The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1901. THE QUEEN'S REIGN IN NEW ZEALAND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 114, 30 May 1901, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, MAY 30, 1901. THE QUEEN'S REIGN IN NEW ZEALAND.

The Empire Review has a very interesting article on the progress of the colonies during the Queen's r..igii, the portion relating to New Zeiku.d and its progress during the Yictori&n era being from the facile pen of Mr. W. P. Reeve?, and it shows in a very interesting manner the great love, respect and admiration felt by the colonists for the Queen. "It may sound a little strange," he Buys, " but is certainly true that the reverence of New Zealanders for Queen Victoiia was of the kind paid to an uiseen paw«r," .atrd although hut few colonists had ever jeen her late Majesty, " familiar as her aspect had been to all by innumerable por!wita and pen pictures, the sxtent uf her personal influence and the sagacity of her statecraft were never subjects of discussion. They were taken for granted." In the mind of the Maori "«Te Kuiei' loomed as a raat ftbd far-off semi-dirae influencs, ilways benevolent, difficult .to appro«ch.

but representing all that made for kindliness and for the protection of the native from any over-reach irg by hia white neighbour." And as for the rest, "the Queen was to all in thtf colony 11 the highest living embodiment ©f womanly goodness" It is a somewhat, remarkable coincidence, Mr. Reeves points out, that the life of the colony of New Zealand practically began with the Queen's reign. Although tbe flag was not actually hoisted at the Bay of Hands till 1840, Lord Pal ru era ton had decidfd to annex the countiy the year before; and the New Zealand Aes ciatioa was lorn in 18J7. It afterwards bocame the New Zealand Company, of which Mr. Baring and Lord Durham were the leading figure', although Gibbon Wakefield was the inspiring genius of the colonising, schema He forced the hand of the Colonial Office, and saved these is'ands fi om becoming a French possession. How narrowly Ne* Zealand escaped passing under the French flag is a well known matter of history. A French .company was actually forme-l, | and the fitst immigrants eent out, and but for the alertness of Govsrnw Hob son we would have been fcres'albd by the French in the South Island. In 1837, Mr. Reeves siys, "there were . perhaps, 2000 and 65,000 Maoris and half-castas in the arcliipeligo," A

rourtn or fcfce natives ware baptised Christians, and many more were under Ohristianieiog influences. " Th ;y lived in little villages dotted along the sen coast and by lakes and rivers. Half the count'y was covored by dense forests, and of the remainder an empty wilderness. . . , In 1901 [New Zealand is peop'ed by 810,000 i human being... There are about 37,000 Maoris, 5000 or 6000 half- | castes, and perhaps 3000 Chinese ; the I res: aro white?, nearly half British | d< scent, and mpstly bora in the country. Tho external trade last year was between £23,000,000 and £24,000.000. By ajniitsioii of all concerned, the colony is at least &b prosperous now as I

at any momentum itsjhistory.'-'JiAgaiiQ,! he Biys, "To-day the flocVs of New Zealand number neatly 20,000,000, her catfc'e a million and si-quarter, lin ! I'owes 300,000. New Zealand thoroughbreds have,won races in the o!d country, her frozen mutton has givfn a new meaning to the word Cani-f i-huvy, her butter almost riva's Denmark's in English shops, her cheese has as good a name in Loadoa as that of Canada, her oats are eagerly purchas-'d by th War Office for shipment to South Africa, her coal is sought for use in the Na?y." In conclusion, Mr. Reeves says, " Such, in a few words, is wlnt Quren Victoria's reign has done in New Zealand. Libfwl and* honourable treatment by the Mother Cotui'ry, fiw play for the entrgy and adaptive poww of our racp, have been the main causes of the brilliant and solid result;,"