ESTABLISHED 1866. THE Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1912. THE CAPTAIN COOK MONU MENTS.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 119, 17 May 1912, Page 4

ESTABLISHED 1866. THE Marlborough Express PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. FRIDAY, MAY 17, 1912. THE CAPTAIN COOK MONU MENTS.

.When the worthy object of marking for all tim&; tlfe storied footsteps ct' Captain Cook inyQaeen. CharlouW. Sound was initiated it was confiiwclto the modest proposition, of erecting a cairn in Ship Cove at a cost of..aomt».. £200. As' the movement progressed its interest widened1 out beyond Marlborough, ■ and . eventually as sumed! national prroportion's, with thf result that the Memorial Committee are now making arrangements for: V>i> construction of a large, monument on Motuara Island, .where' it WjiU como within the rang© of vision of shipping passing througji the Strait; and the placing of,-: /a. : smaller form '>* memonial bn the mainland. It was on the island,' in all probability, that Cook proclsimoi the British sovereignty o\er the South Island, and th© beach of tho Cove was ie peatedly the terra firma of ohe famous circumnavigator and his crews after their long and perilous voyage A utilitarian purpose, it is srfgested, could be added to the sca'imental.character of th© main sti'i*ture by placing n permanent ii^ht on the summit for the benefit of shipping. Now that tlie accomplishme'it. of the memorial movement is in sight, there is.,some pertinerice in asking i-o what extent the object lias been assisted by the 1- Marlborough people To be quite candid, the leply is 7C y disappointing. The direct local contribution, is but a small proportio'.i )f 1 the £700, or thereabouts, that is >'-z 1 present available. Certainly it do-i(----i not amount to £100. The funJ i« j made up for tlio most pvjrt of moneys raised by Mr R. MeNab's lectiuo? in various parts of New Zealand, H The Express 'More Men Fund, and by the Government £ for £ .subsUy The desirableness of permanently indicating the', historic giound whicn gives such a peculiar interest to the Sounds region is apparently far froT* fully realised iby the residents of tl:e district. It is regrettable that i^'ld*» of sin-rounding^' La.s , counted for so very little in ihe movement. But for the practical app'eciation that Kris been tendered from outside Mariborough, tho Government grant of £400 would virtually have gone -»-begging. Mr MeNaVs visit to Pic';o-i - to the community of which the object if only from its material poin\ of view, might Mve been expected t-> appeal with pao"tioular foree —real^pd the munificent sum of £4 10s:; and this represouls nearly tho wlio'o" cl the support afforded by the Quoon Chairlotte Sound! district! Not that the project ncecfe. any special pleid ing\ It is not a superfluous sentiment that prompts the aim of inHicat ing Cook's rendezvous, which is «no of the most'notable of^land-marks in the world's history. The moral value of a memoriil of this character, with its enduring ' tribute to true irredtness and its abiding appe il in nobility of .character, canuo* be lightly assessed, v" Tho feons and N d'augliters of the 'generation of to-day will be the richer in the revevewe and imagination that are the- handmaids of knowledge and high-mn»'leJ-ness if pi'esent jusfcic© be done to the best traditions of the race: and thfir respect for their forefathers will <-"r tainly not be the less if they find tho storied past engraven in enduring stone and mairbl©. But, de&ervi-^ though the sentimental -i.spect 's m itself, that is not all. Marlboro iijjh may expect to gam very materially from the work of emphasising Ihe historical importance of Queen Charlotte Sounrf; and this gain wo-ild be the greater as time went by. it can hardly be dieubted thiat.the esisteu^n of the proposed) monument® would largely enhance the attra«tiveno-.s of tho Sounds region as a tourist 'esort. They would attach, to the Sounds a ><lennite object of interest that would have a wide and. never-failing recorii mendiation, .land "that would figure prominently in! ,the travelling refer encesl of New Zealand. The co i n pletion of thejmemorial movement may, then, be sta*ongly a-ecommendc;l to the people of Marlborough. To take full advantage of the Government subsidy' and: bring the ways and means up to £806, it is necessary to raise another £70; and it is not too •.nucli to asji. the residents of -the district tr. provide this residlue. A Wellington civil engineer of high standing has generously iindertaken to f'tw-nidh deoigna and estimates of cost fre;i of -charge.,..an-i it .would be -pleasing 'tr. seo the Comnii-fi'tee's anticipation <f assuring him of at loast on which to form his 'pla-iis quickly realised.