THE GOVERNOR'S MOVEMENTS.

Mataura Ensign, Volume V, Issue 236, 9 March 1883, Page 2

THE GOVERNOR'S MOVEMENTS.

-^- i(By our Special Beporter) You have already been apprised of \ all that took place on Monday at Invercargill in connection with the Go-: >vernor's arrival, a,nd it need only be; reverted to 'here to give an opening for j a word of praise to those who organised and carried out the Fire Brigade torchlight procession,- 'which was on a scale hitherto unattempted in the metropolis of the South. There was one defect and one -only: that was the absence /of the band. . . , jOn Tuesday His Excellency held a levee at 10.30 a.m. A few gentlemen from your district were preseht-^-Mr G. F. Bichardson, Mr T. : Mac Gibbon, and others. '■■ This over, the Governor was driven in. a. carriage drawn by four handsome bays to the Garrisoa W&f

which he opened with a considerable amount of ceremony. The hall is a Very "fine one indeed, is the largest iii New /Zealand, and will have cost on its feoinjjiletibn ''In addition to an address, Sir William Jervois was rpre : sented with a silver kejr^a delicate of lhat belonging to thß|mam N ent^nce.:. It" was rid^, that the <t? 't'rouble^Qm;' menced. The Governor was conducted from the hall to a platform erected, in the /Western reserve, and from this coign of 'vantage he secured a g;opd view oi Invercargill's population' : : all the .tow. n was there— the. Garris^n,, and, Fife and Drum Bands .^ the Oddfellows in regalia ; the school-children to the number of 1300 •; the Foresters, Druids, Bechabites, and an immense concourse of the general public. Addresses: were presented ad libitum. First came the school children, with one setting forth the advantages they enjoyed in New Zealand of acquiring knowledge j then the Oddfellows came forward, overflowing with loyalty and expressing j their confidence that neither His Excellency nor His Excellency's Government undervalued the important pbsU tion 'Occupied by their Order as-incul-cating provident principles amongst its members and ■ imparting knowledge to them of the conduct of- public business ; then the Foresters told the . Governor , that they were the most southern representatives of the Order in the world, but His Excellency didn't see tlie 'point, for in his reply he said, he " was very glad to hear that the Ancient Order had extended to the isouthernmost district of New Zealand"; then the Druids informed the Governor that they, were prospering jand had 20(1 financial^meinbers, though they did not. venture even to hint at the locale of these. These were all the addresses, and after a suitable reply had been made to each HiS Excellency in a grimly sarcastic tone said: "Now I think we may proceed about our other business !" He went his way, and the children settled down to thorough enjoyment, provisions and sports of all kinds having been arranged for their benefit. After an interval of rest, His Excellency visited the Flower Show at Sloan's Theatre, and here he was again met with the inevitable address, to which he suitably replied. Then he visited the gaol arid hospital, which were both in apple-pie order ; and after another spell at the Albion he found himself at the banquet at the G arrison Hall, which was most tastefully decorated and in which about 150 gentlemen were seated. It would hold 2000. Mr J. Kingsland, the Mayor, occupied the chair, and proposed the toast of the evening, to which His Excellency briefly replied. In the course of his speech he said : " In my ignorance I had not the slightest idea that there was such a splendid town as that in which we now are. I recollect that when I was in South Australia my idea of Invercargill was something of this i gorb :— The southern part of the Middle Island of New Zealand I had pictured in my mind's eye as table land, five or six hundred feet high, with a bluff at its end, having a few houses on top, perhaps eight or ten, and with the dreariness of the scene occaasionally enlivened by a wreck at the bottom of the bluff. (Laughter and, applause). And what do I see when I. come here 1 I find that it is a town — a city, with streets as broad as the streets of the fine town of Adelaide, where I spent five happy years. I find magnificent buildings, and fine buildings springing up all round. I find an enterprising!; community, and one, which I venture to say will make it the magnificent capital of this southern part of New Zealand." His Excellency, (after speaking of the grand harbor at the Bluff, alluded approvingly to the works for deepening, the New Eiver Harbor, as being well suited for developing the resources of the harbor. As he understood it, the New Eiver did not interfere with the rise of the Bluff, sis each was suited to a particular class of; vessels, and • ultimately by Lthe advantiages of both the district would be highly favored in the matter of harbor accommodation. ;Of Southland, 'j His Excellency spoke as follows: — "When you' come to think of the country which ;Bluff Harbor is to serve as the means 'of taking away its exports, you know a igreat deal more about it than I do, but from enquiries I have made, I am sure ,'it is and will be a country of incalculjable agricultural resources — a great [country for the growing of sheep and I cattle, for export. In these days when the freezing process has been brought to a pitch of perfection which enables :you to transport beef and mutton to ithe Mother Country, the advantage to iyou is that is beyond all I calculation, — (Applause). Gentlemen, || I do not know that I can now say '• i more after having only taken a rapid , glance at the country which I , ha re I passed through, but I have gained the best information I could during the ! short time of my stay in these parts. I must, however, before I sit down, say — and say it with all candour — that I look upon, this place as having a ' glorious future ; that I look' upon Invercargill as • the centre of one of the finest and richest districts in New Zealand, and in the course of the next five and twenty years, I believe it will grow to an extent you scarcely calculate — that it will become a great place, both in connection with other countries and in connection with your own country, and that it will increase in 1 importance beyond anything you now expect. — (Loud|applause)." In reply to 1 the toast of " The Parliament of New. Zealand," the Hon. R. Oliver naturally spoke approvingly of the branch of the Legislature of which he: was a member, and Mr Joyce, M/HiR., j created a 'little diversion 1 by asserting] that, notwithstanding what Mr Oliver] had said, he should not be surprised to j see him some day among the ; foremost! in advocating reform in. the direction of) the abolition of the Council and the go-j vernment of the colony . by a single; Chamber, to . which popular election; snould be the only avenue. 'To f ipast of "The Government of the-: Ajplony," the Hon. R. Oliver replied.' He steered clear of party politics; exj pressed the belief that the Goyemor

would, hold, an equal balance in the strife of! parlies ; and sympathised with the cry for^more local government, which, with the^reedom they possessed, the people could tliemselves obtain. On Wednesday the yice-Regal party visited the Bluff, where the Governor received.;and replied to another address. Afterwards he examined the harbor with a view of forming an opinion on defence matters, and was understood to saj that, the shore was not sui^ejjpr^ landing bodies of men, and that t;he~ port's greatest 'dangers in war time would be .risk .of capture,, and.,^l^3^ defenders being driven, put by attacks made by way of its entrance. A brief, but comprehensive^ account has now been given of the doings and sayings of Mis Excellency during the week, and it only remains to be added that he left Invercargill at 10 a.m. yesterday en o-oute for Lawrence, carrying with him the best wishes of the populate. J No ! Governor >has ! left on| better terms with the people, and shoula Sir William pay another ! visit to the South he may rely upon receiving an even more enthusiastic welcome than that just accorded' to.HimV-; I /