Manawatu Evening Standard Circulation, 3,500 Copies Daily. MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1908. THE PUBLIC'S SHORT MEMORY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8541, 23 March 1908, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard Circulation, 3,500 Copies Daily. MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1908. THE PUBLIC'S SHORT MEMORY.

" The iniquity of Oblivion blindly scattereth her Poppy," wrote Sir Thomas Browne more than . three hundred years ago, and the truth of the sentence is yet being illustrated to us. It would be no exacting task to recall many men who have given the best that was in them rof their countrymen's good, have passed away and been forgotten by the next generation. Indeed, we might say that this is the common fate of colonial statesmen and public men. It is not yet two years since " to the sound of a nation's lamentations " the late Mr Seddon was borne to his last resting place, and—so short is the public memory—"one never, hears his name mentioned now," is a frequent comment. And there is still another instance. Less than six months ago as great a man in science as Mr Seddon was in politics died, and it is with the utmost difficulty that funds are being obtained to establish a small ; memorial of him. - We refer to Sir James Hector, who laboured so strenuously amongst us for a quarter of a century. Barely £200 has been subscribed to endow a scholarship by which this veteran scientist's memory may be kept green. And yet he was a. man whose exploits in the world of science were known in many countries besides that which he honoured by adopting as his own. A Masterton resident, for instance, has been travelling in America, and he sends along to the local paper the following paragraph about his journey over the Rocky Mountains:—"A little further on, at an elevation of

5200 feet, we passed a small station, known as Hector. To New Zealanders this place should have a peculiar interest. About thirty yards frbnvtneline stands a monument to the late Sir James Hector, -erected by the Canadians/in consideration of the services rendered by that gentleman, who as the geologist in connection with the Palliser exploration party, not onlv made valuable scientific researches in the Rockies, between the years 1857 and 1860, but was the discoverer of the famous " Kicking-horse Pass," whereby a way was.found through the hitherto impenetrable mountains, and along which the Canadian-Pacific Railway now runs to the Pacific." And to honour this man's memory New Zealand cannot raise £200> It is not a pleasant thing to have to say, and yet it is the truth. Perhaps the known lack of reverence that is a trait of colonial character is the root of the public forgetfulness. Whether that is so or not, the existence of the position we have alluded to is ever to be regretted.