GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

Otago Witness, Issue 2813, 12 February 1908, Page 79

GOVERNOR'S SPEECH.

His Excellency then, ascended the steps and unveiled the memorial, the guard again presenting arms. Addressing the gathering, his ExceHency said: — It is but a little more than nve years since Cecil .Rhodes passed away from amongst us, at an age which for many a man is the prime of life, when the energy of youth has not yet lost its driving .power, whilst its firfa and hurry have been tempered by experience, by the recollection of past mistakes, and by the shadow of advancing years. He is fresh in the memory of all of you, and, as Mr Hirschhorn lias said, he needs no memorial, but you have done wisely to look to the future, so that your children and your children's children may be able to see the man as he was, and th-at they may always remember the great services which -he rendered to the country. — (Applause.) Mr Rhodes's life-work extended ov-er not more than 30 years — his public life over not more than 22 — a short time to do all that he wished to do. We all know what he thought of it himself. Those tragic words, almost the last words he spoke, "So little done, so much to do." But, considering what he did accomplish in that short time, whether in private or in public matters, we may well stand amaaed. There are those who object on principle to the accumulation of large piivate fortunes. There are those who regard with anxiety, and even with distaste, the expansion of the boundaries and responsibilities of Empire. lam not concerned to discuss those questions. There stands the work, and nothing that can be said will detract in any way from its importance or its magnitude. — ("Hear, hear," and applause.) No responsible person, so far as I know, has ever accused Cecil Rhodes of accumulating money otherwise than in an entirely honourable and legitimate manner. Certainly there is no ground whatever for such an accusation, and as regards his use of his great wealth, we all know that no man, certainly no lich man, ever spent less on himself, that he was generous almost to a fault, that he regarded his money during his life mainly as the most obvious and effectual means of obtaining power — power which he desired to use for the furtherance of his great ideals, and that by his will he devoted the great bulk <Jf his fortune after his death to the service of his fellow-men. — (x^pplause.) If every millionaire were to adopt his view that his money was practically a public trust, there would be fewer complaints of the unequal distribution of wealth.

— Rhodes's Public Work.—

As to his public work, that will be faster and more impartially judged by

future generations than by ourselves. Years must elapse before it can be seen [ in true perspective and undistorted by i the mirage of political and party feeling. , The more prominent a man is the better he is known ; the more he is in the public eye, the greater and more important the ] changes he has contributed to bring about, the more he is exposed to criticism and ' denigration. Few men have been more bitterly attacked than Rhodes, and few, I may add, have more completely commanded the affection and devotion of their friends and followers. — (Applause.) The value of his work will be judged by its results. He made mistakes : a man who did so much — who made so much — was bound to make mistakes. — (Applause.) He made one great mistake, but, as was wellsaid by Lord Rosebery in his eloquent speech at Oxford a few weeks ago, no man atoned for a mistake more completely or owned it more fully — (applause) — and those who are disposed to dwell on his shortcomings rather than on his virtues would do well to remember that every strong character has the defects of its qualities, and that the stronger the cha^jacter the more patent are its defects, especially in public life, whatever they may bo. Which of us would not wish for the sake of the reputation of great men that dive had not soiled his hands with the duplicate treaties ; that Warren Hastings had been more righteous and merciful ; that our own Dutch William was free from all taint of responsibility for the massacre of Glencoe ; that Cavour had been more scrupulous ; that Bismarck had not descended to the tricks a.nd artifices which v are detailed in the revelations of his confidential agent? I need not multiply instances : all of these great souls are enshrined in the memories of their countrymen — and why? Because the ruling passion of each and all of them was love of country — (applause) — and all of them spent themselves in their country's service. — (Applause.) Will not the voice of history say the same of Cecil Rhodes ? Time, the great healer, -alone can answer the question ; but even now there are signs that his greatness 1 is coming to be recognised, even by the strongest and most determined of his opponents, and that fact I may be allowed to say is highly credit- , able to their public spirit.

— Reference to Mr Smuts.—

I welcomed with especial pleasure the recent public declaration of the Colonial Secretary of the Transvaal in which Mr Smuts paid a generous tribute' to the memory of Mr Rhodes. My own acquaintance with Mr Rhodes dated only from something less than 10 years ago, four years before he died. I saw but little of him, except towards, the end, and can, therefore, say but little of him from my own knowledge ; but this I can *ay, that he was the best man to do business with that I «ver met. — (Cheers and applause.) Has pea was yea and his nay, nay. He was stiff in his opinions, and, to put it mildly, strong in his assertion of them. But he was open to argument, if his opponent was not afraid to insist. He was quick in his decision, and when he decided he acted with extraordinary promptitude. I will not dwell on the charm of his personality, that quality which the Americans call magnetism. I never heard him address a meeting. I have been told that he was not what would be called a great speaker, but I have also been told that the way in which he swayed his audiences was something to remember, and I know myself that men and women who were prejudiced against him, when once they met him and came within the circle of his influence took a very different view of him from that wLich they had originally held. It is scarcely necessary to say that his courage was undeniable. His visit to the Matoppos towards the close of the last Matabel©

war alone affoids sufficient proof of that. —(Applause.) To his generosity I have already refeired. His purse was always open to the claims of charity, and he was e\er ready to help, and to help substantially, in carrying out any well-considered proposal intended for the welfare of his fellow-countrymen. As wide as the horizon were some of his schemes, as his will shows, extending far beyond the boundaries of the Biitish Empire. His home was in South Africa, and South Africa v\as ever foremost in his thoughts. — (Applause.) Had his life been spared, lam certain that he would have been foremost in the great work which is uppermost in the minds of most of vs — the drawing together of the white races and the obliteration of the racial feeling which has done so much in the past to hamper the natural progress of South Africa.

— Sympathy wifh the Dutch. —

Those who knew him best can bear witness, as even I can bear witness, to the feeling of sympathy with which he regarded the true interests and many of the characteristics of the Dutch farming population. The late President Kruger was reported a good many years ago to have expressed a warm admiration for Mr Rhodes, saying that there were only two statesmen in South Africa — himself and Rhodes. — (Laughter.) I have reason to believe that that feeling of admiration was, notwithstanding all differences, heartily reciprocated by Mr Rhodes, and maintained to the end of his life. If South Africa possessed, as I hope it will one day possess, a great memorial building in which to enshrine the statues of its most distinguished sons, whether native of the soil or adoptive, and if Rhodes were still alive, I believe, and have good reason to believe, that Rhodes would be the first to vote for and to use the whole of his influence to secure an honoured place in the South African Pantheon for the statue of his fellow-idealist and greatest and most determined opponent. Meanwhile you here in Kimberley have special cause to remember Mr Rhodes with feelings of gratitude and admiration both on account of his generosity and public spirit — of the great work he did here and of his devotion to the interests of the town, devotion which he showed in many and substantial ways. — (Applause.) You are specially to be congratulated that amongst you and your descendants and successors will ever stand this 1 noble memorial of the man in his habit, as he lived, riding across the veldt, looking ever northward, ever revolving in his mind the great schemes for the benefit of his country and of the land of his adoption, schemes towards the accomplishment of which he devoted his fortune and his life. — (Loud applause.) The dedication of the statue i.o the town and the formal handing over by the chairman to the Mayor in trust", for the citizens concluded the ceremony, which was witnessed by a large and representaitve gathering of residents of the town and surrounding district.