THE GRIGG MEMORIAL.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 12377, 16 December 1905, Page 8

THE GRIGG MEMORIAL.

The etatue of the l»te Mr which is to be unveiled m.% ib-day, must be aa almost! f%< ? mortal. For Mr Origg, who prttaW'J during the ■ latter iwrct of j| enjoyed • colonial reputation;; ;J3| at no time . in hm ■ career pablio man. He took hi* ahare '» *!jj work of local eoTeromefl'* but that the extent of hie public titki to fame jests upon, hi* sptwdf work as a pioneor colonist , «W I*| courageous ent«rpriee he showed J* teblialiing upon it* present Now Zealand's fresoa <mca4 r>U 4SI

i'~ If ti» ninn who makes two blades of i' grow where only one grew is a •" bo«>f actor to hlii countr y» wimt can ont> "' jbljJo J° nn G"B£. n 'k° converted an ' '' "impenetrable bog" into "the finest farm '* in the world," and helped largely by T h» own personal exertions to lay the * / foundation of this colony's present pros-

■ XJferity? Not much more than twenty *ear> ago he stood almost alone *- m his attempt to piece New Zealand frozen mutton on rhe London market, end he had already lost thousands of , ' pounds in the task when Mr Seddon, • with niuoh less than liis usual intuition,

'lifted up his voice in Parliament against Iho export of meat from the colony. New Zealand was fortunate in its pioneers, but there is rather a tendency nowadays to overlook the sterling character of their work, to forget tho toil, the hardships, and the losses they experienced in "breaking the way for the r<«t." Even « in Canterbury a generation is growing up to whom tho name of John Griftg jnay moan no more than that it was the name of tho owner of Longbeach. In honouring has memory by erecting a statue of him in the midst of tho town, Asbburton people are not only ensuring th* perpetual commemoration of a grand old pioneer and his work, but they are s totting an admirable example to other parts of the colony.