CITY PILGRIMS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 765, 11 September 1929, Page 9

CITY PILGRIMS

Children Visit Grave of Auckland's Founder

“INADEQUATE MEMORIAL" Eloquent but not solemn; a pilgrimage of young Aucklanders, made yesterday, was a tribute to the memory of Captain William Hobson, founder of Auckland and first Governor of New Zealand. eloquence of the pilgrimage was in its freshness. The freshness was as a drop of dew in the dust of a city, forgetful in its preoccupied modernity of its own history. For the grave of Captain Hobson, hidden in Symonds Street Cemetery below rakish Grafton Bridge, is a j poor memorial to a man of his j achievements. There are New Zea- j landers who cannot name the work j of Hobson. But each year, Mr. Spenceley j Walker, the headmaster of Newton Central School, and an ardent teacher -of New Zealand's history, leads a party of school children to the grave of Hobson. Wreaths are placed on the mound; speeches on the first Governor are made. Mr. Walker has arranged the pilgrimages for six years past. Workers of the city paused for a moment to note the pilgrimage yesterday. Perhaps they- appreciated the j message. Captain Hobson died on September 10, 1542, two years after the Treaty of Waitangi established British control in X evs Zealand. Hobson, when .he watched Waitemata's waters I glistening in forest-bordered reaches, marked the harbour as the birthplace of a city. OBSCURE GRAVE Today, his memorial is au obscure and weather-stained slab. •‘This is not a fit memorial to the man who founded a city such as ours,” Mr. Walker said in addressing the pilgrimage. “To Sir George Grey i and to Sir John Logan Campbell, j there are worthy memorials. To per- [ haps the greatest man of them all, I there are a few words inscribed on a | bridge and a bare grave.” Mr. Walker mentioned his reluctant refusal to accept, contributions for a fitting memorial when there was such a prevalence of unemployment. The Government, the City Council, perhaps the Rotary Club or the Civic League, could move to provide a worthy monument. Men who left their marks in the story of Aotearoa, Mr. Walker said, had provided worth-while lessons. Hobson set a fine example. How Hobson prevented an injustice against the Maori tribesmen was told by Mr. D. M. Rae, principal of the Auckland Training College. In the Treaty of Waitangi, the Maoris were given a guarantee that their rights would be respected. Auckland should respect its founder, Mr. Rae said. The grave of Judge Frederick Edward Maning. o£ the Native Land Court, was visited. Judge Maning. “Pakeha Maori,” wrote “Old New Zealand.”