DISCOVERY OF N.Z.

Grey River Argus, 10 December 1942, Page 6

DISCOVERY OF N.Z.

BY ABEL TASMAN Tercentenary Celebrations NETHERLANDS DELEGATION AT WELLINGTON P.A. WELLINGTON, Dec. 9. A civic reception was to-day tendered to the four members of the Netherlands Delegation who are visiting New Zealand in connection with the Tasman tercentenary celebrations. The Mayor, Mr Hislop, said that still further association must mark the future, so that after the war, seeds now being sown by all lovers of freedom might fructify into a better, freer world. Hon. D. Sullivan represented the Prime Minister. He expressed New Zealand’s grateful thanks for the magnificent Netherlands gift of the wonderful hospital ship “Oranje,” and said that the indomitable' courage of the people of the Netherlands throughout the centuries had given the sons and descendants of that nation a character which had bred such great men as General Smuts and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Doctor Charles O. Von Der Plas,

replying, on behalf of the delegation which included Major General L. P, Van Temmen, Lieutenant Commander H. V. Quispel and Mr J. Van Holst Pellekaan, said that New Zealand and the Netherlands were not only comrades in arms in a war of principle, but also because they felt that, when peace came, they had a common task in building a world free from want and fear. TASMANIAN FELICITATIONS P.A. _ WELLINGTON, Dec. 9. Replying to his cablegram of congratulation on the tercentenary of Tasmania, the Governor-General, Sir C. Newall, has received a cable from the Governor of Tasmania, wishing the similar functions in New Zealand every success. DELEGATES MEET GOVERNOR P.A. WELLINGTON. Dec. 9. Dr C. O. Van Der Plas and Major General L. P. Temmen arrived at Government House this morning. Later His Excellency the GovernorGeneral received Mr J. Van Holst Bellexaan and Lieut. Commander H. . /. Quispel at Government House. STATE LUNCHEON HELD BOND BETWEEN PEOPLES STRESSED. P.A WELLINGTON. Dec. 9. lhe unity of»high ideal and purpose, the same courageous colonising) spirit, and the same innate love of freedom motivating both people in the days of the great ocean navigators, just as thev were now, were characteristics of the Netherlands and British people emphasised at the State luncheon held in Parliament

Buildings, when the Netherlands delegation to the Tasman Tercentennial celebrations were the guests of the new Zealand Government The Prime Minister was unable to attend, because of an indisposition The Deputy-Prime Minister (Hon. D. G. Sullivan) said it was a great delight to all New Zealand people to have a visit from the delegation. As the large assembly at the gathering testified, there was an historical bond of unity between the two countries and two peoples. The birth of the European nation of the south came in the first instance from the mind, heart, genius, and courage of two great men. Abel Tasman and Captain Cook, who were immortalised in manv name olaces there. The two men, alike in their courageous seamanship, were also alike in that they haid the common heritage of ideals of freedom and resistance to tyranny which had ever characterised the Netherlands, as they had the people- of the British Isles and the Dominions. It would appear that they had breathed the spirit of their respective nations into the land they had discovered. Dr. Van der Plas said that the members of the delegation were deeply impressed by the feelings expressed. There was a great deal 'in common, he said, 'between the Netherlands and New Zealand. The traditions of the sea bound not only the peonies of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. but the Indonesians and their cousins, the Polynesians both of whom had come from distant islands. If their origin bound them, so did! their ideals in even higher degree. I A large framed copy of a chart of ! New Zealand made by Tasman’s chief pilot and geographer. Francois Jacobszoon Visscher, in 1642, wasi

I presented to the New Zealand Government by Dr. Van der Plas, Mr. Sullivan expressing New Zealand’s appreciation of the gift. MEMORIAL PARK AT TASM'AN BAY. WELLINGTON, Dec. 9. The newly designated Abel Tasman Memorial Par]-: at Tasman Bay, will be officially opened on December 19, by the Governor-General (Sir Cyril Newall). The first steps for tne constitution of a park in connection with the Tasman Tercentennial celebrations were taken this morning, when an Order in Council, authorising the setting aside of an area as ; a park, was made It was announced , at the State luncheon in honour of , the visiting Netherlands delegation that Queen Wilhelmina, of the Netherlands had consented to accept the position of Patroness of the Tasman Memorial Park. WESTLAND CELEBRATIONS. |

To-morrow evening Hokitika will inaugurate the West Coast celebration of the tercentenary of the discovery of New Zealand by Abel Janszoon Tasman, whose expedition came first into sight of the country off the West Coast in the vicinity of Okarito, where an obelisk is later being unveiled. Owing to interruption of road traffic through washouts at the Big Wanganui River bridge alterations are necessary in the celebration in | South Westland. The Netherlands representatives will arrive at Floki■tika to-morrow, and will be given a civic welcome in the evening. There will be a public assembly on Saturday, when addresses will be given by tne Prime Minister (Mr. Fraser), the Hon. W. E. Parry, Mr. Charles Van der Plas, and others. An official t party will travel by air to Okarito

\ and Waiho on Sunday, returning on Monday and stopping at Ross for a i reception there. The public reception to-morrow at Hokitika will be held at 8 p.m. in the Soldiers’ Hall. The Mayor of Hokitika 1 , Mr. A. R. Elcock. will preside. Other speakers will include the County Chairman, Mr. T. P. O’Neil, Mr. Chas. Van der Plas, representative of the Netherlands. On Saturday afternoon a commemoration will be held in Hokitika, and ’the principal speakers will be the Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. P. Fraser, Hon. W. E. Parry, and Mr. Van der Plas. This commemoration will take place in the ; Soldiers’ Hall at 2 p.m. Sewell Street will be closed to traffic between 2 and 4 p.m. The County Chairman. Mr. T. P. O’Neil will preside. Pion J. O’Brien, Minister of Transport and Marine, will be one of the speakers. On Saturday morning the party will : visit the Boer War Memorial and the Grdat War Memorial, and wreaths I will be laid on the memorials by the 1 visitors. It is also hoped to arrange < a trip to Lake Kanieri. The Nether- - lands National Anthem will be played I at the functions as well as the British I National Anthem. The Women's t Service Auxiliary have undertaken j the catering arrangements. The party, r who will travel bv air to the Franz £ Josef Glacier will attend a com,- t memoration service at the Waino j • Gorge Anglican Church on Sunday, . and will return by air on Monday . morning. They will then motor to Ross, where they will be the guests of the Ross Borough Council at o luncheon. On their return from t Ross they will visit the Rimu Flat I dredge, and will be conducted over t it by the officials of the company. The f partv will later proceed o n to Grey- ]\ mouth. ' A

NETHERLANDS DELEGATES THEIR PERSONAL HISTORY. The head of the Netherlands delegation arriving on the West Coast to morrow, Dr. Charles O. van der Plas, graduated from Leiden University in 1911, after which he entered the Civil Service of the Netherlands Indies. Between 1918 and 1921 he took special studies at Leiden University in Arabic and Islam. From 1921 to 1926 he was Netherlands-Consul at Jeddah, Arabia, looking after the interests of Indonesian pilgrims to Mecca. During this period he was sent on diplomatic missions to London and Ethiopia. In Ethiopia he concluded a treaty with the present Emperor. He was a member of the Netherlands delegation to the Health Conference at Paris in 1926. Returned to Java in 1927 and became Acting-Adviser to the Gover-nor-General on Indonesian and Mohammedan affairs. Was instructed to investigate the state of autonomous Indonesian units and their political developments. After having been Assistant Resident of Blitar he became Resident of Cheribon in 1932. From 1936 until 1941 he was Governor of the Province of East Java. In the latter year he a member of the Council of the Netherlands indies, a body of usually not more |

than five members, acting as adviser; to the Governor-General. Dr. van der Plas speaks ten languages, including a number of Indonesian and other Eastern languages He has a great knowledge of the culture and common law of the Indonesians and also of Islam. For many years he has been the spokesman of the Indonesians, who consider him as one of their leaders, while he is also one of the greatest authorities on colonial problems generally and more particularly those of the Netherlands Indies. Just before the fall of Java, Dr. van der Plas, together with a number of other officials, was ordered by the Governor-General to leave the country so as to carry on outside occupied territory and thus form a nucleus of administrators for the reconstruction of the country after the war. After al stay of a few weeks in Australia, Dr. van der Plas travelled to London via the United States and while in England was appointed member of a special advisory council to the Minister of the Colonies and also Chairman (Chief Commissioner) of the Netherlands .Indies Commission for Australia and New Zealand at Melbourne, in which func* tion he is to replace the origina. chairman, Dr. J. E. van Hoogstraten, who will go to London after his dutiet

have been taken over by Dr. van dei Plas. While in the United States,, or his way to England and on his return to Australia, statements made and ectures given by Dr. van der Plas vere extensively reported in the American press. \ Mr J. van Holst Pellekaan, born in L 899, Secretary and member (Comnissioner) of the Netherlands Indies Commission for Australia and New Zealand at Melbourne, was already in Australia as Trade Commissioner for he Netherlands Indies and ViceChairman of the Netherlands Indies Purchasing Commission when the war vith Japan broke out. Mr van Holst Pellekaan is a well-known personality a the Netherlands Indies, where he ommenced his career,as an artillery

officer, later to become Secretary of thp Agricultural Producers’ Organisation in the Indies. In 1936 Mr van Holst Pellekaan was offered the position of Trade Commissioner for the Netherlands Indies in Australia and, after spending a period in the Department of Economic Affairs at Batavia, he assumed his new duties at Sydney in 1937. Major-General I. P. van Temmen, of the Royal Netherlands Indies Army, was born at Batavia in 1884. Educated in Holland, he comes from a military family. In 1907 he went to the Indies as an artillerv officer. He took part in Timor Expedition in 1911 and many other expeditions. During the last war he commanded an artillery battery in the Netherlands. On his return to the Indies he became Commander of the Java Remount Depot. He was a prominent amateur horseman for 25 years (hurdles and fences) and for two years was President of the Java Racing Association. From 1924 to 1926 he was attached to the N.E.I. War Department, after which he was again on active service until 1941. When the war with Japan broke out he was sent to China as Chief of a Military Mission from the Indies, and was later appointed Military Attache at Chungking, which function he held until very recently. Major-General van Temmen, when a

Major and later a Lieutenant-Colonel, frequently visited Australia as head

of a Netherlands Indies Army Commission for the purchase of remounts.

On one of these occasions he was accompanied by his wife who paid an extensive visit to> New Zealand while

her husband was busy in. Australia. Lieutenant-Commander H. V. Quispel, of the Royal Netherlands Naw was born in the Netherlands in 1906

He already spent many years in the Indies during his youth. He was

commissioned in the Royal Nether

lands Naw in 1927 and henceforth made repeated visits to the Indies

where, in 1935, he became Director of the Bureau of Naval Recruiting at the Navy Department, Batavia. In 1938 he became Director or the Infor-

mation Branch of the Navy Department and in this capacity acted as Spokesman of the . Commander-in-

Chief. He left for Colombo in March 1942 with Vice-Admiral Helfrich and from there travelled to Australia to take up his present position as Head of the Netherlands Indies Government Information Service at Melbourne. Lieut.-Commander Quispel has done much publicity work, particulariv on maritime' matters. In the Netherlands, he played an important c ? T as a l ea, 3 er of the national league of Netherlands youth.