TESTIMONIAL TO MR McCARDLE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1770, 25 August 1884, Page 2

TESTIMONIAL TO MR McCARDLE.

About 150 persons assembled on Saturday nigbfc to take part in presenting to! -Mr, McCardle 'a purse;of sovereigns,' and according to advertise-; raeut to t'ormp a Liberal Association, Messrs Duffy, lYile, Lang, and lorns occupied the platform as the presentation committee, and on the requisition of Mr J. Yile, Mr A: E. Bunny took the chair.

The Chairman, in his opening remarks, said presiding at that meeting would be a pleasure and would be quite easy now that the battlehtd been'fought, the contest over, and the political feeling subsided. He had much, pleasure in testifying to Mr McOardle's uniform conduct throughout the contest. Although defeated he had showed himself a good horse; notwithstanding he was heavily handicapped, and had been within a head of timing the race, and anyone who had wafiShed from the outset the position he held knew that it was one he might well be proud of, If there were any there who had opposed his election he was sure they would willingly join in presenting- tb,;Mr McCardle a testimonial he so' richly' deserved, He would, call upon the conveners of that meeting to perform the pleasing duty •the audience had been called together to witness; '';; ' ..,',,./;; Mr A. W. Hogg said' the agreeable task referred to had devolved upon him but before proceeding further he would ask Mr McCardle- to step ! on to the platform,—Mr, McCardle having taken his seat, the speaker addressing him said he believed upon one occasion during the election contest be had com-, pared him to an open-faoed lever, and, although to be not jewelled m many holes was no disqualification, it had been a serious consideration, and his defeat had been as near a suocess as an election contest oould have been, and that night the at least 'many of them—recognised that the second horse ought to win his stakes, He believed those were not great, the candidate having determined the battle should be fought and won by bravery, not by corruption or bribery (cheers). The committee had worked without expecting any reward, because the men of the Wairarapa were deter; mined if possible the best man should win the day, It was his privelege to electroplate the open faced lever with gold, which, if not plentiful, was genuine. The gold might rub off; that would make no difference, He would have the happiness qf knowing he had the offerings of the working men of this djstriofc, From Alfredton Whareama, and the outlying stations as far as Mataikuna the sums had trickled in in small drops, and from quarters where least expected, Mr McCardle had entered the contest late in the day. ' He was not a pressed man, but had offered himself when no other would take the field,—Beetham's position would have been a poor one if he had been allowed to walk over—and in spite of being heavily handicapped, having no, money amj.nq influence behind him, he had, run a good race with a pretty P,M stager. He had been told early in the contest by an experienced, man that it was a matter of regret that McCardle had c.o,me put, as. it would prove a walk over for Beetham, He could only say a, harder galop Beetham had never run in bis ljfe a,s, he had during that election contest/. (Cheers.) When Mr entered the arena he took off his coat, determined to run from beginning to end. He had taken no mean advantage, but had fought hard—ya]iantly and, resolutely, but an honest cqntest, -(Cheers.) -The result had been to show thai McCardle wag looked upon as one of the coming men of New,Wand,—(Oheers.)-He was a fearless and good settler, tod was now going to do his part in Welling the bush and clearing the way for many happy homesteads.—(Cheers.)— When he came forward again the settlers and small farmers, whom he had always been ready to defend, would, extend to him the right hand of fellowship and place hjm where he ought to be—(Cheers.)—He trusted yet to see Mr McCardle figuring in Parliament amongst the coming men, who wonld put New Zealand on its proper footing. —(Cheers.)—lt was his pleasing duty to present jhim with a purse, which he trusted would be a lode-stone to lead him on to fortune. Although the sum might not be large, it was the tribute, esteem, and good opinion of the working men that made its value, He had found Mr MoCardle ever since he knew him a thoroughly genuine man, one who would, in benefitting himself, do good to his fellow man. To quote the words of Bishop Berkeley, " The patyjot aitgs at private, good in the jrabljp, Tije knave makes the public subservient to his private interest. The former considers himself as part of a whole, the latter considers himself, the whole."-(Oheers,,)-He would conclude hy repeating the words of Scotland's national poet-words that wore applicable in the present case— A prince can make a belted knight, A marquis, duke, and a'that jBut an honest man's aboon his might Guid faith, he maunna fa' that. i (Cheers,)

Mr McCarfle, who rose amidst proIpnged oheering, said it would have been a much easier task to have met the.B4o odd who voted against him than those present, He was easily overcome with kindness, but never afraid of opposition. He could only say they would have his lasting gratitude. He returned his sincere thanks to his committee, who had worked for him without any roward, and to his Waters, who had placed him in such a hjgh position qnjhe poll. And to, those who opposed him he would, say that if he at any t|me h,ac| n$ WQ i \w\U lq \W feeling he had only (tone so in the heat of the oontest, (Qheevs.) If it ever fell to his lot to oontest an election again he should fight for the views he had held during the past contest. As Mr Hogg had said, it had been an up-hill fight; but he held views he considered good, for. the district, which,, jf agitated, would no,t only stir up Mr Beefchani but would rouse them to a sense of their rights, Those now defeated in Parliament were the men he would have supported in Parliament. He was not one who would drop the party who,

supported Jlis views because the Press rounded on them.';":-Ho believed Stout to.be the best.politician in New Zealand.! He was' liberal-minded, and .Would fight for the rights of the 'ftiassea. Nearly every reform in the ,poyfc ; had been brought forward by Stout. He had met with members who in their speeches at election time had pledged -; themselves to support Land Tax against Property Tax, and. who had , voted . against the Stout Government. When he had taken them to taßk.he had been told by some that they could not support Ypgel, by others that they could not support Stout. The views of these men had been brought forward, wherefore then did they not give the Stout-Vogel Government atrial? Now they could see the position' of the House: another man had been called, and he could not form a Government. Sir George Grey, who so long boasted of his liberal views, when Voge) came forward to carry out these view objected that Vogel, in the Old' Country, was Conservative, and that''he came' forward now as a Liberal.; What was the use of all Sir George Grey's speeches if they did not turn men to his views, and when Vogel embraced Land Tax and liberal measures.why should Grey desert his party because of the man. Away with such Liberals he would say,—(Cheers,) -For years he had been a believer in and defender of Grey, but when a man turned against his Party and Government on such a flimsy pretext all confidence in him was destroyed, and ho for one would refuse to follow such'a, leader. He had always upheld Grey as a grand pat riot, and now regretted his action. A fair trial should have been given Stout and Vogel, and he regretted one thing that he was not returned for he would have supported those men, The public works scheme and land settlement might have rendered a borrowing policy necessary, and that policy might have been a reasonable one, Exception had been taken to the omission of the FortyMile Bush line in the proposed railwav extension, but he would point out that that work was already pledged and did not require reference, so that those who raised that cry were wrong. He would say a word here in praise of Mr Beethani, He had been returned to support the Atkinson Ministry, and he had voted accordingly. What he raised his voice against was those men on the same platform who ha.d turned round-on the men who brought forward the very measures, they professed to support. In conclusion be'again returned thanks for the great kindness they had given expression to that night. Mr Mc&rdle was . cheered on resuming his seat. Mr Hogg read a letter from Mr Stout, expressing his regret at being unable to attend that meeting through pressure of business at the House, and stating he. had known Mr McQardle for a number of years as a true liberal, and o«e who had fought for a,n,d with, him many times. (Cheers). Mr Redman on behalf of the Committee thanked M.r McCardle for the great confidence he had expressed in them. As. secretary to the Committee he would have been in a position to know if any underhand work had gone on, an,d he ws prqud to say there was not, The Opposition committee, were the first to, accord this tribute to them, and whilst the Opposition oanclulatewas being fleecnd and bled on both sides, their candidate was havino money placed in his hands (cheers). He again thanked Mr McCJardle on behalf of tne Committee, and said they would he ready to do their best for him again,

Mr McCardle in reply thanked Mr Redman and the Committee, and said the struggle had resulted in some good. There was every prospect of his being appointed a member of the Waste Lands Board in which position he trusted to be of much use to the district (cheers)