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OPENING OF THE BRUNS-
WICK AGRICULTURAL HALL.
The formal opening of the Bruns-
wick Agricultural Hall took place
last Wednesday afternoon in tho pre-
sence of a goodly number of tho set-
tlers, of the Brunswick and surround
ing districts and visitors from Bun-
bury, A special train started from
Bunbury at half-past one. by which
a number of townspeople travelled,
reaching .the Brunswick at half-past
two.
A number of members of the Bruns-
wick Farmers Association were pre-
sent to welcome the Hon. H, W
Venn, Mrs. Venn, and the other visit
ors, Upon entering the hall the
visitors found a plain but substantial
building 24 x 40, built of jarrah, the
walls being lined with white var-
nished pine. The hall was tastefully
decorated with, a profusion of ever
green s, etc, the tables — which were
literally groaning with the good
things provided — being not the least
pleasing feature in the building.
, -Mr. David Eedle, J.P., occupied the
chair, the Director of Public Works
being on his right and Mr. T. Hay-
ward, J.P., on- his left, Mr. J. E. M.
Clifton discharging tho duties of
vice-chairman in his usual hearty
style.
. The chairman proposed the usual
'loyal and patriotic toasts in felicitous
terms, and each of them was respond
ed to in a patriotic manner.
The chairman then proposed what
might be termed the toast of the
evening, '' The Legislatures of the
Colony,'' coupled with the name of
the Hon. H. W. Venn, the member
for the district. The Colony had
reason to be proud of their Legisla-
tors, both in the Upper and Lower
Houses, as they were, all honorable
gentlemen. . The Ministry was, he
(the chairman) considered, the best
in the Colonies, highly competent,
able to do their work, and industrious
in the extreme, He hoped the mem-
bers for the Southern Districts would
be again returned; in fact that all
the present members, bar two or
three, -would be elected ''again. (Ap-
plause.)
The Hon, H. W. Venn said it gave
him much pleasure to be present
amongst the settlers of the Brunswick
on such an auspicious occasion. He
had been highly pleased to obtain
their invitation, and equally so at
their cordial reception. The agricul-
tural hall had been built for the use
of the public, and he had much plea-
sure in declaring it formally opened
for all public entertainments from
that time and henceforth (applause)
and he would hand over the key for
the present to the custody of the
Farmers' Association, which would
make such arrangements as were ne-
cessary for the safe-keeping of the
hall and use for public purposes. He
had met with a good deal of oppo-
sition in the House when he first
mooted the construction of Agricul-
tural halls in the Dardanup and
Brunswick districts, and some had
been so ignorant of the geography of
the Colony as to ask where Bruns-
wick was — one of the oldest, richest,
and best districts of the. Colony. They
wore very lucky to have prominent
members of the Forrest Ministry re-
presenting the Southern Districts, as
the South-Western railway, the Min-
ninup railway, and the Vasse railway
would never have been constructed
but for them. He hoped that all the
railways constructed under the For-
rest Ministry would pay as well as
the South -Western railway did, and
it had paid a great deal better since
it had been opened than the Eastern
railway did for some years after its
construction. There were other
works of great public utility due to
their energy, and had a Ministry
composed of Northern, members been
in power, the South would not have
received that large share of public ex-
penditure which, it did. ' The Chair
man, had said the Lower House had
been a credit to the Colony. He fully
endorsed that statement. It was as
well, if not better, conducted than
any Legislative Assembly in Australia
as the members had conducted their do
liberations with credit to themselves
and honor to the Colony. He was
sure they did not expect him to make
a political speech on that occasion as
he could not tell them anything about
the future policy of the Ministry until
the Premier delivered his speech an-
nouncing that policy. But he was
satisfied that when the future policy
was announced they would support
the Forrest Ministry as they had done
in the past (applause). He felt sure
they would go back to Parliament with
a greater amount of support than they
had in the past, although it would be
better for the Colony if there was a
stronger opposition than there is at
present. It did not always follow
that because a Ministry brought
forward, measures they should be good'
ones and if there was'a strong oppo-
sition to criticise and point out the de-
fective parts of measures it would no
doubt do good to all parties. The
Forrest Ministry had never made use
of the great power placed in their hand
against the best interests of the Colony
but they had tried to use that power
for the benefit of the entire Colony.
The electors would be called upon to
vote for members of the Legislative
Council as well as for members of
the. Assembly, and he hoped that
they would exercise their rights
and privileges in the same way as
they had done in the past. The legis-
lators in the Upper House had been
styled old fogies, and some people
spoke of them as if their influence in
the country was small and unimport-
ant, He thought that a man could
distinguish himself as well in the
Upper House as in the Lower House,
He thanked them for the cordial and
hearty mannner. in which they had
received his remarks, and he would
have much pleasure in telling the
Premier how he had been received,
Tho other toasts were '' The Bench''
proposed by Mr. John Sharp, in a
neat speech, and responded to by
Mr. Timperley : 'The Bunbury Muni-
cipality,'' proposed by Mr. G. Rose,
juur., and responded to by Mr. Mayor
Wisbey; ''Agriculture.'' proposed by
Mr. T. Hayward, J.P., responded to
by Messrs Wellard and Marriott:
''The Brunswick Farmers' Associa-
tion,'' proposed by Mr. Venn, and re-
sponded to by Mr. D. Eedle, J.P. ;
'The Contractors,' (Messrs. J. and
H. Gibbs), proposed by Mr. J. Port,
responded to by Mr. H. Gibbs ;
'The Press.,' proposed by Mr. R.
H. Rose, junr., and responded to by
Messrs. John Marshall and G. Read
ing ; '' The Ladies.'' proposed by Mr.
H. Clifton, and responded to by Mr.
Marshall.
A tea and ball were given in the
evening, at which a goodly number
attended, and dancing was kept up
with unabated vigour 'till a late hour
when the visitors had to leave by
special train for Bunbury,
The ladies who so kindly contribut-
ed to the success of the banquet,
amongst whom were Mesdarnes R,
H. Rose, jr ., Partridge, Marriott,
and Wellard, and Misses Piggott and
Rose, are deserving of every credit,
both for the menu, and the .tasteful
manner in which everything was got
up.
Messrs. Rose. jr. and Partridge
ably represented the settlers of the
district, and it was in a large mea-
sure owing to their energy that the
whole affair was such a pronounced
success.
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