BANQUET TO HON. R. J. SEDDON AT THE HOTEL CECIL.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIX, Issue V, 24 July 1897, Page 135

BANQUET TO HON. R. J. SEDDON AT THE HOTEL CECIL.

(FROM OUR LONDON CORRBSPONDBNT )

THE so-called ‘dinner of the New Zealand residents in and visitors to London ’ to the Hon. Richard Seddon at the Hotel Cecil originated with Mr Montague Nelson, and proved to be an entirely city affair. With the exception of Lord Glasgow, the Bishop of Southwark, Admiral Bowden-Smith, Sir John Hall, and Sir Julius Vogel, the magnates present were either in mines or trade. Mr Seddon bad (as he said) gold (Sir W. Perceval) on one side of him, and frozen meat (Mr Montague Nelson) on the other. Around were dairy produce, kauri gum, tallow, hides; and shippers, shipowners, and shipbrokers in large variety. The late Agent-General presided, and at the high table besides those mentioned were the Hon. W. P. Reeves, Sir A. Haslam, Sir Edwyn Dawes, and Messrs E. Martin, Jas. Huddart, J. B. Whyte, John Beaumont, W. R. Mewburn, and W. A. Tyser. Presiding at the cross tables I noted Messrs Harrison Davis, O R. Strickland. J. B. Westray, W. Weddel and Captain Lawson, and in the body of the hall may be mentioned Mr H. B. Marriott Watson, Dr. Bowen Hogg, Colonel Sanderson, and Messrs W. Porter, D. Ziman, J. W. Bradbury, Philip Mennell, Thos. McKenzie, Moss Davis, C. R. Valentine, W. Crow, Thos. Johnson, G. G. Stead, W. T. Dodds, and T. H. Witheford, etc., etc., etc. The press were represented by four London dailies, the British Australasian, and the correspondents of the New Zealand papers. The arrangement of the tables excited some comment. In particular, many of us were surprised and shocked to notice that by some unaccountable blunder Mr Waite. Kennaway, C.M.G., whose place (as Permanent Secretary of the New Zealand office) should have been at the high table, had been overlooked and placed oelow the press at the third table. Mr Kennaway is greatly respected by everybody, and anything in the nature of a slight to him would be keenly resented. It was a most unfortunate accident.

The dinner was given in the French Renaissance Hall of the Hotel Cecil, and the cooking and service (two guineas a head) left little to be desired. The turtle soup, salmon trout, souffle of soles and chaufroix of chicken were absolutely unimpeachable, and thelamband duckling passable. The only wine I touched was champagne (Koch fils 1889), butmy neighbour, whosampled every vintage impartially—without getting perceptibly ‘ forrarder ’ —spoke up for the cellar. Usually at two guinea banquets the butlers deluge you with liquor, but on the present occasion frugality appeared to be the order of the day. Sir Westby Perceval proposed the toast of the evening, ‘the health of our guest the Hon. R. J. Seddon, the Premier of New Zealand, and prosperty to the colony.’ When he had concluded a felicitious speech Mr Seddon rose. He met with a big reception on rising to reply, the applause being repeated again and again. He spoke from half-past nine till eleven, and truth compels me to state this was far too long. The speech would have gained enormously by condensation. It contained many important, nay, pregnant passages, but they were weakened by a plethora of superfluous detail and frequent repetition. The Premier was at his best in his vindication of colonial loyalty, and there was a deadly earnestness and unmistakeable sincerity in his avowal that if (as pessimists predicted) Great Britain fell New Zealand would fall also with her, which went straight to every heart. The tribute to Captain Russell and the Opposition in the colony was likewise admirable, and the pacific references to the New Zealand Midland Railway highly politic. We also loudly applauded some compliments to the usefulness of the press. On the other hand, a rather ominous silence prevailed when the Premier let the shipowners present * have it ’ on the question ot high freights.

In addition to the loyal toasts there were only three on the card, ‘The Navy and Army,’ ‘Our Guest,’and ‘The Chairman.’ Sir Westby polished off his part of the business neatly and expeditiously. For saying the right thing in the right way the late Agent-General has few equals. Then came his successor, Mr Reeves, with the toast of the ‘ Navy and Army,’ proposed with that touch of lightness and brightness which is really the perfection of post-prandial oratory. Both he ami Admiral Bowden Smith, who responded, deprecated the disposix ion on the part of ignoramuses at Home to poohpooh the Australian contributions to naval defence. The colonies, in the Admiral’s opinion, did a good deal, and were but indifferently thanked for it. The Admiral’s peroration, in which he suggested that the Royal Navy might one day more fully be called the Imperial Navy of Greater Britain, was loudly cheered.