GOOD WISHES

Greymouth Evening Star, 21 December 1934, Page 15

GOOD WISHES

The message received from the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates (Minister of Finance).reads as follows: —

“The name Hokitika will always

find a frequent and honourable place in any history of the Dominion. It has the traditions so characteristic of the West Coast, and it has a history unique among the towns and cities of New Zealand. In the early ’sixties, Hokitika was founded at a time critical in the development of this country. This was a period when the ques tion of the future of New Zealand was being anxiously" discussed: The discovery of gold gave the answer to this question. The foundations of the prosperity, not only of the West Coast and the South Island,, but of all New Zealand, were laid at this time. Had there been no gold rush, no pioneers with the spirit to win through at all costs, New Zealand’s development would have been sadly retarded.

“It was not only the existence of gold which helped in the early building up of our nation; it was more the human element, evident in the hardihood displayed by those men and women who first ventured into the fastnesses of Westland. Some of these 1 people are with us to-day. We honour them and their children. They have contributed more than most of us realise to the building up of that character which belongs distinctively to New Zealand. “It is my sincere hope that Hokitika will have a future at least equal to its eventful past.. I join in the good wishes which all Nevz Zealand extends on the occasion of Hokitika’s Jubilee.”