SIR HERCULES ROBINSON.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIV, Issue 94, 21 April 1879, Page 4

SIR HERCULES ROBINSON.

( Ntw Zealander, April 17.)" A very Ir-Dgthened review of the political oecorreripps of the ppriod over •which Sir Fercu'fß Bol*ipFnn wns Governor of the Co'cny of New South Wale?, is ptcpti in a rrrpnt nimher of the Sydney Morning Herald, just fo hand. As his Fycel?enry t^-Jny formerly rnferp upon his hiph nnd rosporsihle charpp rvf>r this Colony. siroilnr to !h*t which hn so ably nnd crec'itnblv filled for tho tprm of seven ypara ; n N n w South Wale.", a brief reference to his recent cerrer, condensed from orir contemporary, may bs deemel bb opportune, »nd interesting to imny of onr Npw Z^nlend readers. The vi^e-regal, or more strictly, the Mini°teriwl rop-nifpfitops of thfl enrly portioD of Sir Hprpu'fs' Administration, wp sr« tnld, were mopt of them etatesrrnnlikn roci)meTit3, nnd p^s^s^ed thfl dignity which befits thedpr.liocr with larg;** questions of public policy, such f<a the fundnmonfal rpadjiifltmpnt of the el^c ♦oral sysfrm of thnt Colony, and the reconstruction of itq Legislative Council on nu elective baaie; though our contemporary proopods to e«y the de!ivernncps of the Jater period beenme mere mursir-ipai. and might be almost accepted as «n indication of the dacl-r-n---sion which has taken place io public life in thnt Colony. During the -six vpars nnd nine months tbat Sir Hercules was Governor there, he had the privilege of presiding over six Executive Councils, and had at command the wisdom and experience of more thnn sixty constitution*! advisere. The population of tbat Colony increased io mood numbers from 510,000 ia 1872 to 700.000 at the end of 1878, and by the statistics of the commerce of the Colony and the accumulation of capital over the term mentienfd, the material progrPßß during Sir Hercules' cbarge is strikingly apparent. Twelve months before His ExceUrccys' arrival in New South Wulee, the state of the public finances had become b matter cf serious concern to the Government; nnd power hnd been f>iv.-»n to thn Treasurer to issue op war-- b of £300,000 worth of Treasury bills to meet tho deficiency in the Consolidated Revenue scconnt. There was a change for tho better, however, before tlie Governor arrivoJ. 9o rupidly did the public inromp increase, thst at the end of the year 1872 there w,s a surplus of more than heff a million eterling, and instecd of borrowing money to meet deficiencies iv tbe revenue, the Government were r.ble to pay off more than £400,000 ofthe public debt. By the end of 1876 successive payments had reduced the public in-JehtarineßS to the extent of more than £1,600,000, otill lpaving the larye surplus of £2 : 474,923 at the closeof 1878. Amone other eventß of great significance mentioned during His Excellency's reeiJence in New Sooth Wales, is the establishment of telegraphic communication between (hat Colony and New Zealnnd in 1877, the -advantages of which to Australia and Ntw Zealand become more important every year. It is probably only n question of thne, by the lay inj? of a cable from New ZealanJ or the eastern shores of Australia, to the western shores of North America, wbeu the electric circuit of ihe globa will be complete, aod Shfikeepesre's poetic fancy will be trenslated into prosaic fact. From the dale upon which Sir Hercules assumed charge of the adjacent Colony down to the very latest period bis administration is carefully and impartially reviewed. Among tbe latest events is tbat of the forthcoming Exhibition, which our contemporary says, *' seems calculated to draw the colonies into closer intercourse ; and, when tbe different lines of railway connect Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane with each other, the operations of trade and the greater intercommunication whicb will then exist, will do much to obliterate the jealousy and distrust born of ieolation and dismemberment. Sir Hercules Bobinson has done well in bis public utterances to give tbe question of federation a foremost place; and the moderate description wbioh he gave of Australian progress at Albury in 1876, directed attention to a prospect which, as his Excellency then observed, * might well enkindle a flame of Australian, as distinguished from provincial, patriotism, whilst it assuredly offers a noble field for the exercise of the highest capacity of statesmanship.' " Some ofthe felicitous speeches wbich Sir Herculeß Robinson made when in New South Wales, on the subject of education, are worthy of being beld in lastiog memory, andj we quote more particularly thnt which he uttered [at tbe University in April, 1873, wben he said :— "I tbink that the Legislature of this country has shown a wise liberality in providing not only for national and middle-class education, but blbo tbe maohinery of university education from tbe public funds. It has shewn a quick perception of the great truth tbat communities rise in the social scale not alone by Iheir wealth or their population, but also by that intellectual advancement which comes from education and virtue. I rejoice to learn that in the establishment of your University system in this colony you have so closely followed the models of the old country, and I trust that the qaality of your out-turn will ba equally favorable, and that that happy combination of manliness end gentleness which is such a marked characteristic of the educated English gtntleman will be abundantly reproduced upon Australian soil." Athletio coltare, we are also told, has been made a maker of great concern in New

South Walpp, during thr governorship of Sir Hercules Robioson ; ami horseraeii>e*, during his term of office, hss flourished with unwonted yip.or. Our contemporary, Uom whom we havo quote* - !, also n«yn : — " His Excellency possesses considerable ability ns a public speaker ; and as he n ver oppos his mouth uclobr lie hae something to say, end has made up hia mind how ho will say i», his public addresses havo won for him n lpr<je Amount of oredit r.rnl r-pplxuFe" Upon tbe question of railway constructicr, Sir Hercules gels credit for having done goorl service to the community in tho neighboring colony,'and as much interest ii ti-kea in the eu> j°ct here, we m*.-y quote, from a speech made by his Excellency at Tamworth, on the 16th October last ; — " If I woro ofked whut, in ray opinion, wb9 now tfie matter of the most vital impoit'Hice to the future prosppcta ond prosr-erity of New Souih Walea, I should sny the rapid completion of the throwph lines ot railway coramunicntion. AM other m?asurep, however dearp.b!e, sink, io my m : ni, into cora-para-ive ins-guifieance. And how favorable are the circumstances iit present for a vigorous policy iv thiß respect. Our m*ain trunk lines aro even now, in thoir unfinished sate, returning nn interest on tbe capi'ai invested in them about equal to the rote at which wo can borrow money in London, and ii has been shown by the experience of a series of years that every additional mile opened on them serves to make the portiou already completed more productive on i profitable. The advantage (o the country then, of railway extension cau scarcely be overstate!. .... Look at the energy and far-seeine policy displayed by our neighbors in Victoria in pushing their mam lines through in varioua directions to iheir border with the utmost attainable speed. Look, too, afc what has been done in New Zealand, with a population of less tban two-thirds of that of New South Wales, where they bave opened nearly 900 miles of railway in the last five years. At the end of 1872 New South Wales had more \ miles of railway opened than any other Oolony in all Australasia ; but since then she has been passed by both New Zealand and Victoria, and left far in the rear. isew Zealand has now nearly 1100 miles of railway open, Victoria nearly 1000 miles, whilst hero, including the length open to-day, we have only reached 688 miles Here are examples for us of what can be done by energy and determination ; and 1 do not hesitate to assert that we couli construct railways as fast here as they are doing in New Zealand and Victoria if we were to go to work with the same will." The concluding remarks of the Sydney morning journal are as follows : — " It is not always easy to accurately gauge contemporary opinion, but as for as we can judge we should say that Sir Hercules Eobinson ranks second only to Sir John Young (Baron Lisgar) as the most popular and capable Governor wbo has yet represented the Sovereign in New South Wales ; and we cannot Ao betier than clcse thia notice of his administration than by k remarking that the hope which His Excellency expressed at Tamworth will be realized — * that all honest errors of judgment will be generously forgiven \ and forgotten ;' and by allowing His Excellency to write his own official epitaph, namely : ' A man who conscientiously tried to do what he believed j to be his duty, and whose whole heart j was wrapped up in the welfare and ad- I vancement of this magnificent Colony.'" I