The Advocate. [Established 1888.] [PUBLISHED DAILY.] OLDEST ESTABLISHED PAPER AND GUARANTEED LARGEST CIRCULATION IN THE DISTRICT. THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1912. STRAW FOR THE HISTORIANS' BRICKS.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXIV, Issue 24, 18 April 1912, Page 4

The Advocate. [Established 1888.] [PUBLISHED DAILY.] OLDEST ESTABLISHED PAPER AND GUARANTEED LARGEST CIRCULATION IN THE DISTRICT. THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 1912. STRAW FOR THE HISTORIANS' BRICKS.

Kven tlio.se who profess to despise history are solicitous for the preservation of records of family and State. They affect to make little of the liistory of the past, but they would like the story of their own times and those of their immediate ancestors to he told to posterity. To very many people in tile colonies, history is distasteful ; for it is often the record of days in which there was little joy, of poverty, of tragedy, of folly, from which they escaped with tin; hope of bettering their condition. liut, as their prospects afterwards brighten, and as they look back'along the fewyen rs of eventful and stirring life during which their new State was being built up, and their own fortune was growing, it seems worth while to perpetuate the memory of early struggles, and of endeavours of which they feel reasonably proud ; and they won Id fain .see the records of their embryonic society, political and domestic, preserved for posterity. The father would have his son know from what small beginnings and by dint of what exertions and struggles his fortunes and •those of the, State were built up. Ifc is a commendable pride in the land of adoption of some and the birth of others, that actuates those who now desire to preserve (and ask the Government to assist them in preserving) the records of this country. The deputation that waited 011 the Minister for Internal Affairs the other day had a sympathetic reception to which

indeed the}- were entitled, and which no Goevrnmeut could deny them. Air Eld on Best voiced the sentiments of the deputation. lie was conscious that the materials at present available were very meagre; but he hoped they would, as time went on, add to the stock and in the long run establish something like a connected narrative. Dr. Cameron further suggested that tho collected records should be kept in a Dominion Museum, wliei-e tliey would be in sate keeping and available for exhibition and use. ihe .Minister, in his ropy, pointed out that the various provinces had all their individual records, and that Wellingtons request would be considered with these, and the provincial and Dominion records carefully distinguished. The Government would be no to establishing or assisting a purely provincial institution. \\ hat they did would be for the Dominion ; and tiie\ would give no pretext lor the suggestion that they bought support by local concessions. He hoped to see a Dominion IWuscum established early. Ine altitude taken up by the .Minister will commend itself to most people, and we sincerely trust the establishment oi a Dominion -Museum will be accomplished before long. It will be a work of .some diili cully in a country with Mi eh strong provincial traditions. but Ihe diilieully is not: insuperable; and the (government lias no w e.iven a strong and judicious lead ot Lie matter. Wo heartily commend the view expressed by the Tiinister as that ol the Cabinet, and we will add that what he said was as much to the point and as sound as the utterances of his col league of Defence, when approached on the compulsory clause of I the Defence Act. Especially are we concerned, too. with _\!r. i'.ussell s romarke on the nationalisation ol Art. There must be no provincial boundaries in art or literature. Tin; only Art Gallery that may claim (.overnment assistance must lu' a Dominion Gallery, if ihe Government be persistent ami consistent in this view tiirougnoul, they will do much to sweep away the last relics of provincialism, stimulate a new growth of patriotism, and attract augmented support to themse.i-

vs, as well as afford convincing proof ol' their stability, backbone, and sincerity. If is a far cry back to tho old days of the Kndea vour, when the little vessel put her nose in and out ol Now Zealand harbours—-tho days when the whalers looked in at the Hay of Islands *and ether retreats, when the white-washing Treaty of Wsutanyj was signed, and since then much stirring life has been experienced. Strong heads and hands have reared cities, ami pushed New Zealand into the i'oremost rank" among young nations. There is nothing provincial in that scene. All that is provincial is the nationality and traditions of the early, settlers. What followed on their landing hero belongs to the Dominion as a whole, and the, records of a career so chequered yet so brilliant as that of New Zen lam j must be of interest, and should be embalmed in records worth preserving.