have provided something in the form of a retort, and then, to use a not over-rpfined expression, the fat wonld most assuredly have been instantly in the fire, the harmony of the evening would have been broken, and the memories of the occasion would be hardly of the kind that we should like to see our departing guest and Governor take away with him. Then there was other combustible matter present. Mr H. S. Fish was there in fine form, spoiling actually for a fight. But the Governor's language had nothing in it to arouse his hostility. On the contrary, by no man present was it so loudly applauded or so pointedly endorsed. To describe Mr Fish as a workingman's representative now would be to offer him a deadly insult. Wonderful what time and circumstances effect in the politician ! His advocacy of the Upper House was in his most vehement style, and those who still remember the occasion on which he solemnly invoked the interposition of the Almighty on behalf of Sir Robert Stout, for whom his contempt is now boundless, were much amused when he informed the assemblage that he felt inclined to ask the blessing of the Deity on the Legislative Council. On the other hand, his references to the House of Representatives were very scornful and this, he allowed it to be inferred, was altogether owing to the infusion of the labour element. But it takes two to make a fight, and had Sir Robert Stout been present there would most assuredly have been plenty to enliven the proceedings.

Nothing could exceed the warmth with which his Excellency was received ; the applause was deafening, and it was renewed many times dnring the delivery of his speech. I have heard Lord Onslow speak under varying circumstances before to-day, and T fancied I had become familiar with his highest powers of oratory as well as his best style and widest range of thought. Last Saturday's effort convinced me of my error, and that, too, before he had been scarce ten minutes on his feet. He soared like a giant high in the air above the other speakers who either preceded or followed him •, and yet every speech delivered with, perhaps, one or two exceptions, had been subject to the most careful and elaborate preparation. Probably the best, and certainly the readiest way of guaging the worth of the Governor's speech, was by comparing his with the speeches of the other speakers. Beside him the other speakers were commonplace and dull beyond expression. The Governor has the advantage of a good voice, cultivated, flexible, and carefully tuned. It responds easily and without apparent effort to every movement of the mind, and gives a mellowness and sweetness to his language that forms a very important part of his success as a public speaker. Another graceful feature of his speech was that, while it was clearly a carefully thought-out and prepared after-dinner speech, the striving after effect, if there was any, was so artfully mastered and concealed as to be imperceptible. The accuracy and precision of expression, the ability to say exactly what he meant and intended, was very marked, indicating, as I have intimated, how systematic and thorough had been its preparation. The delicate ground on which he so frequently ventured rendered this precaution very necessary. The many felicitous modes of expression, the happy turns of thought, and the smooth, graceful diction and easy flow of speech imparted to it all the elements of the very best of after-dinner speeches. And withal it was full of thought, gave evidence of accurate observation and ripe, good sense and judgment in the treatment of our internal affairs, and, above all things, was noted for the keen-edged satire and, at times, the unsparing terms of condemnation applied to the political faddists and demagogues. Poor Mr Lee Smith has suffered a terrible calamity. He has been blackballed by the aristocratic members of the Fernhill Club, with whom he attempted vainly to foregather. This, at all events, is the story which Mr Lee Smith and his friends have been industriously circulating and endeavouring to make capital | out of during the last week or two. It has been said that Mr Lee Smith was blackballed solely because of his political opinions, because he belonged to the Liberal party, and he is in consequence posing as a martyr, and is quite happy in the possession of a new and most convincing proof of his devotion to the downtrodden democracy. Tina is all very nice and promising as far as Mr Lee Smith's political calculations are concerned. But I have been assured that there is no foundation whatever for the story, and that, in fact, it is merely a political stratagem, and not a creditable one, an advertisement from which Mr Lee Smith hopes to derive political capital. Mr Lee Smith belongs to the class referred to by Lord Ons'ow as one of the would-be champions of the workingmen. All his pretended sympathy with the workingman is inspired by the allabsorbing desire of getting into Parliament. Just contrast the generous and liberal professions of this gentleman with his hard-fisted and grasping conduct in the notable fight on the bag question between the farmers and the middlemen class to which Mr Lee Smith belongs. And the " Globe," the professed labour organ here, actually dished up a leading article, presumably from the pen of Mr Lee Smith himself, on this trumpery blackballing yarn, asserting that Martyr Lee Smith was sacrificed by the Tory club in question because he was a Liberal, and so on in the usual tearful style. Mr Lee Smith, as he so often boasts himself, is a rich man, and is known with Sir Robert Stout to have our independent labour organ under his thumb, and hence the facilities for working such little sensational fictions as the Fernhill Club advertisement. The flood is the absorbing topic of the hoar.

Our own experiences, though far from pleasant, are as nothing compared to those of the unfortunate settlers north and south of this> city. The rain commenced to descend here early on Sunday morning, and rattled away almost without ceasing until far into the day on Monday. The damage through the city, as far as I have been able to ascertain, is not heavy, though fears were entertained that a nnrnher of houses in Leithstreet, close to thp Dundas-street bridge, would have been inundated, as they have been on a few previous occasions. Fortunately for the occupants, this did not happen ; but part of the roadway close to the bridge was eaten away, and the bridge further up the river, and leading into the Botanical Gardens from Duke-street, was severely shaken and some of its supports carded away. As might have been expected, there wus a good deal of water on the lowlyinj.' land around South Dunedin, but yet little damage was done beyond the flooding of a few houses and some vegetable gardens. Appalling accounts continue to come from the Taieri ; many of the settlers there have sustained losses that they will not recover from for years, if, indeed, ever. In the West Taieri alone it is estimated that £30,000 will not cover tho damage. The harvest was considered to be a splendid one, and the returns were confidently awaited by many a struggling farmer who expected, speaking in the vernacular, to be planted firmly on his feet. But hero, you see, we have another instance of the uncertainties of everything human, and of the thousand and one risks that beset the toiling farmer. A gentleman just arrived in town informs me that the damage in the North is very great,and is not yet fully realised. Large areas of crops, he assures me, have been destroyed, stock have perished or been swept away in large numbers, and biidges aud fences have suffered heavily. The full extent of the loss and damage will never be fully ascertained ; but it is certain that many industrious men are brought to the verge of rnin.