THE GOVERNOR'S VISIT TO WAIKATO.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1692, 10 May 1883, Page 2

THE GOVERNOR'S VISIT TO WAIKATO.

rz £ ;> \ R|ceptign :at- Cambridge. ; , . His ExcELLENcy^iiß Governor; accompanied by? his; . Private Secretary, ,, -Mr; Pennefather, Mr! Thomas Russell, ; dnd Oapt. Steele, left 1 - .W^oodlancU early on Tuesday morning, and paid^i' visit* to the Waikato Land Association's, Newstead Station. Thence the party proceeded to Fen Court where they partook of Urn-, ehcon/and inspected the fine , property and atook of the Auckland . Agricultural Company. No ' tiour was fixed for , his Excellency's arrival in Cambridge, and, as a consequence, people began to gather shortly after two o'clock. The natives mustered in great force, the chief ,men' donning' their best apparel for the" occasion. The chiefs of the Ngatihaua and Ngatiraukawa were specially "well dressed in kiwi mats, '&c. Arekatera wore in addition to a very handsome mat, the hat of huia feathers, presented to him by Tawhiao on the occasion of the "King's" last visit to Cambridge. The Maoris manifested the greatest interest in the event. '1 lie Europeans were neither so numerous nor so demonstrative as their dusky fellow subjects, though business wa3 practically suspended during the afternoon. The appearance of mounted orderlies riding backwards and forwards at intervals kept the interest up, though the Governor did not arrive till nearly 5 o'clock. Meanwhile a guard of the Armed Constabulary consisting of 30 men, under the command of Col. Lyon, paraded at the Public Hall, and half the detachment were then marched on to the open ground in front of the National Hotel. dn his Excellency'B carriage coining in sight a general movement was made by the natives, numbering several hundreds on to the main street. When the carriage arrived opposite the hotel, the horses were reined up, and Mr John Sheehan stepped forward and informed his Excellency that the natives who had already ranged themselves ahead of the vehicle wished to pn-ccde it, singing a song of welcome. The Governor at once assented, and the natives commenced their vocal performance. The song consisted of such phrases as " Welcome the Governor," " the Governor is coming in his canoe," &c, &c, the Maoiis displaying the most unbounded enthusiasm. So efiusivc, indeed, were they that the horses were thoroughly frightened, and reared np several times, but, fortunately, owing to the skill of the driver, Constable Shanaghan, no accident occnired. A larsre crowd of Maoris and Europeans had congregated in front ot the Public Hall, where his Excellency alighted. After shaking hands with a number of Maori chiefs, who approachad him, the Governor mounted the steps the hall, to receive the addresses. Mr T. Wells, chairman of the town board, was introduced by Col. Lyon, and read the following address :—: — "To His Excellency the Hon. Sir William P. J). Jorvois.C.B., G.C.M.G., Lieutenant-Genoral and Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, and Vice- Admiral of the sameMay it please Your Excellency, — On the occasion of your first visit to the town and district of Cambridge, the inhabitants most heartily welcome your Excellency, and congratulate you on your appointment to the office of Governor of this colony. We desire to assuie you of our loyalty and devoted attachment to the throne ami person of Her Most Gracious Majesty, and wo honour you as the representative of a Soveieign whose virtues command our love and esteem. We are confident that your appointment will tend to the advancement of this young and rising colony, to the growing harmony between the two races of which you will have, during you stay amongst us, an opportunity of w itnessing ; and in bidding you welcome to our town and district, we trust that your visit will be a pleasant one. Wishing your Excellency and Lady Jervois every blessing, we are, your Excellency's humble servants— (Signed) Gjcokgi: E. Clahk, and Jvmks Johnson. Comn>i,sionersCambridge Town Board. " His Excellency replied as follows : Gentlemen,—l hear with pleasure the expiesbious of loyalty to our giacious Queen contained in the address you have just now presented to me, and I thank you sincerely for your own kind congratulations to me on my appointment as Governor of New Zealand, and for the hearty manner in which you have welcomed mo to the town and distiict of Cambridge. I 1 egret that the weather has for so long delayed my visit to this beautiful and interesting part of the country. I rejoice to hear your testimony to the growing harmony between the two races, which I feel is a matter of the utmost importance for the benefit of both alike, and for the general prosperity of this rising colony. Address by the Natives. The Ngatiraukawa chief, Arokatora, of VVaotn, here came forward, and read an address in Maori, the following translation of which had bpen placed in his Excellency's hands— "We, the native people now nssetnbled in Cambridge, gladly avail ourselves of the opportunity of welcoming you as the representath c of the Queen to our district. You will have known before now that heretofore this country was, in some respects, in great trouble between our race and the European inhabitants, but these troubles have now disappeared, and we hope they will always cease to exist during your time of office as Governor. This will be a woik in which you, as Governor of this colony, will have to take part, and we hope that the lesult of your labours with the Maori people will at last place us on the same footing as the European inhabitants of the colony, and that the two races may have equal rights and equal privileges and common obligations to obey the same common law. Yon will find us during your term of office peaceful and law-abid-ing, and when you return to our mother, the Quoen, you will be ablo to say you had no difficulty in dealing with the pi-ople who now address you. We hope this will not be yonr only visit (like the one visit of the "white crane"), but that from time to time you will come amongst us, and see us. — From us, Mahi te Ngnru ITakariwi, and a number of other chiefs of the Ngatiraukawa and Ngatihuia." His Excellency the Governor, who seemed to be greatly interested in this portion of the proceedings, replied to the natives as follows, Mr W. H. Grace interpreting \-" I have reoeived with very great pleasure the address which has now been presented to me by the Maoris, chiefs and people, at present in Cambridge. I have not had the advantage of reading the address before, and I hope therefore, any imperfections in my reply will not be considered as in any degree showing a want of appreciation of the admirable terms of the address. I thank you yepy h,eaf tily fpr tjl}e Kind, f}atterin.g, and enthusiastic welcome which the Maoris have given mo on this my first yisit to Cambridge. Certainly the horses were rather inclined to shy, and this reminds me of an incident that occurred when I was entering a town in Australia in company with the two Princes, grandsons of the Queen. The gentlemen of the |bqwn fiance put to meet the princes and wjwj' a !>4 °m flMii ci » ni9»»nt?4 on horseback' Waved jm^npcrtiflng # a 3*a 3* " 'IP" they turned round thoy galloped off in '|rand style, and before they entered the jbown, t the;; horse .of th.c. , standardbearer, frightened, at the flag, reared up, and man and standard were levelled with the dust. In this case if the Governor's horses had been frightened he jyould^ bawp very lil^ely been levelled with $he dust, £ am Very glad no. auch distressing result occurred ; and here we are in safety discussing the terms of this fine address. I cannot tell you how much pleasure it gives me to see so much ioyalty displayed towards the Queen of England. She is the 'best Queen that ever ruled over any nation, and I am hure that the Maoiis, as well as the J&wptaWi toy Uy* opiit»k)tecl| «tf m\\

p^dspej&under her bcmncent rule. I am dejisfh%ato see and to learn that there ia so m,uch unanimity between the Maoris and the Europeans. In times past there t haye> been there have been mistakes, but' now these are, I hope, all atan'eiid, arid henceforward the Maoris and Europeans will live in peace. As I passed through this beautiful Waikato country to-day and yesterday, I saw 1 the Maoris and Europeans going hand and hand together in their impiovement of sthi» beautiful country. 1,- saw-, them "those imfnenoe drains /In the igrekt opuntry before and around us, making the wilderness to blossom as the rcse. I saw the Maoris with implements of husbandry, threshing machines, etc., vying with the Europeans in the cultivation of the land. I am also glad to see tlftit the Maoris aa well as the Europeans' come to the courts of the country to settle their differences and their disputes, and I wish it to go forth from Cambridge, if it can %o forth, to the whole Maoti race, that I, in common with the Government and people of this country, only desire to live in peace and amity with them, and to see them prosper as the Europeans prosper in this splendid land. I do not know that T have any more to say now, except again to thank you, the Maoiis of New Zealand, for all the kindness and enthusiasm you have shown, and to express the great pleasure I feel in receiving this address. Mr Wells then called for three cheers for his Excellency, an invitation which was responded to with the utmost enthusiasm. The chiefs Hakariwi (Hargraves) and Rice then presented the Governor with some beautifully ornamented Kiwi mats, and his Excellency replied, through Mr Grace, thanking the donors, and expressing the pleasure which he felt at being able to return home with such valuable souvenirs of his first meeting with the natives of New Zealand. The Governor then descended from the steps, and proceeded to Kirkwoods t Hotel, where he stayed the night.

Reception at Hamilton. His Excellency the Governor arrived at Hamilton yesterday afternoon, and was received at the East end of the bridge. A large number of the townspeople and country residents turned out, and, the children of both schools having been granted a holiday, there was a- pictfcy large number ot people to witness "the ceremony. His Excellency, who was accompanied by his private secretary, Mr Pennefather, Mr Thomas Russell -uid Col. Lyon, drove down to the bridge at abou fc h.iH-past three o'clock, and \va3 met by his Worship the Mayor, the town clerk, and a number of the councillors. The Town Clerk (Mr Gelling) read the following address, which had been beautifully engrossed and illuminated on vellum by Mr Slater, of Auckland :—: — To His Excellency the Honourable Sir William F. Drummond .lervois, G.C.M.G., 0.8. ; Lieutenant-Gener.nl,-and Governor of the Colony of New Zealand, — We the Mayor, Councillors and Burgesses of the Borough of Hamilton, teel much pleasure in availing ourselves of this opportunity to express our loyalty and hearty welcome in this town to you as the representative of our Gracious Sovereign Lady the Queen. We are glad of the opportunity afforded us to assure you that we share the same good feeling displayed by the rest of Her Majesty's subjects in other parts of the colony towards you, and it now only remains for us to fully endorse their sentiments. Therefore, sincerely wishing your Excellency and Lady .Jervois and family every happiness during your sojourn amongst us, and pleasant journeyinqs in your official visit, — We respectfully subscribe on behalf of the inhabitants, your Excollency's obedient servants, John* Kxox, Mayor. ,T. M. Gkllivo, Town Clerk. His Excellency replied as follows :: — • Mr Mayor and Gentlemen. — I thank you \ery heartily for the address you have just presented to me. There are one or two points in it to which I wish to refer sppcially. One is the cordial and hearty manner in which I have had the pleasure of being received in every pl.\ce [ have visited since my ariival. It is impossible that anything could exceed the enthusiasm and loyalty which has been evinced by all clashes of the community, and I attribute this to the loyalty of the people of New Zealand towards Her Majesty the Queen. Her Majesty rules over this, probably the most magnificent colony in the Empire, in common with our prasessions in North America, South Africa and Australia, and othcre which you in name are well acquainted. In none of these. I am sure, are the people more loyal than the people of New Zealand, and it affords me the greatest pleasure to find myself occupying ihe proud position of Governor of such a magnifioeut dominion. Looking around me as I have done on my journey through the diatrict, I predict that the time is not far distant when, with the modern appliances to hand, yon will find a tremendous era before you. I allude to what you are all interested in, the power of sending products to Groat Britain to feed the numbers of mouths there. I heartily wish you all success in your operations to do all in your power for the benefit of the people. I thank you for myself and Lady Jervois for the kind expressions you have used towards us. His Woiship then called for three cheers for his Excellency, an appeal which was warmly responded to. The Hamilton Band struck up the National Anthem, and his Excellency having returned to his carriage, the party proceeded to Gwynne's Cottage, where they remained last night. Shortly after his arrival the Governor, accompanied by Mr D. M. Beeie, Resident Engineer, visited the railway bridce. Mr Thomas Russell and Mr J. B. Whytc, M H.R,, were also of the party. In the evening his Excellency dined with Col Lyon.

To-day's Arrangements. ■ His Excellency the Governor will proceed to Te Awamutu to-day by train, and thence he will go to Alexandra. Mr Macdonald, Di&trict Manager of Railways, arrived from Auckland last night by special train, and the train arrangements will be carried out under his immediate superintendence. The weather, so far, has been most propitious, and it is to be hoped it may continue so during the remainder of his Excellency's stay amongst us.

The appi'oaohiu£ wedding of a favourite Ameiiean lady lecturer ha« lately been announced in the following manner :— "Letty Hough will never lecture anj moro in public. She has made a permanent engagement. His name is Gregory. She will hf-nceforlh privately lecture Gregory." i Wajtjjjcj foR An Oj^n^E.-r^A Chicago drummer having hired a horse and taken a ride of ten miles hrough a terrible highway in Wisconsin, to work up a trade with a new dealer, reached the four corners to find the store closed. The proprietor was outside the door with an axe, and his wife on the inside with an old shot-gun. 'I represent the wholesale grocery firm of Sugar, Starch and Cq., §aj4 the traveller aq he, 'flrpye up; re» plied the merchant, as he leaned on the axe. "And I'd like to show some samples and take your order." "Are you in a hurry ?" "Well, no." "Then you had better hitch to the fence over there and wait around a spell." "What's the row here?" "Nothing very much. The old woman's inside a^d J'm, out hero. Jt's, bean thai way for tne last three hours, "but the climax is coming. '• She ain't got more than enuff powder for one moie bhot, and as soon as she fires that we 11 find out who runs this busine*3. If I do, I'll give you an order ; ' if she does you had better get ready to skip, for she's determined > to go put of the , mercantile^ business, and mak^afru) to Europe with tb lightning-rod m^."— Jtxcliwge*