BANQUET TO MR REID, M.H.R.

Evening Star, Issue 3978, 24 November 1875, Page 2

BANQUET TO MR REID, M.H.R.

The banquet to Mr Reid, which was held last evening in the drill-shed at Mosgiel, was ) attended by fully 150 persons from all parts of \ the district, while there were a good many visitors from Dunedin. The latter were brought out by special train, which left town 1 at 6.15, and at Mosgiel station they were i received by the Committee of Management,

the Mosgiel band occupying the railway ! platform. ihe drill-shed was very nicely deuwrated, and tho catering by Mr J. >iu)w would have done credit to Dunedin itself. Ihe chair was occupied by Mr Janies . Allan, M.P.<h, who was supportea on his right by ihe guest of the evening and Sir J. L. i C. Richardson, Mr James Green, and Mr Stout, ; and on his left by his Honor the Superinten- , dent,, Mr A. Todd, sen,, Mr Turnbull, and Mr Davie. Mr George Brain filled the vice- . chair. An mug t those present we also noticed Mr J. L. Gilues, Mr Henry (Jlark, M.P.0., Mr A. J. Burns, Mr Eagerly, Mayor of Green Island, Mr David Proudfoot, Mr J. Sibbald, &c. The customary loyal toasts having (been

disposed of, Mr A. J. Burks proposed “ The Superintendent and BVftvincial Council,” and in doing so he said ho trusted the men of Otago would rise up and return men to the Assembly whe would have none of the Abolition Bill. The representatives of Canterbury should recognise that their interests were identical with those of Otago. They should not part with good, honest institutions until they could be substituted with something better. With regard to immigration, he said, had it been earned out by the Provincial instead of the General Government, the Province would have got a better class of immigrants, and probably at a fourth less than they lad cost. Only that he did not desire to take up their time he could tell stories of what came under his own knowledge of the way the General Government had behaved in the matter of immigration that were positively disgraceful, and he bad no hesitation iu saying that publicly.

His Hohor, iu replying, expressed the pleasure it afforded him to be present and to do honor to one who deserved well of Otago and well of the Colony—(cheers)—one of whom, he said, the Province, and the Taieri district especially, might well bo proud. Mr Eeid and he had differed on matters occasionally, at one time; but ho was glad to say they had always conceded to each other that ea hj wns actuated by the very best motives ami a sincere desire io promote the public interest. Aud he would say, further, that as Superintendent of Otago, he felt that nothing could bo very far wrong so long as he was guided by Mr Reid's ad vice.—(Hear.) He sincerely hoped the people of Otago in the forthcoming contest would stand shoulder to

shoulder, Mid would return a united baud to Wellington. If they could return twenty-two men united, he believed they could defy the world.— (Hear and laughter.) But if they were to have n now Provinces Act the term " Superintendent ’ would be altered. It would be much more appr • priate to call them Governors or Lieut .•Governor or something of that sort. —(Loud laughter.) Mr Andekw Todd, sen., iu proposing “OnGuest,” remarked that Mr Reid had now repre rented the Taieri settlers iu ihe Provincial Council from eleven to thirteen years, or something thereabouts, aud in the General Assembly from n.ne to tcu years, with honor to himself and great benefit to the community at large.—(Applause.) He had been intimately acquainted with Mr Reid hero for twenty-four years, and worked with him shoulder to shoulder.

Mr Reid, who, on rising, was received with loud and prolonged cheering, after thanking them for the cordial manner m which the toast had been received, went on to say that ho had always taken a pride in being the representative of so important a district, which possessed almost all the resources necessary to form a great community. In representing the district he had been bound to no particular class, aud his constituents had always placed him iu a most independondent position. He next addressed himsell at considerable length to a review and criticism of the argument advanced bv the Press and supporters of the Abolition Bill, and argued in effect that Otago had nothing to gain and everything to lose from the measure. The Opposition had been blamed because they did not propose a system of government to supersede the exit ting

system; but it was ! not bis duty to propose a scheme. It was the duty of when they undertook to entirely sweep away the p esent system, to bring forward a matured scheme to supersede that system. They had no done so, for the Bocal Gover imeut Bill of last session proposed to establi hj a far less liberal system than that existing already under the Road Boards Ordinances. The Superintendent, partly as member for Port Chalmers, and partly as repre-enting the Pi ovine;, proposed a Board of Works for Otago Then was as much difference between that scheme and the scheme of the General uovernment, as there was Jay an . night. Were those who wrote up the Government scheme prepared to support that scheme? A great deal of nonsense was being talked as to what was to supersede the present system. He did not mean to say it was so perfect as they might have) it. Some Jof the Provinces - Taranaki, for instance, might be abolished with great advantage to all concerned. There was much in the idea of the Superintendent of having a Federal Government for the two islands that would confine itself limply to collecting revenues suffici. ut to defray tUe expense of the Fedeial Govern-

meat itself, nnd for meeting the claims of the public creditor. Tuere was nothing to prevent such a scheme of Government; nor would it be ohjectionubleto tho outside creditor. It then sin uld be left to each island to undertake through its Provincial Council those matters winch essentially were of n character that was not Federal—such ns roads, railways, the admin stmtion of waste lands, and all other matters that were not purely Federal. The question of the number of Provinces he was not going to touch upon. Ho thought it very likely that for a time at least two in each islnud would be bettor. If the Taieri district could he content without being made a Province, the wishes of such Provinces as Taranaki could be, without' injury, acceded to; they could be abolished as Provincial entities, and be attached to the larger Provinces. One word before he sat down. It behoved the electors to consider very seriously what action they intended to take wPh regard to the Abolition Bill. By them it would he determined whether our institutions were to be such as were fitting for a free, intelligent, self-reliant, active, and vigorous people, or whether they were to he such as would make the people callous and indifferent to their political privileges, and by becoming these to react injuriously upou our race He prayed to God that they might he directed wisely in tiiis matter, and that they might exercise the duty they had to perform with moderation, with firmness, with discretion, and with judgment. —(Loud and piolonged cheering.) Sir J. L. C. Richardson, in replying to “ Our Institutions, social and political,** declared himself a progressive Constitutionalist and a Separationist. Separation could be easily effected. What was required was the men who would go in for it. —(Cheers). The other toasts were “ New Zealand, past nnd present," replied to by Mr R. Gillies ; "New Zea land's Future Prospects," replied to by Mr Stout • "Our Visitors,” replied to by Mr Turnbull; and “ Our Various Industries, ’’ responded to by Mr Davie. The proceedings were broug tto a close at 11.40 p.m.