LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1952, 8 January 1914, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

EARLY SETTLERS,

A PROPOSED MEMORIALS" v ";

:;■■■ Sir,—"Hitch your wajjon to a st:ir"i was .Emerson's advice to iiis Boston .friends. Tho- admonition may he deem-, ed somewhat aerial, but it w certainly right that some high ideal be placed before, a community and an attempt ■be made to attain that which is highest, noblest, and best. Those who initiate a. forward move of- any hind should have Mine such ideal beforu them, aiid tho committee of flic Barly Settlers' Association are endeavouring to put up ono hitching post, which will, porchaiice, servo as a Miile-stono on the way to its ultimate (joai— that of doing full honour to the pioneers of Port Nicholson. ■■■ It has been determined by tho association that the surplus levenue —or such subscriptions as may be entrusted to it for lhat particular object— from the all-day gathering at Newtown J'ark on the fnst-anproaciiiug Anniversary Day (Thursday, January 2'2, 1914) is to beset aside as the nucleus of the amount required for the erection of some suitable m-cniorial to the early sottiers who landed at P.etone Beacli in 1839-40. It is int-eiided to co-opcrato with any similar movement that may be initiated at Petone or tho Hutt having the same object in view. As these words are being penned one has only to cast tho tnimi's eye back nearly three-quarters of a century and allow the imagination to conjecture tho feelings of tho fow hundred brave men and women —aye, and children, too — who were cooped up in vessels tfhich to-day would ba regarded as fit for fishing smacks. .For live, six, a-nd seven months—even for longer periods—these men and women braved all the hardships incidental to long and weary voyages in those days of long ago. As Christmas and New' Year approached in 3840 so did many wistful "hearts of oak" approach Now Zealand, and with our mind's eye we can discern tho hopes and aspirations of tho pilgrims. It was because they had "hitched their wagon to a star" that their indomitable spirit paved tho way to ono of tho most successful schemes of colonisation over initiated , by tho British or any other race. . ■

First—for they are our first care always—let U8 ask the question of the women (and doubtless tiioy were as anxious to be questioned in thoso days as they are now, and ever will be): "What spirit moved you to leave home, family, friends, oven civilisation, to comb 18,000 miles to a place with sueli a foreign-sounding name as New Zealand i-" We feel sure that "love" would have been the concise and true answer, but with tho innate modesty that prompts an Englishwoman to give tho same meaning. m another tray,-wo ran her saying, "Oh, well," y»u know, John wanted to come, and as I am his wife I came too." We accept that explanation-, accompanied as it is with a semblance of n- blush of prido and joy, as her true, answer, well iug all the time that "lovo" was the real lover that enabled her to separate from father and mother, sisters and brothers, and in fact, every thing' that seemed to make life worth' living for, m order that she might cast her lot in Hie wilderness with her husband, shehad (in many instances) only just married, or to assist in earring out a home for her , children. Assuredly that is a sufficient reason ivhv wo, seventy-four years later, are endeavouring in." some small way to honour the noble mother* who were the real pioneers of New Zealand, for without their aid and sympathy the infant settlement would have soon beooniff deserted, and the men would probably have gone to Australia and otlier lands.

In tho sanie spirit lot us seek otit John, and with, that circumlocution tliet oiw must necessarily resort to when the private affairs of any man have to be probed into, .try to gain his attention by asking what sort of a sea boat did the Tory or the Cuba or the Aurora prove to be? Having got liis.rojsly, we then nonchalantly ask, "KoH'did you como to seek your fortune in this distant and little-known land?" Many excuses are forthcoming; many reasons are given why England was loft, but confined withiii a definite compass, wo may- rest assured that "hope and courwore the mainsprings ttiat directed him to this new land, there to sow the seeds of the good frnifc which we, seventy-four years later, arc now enjoyhig tho fruition of.

And now let me question those, who may read these lines. Let me ask you, "Is it not incumbent upon you—is it not incumbent upon all of 'us—to do something to adequately, perpetuate the memories of thoss bravo mothers and fathers of/'Wellington eity and province? Does it not cause all af us some qualms of conscience that we have tarried 'so long in honouring their memories'r Cannot wo take a lesson from our Sydney and Melbourne colonists, wlip have sot up statues in their parks as memorials to .tho intrepid explorers of Australia in the early days? Eventhe. inland jfoldfieids cities of Ballnrat and Dendigo, whose populations are Ic-ss .than our own, .have perpetrated "Tho Eureka Stockade" and "Commissioner's Camp." To come closer, can we not do as much as tho people of Canterbury., our southern neighbours, who have placed fitting memorials of eomo of their loading men—Gotlloy;, Moor' house, and fioljoston—in their parks? Let mo appeal to those upon whom fortune has smiled to assist us in trying to remove the stigma that now rests upon us, in so far as wo lYave not yet shown our gratitude to thoso who have laid the foundation of the civilisation which wo now enjoy. Can we not unitedly raise some lasting memorial to Ihe pioneers? Let it take such form as may be suggested to guide us. The firsl diiTy is to provide the necessary f unds for the memorial.

The Early Settlers' Association is in earnest in its determination to da something, and, through me, as its president, ' the appeal is mado tn you to give unto us such help ,as you May deem fit. for so worthy an object, ._ ."Honour thv father and thy mother" is a Command. Ifit us obey, and so prove by our actions that we are not devoid of tint saving grace, so that we may live long and happily in tho land .which our forbears—the brave men and women who blazed the track"—have handed down to us.—l am, etc.. •T. E. JPKKI'XSON, ■ President Earlr Sottlerr. , Association. Wellington, January 6, 1914.