YOUNG NEW ZEALAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 72, 25 March 1878, Page 4

YOUNG NEW ZEALAND.

The following is au extract from Sir George Grey'a recent speech at Duuedin : — Now remember this : here we are all placed in such a position as the word has hardly ever seen. We have given to us a country of extraordinary fertility, the whole abounding in minerals, forests, and the seas abounding in fish the climate of the moat healthy possible description, and we are trammelled by no iniquitous laws, by no class differenceß whatever, and it is our duty to ourselves to bo a nation in which wealth is tolerably equally distributed. There must be rich, and (here must be poor, but cure must be taken that the poor shall not be trodden down by the rich, that enormous property must not be in single hands, no such laws of primogeniture by which a few have all the wealth. Don't think that a Btateemsn in New Zealand hfis no advantages j don't think, I Bay, that fuiry tales have died out of the world ; don't think and believe that whereas in our childhood we have read fairy talee, and some fairy appeared to some young man, and promised him wealth and everything ; don't think that such things do not happen in real life to men grown in years. Just think for moment what position a statesman is in. I will try and trace out the idea. Suppose for instance, some aged man walking through the forests of New Zealand, and some voice seems to speak to him or proceeding from himself, and say, — We are about to endow you with a great and wonderful gift, Your fellowcountrymen shall raise from their own pockets large sums of money, and shall say to you, lake these sums of money, go forth and use them to bless the whole population of this country with the means we have placed in your hands. Go forth and do the almost unlimited good which we enable you to do by these contributions. And then if some voice said to him go forth and do that duty, and remember that to aid you to do it you have been provided with colleagues, some with the wisdom of years, some with the ability and oratory of youth who will advise you ia every stage,

You succeed man who have had ample experience to guide you ; and recollect farther, there has been given you the coansel of some of the ablest men in New Zenland to assist you in determining the precise objects on which these great funds are to be expended, and so carefully are we endeavoring to guide your footsteps that we have provided a lage body of enthusiastic men named "Party," to aid you upon the career you are about to enter. And further, you go knowing that too great prosperity ruins all men, that too great power is a dangerous thing to entrußt to most hands, bo we have further provided an Opposition who shall carefully watch every step you take, find fault with everihina; you do, so as to moke you dread to do anything wrong. Thus aided, go forth supplied with money not your own, but with great powers placed in your hand?, supplied by your fellow men with power to make laws, power to remove abuses, power to reward merit, power to promote education, and power to do lasting good by those you are espected to serve. Tnis is, in fact, what is said to every statesman in his noble career which he is qualified to enter, and I eay is not that enough to satisfy any ambition, and a career, towards the achievement of which every one should 1 strive ? (Loud applause). For one thing more I will eay to you ,is this: Every one of you have to take a partin this transaction. Every one of you 1 must aid in building up what I believe will be one of the greatest oatinn9 the world had ever seen. I fancy I sometimes see passing along the beach what are vast populations, now eay half a million, then in a few years two cr three millions, then in a few years almost countless millions, al! passing on, all founded by you, the present iuhabitants of New Zealand, all depending upon the laws which you have made, depending upon the institutions which you have established. And then I look carefully io ste, as I*g&ze at these populations passing by, what is their aspect? Is it one of general comfort, general happineas, general corjtentment ? Are these countless millions which I Bee all following one after another, leading a happier life, than men hitherto were ? Or, am I to see a mean wretched squalid population of some million or two strutting with pomp and power, and perhaps 38 millions starving, soarely fed, scarcely clothed; old people without hope, drunkards driven to drink from want of any animated prinoiple in life to guide them on ? Whioh are the populations to pasa before us ? Well, the hopes I indulge in are these : I imagine I see banners in their hands and on them the names of eome now living, and I see the names of families that I have known, in New Zealand, and I hear loud snouts aud loud acclamations of joy and encouragement as these banners wave. I belisve — - I believe that such will be the future of New Zealand. (Loud cheering.) And the last words I will say to you are these. You muat strive to the utmost to bring such an equal alate of thiDgß about. Let us strive to found a nation such [as has never been. We have power to do it. Who will prove recreant to suoh a trust? Who will prove ungrateful to ancb. a course ? I believe the people of New Zealand never will.