The Vogel Banquet.

Thames Star, Volume XIII, Issue 4360, 21 December 1882, Page 2

The Vogel Banquet.

[Peb Pbess Association.] Dunedin, Wednesday. The banquet to Sir Julius Vogel tonight was attended by 300 people, including the Hons. Mr McLean, Mr Reynolds, Mr Fraser, several local M.H.R.'s, and a number of leading citizens. Mr Macandrew proposed the toast of the ereniDg. Sir Julius Vogel, on rising to reply, was received with loud cheering. He had been an actor in very stormy scenes in times past, but he must now be looked on as having retired from politics. Although probably he had not treated his opponents in New Zealand with the same generosity that he had been shown, yet he had noticed that these gentlemen had shown a very warm disposition towards him during his absence in tracing out his public works policy. He was impelled by feelings of conscientious duty, not by any desire to politically consolidate the position be occupied. Sir Julius then referred in detail to the scheme of railways propounded during his term of political office. Though the original plan had not been strictly adhered t» he was glad to find that there was a determination on the part of those haying the control of ■■ affairs to complete a line from Auckland to Wellington, and to have communication with the East and West Coast of this island. Bail way construction works were of so eminently profitable a nature that he was surprised a scheme had not .been adopted long before it was. Referring to the question of immigration he said that instead of decreasing the flow of population to the colony a system of immigration should be rigidly maintained so long as judicious efforts were made in the way of selection. New Zealand had, on the whole, made very fair progress during the time of itscolonisation, but he did not consider that the Australasian colonies as a whole had been so developed and made so prosperous as they ought to be, and he attributed the cause entirely to the non-maintenance of immigration.