THE BIRTHDAY OF THE COLONY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume II, Issue II, 29 November 1889, Page 3

THE BIRTHDAY OF THE COLONY.

We havft received from Mr Howard 'tVallsee, a copy of a letter writN-n by Captain Heate commander of thfc Aurora, to the " New Zealand ( Hevald,"Feb.3. 1888. i

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''Sir, if, as yon sG-in to adn it. \- a'i articlo in \our papov.it in fit if" tban a:i anniversary hn'i ay sh^nl "b kept by tlie wI-olp C '^'V-. v f1 * M iVi th't cic'i town slr'i! iclehr-r :li • rli>,v ol'its o\v ' i Muliivi • ><« p' prr-Q^nt, tb-n I np'-rf''"!^ :t <~; v-n-ieds a Htf-lo consideration of th flircumstnncos prtdpr which t>^ (. olony was founded to doh vmin< what'evpnt fhould he consMprer> iiß rnarlung its trao "birth, and f p day on. which that ocoiirrpd onc-1 1 surely ti be commemorated by a 1 i f p denizens. It must be remembered that |h^^oniaa|ipn pf^ew Zealand wa&qaof 6n s by :; tlie Government of Groat Britain, but wrs forced, on by the New Zealand Company, independent of, and indeed, in opposition to the Government of the day : and that it was ouly after the f'de^oi'.'xu'e of the Company's first- 1 1 expedition.' had compelled some action, that Hobson was sent to obtain from th" natives the concession of the sover eiffnty r.ve" the Ts ands. Captain Hobson's arrival at the Bay oi Islands was the efore, in no sens* the foimriiition of the Colony. Hp was unHficbtn pamed by a- pin?le immigrant •arr' 1 he came not as a Go vornoi 1 of a Colony, but as the Consnl-Goner-il arcerlited to th" • Sovereign Chiefs of New Zealand ' It was not till soma months la f er, and long after a strong settlement h"d bpen estahlished in Port. Nioholson. thafc- the assent of the "natives haying- been, obtained to the Trenty* of VvVtitangi. Captain Hobson read .«ils first commission as LieutenantGovernor under Sir George Gipps ; but, as there was still no Government immigration— and none followed until' ti»e Jane Giffold and Duchess of Argy'e long after — that circumstance cannot reasonably b<* noted as indicating the foundation of the Cololl3', thoug]\ if, may be taken as tho birthday" of its regular Government:.. But, while the Government peddlin? with colonization in this rather pitiful fashion the New Zealand Company had pursued its task in real earnest Tive 8' ips sai ed from England in 1809 from Gravesend on the sam* day, and ono from Glasgow, carrying some 1500 immigrants of the very pick of the Wd, comprising men of all classes, many of them possing- considerable capital, and carrying with them everything needful for hnsh life amo»></st the then formidable connibn's of Npw Zea and. This daring land ( f may j fn : r]y admire thorn, for thon?h with i them, I «as not of them)s't oof,'n f , ' s'rong in hand and heart, to fonnrl i a colony ihe very sifuntion of th' ir '• ppttlement unknown when they left | England — wi hont any protection, '• or the hopo of nny asi-tanne save ; then" own conrngq and se'f--eliance, I th; ; ii- only bond of union a volnn'ary i ejiffftgfmpnfe iov mntna? support in : thpir,coinmon purpose. If ir ig tlie J C't'nVs who make the Colony, it j is surety the 'arrival of these, rather ■ tliau thfu of a few officials »t the Bay of Islands, at :i date which ■ marks the birth of fche nntinn. And ; wlien it is roe -1 Kited that 'his first : immigration Ffathr-rston, ' o l ]. Evans, ■Ftzherbort, Pi-tn'p, , Moleaworth. M^nfell. Sinclair, a-.ii m ny more, s< me of whose names avo siill prominent ones in the jiltrrtv! Onlonynf to day, it is hard i to (li. c ;r.ile tlif-'ir pre-eminent o'nims ! to iuivo been its founds. When the Anioi'^w ai'tei* calling ,at Port Ha-rdy to learn the plac* ' 'of the set lement. sailed into* Port Nichol son on the 22nd of Janu-ry, 1840, the only habi ration visible was one r^upo whare, in which Col nel W-'ikefield was living' amonpst his stores. M ne small barque the Cuba, which had' brought \he surveyor' anu stores, wai lying off it. . The f'<rest rpacherl the water's edge, and no other sign of huniim life wns seen. We landed our inmiiprrants, the flag was hoist-d. and we saLved it, and the sett emenf. ; and tliac purely was the moment wh?n the ColoDy of New Z aland vjas-born," Mr W«illace also writes that ■" the arrival of tho "fiist immigrants, tbe fnnnd r/^6{'th.^ ; colony,, at Po'Nichol.s'<ri. JiViiuarv 22 id, 1840, i« urH-dcscribpfl by Cap ainHeale, who foramnnded the Au-ora, and to do lion our to this his'orical event is the duty of every patriotic r*o'onist — not only pioneer settlers, their r-lat'ons nnd f/ip'nds, snd pur faithful alii 8, Ibe Natives, but all the settle snf be presrnt dnj, who are now r>ap ; ng thp advnntag' s of fifty year's experi enceofthe existpnee of the Colony fo 'nderl under no ordinary circumstances of difficulty and dangers, and also to do hon ur to the original promoters of the grand cognizing schenoewhif-b b"s bi'onpht about tb? V l ' ult, js?p. .rifisire. to co'e^rate. Th*' ■'•SOfch annivf'sjiry of the found t on o f th 'Colony is fast approaching, nnd it w high time :h.it a general cororaifetee w s fr rtned fen carry out the ur. 'gramme of therelr-l'i-rti^n already s':s£{ostefl b? n tended by thousa* da of Col"nistp,-ol(l anrl yot ng. from all qn»rt.crß, who would/should the mult r 'ho pr per'y organised and ciinied O'ih fee a national pride in tiv'n'-T fft : cfc to the celebration oi fijoli >n Jr'btonciil eve^nc as the Jubil'io celeb- oti"i) of th" foundation of a C I'ouy dfstins'l ' io play tui impor, tani tavt.ia.-.Uii!. (fitni'e ptocfifldlag-