CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL ASSOCIATION.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 5813, 15 November 1879, Page 2

CANTERBURY AGRICULTURAL AND PASTORAL ASSOCIATION.

SPEECH BY THE GOVERNOR. (PER PUK*S AGEN’CT.) CHRI3TCHP kch, Thursday. At the dinner given on Wednesday evening, his Excellency the Governor, in responding to the toa*t of his health, proposed by Mr. J. T. Ford, President of the Association, spoke as follows ; I am very sensible, Mr. President, rf the kind terms in which you have proposed rny health, and grateful to you, gentlemen, for the marked cordiality with which you have responded to the toast. I can assure you it has given me great pleasure to visit Christchurch at the present time, as it has afforded me an opportunity of in-meeting your splendid show, and thus forming a better estimate of the vast pastoral and agricultural wealth of this magnificent district than I could have gained by any amount of mere travelling through it, I have been able to avail myself of the same visit to observe, as I have done with satisfaction, the very admirable manner in which the good old national sport of horse-racing is conducted under the able and efficient management of the Canterbury Jockey Club, (OheorO Above all, I have had an opportunity of seeing for myself the crowds of well-dressed and obviously well-to-do people who have thronged the racecourse and show-ground, and whose appearance and demeanor abundantly testify to the loyal, orderly, contented, and truly British character of the population. (Cheers.) Indeed, all that I have seen here and elsewhere in New Zealand since my arrival has served to convince me that, although the ocean separates you from the old c miUry, your heart* nm British still—(cheers) —Fuat you are, like Ra’ph Rackstraw, cue able seaman in “ H.M.S. Pinafore,” in spite of all temptations to belong to other nations, you still remain Englishmen—(cheers and laughter) —and that in your picturesque and most enjoyable island home at the antipodes, you still retain those feelings of attachment to the Throne, and respect for law, order, and constitutional authority—(cheers) —and that love of outdoor business pursuits and amusements which constitute all the world over the marked characteristic of the Anglo-Saxon rare. (Cheers.) I may add that the cordial expressions of welcome and goodwill which have been extended to myself personally, not only in Christchurch, but in all parts of the colony in which I have visited, have been most gratifying to me, and encoursge me to hope that you, at all events, give me ore ’it for a sincere desire to act here an honest and straightforward part in the discharge of the important dnt'os wluVb bavo born entrusted to me by my Sovereign. (Cheers.) My only fear is, gentlemen, that you may expect too much from me, for if so, there will assuredly be a reaction of disappointment. (No.) But you must all bear in mind that in matters of internal administration and policy the functions of a constitutional Governor are of a negative rather than of a positive character, and that his principal achievement? consist rather in preventing mischief than accomplishing any substantial good. He has to reconcile and discharge as best ho can the double functions attached to bis office—that of a Governer, responsible to the Grown, and the constitutional head of an Executive, controlled by his advisers. (Hear, hear.) The task of reconciling these sometimes conflicting functions is often one of peculiar nicety and difficulty, and as Lord Duffer in well observed, the duties of a constitutional Governor, in this respect, resemble not a little those of the man we see tending some complicated piece of machinery, who goes about clad in fustian, with a little tin-can having a long spout to it, and pouring a drop of oil here and another there, with the view of securing the working of the various party with as little friction as possible. (Cheers.) These lubricating performances of a constitutional Governor are mostly hidden from the public eye, and the functions of his office are in consequence apt to be underrated ; but I am myself far from thinking that the position is either an unimportant or nniufluential one. (Hear, hear.) Constituting, ns he doe 3 , the official link between the colony and the mother country, he can, whilst resolutely regarding Imperial interests, at the same time do much, by tact and judgment, to maintain harmonious action between local and Imperial officials. (Cheers.) Placed, also, as he is, by his position, above the strife of parties ; holding his office by a tenure less precarious than the Ministers who surround him, and bound, as he is, to see that under all circumstances and changes the law and the constitution are obeyed, lie can, by holding the balance equally between contending parties, by never allowing himself to become in the slightest degree a partisan, do much at times to moderate extreme opinion, and to allay the asperity of political warfare. (Cheers.) And when strife wages fierce, and hitting becomes a little wild, bo has to assume the position, as it were, of umpire in the political prize-ring, to see that the rules of the game are strictly adhered to, and, above all, to repress firmly and vigorously any tendency to hit below the belt. (Laughter, followed by loud and prolonged applause.) These are amongst the least agreeable of a constitutional Governors duties ; but there are others which are thoroughly enjoyable. For example, it is his privilege to be able, without provoking either jealousy or suspicion, to take a warm interest in societies such as this, and indeed in all social movements having for their object the advancement of the industrial, educational, and moral interests of the people, and to promote every undertaking which gives promise of developing the resources of the colony, or of assisting her friendly and successful rivalry with other colonies or countries in the arts of peace. (Cheers.) At the same time, a Governor may, in my opinion with advantage, and without doing anything inconsistent with the obligations, or derogatory to the dignity of his high office, identify himself warmly with the pleasures and amusements of the people—(loud cheers);—and by sympathising with them heartily in all the good old English sports and pastimes, do much, by his influence and example, to ensure their being carried on with moderation and propriety. (Cheers.) These are the general principles which I laid down for my own guidance in the great neighboring colony of New South Wales, and although of course I often failed in acting up to so high a standard, my experience and observation in Australia have taught me that if a Governor in these colonies simply seeks to do bis duty honestly and fearlessly—steering unmoved an even course between political contentions of the day, indifferent alike to praise or blame—he will never appeal in vain to the confidence and generosity of an English community. (Enthusiastic applause.) And now allow me to say that the first impressions which I have formed of New Zealand are most favorable. I have already, in the few months I have been here, visited most of the principal centres of population—from Auckland in the north to Invercargill in the south—and I can truly say that the country appears to me to be of surpassing interest and promise. The scenery is quite equal, if not superior, to anything I have seen in any other part of the world. I have been much struck also with the extent and variety of the resources of the country, as well as with the industry and energy, and marvellous rapidity with which they are being developed. (Hear, hear.) Coming‘from Australia, I could not fail to note with admiration the extraordinary richness of the soil, and its special adaptability for homestead settlement upon comparatively small areas, (Cheers.) Your climate, too, U magnificent—far more enjoyable than that of the old country ; whilst it is equally favorable to the development of British energy. The influence of elimate and soil is, I think, clearly perceptible upon the physical development and character of the population, for wherever I have travelled I have found men brimful of energy, cheerful, and contented with their lot, believing thoroughly in the laud of their adoption and determined to promote her *flvsMicemeut to a foremost place among f : - - I -j ioncifes of the British Crown. (Cheer.- ■ of no sight more calculated to imp- Englishman with feelings of

pride and iulness than to travel through a great new country like this, which was only first settled about forty years ago, and to see on all sides the evidence which it affords of material progress and social improvement. To see great cities like Christchurch, Dunedin,

Wellington, Auckland, and Invercargill, whb-h bare grown up as if by made—to see, os I did, mountains of grain stacked and waiting shipment at Oamaru and Timaru, the produce of district- which, a few years ago did not grow enough for their own consumption—to see such a pa-tor;il a:d ajrioaltnr il show as I inspected to-dav, and of which many of the old countries of Europe might well feel proud—to Fee evervwht-re vase districts of country which twentv-fiw vears ago were unproductive, covered with flocks and herds, and corn fields, and administering to the wants and contributing to the hapniness of hundreds of thousands of our race,—l say Fights such as these make one feel proud of the genius of our countrymen for colonization, and confident as to the future of this great country. (Cheers.) The resource* of the land are boundless ; it is c»pab’e of supporting in comfort and independence a population of many millions, and it offers, to my mind, on the whole, more advantages than any other countrv in the world with which X am acquainted to industrious and hard working men. (Cheers.) Nature has indeed been most bountiful to New Zealand. She has given her beautiful scenery, a magnificent climate, a soil of unsurpassed fertility, an extensive seaboard, a commanding position, end in short every natural condition necessary for the reproduction here on these southern sea* of a younger and a happier Britain, exempt from the stint and want and the misery which are unfortunately so common a: times in the old country, and offering a far more general participation in the good gifts which God has so bountifully bestowed on this country. (Loud cheers.) For myself, I may say, gentlemen, that having been now employed in the public service for over thirty-six years, during the last twenty years of which I have had the honor of representing her Majesty in the various quarters of the globe—l cannot reasonably look forward to any very prolonged period of active service, and it is a source of no small satisfaction to me to find that what will, in all probability, be the closing scene of raj official career in laid in a colony possessing features of such engrossing interest, and holding out a promise of such a brilliant future. (Cheers.) I need scarcely tell you that New Zealand i* no promotion, after such governments a* Ceylon and New South Wales, which I filled for nearly fourteen years, and indeed it is, in some respects, less advantageous even than the government of Hongkong, to which I was appointed exactly twenty 3’ ears ago ; but all considerations of such a character are, to my mind, more than counterbalanced by tho magnificence of your climate, and to the iuteicst which attaches to the political and social problems which are being worked out—the mixed character of tho population, the difficulty of the native problem, the history and traditions of Urn Maoris, the operation of the Public Works policy, the opening up of the vast and varied resources of the country, and the influence of climate and soil upon the physiological development—all present to me new lines of study, and open up a wide and varied field for intellectual speculation. When, therefore, this Government was offered to me, I gladly, and without a moment’s hesitation, accepted it, and I only hope that I may be allowed to expend whatever remains to me of energy and ability in your service. (Cheers.) I earnestly trust, too, that my political and social relations with you all may be as cordial and comfortable as they were with the six other colonial communities with which I have had the pleasure of being associated —(Cheers) — and that when the time comes for my departure you may be able to say of me—as I am proud to know they did—that I conscientiously acted up to what I, at all events, believed to be ray duty, and that my whole heart was wrapped up in the advancement and prosperity of those whom I had been commissioned by my Sovereign to serve.