Luncheon to Mr John Stevens

Manawatu Herald, 15 January 1903, Page 2

Luncheon to Mr John Stevens

Yesterday afternoon the Public Luncheon (another name for a sumptuous banquet, as will be seen by the menu published below) was tendered to Mr John Stevens by the inhabitants of Foxton and the surrounding district* The function was one of the Most successful ever held, the tables being filled by oyer eighty people, amongst whom were a large number of ladies. The whole of the afternoon, from two o'clock to halfuast four, was one continuous series ;;f successes. __ The speaking was good, 'wing

>y heard at similar gatherings, and

■ ■io spaces between toasts and replies were pleasantly Marked by some esoelleatsinging, which was contributed by the Messrs Sanson, Westwood and Reade, for whom Mrs W. Cook very kindly played - the accompaniments. All seemed well pldased and the room bore the appearance of happiness and content. The catering was in the hands of Messrs Langley Bros, and, as the chairman remarked in proposing their health, they had done their very best in compliment to Mr Stevens. The tables were laid down the ball with a cross table at the top, at which were seated the Chairman (Mr Thynne), with Mr Stevens and the Mayor on his right, and! Dr Bennett and Mr John Davies on.his left.

The hall was nicely decorated with greenery, and during dinner Miss Imrie played’ suitable piano selections.

Prior to proceeding with the toast list the Ohairmaq said invitations had been sent to the Et. Hon, the Premier, Sir Joseph Ward, Hon. Mr Fraser, Mr Field, M.H.E., and Mr Wood, M.H.R., and as they unfortunately were unable to attend he would read the telegrams received :

From the Rt. Hon. the Premier, sent from Westport-—** Regret exceedingly being unable to be with you today to do honor to your late member, Mr John Stevens, the late senior Govt. Whip and my old friend. His failure was unexpected and undeserved, and though not elected I am of opinion that he more truly represents the'publie opinion of the electorate than the sitting member. I am afraid ha and his supporters held their opponent too lightly; however, reverses sometimes have their advantages as they bring people closer together and cause action which prevent a recurrence. I feel spre that this will be the case with Mr Stevens, I join in wishing him every success and prosperity and return to Parliament on first opportunity.” From Sir J. G. Ward, sent from Hampden—“ I much regret that important business in the south prevents me being present at the luncheon to Mr Stevens to-day. It would have been a great pleasure to me to have been present had I been able. I sincerely wish all a very enjoyable gathering.” From the Hon. F. H. Fraser—“ Very sorry shall not be able to attend at the luncheon to Mr J. Stevens.” From Mr W. H. Field— *' Sincerely regret prevented by dozen urgent matters from attending luncheon in honor of my old friend and co-worker, Mr John Stevens. No one appreciates his worth or will miss him in Parliament more than I. Please apologise for self and wife."

Mr Wood is at present in Tasmania.

•The usual loyal toasts of King and Queen, and the Governor, were duly proposed and drank, and then Mr Thynne rose to propose the toast of health to Mr John Stevens. He said, be knew such a toast was bound to receive a most responsive appreciation (applause). He desired to remind those present that Mr Stevens had been in this district since the year 1854, and from boyhood to manhood had grown up with the district, making him thus an old resident, and he had represented them in parliament for an uninterrupted period of 9 years, and also for a term of another three years at an earlier period. Part of this time he was the member for Rangitikei, but on the boundaries of the districts being altered be stood for the Manawatu; and he was thus an old parliamentary hand for which some had replaced by one wholly unversed jn

parliamentary life* * Mr Stevens was » one with a thorougfr knowledge o farming and a capable bu&. m ®ss man, as he was the founder of w 0 * or y large auctioneering firm at Bw“» which is now known as Gorton & Son. At that time he possessed ; the name of being one of the best judges of stock and horses in the colony,, and he (the speaker) knew that settlers placed their stock for sale knowing full well their interest® would bo fully looked after. It wad in connection with this business that Mr Stevens was brought in contact with settlers from all parti and learnt, by stock not appearing at his sales, of the difficulties country motf bad to contend with for the want of i roads and bridges. Thus his election appeared the wisest that could ha made as a Member of the House* Another point which secured him victory was the knowledge that he was a supporter of the present government, which has been growing dally. In popular favor. It is’ an undaunted fact that since this government had been in power the colony had progressed moat wonderfully in every" Way. In the Premier the colony - had one 1 who it was impossible ter, beat, and it will be very hard to get - - his equal. He has shown such a thorough insight into the wants of the people, had shown a desire to mix with them and to place himself eaSy to approach that all felt they had a friend in him. He, like others Who have been born in the Old Country, had always a kindly thought of those at Home, in which he again resembled us, and his i magnificent courage and knowledge of the colonists when he offered raise troops to assist the Empire iia South Africa awakaned a unanimous expression of approval from th<> north to the south of die colony. It will be remembered that -Bir" ■William Russel!, then leader of the Opposition desired a friend,, illness ■piWfiiifiing him from attending a mass meeting at Napier, to thank Mr Seddon for what he had don# for Mb (Sir William’s) King and country. (Applause.) Mr Stevens hadi assisted to keep that gentleman in power and assisted by his vote ■ the passing of measures which..had , been of inestimable service to the colony. In local matters everything Mr Stevens had been asked to do he had done, and special reference was made to the valuable aid he had given to the appointment of flax graders,, and the weekly market reports from the Agent-GendraL- , Mention was made to his assistance,. in getting a subsidy for the Wirokino bridge, and the amendment to the Local Bodies Loan Act under which small boroughs secured loans foi* metalling on equal terms-with Counties and Road boards. Mr Thynne turning to Mr Stevens said —“Our wish is to-day that you may keep in mind our just appreciation of the services you have rendered to this ’district.” (Applause.) The toast was drunk with mu sicial honors.

» Mr Stevens in rising to reply waa enthusiastically greeted. He said that without exception this was one of the proudest moments of his .life, and it was one of the highest honors tendered to him, for after having been years their representative in parliament, though how defeated, but not dismayed, his personal and political friends had collected around him to show their genuine feeling of regret. He had always held that,, public men should bow to the majority, and he did so with all good grace though he regretted his friends disappointment. In time people will arise to secure the upholding of legislation, and the government which had done so much for the prosperity of the country. While a representative he not only looked after local requirements but he did his best for the people of the colony as well. / He regretted .that many thought there was nothing higher or grander than to get roads, but he asked the people to, shut but those insignificant questions, or sideissues such as theological questions, and secure the continuance of the great duties. The chairman having remarked on bis being a judge of a. horse, reminded him of his meeting . with the late Judge Richmond in a train, when he remarked to him, we are both on similar business, you ar% going to judge men, and I am s going to judge to which the judge replied by quoting a remark of Sam Weller’s that “A judge of 'osses is a judge of men,” and he thought there,was no ham is his being a judge of a horse. (Applause.) Ha expressed his delight in which his friends here and at Shannon had supported him. The days when Terror ruled atb passed, and the dhy is long distant wl»en there will be any change in the preseit popular administration. He assured them that the present government could be looked on as the steady government, with the break on, but he bid them to heed the future when an attempt will be made to form a government composed of theorists, advocates of the single tax, but he hoped the voters would wake up and consider these questions, or else the fault would be theirs. These were matters which their individual prosperty de-

pended and the electors must Wake up. It was the proudest moment of his life to be met by so many ladies and gentlemen, and if there was anything in which he could assist this 'electorate he would conaider its both a pleasure and an honor and Would, consider it an order to do (Applause.) Mr Stevens proposed the prosperity of the Borough in which he said that •during the time he had been their representative he had met the past Mayors and he declared that he had found they had-always done the best for their locality. None were, however, wore assiduous than their present Mayor. Something had been said by the chaftman about the help he had rendered in getting the amendment to the Loans to Local Bodies Bill passed, and he desired to point out that that Bill was but an instance of one of the many good acts that .Liberalism was doing for the people, lie "-’shed the Borough every,prosperity. (Applause.) Mr Hennessy in replying said ho did it with the same feeling that a Britisher goes to,battle, with a determination to win. He held that the prosperity of the Borough was assured. .He was pleased to inform them t’aat there is a prospect of more creameries starting within a short &ne, and would thus helping to forward .the progress of the district. He looked forthe time when the ocean liners would shelter under Kapiti as it was only’the want of money to prevent our making our river one of the finest ports on the coast. (Applause.) Referring to Mr Stevens he said he alwayslelt assured, on approaching him with, getting what he asked for. The thanks of the people were due to Mr Stevens for his assistance in getting the amendment as to loans tor roadniaking., He mentioned that at the list’meeting of the Borough Council took place on the likelihood of Mr Seddon being present to-day, and it was considered advisable f to approach him on our wants, but bn the matter being further considered it was found that they had no wants. This spoke volumes for Mr Stevens, and h® thought the present member should congratulate himself on the easy time he would have for the next three years. (Applause.) Mr John Davies proposed the toast of the prosperity of Fox ton and surrounding districts, coupled with the name of Mr Alf Fraser. He mentioned that he (the speaker) had been identified with the district for the past . 40 years. He tendered to Mr Stevens ; his thanks for what he had done for ’ the district, as Mr Stevens had at all times rendered his very best services and had done all if was possible to do, never having left any stone unturned. No one regretted Mr Stevens’ defeat as he (the speaker) did. He felt sure that in Mr Fraser the Borough had the best town clerk in the colony. He was a resident of the town and his private interests were bound up with the public interests, and he was sure that in Mr Fraser the ratepayers had one who could materially assist them. Though in the past ho was a supporter of the Opposition he had been so convinced of the good the Government was doing that he was now a hearty supporter of theirs. (Applause.) Mr Alf Fraser did not think he deserved all the kind remarks Mr Davies had made, but he would say he had always tried to do his duty. He did not think that anything said about Mr Stevens had been over-stated, for he knew that Mr Stevens had always been willing to help all whether a supporter of his or not. He referred to the need of a railway to the beach, which was bound to become the watering-place for the large area of back country. We also wanted : the Shannon bridge, (Applause.) Mr G. Simpson proposed the health of the visitors, coupling the names of Messrs Davies, Stansell, O’Connor and Moynihan to the toast, which was excellently received, and briefly replied to by Messrs Davies and Stansell. Mr Bowatfir in a neat speech proposed the health of the ladies. The chairman proposed the health of the caterers, the Messrs Langley Bros., to which Mr A. Langley reStevens proposed the health of the chairman, to which the chairman shortly replied. The singing of God Save the King - brought to a conclusion one of the nicest and brightest functions held in Foxtcn for many a day.

MENU. OYSTER SOUP. ENTREES: Steamed Mullet, Pawley Sauce. Cream of Chicken, en aspic. Steak and Kidney Pies, Halted Chicken and Ham Pies. Steamed Fowl and Oyster Sauce, POULTRY: Roast Chickens, aux wesson. Galantine of Chicken, en aspic jelly. Roast Duck and Ham. Roast Goose. Roast Fowl and Ham. Chicken atid Ham. Ducklings. SALADS: French. Italian. Beet Root. BOASTS: Sirloin of Beef, and Horse Radish. Haunch of Lamb, and Mint Sauce. Sucking Pig. BOILED sn Corned Silverside of Beef. Spiced Beef. Ox Tongue, Glace. York Ham. Oarnies. Vegetables—Green Peas, New Potatoes.