The Daily News. FRIDAY, MAY 7. TO-DAY'S CEREMONY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 86, 7 May 1909, Page 2

The Daily News. FRIDAY, MAY 7. TO-DAY'S CEREMONY.

It is to be hoped that the elements will have been propitiated before this afternoon's official ceremony of unveiliii" the Marsland Hill memorial by bis Ex°j cellency the Governor eventuates. New Plymouth's (and Taranaki's) chequered | career once earned the commiseration , and sympathy of the then more fortnI nate parts of the Dominion; to-day the rest, of New Zealand should-envy Taranaki and Xew Plymouth (heir honorable traditions and noble heritage. Hereditary honor, are a noble and a splendid] treasure to descendants, and we hope | the people of Taranaki appreciate to-day ( the magnificent achievements inseparably associated with tli L . successful es ( tiilblishment of their favored province. I Truly it lias been said that "War disorganises, but it is to reorganise." No part of New Zealand Buffered more disastrously than Taranaki through the Mauri wars, but none to-day can show, acr c for acre and unit for unit, a

greater measure of prosperity. Xo purpose can be served now by delving into the causes which contributed to the outbreak «f hostilities between the pakeha and the .Maori in Taranaki. Sufficient for us to know that at the first intimation of danger the settlers of Taranaki rushed to arms in defence of their homes and families. But it should never be forgotten that without the aid of British soldiers' and sailors, the armed settlers in Xew Zealand could not have resisted, with ultimate success, the death-searching bullets and tomahawks of the exultant Maoris. To-day's ceremony is unique, we bcliev"; ill Xew Zealand in its acknowledgement of the splendid assistance rendered Xew Zealand by the British Army and .Y„y. The monument is not local, not even national, but of Imperial significance. The Maori war memorial is therefore one of deeper than local significance, and it is lilting that its official unveiling should be performed by the representative of the King. Its value as a thing of beauty and ail adornment to the town is of but secondary importance to its perpetual reminder of what the people of Taranaki owe to the j settlers who laid the foundation of our prosperity will, their lives. To those whose enthusiasm in forwardiii" the movement has been the mean,' of securing tin., erection while numbers of those who took part i u the (vara of Xew Zealand are still with us a special tribute is due. and, whil c disagreeing with their action over a iuattcr°of detail, we sincerely trust the blackguardly threat uttered in an anonymous letter to the Mayor a day or two ago will never be perpetrated to the discredit of New Plymouth.