MR. PYKE AT ALEXANDRA.

Dunstan Times, Issue 345, 4 December 1868, Page 3

MR. PYKE AT ALEXANDRA.

At the request rf many of cur readers present at the launch of Messrs. Duley an l Mackersy’a new punt, who, owing to the noise of the wind ami the rushing of the water, wars unable to hear Mr. Pyke’s speech, we hj ive secured a ve’mtim copy from our reporter, u hich wa now givo in extenao. It is with in'lnito pleasure that, I have accented the invitation to ho here to-’ay; to those who are ’ike my r c f colonists - colonies in heart and son’, having become thorou"hly ideutifie’ with the colony, every snch event ns that of to-day has an interest fur beyond the comprehension of those birds of passage wdio come here for the purrmso merely of getting all they can ont of the canntry, and then deserting the land that has eusichod them. For every indication of progress, and settlemenb and civilization is dear to him who regards the colonies aahis home and the home of hi'children 1 look around mo at these majestic mountains, with their snowy piracies, deep dark ravines seaming the mountain range, the terraced plains stretched ont at their feet, and at this noble river, rich in golden san’s, flowing ccasslessly onwards to the jfcstle?K ocean, between hanks pregnant nth golden treasure of untold an i incalculable value, and, standing as I now do, at the very anMpedes ef BrPain, in the very heart of the Middle Island of New Zealan’, he scaequi-distanton cither baud, I feel proud of my follow-colonists. Was there ever such a wilderness as nature left it? Was ever fuch determinatien evince’ to conquer all natural obstacles to settlement, and to make the desert blossom like thowsfl? Nature has given us a marrificent climate and strewn the soil wi'h gold ; but that is all. It has been reserve for man to do all the rest. And if, as a great statesman averred, “he who makes two bla ea of grass rrow where only one g-ew before is a berefnetrr to Lis species,” how large a debt e-f gratitude will posterity not owe to the brave nioneers of civilization who are suUluin' this country and Bottling it? Here, v heic the native races, oink in

giorance, superstition, and sloth, cared < ot even to i’well, there are towns, and i illagos which may become towns, with leir churches and schools, their banks and arehouses, their literary and corporate in- ' dtutioiis, and around are blooming gar- 1 ens, smiling homesteads, and prolific corn 1 el s, whilst the flocks and herds, the rttle on a thousand hills, attest the pas- • iral wealth of the district. j 1 Recurring to the ceremony of the day, I 1 m boun 1 to accord to the owners of the I lexandra Ferry a liberal meed of praise. ! he motto of the miners of Otago ha- j * [ways been “ Inveniam viam aut faciam” j -I will either find a way or make one ; a ] mtto, I may say, not publicly pava'ed •itha view to self-glorification, but honestly, insistently, and practically carrie l out. las a road been wanted ? they have ioneered the route, lias a bridge been ccessary ? —they Lave made cue. Has a ;rry been required ?—they have canstructed ne, Without the unaided labors of the eople the interior of this country would carccly have been traversable at the preent day. Government has expended large urns in the formation of permanent roads nt in public works generally. Won' erful nms, I may ’ay, when the extent of our esources and the multiplicity of public reuiremouts are taken into consideration ; ut the people march faster than the eninccr or the roadmaker, and, in all new ountries, they are ever far in advance, and icvcv can be overtaken. Here, for intar.ee, w here a ferry has for six years been dying, we have- now a new ferry, of the cost approved construction, built and iwned, I am glad to know, by the men who irst placed on the river the means of ransit at this important point. lam sure •on will all unite with, me in according due rodit to the spirited proprietors, and in risking them that large measure of sue;ess which their enterprise ami perseverance lescrves; and may the example they have 10 honorably set before the community inInce others of those piescut to go and do ikewise, not ‘Letting ‘ 1 dare not’ wait upon ‘I would’— Like the poor cat r’ the adage;” nor praying to Hercules nor the Governnent to help them out of their < ifiicullies, 3ut vigorously setting their own shoulders ;o the wheel, self-reliant, and therefore and thereby the masters and not the slaves . f the blind God ess—Fortune.