SPEECH BY THE GOVERNOR AT CHRISTCHURCH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 2, Issue 318, 18 November 1879, Page 2

SPEECH BY THE GOVERNOR AT CHRISTCHURCH.

«* , At the dinner given on Wednesday evening, his Excellency the Governor, in responding to the toast of his health, proposed by Mr J. T. Ford, President of the Agricultural Association, spoke as follows :

I am very sensible, Mr President, of . the kind terms in which yon have proposed my health, and grateful to you, gentlemen, for the marked cordiality with which you have responded to the toast. I can assure you it has given me great pleasure to visit Christchurch at the present time, as it has afforded me an opportunity of inspecting your splendid show, and thus forming a better estimate of the vast pastoral and agricultural wealth of this magnificent district than I could have gained by any amount of mere travelling through it, I have been able to avail myself of the same visit to observe, as I have done with satisfaction, the very admirable manner in which the "ood old national sport of horse-racm* is conducted under the able and efficient management of the Canterbury Jockey Club. (Cheers.) Above all, I have had an opportunity of seeing for myself the crowds of well-dressed and obviously well-to-do people who have thronged the race course and show ground, whose appearance and demeanor abundantly testily to the loyal, orderly, contented, and truly British character of the population, (Cheers.) Indeed, all that I have seen here and elsewhere in New Zealand since my arrival has served to convince me that, although the ocean separates you from the old country, you ate, like Ralph Rackstraw, the able seaman in "H.M.S. Pinafore," in spite of all temptations to belong to other nations, you still remain Englishmen—(cheera and laughter)— and that m your picturesque and most enjoyable island home at the antipodes, you still retain those feelings of attachment to the Throne, and respect for law, order, and constitutional authority-(cheers)- ; and that love of outdoor business pursuits and amusements which constitute all the world over the marked characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon race. (Cheers.) I may add that the cordial expressions of welcome and goodwill which have been extended to myself personally, not only in Christchurch, but in all parts of the colony in which I have visited, have been most gratifying to me, and encourage me to hope that you, at all events, give me oredit for a sincere desire to act here an

honestand straightforward part in the discharge of the important duties which have been entrusted to rae by ray Sovereign. My only fear is, gentlemen, that you may expect too much from me, for if so, there will assuredly be a reaction of disappointment. (No.) But you must all bear in mind that in matters of internal administration and policy the functions of a constitutional Governor are of a negative rather than of a positive character, and that his principal achievements consist rather in preventing mischief than accom- J plishing any substantial good. He has to ' reconcile and discharge as best he can the double functions attached to his office that of a Governor, responsible to the Crown, and the constitutional head of an Executive, controlled by his advisers. (Hear, hear.) The task- of reconciling these sometimes conflicting functions is often one of peculiar nicety and difficulty, and as Lord Dufferin well observed, the duties of a constitutional Governor, in this respect, resemble not a little those of the man we see tending some complicated piece of machinery, who goes about clad in fustian, with a little tin-can, having a long spout to it, and pouring a drop of oil here and another there? with the view of securing the working of the various parties with as little friction as possible. (Cheers.) These lubricating performances of a constitutional Governor are mostly hidden from the public eye, and the functions of his office are in consequence apt to be underrated ; but I am myself far from thinking that the position 19 either an unimportant or an (influential one. (Hear, hear.) Constituting, as he does, the official link between the colony and the mother country, he can, whilst, resolutely regarding Imperial interests, at the same time do much, by tact and judgment, to maintain harmonious action between local and Imperial officials. (Cheers) Placed, also, as he is by his position, above the strife of parties; holding his office by a tenure less precarious than the Ministers who surround him, and bound, as he is, to see that under all circumstances and changes the law and the constitution are obeyed, he can, by holding the balance equally between contending parties, by neverallowinghimself to become in the slightest degree a partizen, do much at times to moderate extreme opinion, and to allay the asperity of polical warfare. (Cheers.) And when strife wages fierce, and the hitting becomes a little wild, he has to assume the position, as it were; of umpire in the political prize-ring, to see that the rules of the game are strictly adhered to, and, above all, to repress firmly and vigorously any tendency to hit below the belt. (Laughter, followed by prolonged applause.) ihese are amongst the least agreeable of a constitutional Governor's duties; but there are others which are thoroughly enjoyable. For example, it is his privilege to be able, without provoking jealousy ; or suspicion, to take a warm interest in societies such as this, and indeed in all social movements having for their object the advancement of the industrial, educational, and moral interests of the people, and to promote every undertaking which gives promise of developing the resources of the colony, or of assisting her friendly and successful rivalry with other colonies or countries in the arts of peace. (Cheers.) At the same time, a Governor may, m my opinion with advantage, and without doin» anything inconsistent with the obligations 0 or derogatory to the dignity of his hMi office, identify himself warmly with the pleasures and amusements of the people -loud cheers ;-and by sympathising with them heartily in all the good old English sports and pastimes, do much, by his influence and example, to ensure their being carried out with moderation and propriety. (Cheers.) These are the general principles which I laid down for my own guidance in the great neighboring colony of New South Wales, a"nd although of course I often failed in acting up to so high a standard, my experience and observation in Australia have taught me that if a Governor in these colonies simply seeks to do his duty honestly and fearlessly-steering unmoved an even course between political contentions of the day, indifferent alike to praise or blamehe will never appeal in vain to the confidence and generosity of an English com mumty. (Enthusiastic applause.) And now allow me to say that the first impressions which I have formed of New Zealand are most favorable. I have already, in the few months I have been here, visited most of the principal centres of population—from Auckland in the north, to Invercargill in the south-and I can truly say that the country appears to me to be of aupassing interest and promise. The scenery is quite equal, if not superior to anything I have seen in any other part of the world. I have been much struck also with the extent and variety of the resources of the country, as well as well as the industry and energy, and the marvellous rapidity with which they are hw deveComing from Australia, I could not fail to note with admiration the extraordinary richness of the soil, and its special adaptability for homestead settlement upon comparatively small areas. (Cheers,) Your climate, too, is magnifi-cent-far more enjoyable than that of the old country; whilst it is equally favorable I to the development of British energy. The influence of climate and soil is° i think, clearly perceptible upon the physical development and character of the population, for wherever I have travelled I have found men brimful of energy, and contented with their lot, believhV thoroughly in the land of their adoption" and determined to promote her advancement to a foremost place among the dependencies of the British Crown. (Cheers,) I know of no sight more calculated to impress an Englishman with feelings of pride and thankfulness than to travel through a great new country like this, which was only first settled about forty years ago, and to see on all sides the evidence winch it affords of material progress and social improuement. And to see gieat cities such as Christchurch, Dunedin, Wellington, Auckland, and Invercargill, which have grown up as if by magic-to see, as I did, mountains of grain stacked and waiting shipment at Oamaru and Timaru, the produce of districts which a

few years ago did not grow enough for

their own consumption—to see such a pastoral and agricultural show as I inspected to-day, and of which many of the old countries of Europe might well feel proud—to see everywhere vast districts of country which twenty-five years ago were unproductive, covered with flocks and herds, and cornfields, and administering totho wants and contributing to the hap° piness of hundreds of thousands of our race—l say sights such as these make one

feel proud of the genius of our countrymen for colonization, and confident as to

the future of this great country. (Cheers,) The resources of the land are boundless ; it is capable of supporting in comfort and independence a population of many millions, and it offers, to my mind, on the whole, more advantages than any other country in the world with which I am acquainted to industrious and hard work-

g men. (Cheers.) Nature has indeed

leen most bounteous to New Zealand.

Ie has given her beautiful scenery, a

magnificent climate, a soil of unsurpassed TO fertility, an extensive seaboard, a com... « manding position, and in short every*' * natural condition necessary for the reproduction here on these southern seas of a younger and a happier Britain, exempt from the stint and want and the misery which are unfortunately so common at I times in the old country, and offering a far more general participation in the good gifts which God has so bountifully bestowed on this country. (Loud cheers.) For myself, I may say, gentlemen, tM having been now employed in the pulKc service for over thirty-six years, durinf the last twenty years of which I have had the honor of representing her Majesty in the various quarters of the globe, I cannot reasonably look forward to any very prolonged period of active service, and it is a source of no small satisfaction to me to find that what will, in all probability, be the closing scene of my official career is laid in a colony possessing features of such engrossing interest, and holding out promise of such a brilliant future. (Cheers.) I need scarcely tell you thaL New Zealand is no promotion, aftMmL— Governments as Ceylon and MS3iHBL Wales, which I filled for years, and indeed it is, in some respects less advantageous even than the government of Hongkong, to which 1 w« anpointed exactly twenty years ago; but all considerations of such a character are, to my mind, more than counterbalanced by the magnificence of your climate, and to ' the interest which attaches to the polftical and social problems which are being worked out- the mixed character of the population, the difficulty of the native problem, the history and traditions of the Maoris, the operation of the Public Works policy, the opening up of the varied and vast resources of the country, and the influence of climate and soil upon the physiological development-all present to me new lines of study, and open up a wide and varied field for intellectual speculation. When, therefore, this Government was offered to me, I gladly, and without a moment's hesitation, accepted it, and I only hope that I may be allowed to expend whatever remains to me of energy and ability in your service. (Cheers.) I earnestly trust, too, that my political and social relations with you all may be as cordial and comfortable as they were with the six other colonial communities with which I have had the pleasure of being associated.—(Cheers)—and that when the time comes for my departure you may be able to say of me-as I am proud to know they did—that-1 conscientiously acted up to what I, at all events, believed to be my duty, and that my whole heart was wrapped up in the advancement and prosperity of those whom 1 had been commissioned by my Sove- ' reign to serve.