DINNER TO MR. VOGEL AT NELSON.

Westport Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1151, 17 February 1874, Page 4

DINNER TO MR. VOGEL AT NELSON.

Tim Colonist of the 12th instant gives a full account of the dinner at the Provincial Hall, on Tuesday evening Inst. About ninety guests were present, including, besides the Premier and the Hon Mr Richardson, " a phalanx of the members of the' Legislntivn Council, General Assembly, nnil Provincial Council." His Honor the Superintendent occupying the chnir. Mr Vogel in responding to the toant of " The guest of the evening,' 1 made a characteristic speech in his happiest vein of thought. We cull therefrom •"such items as may interest West Coast residents. lie said, The flatterintr character of his reception in N'lsun, which, at ono time might be looked upon as the centre of the strongest opposition,yet now according him n welcome which he felt to be a fair and honest approval, was exceed, ingly gratifying, and it was equally pleasurable to him to find such signs of a change of opinion—and a recognition of that policy of colonization •with which he had become identified. 'Comparing the two different types of colonization as represented by Canterbury and Nelson, he said, All who watched these two types should ask themselves this question, "If Nelson • had been Canterbury and Canterbury "Nelson, what would have been the result now ? " He could not help thinking that the Nelson policy would have left Christchurch in the same position that Nelson is deploring for herself now. With all her lands parted with at a nominal price, no tunnel from the port to the chief town, no public works, nothing in fact to show the advantage of borrowing money. On the other side, had the Canterbury policy been carried out in Nelson, there might have been a capital road and perhaps a railroad through the province, no pare of it, like the Amuri, completely out off from the rest, and the chief city, without having formed the object of any particular care, the natural outlet of a large and prosperous country. The adoption of another policy had now found impatient enthusiasts in the new direction, and some talked of the •necessity of carrying out large works u this summer" ; but he would ask how many summers they were content to abide in their former condition?— (Cheers and laughter.) He could not be expected to give an indication of the future policy of the Government, but he could not be indiscreet in saying that he thought it, and the Assembly i could not fail to see, that this province possessed every claim to assistance and to share in a policy which had been extended to other provinces. (Cheers.) He had looked very carefully through the projects of our Council, and he thought they had adopted a policy which would be the best for it and for all successful colonization. Withregard to the through railway, the Government were quite ready to perform their part of what had been agreed upon with regard to it, and before next session would be in possession of the necessary information as to whether it could be done with anything like reasonable limits. With respect to the immigration arrangements, he said the 150 immigrants per month would be in addition to nominated immigrants, and • that for these suitable barracks and proper shelter would be provided, and .quarantine arrangements, and other • details perfected for their suitable keeping, pending gradual distribution all -over the province. Of the province and :its " immense mineral resources," Mr Vogel said large results might be expected to follow, without unreasonable delay, after our inter-communication .plans were fully established and new ddood and renewed energy present. Afterwards, in responding to the toast of the " Ministry," he added to his previous remarks by saying that a successful Government meant hard work in every department. The charge of the whole of the affairs of the Colony was too onerous for it to be possible that two or three men could undertake the duty. Every member of the Ministry held a responsible position, and success could •only be ensured by each individual member doing his work faithfully and well. Much of the success of the public works scheme was due to the application, capacity, and energy displayed by Mr Richardson. The Government owed its acknowledgement to his Honor the Superintendent for the candid manner in which he had alluded to their public works policy in the opening address to the Provincial Council. His Honor, though not a supporter of the Government, had done justice to them by frankly expressing his approval of the manner in which the pticlic works were being carried out, and .art the same time he bad vindicated his (Mr Curtis's) own opinions. * • He, Mr Vogel, would ask them, Cnder any system of Government which finds favor with Britons, to whom should belong the real power of the State ? He thought their answer would be to the people themselves. After eleven years experience is the Colonial Legislature he could any it was not so in this country. And what was the reason for it ? Look at Great Britain at the present moment. A general election of members of Parliament wa- taking place, and out of the seven hundred members to bo elected he ventured to say that not twenty, not even ten, held a sufficiently distinguished position, by a life-long attention to public affairs, to enable them to show the slightest hesitation in saying to which party they will give their support. If any ono of them were to go to his

constituency aud say that he would not pledge himseif to support this side or the other !.c> would not be elected, as it would bo lelt that it was endeavoring to take to himself that power which should by right belong to his constituents. Some very few distinguished men might venture to. adopt an independent line, but it is recognised that iudependent membership menus the taking from the people the power of deciding by what Ministry they should bo governed, and placing it in the power of individuals who might be influenced by a thousand caprices for which there was no accounting. In this Colony a man comes to a constituency and says, " I mean to support measures and not in 'ii. So long os every action of the Government now in power meets with my approval I shall support them, but I will not bind myself to vote with them on all occasions." When he gets into the atmosphere of the Parliament house a hundred different influences ere at work, and he turns up his speech to his constituents, finds that he has reserved to himself the rig'it to vote with or against the Government as he thinks best, and he exercises that right, thus taking out of the hands of those by whom he was elected the power they should possess of saying under which Ministry they wish to remain. Everywhere else a Ministry goes to the country when they consider themselves justified in so doing, but it is not so in New Zealand, and a Government sometimes goes out of office on a question which really does not greatly affect the people. But the people alone are to blame for this, for they have, by sanctioning such proceedings as he referred to, voluntarily deprived themselves of the power of deciding. He was speaking in the face of the fact that in eighteen months time there would be a general election, and he (Mr Vogel) would say to the people of New Zealand that they should be most careful in retaining m their own hands the power of deciding to what Ministry they would intrust their affairs. He warned them against being caught by aDy such shallow platitudes as independent membership, and recommended them to look carefully to what should be the very basis of constitutional Government, and not to part with a power to which they alone are entitled.

Among theother speeches of the evening we notice that Messrs Donne and Shapter replied to the toasts of " Mining and Reefing interests of the Province," and that M/ Maclean proposed 'The Ladies,' and Mr J. B. Fisher very humorously returned thanks.