PRESENTATION TO MR. J. L. COSTER.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2167, 4 February 1881, Page 3

PRESENTATION TO MR. J. L. COSTER.

A very pleasant, and at the same time highly representative, gathering, took place yesterday afternoon at the Oddfellows' Hall, the occasion being a presentation to Mr J. L. Coster, for so many years identified not only with the Bank of New Zealand, with which institution he has been most intimately associated, but with everything having for its object the advancement of the commercial prosperity of Canterbury and the colony generally. There was a very large attendance, the portion of the hall which had been screened off and furnished as a kind of banqueting hall being well filled. The tables were decorated with flowers, pot plants, Ac., and generally the arrangements reflected the utmost credit upon the tasto of the caterer, Mr Morton. On the dais was placed the illuminated address referred to below, which was executed in Mr Goodman's best style, and framed in a honeysuckle frame manufactured by Mr Jewell, whioh was certainly a very excellent specimen of colonial workmani hip. In front of the chairman wss a velvet bag on a silver stand, containing the five hundred sovereigns whioh formed the second portion of the presentation. The stand, which was manufactured in Ohristchurch, was of colonial silver, and bore on the base a suitable inscription. The chair was occupied Mr Wiiliam Day, of the firm of J. M. Bey wood and Co., who had on his right the guest of the day, Mr J. L. Coster. After the usual loyal toasts, The Chairman said they were well met, because they had met that day to do honor te one who was not only well known to all present, but who had by his conduct of a large and important institution amongst them well merited the esteem and respect of all. [Cheers.] He 'was now desirous of taking that rest whioh his arduous and onerous duties in the service of that institution had rendered so necessary, and he felt sure that they with him would join most heartily in wishing that he might enjoy that rest for which he had labored so long and so honorably. [Cheers.] They all knew him as a friend in many ways. He (the chairman) had long enjoyed the honor of friendship with their guest, and he should ask them on this occasion to honor him, not because he hod done his duty in a hard and fast lino and because it was bis duty, but for something far and above this. [Cheers.] He was now retiring from the position he had held amongst them' so long, because his health, by his devotion toithe institution over which he had presided for some nineteen or twenty years, had suffered. Daring that period Mr Coster must have had a large amount of anxiety—far more than they could at all imagine or comprehend. They mutt remember that the mere doing of a man's duty because he was paid for it was not all that was to be recognised. But Mr Coster, whilst recognising his duty to the institution over which he had so worthily presided, had also not forgotten the interests of the community amongst whom his lot had been cast. He had, as they well knew, been always foremost in the promotion of everything which had for its object the development of their immense natural resources, the stimulation of their commerce, and the general advancement not alone of this district but the colony as a whole. It was for this, rather than for the faithful and untiring disoharge of his duties as the pilot of a large undertaking, that they, as representing the commercial—nay, all the vital interests of Canterbury, had met that day to do him honor. He should now ask them to drink to the health of Mr Coster, reserving any further remarks he might have to make to a later period, when he would, on behalf of a large number of citizens, make the presentation, illustrative of and as convoying their sincere feelings and wishes towards that gentleman. [L)ud cheers.]

The toast was drunk with three times three and enthusiasm. The Chairman then rose and said the most pleasing part of his duty had to be performed. In remembrance of the events of that day, in remembrance of their friendship for him, now subsisting for some twenty years, and to keep their memories green with him, he had to present tho following address :

To John Lewis Coster, Esq. Dear Sir,—Your numerous friends in the provincial district of Canterbury being anxious to testify to the respect and regard which is felt for you throughout the province, request yonr acceptance of 500 sovereigns as a mark of their high appreciation of the valuable services you have so long and ably rendered to advance the commercial prosperity and forward the best interests of the colony." Signed by 155 citizens of Ohristchurch

and district. In that address was combined not only the expression of goodwill and respect of those now present, but also those who were not there. The address contained the sentiments of some hundred and thirty or one hundred and fifty gentlemen, and he believed that when Mr Coster read the address he would see that the community amongst which he had lived respected him most thoroughly. [Oncers.] It was not only commemorative of the way in which Mr Coster had steered the ship of the institution over which he presided, but also of the man who had done it. Had another way been taken with this matter, they could easily have got over three hundred names to that testimonial. There was just one little matter in connection with the testimonial he had now the honor to present on behalf of the subscribers, to which he desired to direct the special attention of his friend the president of the Industrial Association. It was that the whole of it was of local manufacture. [A Voice: "What, all?"] Well, nearly all. The bag holding the sovereigns bad been made here, the parohment on which the address which he had just read was written had been made from the ekio of a sheep belonging to his friend Mr John Grigg Tbe illumination had been executed by a Ohristchurch artist (Mr Goodman), and the wood framing the address was grown in the colony. The silver stand, on wbiah the purse was plaoed, was manufactured here of New Zealand silver, and bore the following inscription "Presented to John Lewis Coster by his friends in Christohurch, New Zealand, February Ist, 1880." The sovereigns, though not actually minted in Canterbury, were yet the product of their brains—[cheers] —and had been given to a good work, viz., to the recognition of the merits of a really good man. [Cheers.] He now asked them to oouple with the toast the name of a lady whose winning courtesy, grace, and royal hospitality had endeared her to all hearts, and who had indeed made sunshine in her husband's home. [Cheers.] He alluded to Mrs Coster, and he asked them to drink in a bumper "The health of Mr and Mrs Coster." The toast was drunk with enthusiasm. Mr Coster, who on rising was received with immense applause, said that it would be difficult for him, as they would easily imagine, to thank them that day, because on such an occasion he would not use any stereotyped phrases, as they would not be appropriate to his feelings. In his retirement from the conduct of a grand institution, one with which he bad been eonneoted for so many years, and those the best of his life, he felt a wrench. However, it was necessary—-

nay, • imperative—for his health, _ and the change hud baen kindly acquiesced in by the Bank, and urged upon him by his personal friends. He yet trusted to work with them in the one objeot they had in view, the goal he had set before himself, viz., the welfare of the colony in whioh they resided. (Cheers ) Since the majority of those present came to the colony they had, with him, seen great changes. They had seen immense progression, and, on the whole, they, in the favoured province of Canterbury, must see that they had made giant strides. (Cheers.) Ho, though coming in 1859, when Ohiistchuroh was but a small place, had seen a vast amount of progress, and no one would have then believed that Ohristchurch would be what it was in 1881, or the trade of Lyttelton what it wan. [Oheers.J Me was taken greatly by surprise by their kindness, as it was only within the past two or three days that he had beoome aware that it was proposed to do him this great honor. Therefore they must cxouse him if he wandered a little; but still, as they had be<m kind enough in the address just read by their chairman to speak in terms of appreciation of his humble efforts to advance the commerce of Canterbury, he trusted it would not be oat of place for him te say a word or two on their commercial progress. [Cheers.] The prosperity of Canterbury must, he thought, be dated from the making; of the tunnel through the hill. He at once confessed that he at the time thought it was a wild and almost improbable project on the part of so young a community as Canterbury then was. But he would ask them where would they have been, commercially speaking, had it not been for that tunnel. [Cheers.] They could not have grown the wheat, the grass, or the sheep they had done, had it not been for the facilities afforded by that tunnel. Then again, through the same cause they had been enabled to develope and improve to the fullest extent the resources of their harbor. He might tell them that, only a few days ago he had astonished a resident of Otago, and that gentleman too a Minister of the Crown, by proving to him that three ships were despatched from the Port of Lyttelton to one from Port Chalmers. [Cheers.] He remembered very well, not so long ago, when he visited Dunedin, and looked with tome sort of envy on the number of ships sent om Port Chalmers. Now, however, it was different, but still without the tunne there could have been no improvement of the harbor. [Cheers.] He thought this, that he was not more to be applauded for his share in the work of colonisation than the bankers, iquattert, and xnonied men, who had done all they could by enterprise and by sticking together to advance Canterbury. [Cheers] The other parts of the colony were bound to admit that they in Canterbury had made great progress, though they had passed through as bard times as they had ever experienced, and such that he hoped never to see again. [Cheers.] They arose from a concatenation of troubles whioh were not likely to occur again—many of them arising at home, though from circumstanoes becoming particularly applicable to New Zealand. .Reference had been made to the work done by him in those times, and he must say that he had had the troubles of others to bear as well as his own, and, though he did not wear his troubles on his sleeve, and always tried to wear a smiling face, he must say that the last two years had been a most anxious time, and he did not wish to have such another two years. But he desired to tell them this, that the blacker the clouds looked around them, the more necessity it was to keep up their pecker. [Cheers ] But, notwithstanding all they had gone through, they come out of their troubles magnificently. [Cheers] Ho and those who were working with him foresaw this crisis, and took steps to check speculation somewhat, so that when the bad times oame they did not suffer' so much. [Cheers.] Yet they had pulled through, and he foresaw a bright future. He trusted they would not think that by leaving the Bank through ill health, he was going to leave off working for Canterbury. [Cheers.] His energies, and he had plenty of them left yet, were still, as they bad always been, as the service of the colony. He thanked them most heartily for their kind allusion to Mrs Coster. She had, as Mr Day truly said, been the sunshine of his home, and their kindness in drinking her health in the cordial terms they had done he took as a speoial favor. He wished just to say this, that as he was, so to speak, transferring his .affections to another institution, in which he should henceforth take an active interest, he desired to call the attention of the residents of the district of Canterbury, particularly in the South, to the fact that this was an institution which would prove to be of large benefit to the district and the colony at large. He thanked them most heartily for their kind presentation that day, the more so perhaps for the grand gathering whioh had taken place, and the kindly feeling they had expressed towards both Mrs Coster and himself. [Loud cheers] Mr J. D. Macpherson gave "The mercantile interests of Near Zealand," coupled with the name of Mr Alex. Craoroft Wilson. In the course of his remarks the speaker pointed to the fine fleet of ships owned by the New Zealand Shipping Company, which would in future be engineered by their guest; the O. W. Turner line of ships, whioh went everywhere; and last, but not least, the Union Steamship Company, whose splendid steamships were not to be excelled anywhere. They had, he thought, great cause to thank Gad and take courage. Their exports of wool, grain, and gold had increased wonderfully, and he thought that in the bands of Mr A. 0. Wilson the interests of the Chamber of Commerce and the mercantile world generally were worthily placed. The toast was drunk amid loud applause. Mr A. C. Wilson said that he thought it it was time they returned their thoughts to commerce, as during the past week or so nothing had occupied their minds but cricket. Having sustained the most crushing defeat, nothing now remained for them but to return —not to their muttons —but to commerce. Tbey had heard that banking was not all beer and skittles, and his experience of commerce was something of a similar character. As regarded the development of commerce, the guest of that day had soothed the sorrows of many a struggling local industry, in which capacity he had been inimitable. | Cheers]. Mr Ollivier, in one of his well chosen speeches, proposed the health of Mr W. Day, the chairman of that gathering, The toast was drunk amid cheers. Mr D>ty briefly acknowledged the toast. This concluded the proceedings.