SIR JOHN RICHARDSON’S LECTURE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5150, 25 September 1877, Page 2

SIR JOHN RICHARDSON’S LECTURE.

A MODEL COLONIAL STATESMAN. Last evening Sir John Richardson delivered the fifth of the present series of popular lectures, at the Congregational Church, Wood-ward-street, to a large and appreciative audience; Mr. Holdsworth in the chair. The lecturer commenced by stating that he did not ask his hearers to accompany him tothe foremost amongst the nations of the earth,, or to examine the character and principles of Europe’s greatest statesmen. He selected a British colony, once stagnating in its political existence, dwarf in its proportions and ap. parently destined to a career of insignificance ; and he selected also a publie servant of that colony, who brought to its resuscitation a mind of no ordinary character, a calm judgment, and an energy which knew no tiring. Captain Montagu, of whom he spoke, was a grandson of the first Earl of Manchester, whose ancestors had been distinguished for centuries. His father, who at the time of his death was a lieut.-colonel in the Bengal Artillery, was distinguished by high professional attainments and deeds of courage, whose mantle fell upon the son, whose character was no doubt considerably influenced by the recollection of his parent’s noble career. He was appointed at an early age an ensign in the 23rd Regiment, which distinguished itself at Waterloo. The war putting an end to all hopes of active employment, Captain Montagu retired from the service, and proceeded to Tasmania in 1824 as Private Secretary to the Lieutenant-Governor, and on that province becoming a separate colony he became clerk to the Executive and Legislative Councils, and subsequently was appointed Colonial Secretary. After ably filling this office for some time and his services being suitably acknowledged by Sir John Franklin, an unfortunate misunderstanding arose between them, and in the end Sir John suspended him from office. He then left for England, amidst the universal regret of his fellow-colonists and brother officials. £2OOO was subscribed to present him with a piece of plate, which, however, a sense of duty induced him to decline. On reaching England Lord Stanley, then Secretary of State for the Colonies, after a careful investigation of the whole circumstances of the case, declared that Captain Montagu “retired from the situation which he had so long filled with his public and personal character unimpaired, and with his hold on the respect and confidence of his Majesty’s Government undiminished.” As an evidence of the appreciation in which he was held he was imme* diately appointed Colonial Secretary of the Cape of Good Hope, and entered upon his duties in 1843. Here he had great difficulties to contend with, but his energies were equal to them. At the time of his arrival there the revenue was £178,000 and the public debt £183,000. His judicious efforts at retrenchment were crowned with success, and in ten years the revenue increased to nearly £300,000 while an equal sum had been spent in public works. His next effort was to people the desert wastes, and it was laid down that the number of immigrants arriving at any one time should not exceed the means of-their im. mediate employment on fair terms in the various branches of labor and skill to which

they had been' trained, and that any system which did not provide for their condition being improved in the same ratio that their employer was benefited, was defective. He then turned his to opening up the country by constructing roads and bridges, whereby the value of property was vastly increased, and settlement promoted. The degraded mass of the community, comprising Englishmen, Dutchmen, Africans, emancipated negroes, Malays, Mozambiques, and others, were brought under the influence of civilisation, and in the convict stations a sy tem in which mercy was blended with justice was introduced with the happiest results. Bobbin Island, where the convicts had hitherto dragged out a miserable existence, was made a receptacle for lunatics, lepers, and paupers, where these unfortunate people were cared for and their sufferings alleviated. Judicial reforms were introduced, and the welfare of the colony was ever present to the ruling spirit guiding its affairs. The lecturer then glanced at the dark period of Capt. Montagu’s political life, when his past devotion was to be swept into oblivion because his views ran counter to those of the leading colonists. In an evil hour the Imperial Government sought to force upon the colony a batch of political offenders under the ticket-ef-leave system. The colonists refused to let them land, or to supply the necessaries of life to the troops, and ultimately the vessel in which they were brought to the Cape had to go - awav with them. Captain Montagu asserted that the convicts should have been landed and kept from all contact with the inhabitants until their recall was received, a procedure which he considered would preserve ' inviolate the rights of the Crown and those of the people. For this he was subjected to bitter taunts, reproaches, and insinuations ; and not long afterwards another brand was hurled at him because he had considered it expedient during the progress of the war in the remote eastern part of the colony to withhold for a time the introduction of Representative Government. Conscious, however, of the purity of his intentions, be stood undismayed amidst the storm of popular discontent. At this time his property in Tasmania became depreciated, and years of self-denial were the consequence. He even declined to send his son to College whilst any man could call him debtor. He died embalmed in the memory of the good and the just, though hidden for a time by the mists of prejudice and misrepresentation. The lecturer, after pointing 'out this eminent colonial statesman as one whose example was a model for imitation, glanced at New Zealand, and alluded to its great resources and capabilities. He also said, and with much truth, th..t writers sometimes drew rather too favorable pictures of colonial life. As regarded ■Wellington, it had been said that its climate was milder than that of the south of France. He (the lecturer) knew.that he had been nearly blown head-over-heels here by a “southerly buster,” and been nipped almost to death by a chilling, penetrating evening gale. He also considered that the overflowing profits resulting from the cattle and sheep trade had been sometimes exaggerated. Some of the investments which had been pointed out as likely to result in doubling of the capital, had resulted in doubling up the investors. He referred to the old times in the colony as being preferable in some respects to these more advanced times. There was then, he thought, greater hospitality, and if the means of the colonists were small, their wants were small also. He spoke of the large amount of debt of the colony, and reminded them that the day when payment had to be made was not always so pleasant as the day on which the money was borrowed ; and he pointed out that in the event of England being involved in the war now being undertaken by Russia, nominally to protect the Christians in Turkey, but really to seize Constantinople, this colony would have to look to her military defences. He said that it was the duty of all colonists to be prepared for the event, and urged that the young men should be trained to the use of arms. On the motion of Mr. Woodward, a . vote of thanks was put and carried unanimously. In returning thanks, Sir JOHX Richardson said he would let his hearers into a secret. He had delivered this lecture some years before, and believed he was really the founder of the Public Works policy. He quoted from an article in a paper of which Sir Julius Vogel was then editor, in which the lecture was highly spoken of, and the career of Captain Montagu, the road-maker and promoter of settlement at the Cape of Good Hope, was set forth as a model to be followed.