The Speeches Which Sir John Hall
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Introduction 2015 A note from the publisher of this book into the digital form: Firstly the purposes. I have had the privilege of it as a reference book for five years as I wrote my own point of view on Parihaka in 1881 – The Lady’s Apostle, and Two Rangatira. If this is to be taken seriously it is practical for reviewers to have easy access to this volume. I certainly have had easy access online to one of my ancestor’s most stinging critics, George Rusden 1819- 1903. It is only right John Hall gets his opinion posted in the same digital media. SPEECHES has been copied with OCR software then proof read. Where sentences have been broken up by page numbers they have been put on either the page above or below, then in other places where the original book’s page number, which relates to the index, is too close to the bottom of the digital page whole sentences are moved to make reading more pleasing. The original spelling, paragraph length, and format is retained. The only other alteration made are the inclusion of my Tupuna’s photo on the cover and his personal coat of arms on the title page – which living Hall family members inherited a derivative coat of arms from. If there are mistakes in proof reading please accept my apology in advance. Peter John Hall 1959 - , September 2015. SPEECHES DELIVERED OUT OF PARLIAMENT BY THE HONOURABLE SIR JOHN HALL, K.C.M.G., PRIME MINISTER OF NEW ZEALAND FROM OCTOBER 8TH 1879 TO APRIL 21ST, 1882. ------------------------------------------ EDITED BY HIS LITERARY EXECUTORS AND PRINTED FOR PRIVATE CIRCULATION CHRISTCHURCH N.Z.: PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE CHRISTCHURCH PRESS COMPANY LIMITED. 1911 3 CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION 5 II. POLICY OF THE HALL MINISTRY (Leeston, May 20th, 1880). 10 III. REVIEW OF SESSION OF 1881 (Leeston, May 26th, 1881) 37 IV. POLITICAL RETROSPECT AND PROGRAMME FOR GENERAL ELECTION 1881 (Leeston, November 19th, 1881) 58 V. A CANDIDATE FOR SELWYN (Leeston, July 30th, 1887) 82 VI. A FAREWELL CRITICISM (Leeston, April 25th, 1883) 101 VII. RETIREMENT FROM POLITICS (Leeston, March 7th 1894) 122 VIII. NATIONAL TESTIMONIAL TO MR. SEDDON (Canterbury Hall, Christchurch, Tuesday, April 8th, 1902) 127 IX. MEMORIAL TO THE HON. W. ROLLESTON (delivered at the Unveiling of the Statue, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch, May 26th,1906) 131 X. YORKSHIRE AND YORKSHIREMEN (Address at the Inaugural "Social" of the Yorkshire Society of Canterbury, on Thursday evening, July 25th, 1898) 135 XI. THE PROSPECTS OF NEW ZEALAND (Speech at the New Zealand Dinner held at the Trocadero, London, on Thursday, June 25th, 1903) 140 XII INDEX 145 I. INTRODUCTION _______________ Among the papers left by Sir John Hall was a portfolio of newspaper reports of some of the speeches that he had delivered out of Parliament. In the instructions to his Literary Executors he expressed a desire that a selection from these should be made and edited, and that a small edition should be printed strictly for private circulation among his friends. The present volume has been prepared in accordance with the wish thus expressed. From his arrival in New Zealand in 1852 until his retirement in 1894, John Hall was almost continuously engaged in the administration of public affairs. Periodical visits to England were necessitated partly on account of his health, and partly by the educational requirements of his children, but even allowing for this, far more of his time was devoted to the public service than to his own business as a sheep farmer, which, fortunately for him, was in the hands of a manager who, by his faithful and efficient service, endeared himself to his employer, and to others residing in the Hororata district. Upon many occasions, John Hall’s assistance was sought on Boards of Directors of various companies and institutions, but this work does not appear to have attracted him, or if it did, the attraction was not sufficient to reconcile to the unsatisfactory position in which he would have found himself placed had he tried to serve the public at the same time as he was engaged in and responsible for the management of the affairs of business companies. As to the speeches they must, we think, speak for themselves. It need only to concern us to refer briefly to the circumstances under which they were delivered. John Hall, who was Private Secretary to the Secretary of the General Post Office in England, and had all the excellent prospects of promotion, was 28 years of age when, partly for the sake of his health, he decided to come to New Zealand to start sheep farming, his thoughts being turned in that direction by a pamphlet written by Mr (afterwards Sir Frederick) Weld. He spent some time inspecting land in the North Island, but finally decided to take up a run south of the Rakaia. Finding that unsuitable, he bought Mr Stoddart’s run, and his sheep, at Hororata. He remained in possession of the same estate during the whole of his happy and useful life. The record of the various public positions filled by John Hall makes quite a formidable list. He commenced his public career by being elected to the Canterbury Provincial Council, as member for the Christchurch Country District, in 1853, within a few months after his arrival in the Colony. In 1855, he was appointed Provincial Secretary and, later in the same year, was given a seat on the Provincial Executive. In 1856 he was appointed Resident Magistrate for Lyttelton, also Sheriff and Commissioner of Police. In 1858 he was appointed Resident Magistrate for the Christchurch District, which office he resigned from in 1863. In 1865 he succeeded Mr (later Sir William) Rolleston as Commissioner of the Canterbury Waste Lands Board. After bringing into operation the Westland County system he was appointed, in 1869, first Chairman of the Westland County Council. John Hall was elected Chairman of the first Municipal Council in Christchurch in 1862 and when, in 1906, the New Zealand Exhibition was held in Christchurch, Sir John Hall, as he had become by then, was unanimously elected Mayor, it being felt that no one else could so fittingly represent the City as Mayor during such an important year of its history. John Hall’s long connection with the General Assembly had commenced in 1855 when he was elected to represent the Christchurch Country District in the House of Representatives. He held office as Colonial Secretary in the Fox Ministry from May 20th to June 2nd 1856. In 1859 he resigned his seat and paid his first visit to England. After his return he was, in 1862, summoned to the Legislative Council. In 1866 he resigned his seat in the Chamber and was elected as member for Heathcote in the House of Representatives. In August of that year he joined the Stafford Ministry as Postmaster-General. In 1868 he acted as Colonial Treasurer during the absence, in England, of Mr William Fitzherbert. In that capacity he had to make the Financial Statement for the Colony for that year. John Hall returned to the Legislative Council in 1872 to represent the Fox- Vogel Government in that Chamber. It was a time of rapid changes in the Ministry and he found himself, once again and for a short space, Colonial Treasurer in the Waterhouse Government. Ill health compelled him to make another journey to the Mother Country in 1873 and he returned to New Zealand at the end of 1875 to find that the political and financial fortunes of the Colony had sunk to a low ebb. It was felt that the occasion had arisen when an able administrator and strong leader, whom the public could trust, was needed to lift the country out of its difficulties and dangers. By common consent, the eyes of its well-wishers were turned to John Hall who was still occupying a seat in the Legislative Council. On a dissolution taking place in 1879, John Hall resigned his seat in the Council and offered himself to the electors of Selwyn for the House of Representatives as a strenuous opponent of the Grey Government. He was duly elected and, when the new Parliament met, he succeeded in carrying a vote of Want of Confidence in the Government. Being sent for by the Governor, Sir Hercules Robinson, he formed a Ministry of which he was Premier and Colonial Secretary. His colleagues were Mr F Whitaker, Attorney General; Major Atkinson, Colonial Treasurer; Mr R Oliver, Minister for Public Works; Mr William Rolleston, Minister for Lands, Immigration and Education and Mr Tomoana, Maori Member of the Executive without Portfolio. (The first speech in the selection deals with the circumstances under which he took office). John Hall became Premier of the Colony on October 8th 1879 and continued in that office until April 21st 1882 when he retired owing to ill health. Mr Frederick Whitaker (later to become Sir Frederick) succeeded him. The following month his services to the Colony received recognition from the Crown with the honour of K.C.M.G being conferred upon him by Queen Victoria. The heartiest congratulations were tendered to him from both sides of the House on the occasion. Sir John Hall finally retired from public life in 1894. During his forty years’ service he never lost an election – probably an unique distinction for a colonial politician, seeing that public opinion in the overseas Dominions changes quickly with the rapid growth of the population and the eagerness of progressive people for new ideas. It may be added that Sir John Hall was in the habit of meeting his constituents in the Town Hall, Leeston, but his speeches, although primarily delivered to the local electors present, were really intended for a wider audience, and were eagerly read and commented on throughout New Zealand.