THE PIONEER DAYS

Dominion, Volume 15, Issue 2, 27 September 1921, Page 6

THE PIONEER DAYS

RECALLED WITH PRIDE AT EARLY SETTLERS’ REUNION GOVERNOR-GENERAL SPEAKS Old friendships were renewed and old memories revived at the reunion of pioneer settlers and their descendants in the Town Hall last night. Their Excellencies the Governor-General and' Lady Jellicoe were present, and the chair was occupied by the Mayor of Wellington (Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P.). The lower part .. of the was well filled. The meeting opened with the playing of,the National Anthem and the singing of Hie first verse of the . "Old Hundredth." The chairman welcomed Their Excellencies, who were greeted with applause. He said that to the old settlers and their descendants the presence cf Their was an added joy. Tho meeting was held to commemorate the enterprise of the pioneers who had come to this country facing the unknown bravely. Later generations were to-day enjoying tho fruits of the pioneers’ la- . Lours. Atany would remember the difficulties that had confronted the early settlors. There was no Government 'to appeal to, no city council to seek assistance from, and little nioney; but they managed to enjoy , their lives. They worked hard and those of the fecond generation had to thank them for hewing out of the wilderness the cities rising to-day on every hand. (Applause.) HIS EXCELLENCY’S SPEECH.

The Governor-General said he did not think the occasion called for a speech ■ft'om one who 'had not been long in. the Dominion. It was an occasion for listening to the stories of those who had come here in the early days. Suclustories, he hoped, would bring into tho minds of those who had come after a desire to emulate of tljie pioneers* great deeds in building up the Dominion. (Applause)) “I .do not forget,” said His Excellency, "that tho earliest hospitality which was shown, to me in this Domin-ion-in the capacity of its GovernorGeneral was extended to me on the o< casion—a year ago to-morrow—of the early settlers’ reception in this historic hall. (Applause.) For that reason, if for no other,' it is a very* real pleasure both to Her Excellency and to myself 'to come here to-night to meet once again seme of those great men who have done so much for the'Dominion of which ewe are all now citizens. It is a '-Dominion which, in its 80 years of ex : <ence, has gone from one success to another, and has fulfilled a great destiny." "One cannor forget on a night such as this when we are celebrating the deeds of early settlers, what the Dominion owes to Edward Gibbon 'Wakefield—(applause)—whose courage and whose constrjiit pressing of the H4>me Government led to New Zealand becoming a part of the British Empire, fidward , Gibbon Wakefield was n man of great idealsU One of his ideals was that ho should transplant to New Zealand everything that pertained to the Old Qountry,'except its soil. As I have often heard it saidi with truth that New Zealand is more British than the British, there is no doubt that his ideal has been realised. (Applause.) For one thing, there is no more loyal part of the British Empire, the United Kingdopl itself included, tha'n , this /Dominion of New Zealand. (Loun applause.)

A WONDERFUL WORK. "There are many things for . which we have to thank the early settlers in New Zealand. It .is due to them, to their courage—both tfficir military courage'and their coulrage in adopting great ‘experiments in ,sooial legislation—to their farsightedness and their hard work, that a handful of pioneers have transformed New Zealand in - 80 years into a country teeming with prosperity. Nobody coming to .New Zealand from the Old Country, as I have come in recent, years, can fail to be struck with the wonderful work which has been accomplished in that extraordinarily brief lf one looks only at the roads and the railways, one must to filled with wonder that such work should have been accomplished by such a handful of people. And all the time the prosperity of the Dominion and its industries have been growing, and it is all due in the main to the example set by the early pioneers. (Applause.) They faced grJat difficulties. They have faced periods of depression, and if those who come afteJ them face the * difficulties .which are''before | them, or the ( periods of depression which may be, before them, in - the spirit in which their forefathers tackled them, then there can be no question of the future happiness rind prosperity of the people of Newt Zealand. Once again I would like to say hoy great is the pleasure which we feel nt coming here to-night to meet some of those early settlers.” (Loui\ applause.) Mrs. Parsons, sen., an old and deeply respected member of the Early Association, sang charmingly S’ lol ' l ' l He Upbraid?" nnd "Robin Adair. Ihe audience applauded heartily, and Their Excellencies tendered their congratiila-, lions! V A NEW ENGLAND. The Acting-Prime Minister (Sir Francis Bell) told thg meeting that the honour' of such gatherings was due to his "old friend and comrade,” Mr. Jenkinson. "It was worth coming," he said, "to have one’s youth revived by the perennial youth ot Mrs. Pardons- — (applause)—to meet many who remember me and my father in the days of old, and to hear the Admiral of the Fleet forget to mention that .-all that New Zealand has and owns to-day is duo to the aegis of tlie great Navy of which he was in command before His Majesty put him in command here. (Applause.} ' It is worth remembering that when, nearly a century ago, our fathers, under tho guidance of Air. Gibbon Wakefield, gathered in . London and for several years discussed the question of settlement of New Zealand, they were discussing rather the general question of emigrating from a country which had just passed through themeform Bill, and- in which the Chartist riots had been so dangerous as to create general alarm. lit wns thought at that, time that it would to well to make a new England' beyond the seas. J’he conditions nearly a century ago* When our fathers mot are very nearly the same in England to-day, and I doubt not that the result will to the same in England as it was within, ten years after those stirring and anxious times.

“REBELS.” "When the first settlers landed in Wellington, we were rebels. ,The Mayor said that we. % did<not havy a municipality in those days. 'llie first thing the settlers did was to establish a municipality, and Sir George Hunter’s grandfather was the first Mayor. (Applause.) In the first year of the organisation of the settlement by our fathers, who were rebels, Governor HobsOn came here with a man-of-war. The settlers had established methods of defence—had established magistrates, had policemen, and, I think, a stocks—and this was high treason. The Governor in Auckland denounced the organisation here as practical rebellion, but if our fathers had not come and settled here, there would have been no English settlement in New Zealand. It is duo to those pioneers of 1810, and to those who organised tho expedition in 1839 ’that New Zealand! is an English colony to-dliy.

It is true that Governor Hobson arrived in Auckland almost in the same month —I think in the same month—as the first settlers arrived here, but Governor Hobson was dispatched in a hurry because the expedition had left_ tho shores of England, and in opposition to tho then English Government. That is what our fathers managed to do for the Empire, and fbr New Zealand. MAN FOR MAN. "His Excellency has ejioken of the growth of the country. AVe have, no dotibt. a great population, many scores of- times as great as those settlers, but I doubt very much—l suppose I ought .not to doubt, but I do doubt-whether the population of to-day, taken man for man, and woman for woman, is the equal of the men and women who came out’in those first ships. /Applause.) "AVe. lyno many, of ns are descended from them, arc grateful z to tho association headed by Air. Jenkinson and Air. Ed-v-to-ds. who heln-them to gather together still and record something of the events of those days. ... I think I have a right to call the older settlers brethren.-for I think, vou know that mv father was cpcrofry to the New Zealand Company in 1839. and saw every one of the old eoitlerSs aboard shin and dispatched every one of the first ships to New Zealand. L can claim in that way association, and rm proud association. with other un’cendants of the ref flprs. pud T think those xJiins will be recorded in time as the -Mayflower is recorded in America, that rne men and women who came out in them will bo honoured ns the progenitors of an honoured line, and that to count from them will be, as counting from the Mayflower is in America, the proudest record that, a man can have historically." (Applause.) AN OLD RACE MEETING.

Sir George Hunter, M.P.. said that ho was always proud and glad £o meet old settlers. The old days in New Zealand, h? said, hnd produced instances of heroism comparable with the finest deeds of the Great War. He told the story of the bugler boy who,, when he tried to give warning of u Maori raid and had both .his arms struck off with a tomahawk, caught his bugle between his knees and valiantly blew. Tn lighter vein. Sir George Hunter rocountril a cln'sic tale of the Turf in this country. The second race meeting in Wellington, he said, was held on Te Aro Flat. There was great difficulty in obtaining a suitable rider for one of the horses. At that time one man noted for his gk’ll as a horseman, was "employed by Her Majesty tho Queen,” nnd it was not easy to secure his services. Representations were, however, made to the responsible official, and the rider was .released upon his return in the evening being guaranteed. The man won hie race and was "so upset with theft result” that he could not go back to the hill "However." Sir George concluded, "those who had guaranteed his return got a door and returned him that even-' ing.” (Laughter and applause.) NO3LE WOMEN. Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., recalled many names honourably associated with the early history of New Zealand. Ho spoke particularly of the noble part played by the pioneer women. He expressed his pleasure at seeing so many old people present, and his hope that they would yet lx» spared to long years of life. Tn conclusion. Mr. Wilford remarked that no hall should bo capable of holding the attendance at such a reunion in tho capital city. (Applause ) Mr. J. E. Jenkinson (president pf tho Early Settlors’ Association) thanked Their Excellencies for taking part in the meeting. There were no further speeches, and those present mingled informally. y During the evening the following contributed items 'to an excellent pro- i gramme of entertainment: Mrs. Parsons, who has alre"dy been mentioned: Miss IT. Randoil. Mr. Austin Blackie, Mr. R. Moore, The Melody Four, and the Kil-1-,-rnie Orchesrlra. Mr. Bernard Page (city organist) played the National Anthem and the orman accompaniment to flic "Old Hundredth ”