EARLY SETTLERS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 239, 3 July 1919, Page 6

EARLY SETTLERS

A social gathering of members and friends of the Early Settlers' Association was held in Dustm's rooms in Cuba Street last evening. There was a large gathering, over which Mr. A\ r . Edwards presided, and among those present was the Hon. G. AV. Russell (Minister of Public Health). The Minister, in a short spepch, referred to the early days in AVellington, and recalled the time when the. Te Aro flat consisted mainly of paddocks with a house here and there. He liext went on to refer to New Zealand's rapid growth, and compared certain features of its agricultural development with that of Australia, stressing the fact that NewZealand supplied half of the whole of the cheese imported into Great Britain annually. In his opinion New Zealand, woflld become the great manufacturing country of the Pacific. He next referred to the hydro-electric scheme, and what its introduction would mean towards the development of the Dominion, and referred to the facilities which the country had at its command with which it raised the necessary money to carry on the war. These same facilities, he claimed, were available for the development of the country.

Following the Minister's address, a number of musical items were Tendered, and a light supper concluded a pleasant evening.