DINNER TO THE MAYOR.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4586, 1 December 1875, Page 2

DINNER TO THE MAYOR.

Last evening his Worship the Mayor, who is about retiring from office, was entertained at dixxner by the members of the City Council. The event came off at the Panama Hotel, and about forty gentlemen sat down, amongst whom were J. Drausfield, Esq., in the chair, having on the right the guest of the evening, W. S. Moorhouse, Esq., and on his left the Premier of the Colony (the Hon. Dr. Pollen), Councillor Mills axxd Councillor George in the vice-chairs, Sir Donald McLean (Native Minister), the Hon. Major Atkinson (Colonial Treasurer-), the Hon. Mr. Eitzherbert, C.M.G. (Superintendent of Wellington), G. Hunter, Esq., M.H.R., E. Pearce, Esq., M.H.R., the City Councillors, the principal officers of the Corporation, and a number of gentlemen connected with' the various professions, and the leading commercial men of the city. Dinner was placed on the table shortly after seven, and was served in a manner which did infinite credit to Mr. and Mrs. Light. Dinner over, toastingcommenoed, and “The Queen” and “His Excellency the Governor” having been duly honored, the Chairman again called on the company to charge their glasses, and then sard : Gentlemen, The _ toast which I have now to ask you to drink, is one which I feel some diffidence in proposing, because I feel I arn not quite up to the mark to do justice to it in such a manner as I could wish to see it done. In fact I hesitated before taking the position I am now in ; but I trust that if I don’t succeed in doing that which I ought to do, you will at least give mo the credit of having the desire to do it. (Cheers.) The toast is, “ The guest of the evening—our Mayor” —(cheers) —tire gentleman in whose honor we are met together. I think I speak the feelings of all the members of the City Council when I say we have felt it an honor to have presiding over us a gentleman who has held such high and honorable positions in the colony as his Worship the Mayor has held previous to having taken office. We feel that it has added no honor or dignity to him, but that he carno forward in the hearty assist us in the working of our municipal institutions. And there is the great difficulty we have to contend with in working out these institutions—to got the right man to come forward and work out these institutions —in order that they may do the good they are intended. There is a very great difference between these municipal institutions hero and municipal institutions in tiro old country. There there is a regular beaten track, and all a mayor has to do is to keep within that beaten track—he holds a mere ornamental position ; but here there is plenty of hard useful work to be done. I may say that although Mr. Moorhouse has not been long in office, ho has been in long enough to see many of tiro difficulties we have to contend with in working the Municipal Act, and I hope I shall not hurt the feelings of anyone present if I say that that Act is a very cumbrous and very difficult Act to work. I have had some experience in the working of it, but after all I am bound to confess that I really feel I do not understand it yet, although I have studied it many many years. Our mayor, when Ire first took office, saw the difficulty, and at once set about altering it, but I am sorry that, although he did his best to bring about a better state of things, he was unsuccessful. Yet, I trust his efforts may bear fruit in the future, and that although what was attempted could not he done this session, still it may be done in the next session. The Bills were absolutely needed, irot only for raising money, but for giving authority to do works where authority was

absolutely necessary before the works could be done, and which was quite as much needed as the actual raising of the funds. However, our Mayor did his best, and I think we are doing but right in coming together to-night to honor a gentleman who has taken his share in the difficulty and responsibility of working our municipal institutions, and I hope we shall have his assistance at the Council board when he ceases to be Mayor. I trust he will not forget us, but endeavor to come and help us as a member of the City Council. (Cheers.) Mr. Mooehodse, on rising, was heartily applauded. He said : Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, —It is unnecessary to explain that I feel very much honored by the courteous and pleasant manner in which you have met here to-night. lam just going out of office, and I am very sorry indeed to say that I have not been able to accomplish all that I expected. However, I feel satisfied in my own mind that the Corporation has lately done good work: we have worked together steadily and quietly and very hard. There has really been much earnestness in the public sendee of the city, and I have found that experience has proved the character of my associates to be of that quality of which I had been informed before I became so well acquainted with them. We have had no noise in our deliberations; we have been a remarkably happy family, and there has never been a single internal difficulty. Yet, although we have made no very great noise in the city, I am certain work of such a nature has been done during the past year as must be eventually of great public advantage. My friend, Mr. Dransfield, my predecessor of a short time back in office, has been excessively indulgent, as have been all the Councillors. I have had the very greatest possible assistance from them all, and here may state that my friend. Councillor Dransfield, had some idea of retiring from the office of Councillor some time ago, but upon my earnest entreaty he determined toj remain by the ship, and the advantage of his remaining is certain to make itself felt. In reply to the kind 'remarks made by Councillor Dransfield with respect to my taking a seat in the City Council I trust it may be so, and I shall take an opportunity of giving the public to understand that if they choose to use what poor services may be within my power to offer I shall only be too happy fo go into the Council, and assist in such courses as ought to be followed for the benefit of the city. A little allusion has been made to some events which occurred in the General Assembly last session. Of course, gentlemen, we all view things from our own standpoint; we consider what is good or the reverse through the lights we happen to possess ; and I should be one of the last in New Zealand to withhold from any body the credit due to it for acting upon its convictions; and perhaps the gentlemen forming one brauohof the Legislature are a little disposed to disparage the efforts of Corporations generally. But discounting what has been done or what has not been done by one branch of the Legislature shows to me that that august branch did not deal with an interesting proposition in politics as it ought to have done. In point of fact, Bills which were brought down in the Lower House of the Legislature, discussed, and passed, were treated, I might almost say, with insolent disdain by the superior branch of the Legislature. I had really forgotten the presence of the Prime Minister of New Zealand and a member of that House, but I confess now that, trusting to the extraordinary candour and generosity of that hon. gentleman, I am rather encouraged to proceed. I am yery proud that that gentleman was one of those who supported the proposition, and that the Government, of which he is the head, and the Council of the Corporation of Wellington, were in accord; and that the Ministry of the day were sufficiently enlightened to accept as a necessity the Bill which my friend Mr. Travers drafted at my request. I may say that Mr. Travers and I drafted the Bill, which was brought down and received the sanction of the Lower House, and was passed as being really an advantage, not only to Wellington, but_ to New Zealand. Yet, despite this, the Lords, who it may be supposed, contemplating a remote possibility of a visit of the tax-gatherer as a result of the legislation wished for by us, ignominiously threw out the Bill. Now, this is a very shocking thing to say; but nevertheless it is true, and the only manner in which we can excuse them is that, as we are assured by high authority, “ All flesh is grass,” that this may account for the touch of the sordid. I was rejoiced to see that the greatest and best in the land—and of course they are to be found in the upper branch of the Legislature—are most uncommonly careful when there is any possibility of their lands and their revenues being touched. They have very great interest in everything which does not affect their own pockets. This is a very shocking tiring to say, and I should not say it perhaps, if I were'not sure they would never hear about it. Of course there are no reporters here, and not the slightest notice will be taken of what lam saying. We are here simply to exchange ideas and strengthen each other’s hands, by talking over the deficiencies of a certain distinguished branch of the Legislature. I think the fair way of raising the prestige of the city of Wellington, the premier city and capital of the colony, would be for the Council of Wellington to suggest some fan - retaliation in the shape of 'an attack onthe status of the Council. I am going down to a village with which I have some acquaintance, with a view to getting the people to elect me their representative, and if they do, I will endeavor to bring the House of Lords to their senses. Some few years ago I came to reside in Wellington, and possessed very little ;—came merely to contemplate my own poverty, and the wideness of the world—l came to Wellington because I thought it the best place—because I thought the main chance might be best consulted here. It is the centre of the colony—it is really the emporium of the colony. I heard some time ago on an interesting occasion our Superintendent likened the position of Wellington to the owner of a corner shop. He was right. We have a good corner shop—a good stand, and a prominent place. All mercantile men admit this. I have heard men of good common sense and strong perceptive faculties from Otago, Christchurch, and Auckland, admit this, and say that our position operates to make Wellington the mercantile capital of the colony, so that we have a great future before us, and we are bound to exerci e a great influence upon the social, moral, and political bias of the colony. We won’t cro into particulars. There is an exceedingly interesting time coming, hut the scratches and scrimages of to-day will be forgotten to-morrow. I have studied the character of most of the public men in New Zealand on one side and the other, and of all parties, and I think we have great reasons to be proud of our public men altogether. I have been associated with most of them ; we have fallen out to-day and we have associated again to-morrow, and I believe that the men now who are taking up different positions in politics, and that statesmen from every corner of the House will meet together in perfect accord. (Mr. Moorhouse then went on to make jocular remarks about his health being proposed before that of the Ministry and the Superintendent, saying that he believed the Mayor of the city was the most august personage so long as he kept in the city, although once out of the city the others might top him.) He then proceeded : On being elected to the office of Mayor I began to read the Constitution Act, and found that the Mayor had no power except that derived from the express instructions of the Council, and although I thought at the time that was wrong and that the Mayor should be something more than an Executive officer, I have arrived at the conclusion that things are better as they are, because if matters devolved upon the Mayor personally as an Executive officer, and to take action upon statutes, it might be found that the duties would place too great a burden upon him. lam convinced that things are best as they are. The Council has a check upon the action of the Mayor, and while we keep to working by committees I think the system of municipal government is about as perfect as we can make it. I hope what I have done during my mayoralty will meet with the concurrence of the ratepayers ; and I thank you heartily, I cannot say how much, for the honor you have done me this evening.

The toast of “ The Ministry ” was then proposed by Mr. Moorhocse. The Hon. Dr. Pollen thanked the company in warm terms for the manner in which they had received the toast, and referring to remarks made by previous speakers as to the difficulties in the way of Municipal Governments, said he hoped one of the Acts of the future would be to increase their functions, and increase their means to form those functions. With regard to the Bill which had been thrown out in the Legislative Council, he said he thought if it were brought forward during another session it would be passed. Mb. Gillon briefly proposed the next toast, namely, “ The Health of the Superintendent.” Mr. Fitzherbert, in returning thanks, said it was probably not right to minutely forecast the future, which, in fact, rather belonged to astrologists than to superintendents, but it might be supposed that the privilege of responding to the toast of the health of a superintendent in the colony of New Zealand had become, like the moa, nearly extinct. There would be a manifest indelicacy on his part in giving ready adhesion to any such popular but delusive hope. They would therefore, he was sure, pardon him if he belonged to a class of incredulous Thomases in respect to this matter. But, entirely divesting their minds of prejudice—to use a mild term—on any such subject, he might frankly thank them for the manner in which the toast of his health had been proposed and received. It had been, he might honestly say, a pride with him for the best part of his life, to do the best he could for New Zealand generally, and particularly for the province, with which he was now officially associated. That he might say with all truth ; but he might as truly say that he had never ignored the colony in the interests of the town and province. They were, he might say, at a banquet to-nigbt—one of those banquets which, aspiring as they did, to be a nation, could not be designated by any term short of that of a Lord Mayor’s feast. (Laughter.) At such banquets it was their privilege to be gratified by the presence of Ministers of the. Crown, and it was also their privilege to hear those expressions which, as it were, fell down from the lips of these men holding exalted positions, and, as it were, holding in their discreet hands—(laughter)—great secrets of State. (Prolonged laughter.) Expressions which they sometimes let drop, in that exceedingly clever manner for which Mr. Disraeli was distinguished no less than his predecessor in office, Mr. Gladstone. (Continued laughter.) And if they should feel anything like the slightest disappointment at those expressions, it would be exceedingly improper for them to say so. They should attribute it to that exceeding discretion which might be supposed to be entirely characteristic of those gentlemen. And he felt sure that could Mr. Gladstone and his great compeer but see how Ministers at the Antipodes had the discretion to use such great occasions as the present, they would only regret that they themselves had not been bom colonials. (Prolonged laughter.) He again thanked them for the manner in which the last toast had been drunk.

Mr. Mills briefly proposed “The City Members of the House of Representatives.” Mr. Hunter responded. Mr. Travers proposed “ The Health of the Members of the City Council,” which was drunk with honors, and responded to by Mr. George.

The Mayor proposed “ The Officers of the Corporation,” which was responded to by Mr. Hester, Town Clerk, and Mr. Marchant, City Surveyor. Mr. Pearce gave “ The Press ” in a flattering speech. Responded to by Mr. Hutchison. His Honor the Superintendent proposed “The Health of the Chairman,” to which Mr. Dransfield responded, and thus the proceedings terminated.