DINNER TO MR JAMES MACKAY, JUN.

Waikato Times, Volume VI, Issue 324, 11 June 1874, Page 2

DINNER TO MR JAMES MACKAY, JUN.

On Monday evening last nearly seventy Waiknto settlers, principally belonging to tbe CambiidL'o district, entertained Mr James Mackay, junr., Geneial Government Agent, at dinner, as a means ot showing their appreciation of the services be lias rendered to the district since his appointment in May, 1873. Mr Patrick Leslie occupied the c'aaiir ; the guest of the evening being on. his right and Colonel Lyon on his left* The vice-chairs were filled by Messrs E. B. Walker and John Runciman. Before detailing bbc after-dinner speeches, we may as well describe the dinner itself as regards the edibles and the decoration of tUe room. The greatest credit is due to Mr Laird for tbe very excellent mauner ia which tbe dinner was put upon tbe table—a most unusual occurrence afc public dinners, tb,e viands were hot. The line large room was very taitefulJy decorated with flags and evergreens ; over the seat of tbe chairman vrere some ferns very tastefully drooped, and on a shelf was displayed the presentation plate and clock, a description of which we shall give in due time. After tbe table was cleared, the chairman gave the first toast, " Her Majesty the Queen " ; this was of course drunk with all the honors. "The Prince and Prinoess of Wales and the- rest of tbe Royal Eamily " followed. () In proposing tbe toast of " His Excellency the Governor, tbe Chairman said inx>3t of tbe settlers bad bad an opportunity of seeing Sir James Fergusson. For his part he was gratified that iucb an able man should have been appointed to the position, and as. a Scotchman he was pioud of him. The Vice-Chairman, Mr E, B. Walker, briefly proposed the "Army, Navy, and Volunteers," coupled with the names of Colonel Lyon and Mnjor Jackson. Lieut.-Col. Lyon, who on rising was received with cheers, said, he thanked the company for drinking so cordially to the toast. The army of England was small in number compared with those of Continental powers ; but what it wanted in numbers was made up by its splendid pluck and discipline. Napoleon I. said that the British soldier never knew when he was beaten. The British soldiers and sailors had shown during the recent Ashantee war what they were capable of doing. A small band had landed on a difficult coast and marched through a dtnse busk to Coomassie in spite of the opposition of a fierce and brave army. They had suffered several casuulties, but eventually reached the capital of the enemy which they had burned to the ground, as being likely to teach a salutary lesson to the King and his people. The troops that did this work wore not picked men, but were selected for the sole reason that it was their turn for foreign service. 11.8. H. the Commander-in-chief had said fjljat the British army was never in a sounder condition. If there was one thing tbe British tax-payer willingly paid it -was for the support of the navy. The Britisb people were eminently and justly proud of their navy— all other navies were imitations of ours. He would leave to Major Jackson the duty of responding for the Colonial Focces. Major Jackson, M.H.R., said he thought it would have been much better had he been present as an entertainer in place of as a visitor. lie hud been connected with tbe Colonial Forces since ISGH, when the natives tried to turn the detachment of them, under Colonel Sixon, out of the district ; the order of things, however, was turned. He felt cerium that tbe Colonial troops with a good cause would always defend it. The Chairman rose to propose a tonst which lie was • I'erlnin would be received and drunk with acclamation. It I was the toast of the evening, He was about to ask them to ' drink to Mr James Mackpy their guest. (Loud and prolonged cheering.) He w ished that it had fallen to the lot of some other gentleman to propose the toast. It was always difficult to say as much to a man's face ns you could suy behind his back. It was a much easier task to abuse than to prni«e. If ho were to say alt he felt some might think tbnt he indulged in fulsomeness, and he felt confident that •*uch a couise could only prove distasteful to Mr Mackuy. lie wished to moid flattery, jet be would accord to Mr MucKav the priuso that was'lus due.. Had it not been for his wise nclion, we should huve found our forms deserted, and i;i pla^eaf happy homes and a flourishing population, there would have been, a deserted country. Thanks were duo to tbe Qo\ eminent for having sent the right man te manage the affairs of the district at a very csiticnl time, and the- thanks of the settler* weie particularly duo to Ms Muckny for the w onderful, and energetic manner in which lit bad carried out their policy. In the last thirteen month: tho wonk of year.s had been accomplished Objection was made that the Government-Agent was everywhere am nobody knew whew to find him, his energy and persevernnci however, entitled him to be called tbe saviour of tbe Wai kato. Jfot one of us should forget or nllow our children te forget the great service* be had rendered, to the district. Iv tbe name of the subscribers be begged to tender for accept ance the small gift which had been subscribed for by th< Cambridge settlers. It was not intrinsically very valuable but he was sure that had it been one hundred times as greai in value, it would not have been more highly appreciated being the gift of friends who desired to bo kept in remem brance. The toast was drunk amidst hearty and prolonged cheering. Mr Mackay rose to respond. He was unable to speak foi some time on account of the cheers with which be was re ceived. When silence prevailed he said bo could hardly fine words to express his thanks for tbe hearty manner in whicl bis health had been received, and for the very handsome testimonial by which the settlers had been kind enough te evidence their appreciation of his services since he camo te the district. It was certainly one of the proudest evenings of bis life ; it was exceedingly gratifying to find that his services were appreciated. He hod only acted as the servanl of the Government ; but he bad assisted in framing tne policy that bad been pursued, as they were alw ays considerate enough to ask his opinion before aoting. It was owing te their kindness that he was able to be present that evening and to receive the testimonial. He had siuce ho came te tbe Waikato studied no interests but those of tho settlers and he bad done all in his power to advance those interests, At tbe time of Sullivan's murder the Government was no! in a position to commence hostilities ; there were not mort than one luindrod Armed Constabulary in tbe district ; that force was now more than doubled, and there was a reserve of twx) hundred moro employed in making the railway. A road was now constructed along the frontier. The Gorerui ment had wisely treated Sullivan's murder as if committed by a European; they thought this better than getting I invoked in war for the sake of a single murder. Nothing bad been done as yet, but tbe power of the law would without doubt be eventually exercised. He hoped at no very distant date to see communication established with Wellington \ he Ijad been, successful in exploring a practicable railway routo to 40 miles south of Taupo. He bad done all in. his power to advance the district in wbioh be might now say he had a peculiar interest, as he owned property within it. He desired to again thank them for the reception be had met that evening, and also to accord the thanks of Mrs Mackay for the \ery handsome additiqn to hor household gods, of which be was sure she would feel vry proud. The speaker sat down amidat the most vocifeious cheering, whicl wns kept up for quite five mimites. Mr E. B. Walker proposed "Tho Ministry." He said thnt the present Ministry w«s equal to any in the Australian colonies, and was one of which they had a right to feel proud, (Cheers.) The toast was drunk with enthusiasm. Captain Runciman proposed " The House of Representatives," coupled with tbe name of Mnjpr Jackson. Mnjor Jackson, in rising to respond, said, that those present were not a fair representation of the people of the Waikato. Hat it been genei ally known that it wns intended to give Mr Mackay a dinner, the room in winch they were sitting would not have been large enough to hold the number oi people that would have been present. He had lepiesented the Waikato in the Assembly for some time, and had been told that ho should render an account of his doings ; ha could not sco reason in this ; after spending four months looking after their interests, ho felt that when he returned he was entitled to look aftor bis own. \{ they chose to read tbe papers they could find out for themselves what ho had brcn doing. If they wanted anything spqciolly their course wns to come to him. He had done tvhnt he thought best for tho dit.fi ict, and if his opinions coincided with others, so much the better. The members were quite willing to spend four or fho hundred thousand in making roads and railways, but they had never been nsked. When people could agree nniongst themsehes and were willing to allow tho engineers to decide which wny the railtvuy should go, the work would } no doubt bo done. The Chairman, in pioposing the "Health of the Superintendent," f>aicl he tiusted the last of the lace w«as now in •office, - be hart agicat dibhke to the liibtiluiiou ; but if

tliTcwas to be a superintendent. pioSaUy the best ma 1 n the office hid it Ke took very little tiouble to wate the proceedings of the Council ; he had heard a gieat der about education, but he had never before heard of peopl being educated under a bill. The toast was chunk wit very frw signs of enthusiasm. Mr Mackay proposed the "Agricultural Interests of tl Waikato." He said that with those interests the Waika; was wrapped up. He felt certain that the Waikato woul eventually become one of the largest agricultural distric in the colony : the making of the railway would do woi ders. He agreed with Major Jackson that it would 1 better to spend four or five hundred thousand pounds matting them than e\er so small an amount in hghtin Vory little had been done for the last teveu years ; tl only settleis for some time were those who had receiv land for military services ; but much had been done duri the last twelve months. Agriculture was still only m its i fancy ; eventually the Waikato would supply the hundre at the Thames with the necessaries of life. Although 1 mission in the Waikato had ceased ke was still connect with the district as a landowner. He considered th the progress of the district was very much owing to su men as the chairman, he would there conple the name Mr Leslie with the toast of " Prooperity to the Agricnltu Interests of the Waikato." The toast was druuk w three times thiec. Mr Leslie said ke was taken aback at being called uj to respond to the last toast ; there wei c numbers of settl present who had larger territorial interests than he, i further, whose occupation was more purely agricultu He agreed with Mr Mackay in the opinion that the Vt kato would be a great agricultural district ; its future, h< ever, depended rery much upon how the settlers clevelo; its resources ; he was certain there was no other distnc the North Island equal to it The native troubles he lieved were over for ever. He desired before he sat dc to offer some explanation in leply to the remarks of M.Jackson. The reason the testimonial and dinner to Mr Mac was not made a general affair was from the belief that tl would not be time to organise the atfair properly. At time it was mooted to do anything of the sort, it was belie that Mr Mackay would be going away in a few days. ] it been known that Mr Mackay would be in the district nat day, the settler? in the other districts would have I invited to join them. He trusted that settlers m the o districts would accept that explanation He thanked t for drinking the toast coupled with his name. M>* Fisher proposed the Commercial Interests of the trict. He- considered that those who conducted the < merce of the Waikato were entitled to praise ; there some want of energy show n by ooma ; on the whole had done well. He would couple the name of Mr J Campbpll witii the toast. | Mr Camp! ell thanked the company for drinking thefl but as a member of the committee he was aware that Hume was intended to be called upon to respond. Mr Hume for whom there were loud calls, rose aw sponded briefly. Mr Mackay rose to propose the toast, The Armed stabularv," with which he coupled the name of Co Lyon. Ho considered it a most efficient force, and most commanded. Since he had been in the district he always found officers and men willing and able to do duty. He had been out with some of them in searoh route for the railway and received most valuable servi< their hands. He had always found Colonel Ljon tew co-operate with him. Colonel Lyon on rising was cheered. Ho sai thanked them for drinking the toast of the corps wni had the honor to command. Ho would admit, that he little hurt when the command of the district was take of his hands, but when he found that diplomacy an fighting was to be the order of the day the feeling van He was certain that had diplomacy failed the iorce his command would have marched as surely into h. that which ho had previously alluded to did into Coon (Cheers )i m , T „ The members of Mr Mackays staff, the Ladies an Tress were all drunk and responded to, and the final j the entertainment was brought to a close. The testimonial presented U> Mr Maokay consists very handsome clock, and a silver tea and coffee s We understand that the cost of. the present was guineas.