POLYNESIAN SOCIETY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 9, 4 February 1909, Page 3

POLYNESIAN SOCIETY.

ANNUAL MEETING. Tile annual meeting of Hi,- Society was held in the library room of the .Soe.cly, Technical School, on Tuesday, night. llu're irac present—Messis. ;s. lVrcy Smith (prrs.doni, in the chair), 11. iJiiniiar Johnstone, Al. l-'raser, \\ \\ Smith, \V. H. .Skinner, J. li. Kov, J. I|' Parker, \\. L. .Newman.

A letter from ,\lr. Iverr, resign i.ig his seat oil the council, was ivivived, ill. Kerr being about to leave New Plymouth. The President submitted his annual report, which read as follows:—".In presenting its sixteenth annual report tlie council has pleasure iu congratulating members on the continued well-being of the Society. Our work has guac iy on, in the preservation of orig.iiai-

matters relating to the Polynesian race, as in lornier years. The Journal tit'.,-/ appeared with regularity at the end of each quarter; a larger than space during the last year having been devoted lo the subject of the' History and Traditions of the Taranaki Coast,' the material for which has been accumulating for the last twenty-live years, it will take smother ye'ar to complete it. -Mi. Churchill s paper on 'Samoan Phon-

etics in the Broader Sense' denotes an advance in the science of piuloiogy on original lines, the value of which will be appreciated more and more as time moves on. In last annual report (attention was drawn to the oiler made by one of our original lin-moeis lo (lunate 1100 on condition that another C4OO was raised by the Society with a view of preserving in priul severable valuable documents ill the possession of trie Society, which the limited funds at our dis-

posal did not allow of publication in the pages of the Journal. So far, the response to our invitation to aid this'fund has not been so liberal as might have been expected, liut Parliament in its last session generously contributed £IOO towards it, which, with funds received and promised, raises the fund tu over i'JGO. The council would welcome further contributions, which would enable us to make a. start on these • .Ui|inoirs,i a work that must be undertaken soon or there will be, U of its not being done at all. The council is pleased to be able to'report that our library, for tile lirst time in its existence, i.-. lodged in a jjractica'ly lire-proot build-

ing, and all tile books <i r<* now bmiiglit together and -properly arranged, so that anything wanted can be easily found. A card index or catalogue of the whole is also nearly complete. The library inci eases with rapid steps through presentations ami exchanges, and it has now become a question „f whether we should not strictly confine our exchanges to matters more especially connected with the object for which'the Society was founded. To this end a conuniUVc of the council will shortly report, ft will siot lie many years before the wall Space at our command will again lie inadequate to hold all our books if the present rate of increase continues. Jn

tiie subjects of anthropology, etimologv, -philology, geography, ete.,' our library is probably ahead of any other in the Dominion. The council regrets that it it not more frequently used; but the time will yet come when its value tfc» students will be inestimable. The library is insured for ;CSOO. Un tile subject of the new Maori dictionary, Archdeacon \V. If. Williams informs us that fair progress lias been made in the compilation on to cards of the many contributions from various sources received, and which continue to accumulate. There is yet a good deal of work to be tran-

scribed on to the cards, but Mr. Williams hopes, should his other duties permit, to commence the fair copy fur the printer during this year. None but those who have undertaken similar work are aware of the great amount of patient ami careful thought involved in the process o[ incorporating and testing contribution.-, from so many sources, and the translation of the many examples illustrative of the meanings of works and phrases. We have reason to believe this will liethe best dictionary of any ol' the Polynesian dialects. Tin, luuncil is giad to note that there seems to be a7l awaken

tog in many of the educated classes of this country to the necessity of preserving the Maori language i;i its purity. Tile N.Z. University has lately included Maori as one of the subjects for examination, which is a step in the right direction. But it is to be hoped that thifc, may some day merge into a C'liari o( Polynesian Hthnology and Philology, and that funds may be found for the endowment of research in tliose nail cognate matters. The importance of these subjects when studied from the basis is as yet hardly appreciated. Tbf liglit they will yet throw on the early history of mankind is only sit present perceived, and that but obscurely, by ;i small tail of Polynesian scholars. In the meantime our Society is prepa ri 1 i-j the way for this time by preserving all that is possible of original mutter for use in the future. Our losses by death diiriii'' the nast nerioil. so far as can

be ascertained, are limited to an old member and one of our life members Since the end of the year there died n( Auckland, on January 23, one of our original members. Mr. C. E. Nelson, who was, if not the foremost, certainly of the best Maori scholars in the Do-, minion, lie was 'not only a first-class Maori scholar, but was acquainted with Hebrew, .Sanskrit, most of the European languages, and also nearly all the dialects of Polynesia. His acquaintance with esoteric Maori knowledge was very great, but unfortunately be has—it is believed—left none of Ibis o;i record. ll«* was at all limes most ready to communicate his great knowledge to those who sought it. Mr. Nelson was the son of a Professor of Ethnology in the University of Christiania, Sweden. Tie had lived in New Zealand nearly sixty years. Ijiere were thirteen new members elecied during the year, and three resigna-

tions were received, whilst some name* were struck oil'the roll for non-payment of subscriptions. The following are tlie numbers of members at January 1. H)0!): Patron, 1; honorary members, 8; corresponding meml>er«s. 10; ordinary members. 174—total, 190. The above figure* show a decrease of one member as compared with last year. Financiailly, \v* end the year satisfactorily, inasmuch as we have a credit balance. The treasurers accounts attached show our position on December IJI, 1908. The council regrets to report that there are seventeen members in arrear with their subscriptions, and fifteen for two years or more. Most of these latter will have to be struck off the roll for non-compliance with the rules." The balance-sheet for the year ended December 31. JilOS. showed receipts amounting to £227 ISs 7d, including a balance from last year of £.12 14s (kl, grant from general Government in aid of publication of Maori dictionary C4S 14s 3d, and members' subscriptions and* sale- of journals AMGIi Ds lOd. Afti.'r meeting the expenses of thu year there remained a balance at the bank of Xl2 4a 7d, Judge H. Dunbar Johnstone moved the adoption of the annual report nnri bal-ance-sheet as read, and also that it be published in the 'next Journal of the Society. The motion was adopted.

Tile names <>t .Messrs. Coi'kiii llml Frascr were balloted out iu accordance with rule as members of the Council. Mr. S. Percy Smith, the retiring president, was re-elected on the motion of Messrs. Krascr and Dunbar .lohnstone. Tile President replied briellv, thanking tile members for their continued conlidence. .Mr. \V. VV. Smith was elected to lill llio vacancy on the council vacated; by .Mr. Kerr. Oil the motion of Messrs. Itny alndi .Skinner, .Messrs. Krascr and Corkill were h'-elccted to their seats on the council. On the motion of Mr. Parker, seconded by .Mr. Hoy. Mr. W. I). Webster wa-re-elected auditor. Mr. Stephen Savage, of liaiutonga. was elected a member of tile Society, on the mution of Messrs. Smith aud Skinner. The president explained the position re the proposed publication of the Polynesian .Memoirs, indicating what be considered should be taken iu hand at the earliest possible date. M l '. Ngata s efforts in obtaining a mo-.icy grant from! the (iocernm'ent towards the cost of publishing the Memoirs were mentioned by the president and members. It was suggested that the Government lie requested, when framing the Estimates, to place a further grant towards this object