Governor's Speech.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 160, 11 July 1904, Page 4

Governor's Speech.

UNOFFICIAL VERSION. (For Private Circulation Only.) Ladies and Oentlemen-Ah-I i 11>( , pardon-Wiiat I meant to iyW Honourable Gentle,,,™ of tC Lct£ atne Counc.l and Gentlemen of he House of (Hc,n" AS I stepped ashoio only a week ,fc°C T J ' rt «""*«t Packing, ,t seems somewhat ridicu[Z £"" ' sh -"i bo instructtag o in jour own affairs, informing Uh ? r f eXa ', nplC ' iD doubtfl " English, that "the of coal last J ear was phenomenal," that " th.. pnecs realised for our staple products are on the whole WtisfLt--01 J, but that "the present svstcm of local government is not satisfactory I put it to you, ladies and genUemen-*hem-that is to say Honourable. Gentlemen, as before—l put it to you whether on any one of these subjects I ran be supposed to have an intelligent opinion. Fortunately, I met my predecessor Lord Ranfurh-, just inside the heads, and we lunched toucher. !lianfurly, as you know, is an Irishman like myself, ami he told me a lot ' Said he : It isn't brains they want in a Governor, brains are a handicap ; all they expect is a cocked hat) for opening Parliament, and, for official signatures, a stencil plate—to be left with Mr Seddon's private secretary. Seddon himself will do the rest. You may entertain, said he, if you go in for that kind of thing! and no doubt they'll expect it of you ; but in a small place like this you're bound to put your foot in it, socially, and my advice to you is— Go and see the Uriweras, and the Nigatimialiiopotos and the Chatham Islanders, and the West Coast Sounds ; go round the lighthouses, visit Mount Cook, ascend the Wangtmui River, out in the Tlujupo Country, and put in as much timo as you can at the lakes, North and South. If j'ou do this, and take care to attend all the principal race meetings—don't neglect that !—you will get along right enough, and maybe save money. That, in sub*

stance, ladies and—Honourable Gentlemen, is what my esteemed predecessor when in the act of escaping—or rather, to put it otherwise, just as he was passing out of the Heads —kindly said to me, and 1 hope that in repeating it ut the earliest opportunity I shall not 'be thought to be betraying his confidence, or—or, in any way—("No, no, not ut all !" from Mr Seddon, and applause ; during which the close of the sentence was lost). I His Excellency, resuming : That reminds ine :—ln this' lengthy document put into my hands ias '•'Klovernor's Speech" there is one matter, just one, upon whieh I have boon able to form an opinion, and very delhiilcly. I allude to the proposed High Commissiancrship in London. If the intention is to confer this olßcl—of course, with a suitaiblc income—on my right honourable friend the Premier, I would like just to say that, having regard to my private convenience, I entirely approve. . . Mr Seddon : Hear, hear ; three cheers for the new Governor !—take the time from me!■— Hip, hip—. . Tumultuous cheering ; during which, exit His Excellency (supposed to have retired for the purpose of "wetting" the occasion in Mr Speaker's room).—"Civis," in Otago Daily Times.