A DIAMOND JUBILEE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 7, 9 January 1915, Page 6

A DIAMOND JUBILEE

publication has been suspended till funds are available for another venture. This is a, keen disappointment after all the efforts to move the more thoughtful citizens to have an intelligent regard for the past. "Act, act in the living present," wrote the poet, who also exclaimed, in a, moment of thoughtlessness :—": — " Let the dead past bury its dead." This ds an impossible task. Some of the ardent Futurists hope to spurn and trample on the past, but so far tho Futurists' principal feat has bean in making themselves supremely ridiculous. The dead survive in the living j the past repeats itself in the present. Individuals, cities, countries, Empires, strengthen themselves when they survey the past carefully, drawing inspiration from great deeds and wisdom from all events. Neglect of history is a misfortune to an individual and costly folly to a c% or State. This year's celebration provides an opportunity for reference to the fund which was a legacy from the Golden Jubilee, for historical purposes. The money was intended for the Acquisition of pictures, documents, and other souvenirs of early settlement. The fund was put in trust — and was forgotten. It lay idle for over twenty years till The Post discovered it, by the aid of a Wellington citizen. The City Council has obtained control of the money— a few hundred pounds — but we are not aware of any energetic administration of tho fnnd. Men in public positions here have been remarkably indifferent to the -collection and preservation of records connected with the settlement of Wellington and the country at large. A few private -citizens have done excellent work, usually at their own expense, but they have covered only a portion of the ground. This is not a subject which comes into the hurlyburly of popular politics. It is not an issue in a local or general election — and therefore, like many another national matter of far-reaching importance, it is swept aside by the rush of vote-catching things. The Post hopes heartily that one good result of the Diamond Jubilee will be a weU-deaerved encouragement of the Early Settlers' Association to achieve ite ideals in the collection and classification of historical materials.

Earnest , men and women are working to ensure a spirited honouring of Wellington's seventy-fifth birthday, on 22nd January. The time is short for preparations, but there is a busy combine in the field, and the public can look for a memorable spectacle. Three associations — the Early Settlers, the New Zealand Natives, and the West Coasters — have joined forces, and strong committees have been appointed. When this enterprise was mooted in the early part of last yeap it was hoped to have a great festival, but the war caused a disturbance of plans. A less ambitious programme has been arranged, but enough will be done to give the people very pleasant reminders of the old times. It is not easy to arouse the population of the capital in that matter. Wellington has a very large proportion' of people who were bom elsewhere — and numbers of the old families do not readily respond to appeals for a worthy recognition of the pioneers' work. The Early Settlers' Association published a journal in the hope that this magazine would serve a double good purpose — by drawing attention to notable events of he old times and by securing a permalent record of certain matters which therwiee might be doomed to oblivion.