MR. VOGEL'S RECEPTION AT THE PRINCESS THEATRE, DUNEDIN.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 149, 15 December 1870, Page 7

MR. VOGEL'S RECEPTION AT THE PRINCESS THEATRE, DUNEDIN.

The following report of Mi\ Vogel's meeting is from the "Daily Times," and it is so spicy that we believe it will amuse our readers more than any other extract matter we could select. We have conversed with several gentlemen who were at the meeting, and they vouch for the thorough accuracy of the report : —

In accordance with a notice published in the newspapers, the Hon. Julius Yogel attended at the Princess Theatre on Thursday evening, for the purpose of addressing a public meeting of the citizens of Dunedin. The time fixed for the commencement of the proceedings was half-past five o'clock, and by that hour the building was crowded to suffocation. The scene which ensued upon the honourable gentleman making his appearance on the stage is probably unequalled by any scene which had before occurred at a public meeting in New Zealand. For three-quarters of an hour Mr. Yogel vainly endeavoured to make himself heard — the meeting would neither hear him nor anyone else who tried to address them — would do nothing, in fact, but insult the Colonial Treasurer. Hisses, groans, abusive epithets, every means used at public meetings to express disapprobation was resorted to, aud during the period mentioned the building was filled with a wild uproar. It was not, indeed, until the audience were physically exhausted, that they consented "to listen to Mr. Yogel, and even during the short time that he was speaking, ho was continually interrupted. It must, however, be stated that, throughout, a section of the audience, evidently supporters of Mr. Yogel, made vigorous exertions on his behalf; but the large body of the meeting took part in the demonstrations already described.

Upon Mr. Yogel coming forward, he was received with loud groans, hisses, and cheers, mingled with cries of " traitor," and tho tumult was so great that it was impossible for him to make himself heard ; and upon Mr. J. G-. S. G-rant attempting to address the meeting, the Colonial Treasurer sat down. The audience, however, did not seem more disposed to listen to Mr. Grant than to Mr. Yogel, and were equally discourteous to Mr. Birch. Mr. G-rant then came forward again, and was received with all kinds of abusive remarks. Some one cried out, " Who called the meeting ? that's what we want to know." This query was received with tremendous applause. Mr. W. Mason next endeavoured to make a speech, but had no better success than his predecessors ; and the audience insisted upon knowing who called the meeting. Mr. H. >S. Fish, junr., the Mayor, next appeared on the scene, and managed to utter a few audible remarks amid the confusion. He said no doubt many of them were of opinion that some slight had been intended towards both themselves and him, as their representative. — (Hisses and cheers.) He was there to explain on behalf of Mr. Yogel that Mr. Yogel disclaimed any such intention. — (Hisses, and cries of " Oh !") He (Mr. Fish) might state that he did think the proper person to call a meeting of the citizens was himself.

Mr. Grant : He has turned his coat. — (Cheers.)

A Voice : All a shilling, barracouta,

Mr. Fish said that during the day Mr. Yogel had sent to him disclaiming any such intention — (a Voice: Too late) — and had expressed his desire that he (Mr. Fish) should, as their representative, take the chair. — (Applause.) If they wished it, he would do so. Mr. Fis!i sat down amid great confusion.

On the motion of Mr. J. Barnes, seconded by Mr. Howorth, Mr. Fish took the chair.

Mr. Grant once more came forward, but the Chairman, amid all sorts of shouts and cries, told him that the meeting would no doubt hear him when Mr. Yogel had done.

A Voice : Who called the meeting ? that's what we want to know. Mr. G-raut stood on the stage for some minutes, wildly gesticulating amid the greatest uproar, when Detective Farrell came forward and removed him from the stage. Mr. Yogel then endeavoured to address the meeting for a second time, but the only result of his effort was to send the audience into a perfect frenzy of excitement, and he was perforce compelled to sit down, nor could Mr. Fish, who apparently wished to ask a fair hearing for Mr. Yogel, make himself audible.

For two or three minutes the stage was vacant, while the assemblage was shouting " G-rant ! G-rant !" and making all sorts of noises.

Mr. Yogel for a third time got on his legs, but " Grant ! Grant ;" resounded on all sides. At length Mr. Grant reappeared, and for two or three minutes the whole building vibrated with stamping and shouts of applause. Mr. G-rant then made a short and incoherent speech. He reminded the meeting that although there were eight Ministers of the Crown, only one of them was in Wellington at the present time, and said he hoped the meeting would bear this in mind : that an endeavour was now being made to rob the people of Otago of their land revenue

for the benefit of Auckland and other places.

Several persons then called upon Mr. Yogel to address the meeting. Mr. Yogel rose to do so, but great disorder Avas caused by Mr. Grant being dragged by some person to the rear of the stage. Mr. Yogel was understood to express his desire that Mr. G-rant should not be removed.

The Chairman said he would take a show of hands upon the question as to whether the meeting wished to hear Mr. Yogel. A Voice : We don't want to hear a traitor. — (Uproar and disapprobation.) The Chairman: If any gentleman will submit a proposition, I will put it to the meeting. A Voice : Send them back where they came from ; they will get no support here. Cries for "Grant." Mr. Yogel again rose to address the meeting, but at that moment Mr. Grant appeared near the footlights : this was the signal for renewed cheering and groaning, amidst Avhich Mr. Yogel resumed his seat. Mr. Stephen Hutchison handed Mr. Grant a chair from tho orchestra, and simultaneously somebody handed Mr. Grant his hat, but Mr. Grant did not take the hint. At this point, Mr. John Graham, whose stentorian voice had been frequently heard above the general uproar, made a melo-draraatic rush across the stage, seized Mr. Grant by the arm, said something intelligible to Mr. Grant only, and then retired to his stage-box. Mr. Grant made another -unsuccessful attempt to address the meeting, but the meeting, although many of them did not approve of his being ejected from the stage, were evidently of opinion that he ought not at that juncture at least to interfere in the proceedings.

Mr. Yogel, who, in consequence of the frequent interruptions which took place, was sometimes indifferently heard, was understood to say : If you wish Mr. Grant to address you, I shall be happy to listen to him. I have not tried to prevent him speaking. I repeat I shall be happy to hear Mr. Grant, although the meeting was culled to hear me. — (Cries of, " Who called it 1 *") I don't know why you should dread to hear me. I imagine that those who are opposed to me can scarcely pay me a higher compliment than by show ing that they are afraid to hear what I have got to say. It seems to me a singular thing that those who don't want hear me should have come here at all ; and I may add that I think those who don't want to hear me should retire. On the other hand, if the meeting desires to hear Mr. Grant — (A Voice : " Who called the meeting ?" Another Voice : " Ah, that's the question; answer that.") I repeatthatlagain and again asked that Mr. Grant should be allowed to address you, and I have several times sat down in order that he might do so. G-entlemen, I don't wish to intrude upon you. I have been told by a large number of gentlemen in Dunedin, who desire to hear explanations which, as a Minister, I am able to give regarding measures in which you are interested ; measures, in fact, in which you are interested more than some of you seem to think, that (Cries of " Who called the meeting ?" and "Swindles.") It appears to me that if you think they are swindles the sooner you hear what I have to say the better. I merely ask you to hear the explanations which I have got to give ; but if there is to be this continued interruption I will not take the trouble to speak. I have attended this meeting because I believed there was a large number of persons who — (A Voice : " Wbo requested you to address this meeting 1 that's what we want to get at.") When I arrived at Port Chalmers I was asked to address a public meeting there ; I replied that I had come clown on public business to the Superintendent. Afterwards T was requested by a great many geutlemen to address a public meeting here. I consented to do so. If you don't like to hear me, you need not ; but there is the meeting, you cannot get over that. — (Applause.)

Mr Sherwin, Jun. : Tell us the names of the gentlemen who asked you to address the meeting ? Mr Yogel : I will not give you a single name. — (Laughter, and cries of " Oh, oh.") [Owing to the great confusion, Mr Vogel's remarks at this part of his speech could not be heard.] There can be no question that this meeting is largely attended by all those who generally desire to attend public meetings. — (Cries of " Oh.") A Voice : Address your own constituency on the goldfields. Mr Yogel : There can bo no allegation of this meeting being packed; and I am not coming down here — (Oh) — to meddle with local jealousies. This is a meeting which gives ample evidence that it represents a great many opposite opinions — (confusion) — for it has been exercising, without any stint, the freedom which public meetings give every one to speak at once, and continues to do so. — (Confusion.) Now, if you wish to go into the questions which I caino here to discuss, I am willing to discuss them. A Voice : We do not. Mr Yogel : If you do not, allow mo to say this, there are some who are frightened to hear me — (no) — afraid to hear me lest I should upset their favorite theories. lam going to state that which will be likely to alter the opinions of those who hear me. , You

have had many opportunities of attending public meetings and hearing the views of your local speakers. I am now, I am sorry to say, a stranger to the place. — (Cries of " Oh," and great confusion.) I should like to ask some of you who are roaring so, if I have not done more for Otago — (cheers) — I have devoted the best years of my life to Otago, and yet you are frightened to hear what I have to say. — (Hisses.) You are frightened to hear what I have to say. — (G-roans and hisses.) I tell you I have devoted some of the best years of my life to this place, and have done good to it, and will do so in the future.— (Confusion.) I came down here at great* personal inconvenience, with the desire of benefiting the province. — (G-roans.) A very few men may make great roars, and I know that not one-tenth of this meeting is unwilling to hear me. — (Cries of " Show of hands.") Those who have come to hear me will not make themselves hoarse by roaring. You may roar as much as you like, you may prevent me being heard, but there are things which I have done for Otago which will live in the history of the colony. — (Cheers.) If I have not been very successful myself in Otago — " Oh ! ") — I know I have done good for Otago. — (Groaus.) I will explain to you the measures which were proposed last session — " Oh !") and those misrepresentations which have been made respecting the conduct of the Government, I am prepared to explain away entirely. — (Great tumult.) I must say you are a very ungrateful lot, some of you. — (" Oh," and confusion.) In some of the subjects which I desire to explain to you every man, woman, and child in the colony is interested, such as, for instance, the Calif crnian service. — (Laughter and confusiou.) If you will not listen, we will close the meeting ; on the other hand, if you listen, I will explain these measures. The reason why I came down here was that the G-eneral Government desired that a member of the Government should communicate with the Provincial Government upon the subject of commencing public works in this province under tho authority which was given during the last session of the Assembly. — (Cheers and hisses.) When the Government heard by teleg'am of that most extraordinary resolution being passed by the Provincial Council — (" Oh," and confusion) — that advantage should not be taken of the measures passed last session for commencing public works in the province, works which are extremely needed (" Gammon ") — it was deter mined that some member should visit Otago with the view of explaining to the Provincial Government, which might remove the misapprehension which seemed to have arisen, and it is the object of my visit to give effect to those measures in which, it appears to me, they should, more than in any other, have been eagerly welcomed. — (Cries of " Oh," aad hisses.) You may know j very well what takes place in Dunedin, but you can know vexy little about other places if you are not aware that every other part of the colony has been eager to take advantage of these measures. [Mr. Yogel continued to urge the meeting to listen to his explanation of these measures, his remarks causing a great uproar. The honourable gentleman explained that, at the commencement, he was quite willing that Mr. Grant should address the meeting, if it wished to hear him first, and had been no party to the forcible removal of that gentleman from the stage.] Mr. Vogol continued : There are some circumstances about which I desire to give an explanation, in reference to the charges made against the Government. I allude to the chai-ges made through the col urns of the " Daily Times " in reference to the alleged violation of the infcregity of the Telegraph Department.. — (Hisses and confusion.) I say, let us forget what has passed. (Cries of " no," and "never.") I am speaking of what has passed at this meeting ; and I ask those gentlemen who think an explanation needed, to listen to that explanation. I can hardly use sufficiently strong language ; but it is preposterous (interruption) to suppose that any Government would dare to violate the integrity of the Telegraph Department in so extraordinary a manner — (A Voice : Except in New Zealand — Applause) : and no one could believe such a charge except those who are inclined to believe evil of the Government. A Voice : G-ive us a song — (Laughter.) Mr Yogel : I simply desire to give an unqualified denial to the charge that the telegraph department purloined the message of one journal in order to give it to another, or any part of a message. The explanation of the whole circumstances is very simple. It is alleged that it was impossible the '" Wellington Independent" could have obtained certain intelligence which was sent to the " Otago Daily Times " from the " Argus " office, Melbourne. The person who had charge of the message for the " Independent " called at the " Argus " office before leaving Melbourne. He was personally acquainted with Mi 1 George, the manager ; he received ths information from that gentlemen, aud he aftewards furnished the information at Southland to the operator at the Telegraph Office, who forwarded it to the "Independent." That is the simple explanation. Then comes the question that the next morning a certain passage occurred in the news as published in tho " Independent" which appeared in the

" Daily Times " and also in the " Evening Star." — (Oh, oh ! and laughter.)

At this stage of the proceedings, Mr. John Barnes, for some unexplained reason, came to the footlights, and was received with a perfect storm of cheers and hisses, and as Mr. Barnes announced his determination not to retire until the meeting consented to hear what he had to say, Mr. Yogel once more resumed his seats. Several persons called upon Mr. Barnes to retire, but Mr. Barnes said he " didn't intend to do anything of the sort." A voice : I say, Barnes, will you sit down ? ' Mr. Barnes : No I won't ; I'll stand here till time's oop. — (Laughter and confusion.) The Chairman : Gentlemen, Mr. Yogel wants you to hear Mr. Barnes. (Applause and disapprobation.)

Mr. Yogel here came forward, and whispered to Mr. Barnes ; but the latter shook his head as if dissenting from a proposition, and then lifting his hands over his head as if about to pronounce a blessing upon the now somewhat angry meeting, cried " Gentlemen I'll stand here against time, because Yogel has been talking against time."

A Voice : Why we shan't get home till morning. Somebody then called upon JMr. Yogel to favour the meeting with a song, and another person, apparently under the impression that Mr. Yogel would oblige, commenced to whistle, as an accompaniment, " Old John Brown." Mr. Barnes then made some rather incoherent remarks, but finding that his eloquence was not received with the attention which be evidently considered it merited, made some further unintelligible observations, gesticulated wildly, stamped his feet furiously, and then, finding he could not secure attention, retired amidst some confusion, which was caused by Mr. Sibbald pushing over the footlights a man who seemed discontented with the position he was compelled to occupy in the orchestra.

[Mr Yogel started again, and this lime bad more attention, the demonstrative part of the audience having exhausted itself. We cannot afford space for the romaider of the report, but our readers will not lose much if they do not come across it. Mr Yogel said that news of a mo3t satisfactory character to the Government with regard to the likelihood of the loan being floated had been received. Intelligence had reached the Government which enabled them to say that they would have no difficulty in getting railways constructed by guarantee. Amid a great deal of disturbance, Mr Yogel referred to the contention that an unfair proportion of the loan would be expended in the North Island, but he did not by any means settle the qnestiou which agitated the Provincial Council with regard to the appropriation by the General Government of the Land Fund of this province for bankrupt provinces and North Island purposes. Mr Yogel concluded in a very affectionate manner. He said :—: — If 1 could shake hands with you all, I should like to do so ; and if it is possible, I will take another opportunity of addressing you before I leave Dunedin.]