COMPLIMENTARY BANQUET TO Mr. J. Sheehan, M.H.R

Thames Star, Volume VI, Issue 1786, 23 September 1874, Page 2

COMPLIMENTARY BANQUET TO Mr. J. Sheehan, M.H.R

A complimentary banquet to Mr. J. Sheehan took place in the Academy of, Music last nighjt. The affair Was got up by a number of gentlemen on the Thames interested in promoting special settlements, who considered that their ideas had in some measure been met by the Auckland Waste Lands, which Mr. Sheehan was mainly instrumental in passing through the House of Eepresentatives during the late session.: There were fromniiiety to a hundred gentlemen present, including many prominent citizens, legal and mining managers, representatives of ihe legal profession, and business people. Mr. W. Bowe occupied the chair, and Mr. J. E. Macdonald the vice chair. Captain Fraser, Resident Magistrate and Warden, Mr. A. J. Attorn, Mining Registrar, Captain Goldsmith,' Mining Inspector and many others wero • also present. Mr. Curtis of the Pacific Hotel provided the spread. The Hibenian Band was in attendance, and played popular and appropriate selections during the evening. After full justice had been done., to the dinner (which was ample in quantity and of excellent quality) the Chairman proposed the following-toasts in appropriate terms:—" The Queen ; " " The Prince and Princess of Wales and the Best of the Royal Pamily ; " which were heartily drunk, the band playing the Anthem.

The Vice Chairman then proposed " The Governor—Sir James Fergusson." Drunk with musical honors.

The Vice-Chairman proposed " The Superintendent." He said it appeared to him that he .was oh- the retiring list. He had proposed the Governor who was about to retire from office, and he had then to propose the Superintendent, whose ojEce itwas said was about to.retire from him. He need say little to recommend the toast, as he was sure all would drink it heartily. The toast was drunk with marked feeling and enthusiasm.

Mr. J; Cadmani M.P.C. for Coromandel, said he did not expect to be putin such a prominent position, but the toast he had to propose saved him the necessity of making a speech. It would be folly to attempt to carry them through the battle fields of the British army; the JN"avy had achieved victories second to none in the world; the Colonial Forces had complained that they had not been put near enough to|;he front—they had complained to him that they should be near where the bullets were flying about. He would therefore propose the. " Army, JiTavy and Colonial Forces." Drunk with cheers. Band— "Cheer, Boys, Cheer." Captain Murray responded for ; the '( Army iand Colonial Forces." jHe agreed with his friend tho proposer ak to the eulogies which the army deserted. The army, if not gaining much credit in New Zealand, had done as much Hard work as. in any campaign the British army had been engaged in; and as for the Colonial Forces ho one would ever question but they had done their duty, admir: ably in seconding the efforts of the Imperial troops. If they had good officers they would perform good work when required. (Captain Murray then referred to the local Volunteers, and claimed for them a nama equal with any Volunteers in the colony, for drill, discipline, and shooting.) Captain Brassey, 15T.8., replied for the Navy;: and said he would not make a long speech. He thanked them for the hearty manner in which they had. drunk the toast. He did notlmow whether he was entitled to reply for the Navy, but ai being a quasi-naval officer pei-haps he was ; and as Captain Murray had responded fully; for the Colonial Forces he j was saved the duty of replying at length. He thanked them for the way the toast had been received.

Mr. W. 11. Eeed here sang a lpcalised j version of " When :we were boys together." '. The Chairman, on rising to propose the toast of " The Guest of the evening"-was greeted with cheers. He thought they should not pass over the present toast with so few remarks as had been attached to previous" ones. He might say, however, that the meeting was not itrictly a political meeting. They were not there to approve or otherwise of the action of the Government of the colony; they were there more particularly to advocate and maintain their own interests, and to do honor to those who had assisted in promoting those interests. The policy of the Government as at present being carried out was to develope the resources of the country by settlement from one end. to the other. While that state of things was being proceeded with, it was their dutyj to look after themselves and their 6wninterests. Atthe same time they would not sacrifice the interests of others, but, seek to promote the general welfare of. the colony as a whole. No doubt most gentlemen present were fully conscious that, in order to promote the prosperity of the district, it was necessary that the lands in this district be laid open, and proper facilities afforded for settling people on that land-^-no country could be permanently prosperous that had, to depend upon ephemeral interests. While he would not. go into, a fault-finding strain, he thought the conviction was strong that the Government had not attended to the interests of the Thames people in this direction as they ought to have done; and it wai also a conviction that the time had now.come when the endeavour should be made to open up the district. There were

hands as strong and 'hearts as true there to do the work as coulH bo found in any portion of the world. Whilesittingat the table he had been looking at the many faces present, and had come to the conclusion that it would be. quite impossible to find a better looking lot of felloTrs anywhere. (Immense cheering.) They had seen a lot of work in times pasty yet were willing to toil on still with as much vigor as ever; and he was sure they would agree with him that their work was, not yet done. (Cheers and laughter.) It appeared that/the gentlemen present had been amused : he did not know what, they were laughing at, but all he knew was that, if the Government would only give them fair play—give them land—they would cultivate the land and people it too. (Laughter.) And he was ture that those who had assisted, and were still ready to assist them, were entitled te their best wishes and most hearty gratitude. His friend on the right (Mr. Sheehan) had done the best in his power to forward their interests: as # proof of which they had the Waste Land Act, passed in the last session of the General Assembly. That Act was not quite so liberal as his friend would have made it had he had his own way, but it was a great improvement on the previous state .i of* things, and if its measures were Carrie's; but in a proper spirit, would conduce to the welfare of this district and the whole Province: He had testimony'of various kinds that they were indebted to Mr. Sheehan in this matter; and he considered they should give honor to whom honor was due—as Mr. Sheehan had endeavored to promote their interests, those efforts should be acknowledged, though they could not endorse all his views In some respects they differed from him. They had to form their own opinions—to search for themselves. And they were capable of doing that because they were not only good looking fellows, but intelligent fellows, and were quite as capable of thinking and studying what was good for their own interests as Mr. Sheehan, the Provincial Executive, or even the General Assembly; and the General Assembly would oftentimes derive considerable profit if it would take their advice. (Cheers and laughter.) . He would not detain them any longer. He thought Mr. Sheehan was labouring to promote their interests, and he (the Chairman) had great pleasure in calling'upon them to drink his toast. (The toast was drunk most heartily.) . . -

Mr. Sheehan wa» greeted with continued cheering on rising. After making seme introductory remarks, he said that he yalued the testimony of their respect now as a moans of making known the measure throughout the Colony, of making it known that an efficient land law was a requirement of the Thames, and that the Thames people would have it at all hazards. The present was not a political gathering and he yalued it more on that account —it was a pleasure to reflect that so many persons representing all shades of opinion, all phases of religious belief, and so many different nationalities could be assembled together.for a purpose of that kind without a single word occuring to disturb the harmony of the proceeding!. When introducing the Education Bill in the Council he had asked them to lift the discussion from the domain of party feeling ; and he could say the same with regard to the question of settling the waste lands. At the la*t session the Provincial Council of Auckland had appointed a committee for the purpose of! discussing the position of the waste land J law, with a view of devising some better measure for land settlement than had j previously, existed. He should not, be paying honor to whom it was'due. if he omitt-d to say that His Honor the Superintendent had been largely instrumental in inducing that to be done, and that many of his views, were .embodied in the Act. He made the statement with greater pleasure jince he recollected that His Honor had years ago been the first to make a step for the settlement of waste lands by introducing the forty-acre system. It was. easy for those looking back a distance of fifteen yean to point out the defects in that system—they had tho benefit of experience ; but he would say that it had been the means of bringing to the colony settlement, and had brought to the Thames some of its most enterprising settlers. One defect in the forty-acre system was that it gave away land without attaching any condition of residence or cultivation. (Mr. Sheehan then referred to the preparing; by himself of the Waste Lands Bill in the Assembly, and to the onerous nature of the business in the house.) There was I nothing in the Act of a new or startling character. The homestead principle was, one for which the province wat indebted to the late Superintendent^Mr...Gillies—; he it was who:had first obtained the sanction of the Assembly to the law that a;j

man should be entitled to receive a Crown' Grant so soon as he had fulfilled the con-i dittons contained in the Acfc. That was a i step in the right direction, and whatever benefits might be derived from; the new;

Act, he conld never case to make it known that it originated in the hands of Mr. Gillies. The measure had met with a •certain: amount of opposition in the Lower House, and he could not attempt ..to resist .the adoption of 'the amendments; proposed, but bad to be; content to wait; for the Japso of another year before a; '■ more liberal method of dealing with these \ lands could be passed.' In the UpperHouse the measure did not receive the fair play to which it was entitled. He did not wonder at that as, though in. many instances the Upper House members had; given evidence of. a sound Conservative! spirit and a desire to develope the resources of the country,-there was one? question in which they were no. deeply mr terested as to be incapable>of (dealing with it fairly, namely, land. Some of the mem-

bers reckoned their estates by hundreds of thousands of acres ; and they jealously scrutinize every measure n hich has for its object the enabling of men to acquire land easily and settle upon it. Various alterations had been made in the Upper House of a restrictive nature, and when it came back, the Bill was very much disfigured ; buthe (Mr, Sheehan) was induced to hold on to it with the view of taking any chance which offered to beneficially improve it. Mr. Sheehan then drew a comparison between the provisions of the Bill and the previous mode of disposing of waste land. Also he-gave a sketch of the provisions of the Act: then, the land was divided into three classes—first, second, and tnird, having prices according to quality, while lands of the third class were open for cash sale,.they vrere prohibited from being taken up by the homestead or deferred payment selector. It gave, to men who wished to start, on land, that of the best quality. If the lands at the back of the Thames were opened, men might take up land under the conditions of the Lands Bill with some prospect of taking a permanent footing on the soil. An amount of dissatisfaction had been caused by the obstruction to mining enterprise by private individuals, but in the present Bill care had been taken to reserve all mining rights. Referring to the chance of permanency for the Thames, Mr. Sheehan said at present the district carried all its eggs im one basket —depending solely upon the mining industry, without anything to fall back upon. He strongly advocated the opening of the upper country, and . said unless they bestirred themselvea to get it made public estate, and placed in the hands of the proper authorities, they would not obtain it. Mr. Sheehan then alluded to the representation question, and designated the miserably inadequate representation of the Thames Goldfield as a shame and scandal. He also referred to volunteering in the Colony, and paid a high compliment to the volunteers of the Thames. He further testified tothe assistance rendered by the press in the forwarding the present Waste Lands Bill, and said the Thames press had been specially instrumental. In concluding, Mr. Sheehan thanked them for the manner in which he had been received. ' '

Mr. Hollis proposed the next toast, being "OurliepresentativesintheGeneral Assembly and Provincial Council." In the course of his address 1 he alluded to the necessity for the appointment of a Goldfields Secretary, and said the choice; should be made from one of the goldfield members, who were entitled to the respect and esteem of their constituents. '

Mr.Brown, M.P.0., thanked the assembled company for the manner in which they had received the last toast. Though the Thames members had done nothing to particularly distinguish themselves, they had got a fair share of the revenue for the district, and if they had not got all they asked for they had got all they had expected. Mr. Brown also bore testimony to the assistance and support always accorded to the members of the Thames by Mr. Sheehan.

Mr. Cadman, M.P.C., also responded to the toast,' and said, regarding the Thames representatives, that in his opinion the Thames district should send to the Provincial Council and General Assembly three mora members respectively. He drow a comparison between the representation of the Thames in the Assembly and that ef the small districts of Auckland, as, while city west sent two members, and city «ast, Newton and Parnell one member each, the: Thames was only represented by one member. the abolition of Provincialism,' Mr. Cadman said he Would favor abolition in the north if the Southern Provinces were abolised also—let all the people live under one law. , "

Mr. A. Brodie proposed " the Mayor and Corporation," and remarked that it was the first time the toast had been proposed at a gathering «f the kind.

Councillor Butt regretted the Mayor was not presont to respond, to tbe toast. They had been told that by adopting a municipal form of government they would, obtain large endowments, but they had nothing but taxation to rely upon, and ho failed to see that local affairs would be ■better managed now than they were under Highway Boards, but hoped they would see the day when all difficulties would bo cleared away.

Councillor lihrenfried also responded to the toast. : He said the Council had been started under difficulties, but hoped the time would come when they would have resources other than thoso arising from direct taxation.,

Mr. Slieehan,,on rising to propose the " Mining Interests " was received with cheers. He said the Thames had not only; been of importance to the. province of Auckland but to the colony, by contributing largely _to the revenue. Mining here! Was yet in its infancy—in long clothe*,.'.in' fact, and' he believed that in generations: to conic it would provide remunerative employment for many. He ; was glad that' the Pumping Association had been sub-< sidised. He did not know -anything-in-the whole range of the Public Works Act which more deserved support with? public money than this work. It would; decide the question whether mining on the Thames had seen its best and the people would have to turn their attention to some other pursuits, or whether what had been done had been a mere scratching of the surface. When th» loan to tho Pumping Association had been under discussion in the House one hon. member had ahown a disposition to be facetious. He said, for a long time; Auckland had existed on iron rails ; now; it was proposed to protract her existence by means of a big pump. Th? work of the pump* however, was a most important one, and he believed they had not tho

faintest conception of the dimcri-i> s which mining would assume on ihe Thameg in years to come. Mr. Jlowe said it, had been inh;n lfd that Mr. Dewnr should respond !u ihis toast, but that gentleman was proven'fd by illness from being present It therefore devolved upon him tn any a few words in response to the 'TVliii-nJ; Interests. Having seen how mining wns CJirried on in Victoria aud JSfew 'South Wales, he could say that it-was don•.• as effectively and as cheaply on the Th -incs as in either of the 1 colonies na'rned. .ml" their machinery- was equal to-anyliii-tho colonies <-„/■ • ..■, ,' ■; ■, „■;' .-■ .■«•,,'.» ■ Song—Mr.- W. • ll^ Keecf::! •' #£.y'' Happy Beturng of the l)ay.''

Mr. Sims' rose to,,propose j.the,, next toast. He thought there must be some mistake in the toast (loyal dttdu^rios, erroneously printed social indfi#irios) or else in allotting him the task of propo^iiijf it. The toasb, howerer, which he wa.i expected to give them was " Our Loe 1 Industries." Their mining industry'was a large one. They had during 'the.'past year paid £250,000 in wages; nnd during that time they had raised £350,000 »orth of gold. Timber anidkauri^um" tJ the value of £27,000 had been exported during a similar period, and £25,000 w."H.h/of machinery, a good.portion of wliich liad been exported, had been made in t!:e districty chiefly by Messrs. Price .JBrvtliers, •who were now constructing the lurccst engine ever built in the colony, Xhere* were other industries which he need, not refer to in detail. The manufacture-of beer, for instance, was conitiderable, aa most of.them knew. He thought he had said enough to prove that the local industries were important. •■ Mr. A. Price responded, and thaulcod Mr. Sims for coupling his namp with"the toaijt.' 1 : ''.:.'."'' ■' '. ■ '*'„':.^■•','"". -'/'-i : Song—Mr. Miller: "Ye Bands' iud Braes." ...'.- : Captain Goldsmith, in the absence <>f Captain Brassey, proposeds«' The'Ladie^," which was replied to by Mr. McCullou.^h. "The Press " wasi then gireri i by Mr. Corbett and responded to- byVrepresensitives present. Mr. Sheehan/''proposed " The Gh.-iir-man," who, he sMd, might be called the father of mining in the Province, and had detoted his money and energies: t6 fpTrwarding that interest. He hadMalso taken an active part in public affairsi if lid was so well known to them all that lie (Mr. Sheehan) was^, saved tho necessity of saying much in submitting the toa«t. The toast was drunk with cheers,* and Mr. Kowe briefly replied. : Mr. Allom proposed a Vote of thanics to the conductor, Mr. O'Connor^ftnd'the Hibernian Band for their i^uucalAservices, which was carried by acclamation.

" Host Curtis" was also, drunk, and the band played the " National ? Anthem,''" after which'the company, sang "Auld Lang Syne" and dispersed.