Duke of Gloucester's Speech.

“I am very pleased to have been invited to lay the foundation stone of a new railway station for the capital city of New Zealand,” said the Duke of Gloucester. “It is in the nature of things that a growing population and the increasing demands made upon the railways by a busy port should have rendered necessary an up-to-date station with fully-equipped sidings and yards.

“After many years of service, the old station is no longer adequate for present-day requirements, but the sentimental may well sigh over the passing of such a landmark in the history of Wellington.

“The site of this station has been won from the sea by reclamation, a form of enterprise which has, besides, added much to the area available for building and has been of great value to this city.

“In these altered circumstances I imagine that the harbourmaster may now become the stationmaster and the pilots engine-drivers, while it would not have been unfitting if I had been given a bottle of champagne with which to launch this new concern. (Laughter and applause.)

“But in any case I sincerely trust that the skill and enterprise shown in the construction of this station will be rewarded by a success fulfilling the hopes and expectations of the people of Wellington.” (Applause.)