MR. SAUNDERS' LECTURE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VII, Issue 13, 15 January 1872, Page 2

MR. SAUNDERS' LECTURE.

A lecture was given on Priday night by Mr. Saunders, who stated that he had been somewhat hurriedly asked to deliver a lecture or address in aid of the Institute funds. Politics on such an occasion were of course to be excluded, and a3 they formed the only subject on which he had been known to talk in public, ami on them only under pressure, he w/13 a little at a loss for a theme, however, he thought his experiences in England and on the voyages to and fro might prove interesting to the number of friends whom he saw assembled on that evening. The voyage home was unusually uncomfortable and uninteresting, and, therefore, he would not detain them with aa account of it, but would state his own impressions on arrival there. The first sensation experienced by one who had been absent for twenty-six years in the colonies, where he had been so accustomed to find himself among friends, was one of complete isolation, as, although in the' midst of a crowd, the new arrival felt that he was an object of complete indifference to those around him, except when, as was sometimes the case, ho was viewed with suspicion a3 though he were a pickpocket. It had been truly remarked that very few of New Zealand's old settlers who weut home remained long there, and the reason no doubt was that in the colonies there was a feeling of family sociability that certainly possessed considerable attractions, but which could not be expected to exist in larger communities. Speaking for himself, he would say that there was something exceedingly pleasant in finding himself bnck in New Zealand- agftin, and iv receiving a familiar nod from nearly every face he met. After describing the, sights he had seen in London and the larger towns, ho went on to speak of the country, remarking that one thing which struck him was the peculiar beauty of the fresh greenness of the fields, in which respect no country he had ever visited could vie with England. The trees too, that had been so carefully planted with a view not only to usefulness but to picturesque effect, and (he evidences in all directions of large sums of money having been expended upon beautifying and rendering the country attractive could not fail to strike a visitor on his return home after a lengthened absence. Mr. Saunders then related his meeting with Mr. Bright on a. steamer while travelling from Holyhead to Dublin; I . Some extraordinary fascination, or perhaps I should call it impudence, he said, induced me to introduce myself to the great man, who at first did not- accord me a very courteous reception, but after a time we commenced to converse on New Zealand topics, and this appeared to me an excellent opportunity to tell him what I thought of the conduct of the Home Government towards the Colonists. With a sort of confident presumption, ho met me with a statement that in his opinion the Natives had been very badly and cruelly used by the settlers, and in reply to this I gave him a number of facts which I hoped might influence his future opinions, though not so far as to induce him to introduce any change into the policy of England to the Colony, a policy of which, I remarked, I should have approved had it been adopted ot the right time, but having entered upon hostilities with the Natives, and commenced a war that could never redound to our credit, prosperity, or interest in any way, it was England's duty to see it out to the end. Mr. Saunders then touched upon his visit to Ireland and Scotland, and the various peculiarities he there met with. What struck him most in Ireland was the remarkable freedom, with which the people indulged in blessing and cursing. Tread on their toes and they very soon let you know it, but get on smoothly with them and you were the finest fellow in the world. In Scotland they were 1 of an entirely opposite character, and the visitor was looked upon with a sor.t of canny suspicion, and was neither blessed nor cursed; at the same time he was always treated with respect, and' might travel in a third class railway carriage without the slightest fear of being interfered with in any way, whereas in Ireland the case was very different.

Eeferring in general terms to English life Mr. Sauniors remarked that none could fail to be impressed with the immense facilities afforded for travelling. A fotal stranger had but to refer to his Bradsbaw and there he could find clearly laid down an easy and straightforward way of getting to any part of the country. Travelling too was very cheap, as an instance of which he mentioned that for £40 a year a ticket might be obtained allowing the holder to travel balf-a-dozen times a day if he pleased during that period between Southampton and London, a distance of 80 miles. There was one thing in which he had been, and, he believed, most people who had been absent for long were always disappointed, namely, to find bow quickly sight-seeing palled on the taste. For his own part he had found that after a very few visits to the great sights of London he was very glad to remain quietly at home. He felt that he would far rather spend his life in some placo where he could settle down to some useful and profitable employment, tban in a constant succession of sightseeing. With the climate he had been agreeably surprised, having looked forward with no little dread to an English winter, but he believed that the out-of-door life of a colonist qualified him to stand the inclemency of the weather, and that he was far better able to bear it than those who had been accustomed to the habits of coddliug, so prevalent amomg the English people. The enormous wealth of England was what struck him as much as anything he noticed on his return home, as many were to be seen spending princely fortunes every year, or even every month, and they appeared to be deterred by no consideration of expense in obtaining whatever happened to excite their desire. One thing there was that led to an immense amount of misery, namely, that very many appeared to be so attracted by the circumstances of those a little above them that they were constantly attempting to live as they did. Their great aim appeared to be, not to live comfortably within their incomes, but to make as grand a show as those who occupied a higher position than themselves. What the pleasure of this was he was unable to . discover, for live as luxuriously as you might, in England there were always to be found those who were wealthier and able to make a greater display. Of real distress there was but little" among those who were ready and willing to work, and every provision was made for those who were not. The greatest suffering was from poverty, occasioned by vice and drink. The lowest wages to be obtained were sufficient to keep the laborer above want, but there was a large number of wives aud families of working men who were suffering from the reckless conduct of drunken husbands. The accounts to be found in the American papers of the distress prevailing in England were greatly exaggerated, and the only poverty winch occasioned a great amount of misery was of that description which it was impossible to relieve on account of the habits of thosß who were the sufferers by it. To come to the return voyage from England; The American route was most pleasant and agreeable, and having For remainder of news see fourth page;

travelled it, he did not now feel that he was half so immeasurably separated from England as formerly. Were he not debarred from alluding to any matters of a political nature, be would be inclined to remark that he was sorry to find that such easy means of transit between New Zealand and America existed. The steamers on the Atlantic side were simply magnificent. A straightforward walk of 400 feet was available on deck, the packets were provided with immense dining saloons, and every luxury of the finest quality was to be obtained on board. Ice was utilised to a great extent, particularly with regard to the supply of milk, which was not obtained from a dirty, unhealthylooking cow on board, but from the home dairies, and having been boiled and put in tins, it was packed in ice, kept below freezing point, and was to be had throughout the voyage of the very best quality. From Liverpool to New York was accomplished in ten days, and then the traveller found himself fairly among the Yankees. And here he would state how utterly and thoroughly he had been disgusted with the Government and institutions of America from the day on which he had set foot on her shores. The amount of bribery and corruption that there prevailed was inconceivable by one who had not visited that country. As an instance of this he would quote the Customs department. On the passage from England he made acquaintance with an American gentleman who had just married an English wife possessing, among other things, a quantity of jewellery, which should have paid £150 duty at New York, but the husband before landing stated that be would clear it all for £5. This he accomplished without difficulty by presenting the Custom House officials with that sum. Mr. Saunders then gave an amusing description of the manner in which his own portmanteau was searched, the officer with one hand turning over its contents while the other was held out behind his back in expectation of receiving the customary bribe. When the subordinates conducted themselves in such a way, it might readily be supposed of what stamp of men their superiors were. The embezzlements of Government money were of frequent occurrence, and one glaring instance was that of an officer named Tweed who had gone through some sort of Government prosecution for this offence. It was well known that he was a defaulter to the amount of fifty millions of dollars, twenty millions of which he had appropriated to his own use, and yet he lived there, the richest man in New York, his accomplices having been despatched to England while he remained in perfect security, knowing full well that so long as he had plenty of funds at his disposal to expend in bribery no jury would ever be found to convict him. After passing through America and having an opportunity of witnessing the conduct of the Government and the general character of the country he (Mr. Saunders) was quite prepared to say that there was no comparison between New Zealand and the United States as a place of residence, the attractions, being decidedly in favor of the former. But whatever he might say of the Americans was not actuated by any hostile feeling towards itj their spirit of enterprise was undoubtedly very great, and he sincerely hoped that that country and England would long continue to vie with each other only in the arts of peace, and that neither this generation nor those to come might ever know the horrors of an Anglo-American war. It was for us to profit by the errors of others, and there was one special point to which we should turn our attention. By some means the best description of persons in the States had been driven from taking part in the government of the country, which seemed to be conducted by a noisy rabble who carried everything before them with a high hand by brute force and not by the weight of argument, and consequently all honest and well-intentioned individuals were exceedingly chary of taking part in public affairs. He had in the course of his., experience heard many persons say that they did not care for, and took no interest in, the politics of the country in which they lived, but. he maintained that politics were the business of every man, and he who shirked them failed in his duty. If any portion of the community attempted to do that which was not right, it was the manifest - duty of every right-thinking man to rise up and oppose them, and thus put a stop to the corruption and abuse which must inevitably ensue if the power were placed in such hands. Having described the falls of Niagara, Mr. Saunders proceeded to touch upon the taxation, or, as the Yankees called it, "protection" that prevailed in America, and which was carried to such an extent that one of his fellow-passengers who had to purchase a suit of cloth clothes in New York was actually compelled to pay £30 for it. They had also contrived to " protect" by far the larger proportion of their freights from American to English

ships. These were some of the results of "protection," another was that do one would ever go to America to purchase anything, as all goods were far dearer there than in any other country. The farmers and manufacturers were all crying out for protection, the only difference that existed between them being that the former were anxious that the raw material should be protected, while the latter were of opinion that it should be admitted free, and that manufactured goods only should be taxed. It remained yet to be seen which of the two gained the day, but this, he had been told on reliable authority, depended entirely upon the amount that each was prepared to offer by way 'of a bribe to those with whom rested the decision. From his own experience of America, he could say that it was the most expensive place to live in that ever he had visited. When travelling by rail through the snow, 50 cents was the price asked for a cup of coffee, and nothing less than a dollar was asked for any greasy compound set before them in the shape of something to eat. Indeed, a dollar appeared to be the smallest amount that an American would condescend to charge for anything. The country was certainly a very fine one, and the extent of it impressed the visitor with a sense of grandeur. There was something strange when travelling by railway to look back and forward, and, in both directions, as far as the eye could reach, to see the road extending in one unbroken straight line. The great Pacific railway had a strange appearance to one accustomed to the more substantial English Hues. It gave the idea of being a mere temporary construction, and the stoppage of the last mail train was entirely owing to the rails being so slight as to be unable to sustain the side pressure caused by the snow plough. When passing through the snow, the cold was not nearly so intense as might be supposed, owing to the exceeding dryness of the atmosphere, the snow itself being perfectly dry and lying on the ground almost like ashes. On approaching San Francisco he was delighted with the climate, which was most enjoyable. It was there looked upon as a great misfortune to have any rain in summer, as the grass, when dried as it grew in the fields, formed most excellent fodder for the cattle, but when moistened even by slight showers became unfit for use, and it was only in the event of rain falling at that season of the year that graziers experienced any difficulty in finding food for their stock. Mr. Saunders concluded a most interesting lecture with a short account of the voyage from San Francisco to New Zealand via Honolulu. His Honor the Superintendent then proposed a vote of thanks to the lecturer, which was seconded by the hon. Mr. Stafford who stated that he had much pleasure in welcoming back to New Zealand a man of such well-known earnestness of conviction and action as Mr. Saunders, a pleasure that was greatly enhanced by the information he had just received that it was his intention to remain in the colony. He had excluded politics from his lecture, but one or two words that he had let fall clearly showed what were his opinions on certain matters of public importance, and he (Mr. Stafford) hoped very soon to hear him speak when placed under no such restrictions as those he had imposed upon himself that evening. The vote of thanks was carried by acclamation and three hearty cheers were given for Mr. Saunders.