REAL-LIFE HISTORY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LIX, Issue 145, 22 May 1939, Page 6

REAL-LIFE HISTORY.

Among the fruits of the labours attendant upon the preparation tor the Dominion’s Centennial celebrations’ none can be of more lasting value than the awakening and satisfying of a lively' interest in the record of this young- nation’s history. To plumb its depths and scale the peaks of achievement is an invigorating experience not to be denied pre-sent-day citizens, particularly the more youthful members of the community. “Show us some of the things the country started with,” pleaded a member of a deputation to the Minister of Internal Affairs during a discussion of the celebrations. It was the articulation of a latent, though none the less sincere, desire on the part of the community that deserves to be recognised. Yet, of course, the remedy in large measure lies in the keeping of the people themselves, for there are stored in the recesses of hundreds of minds rich memories, and there are still living men and women who have experienced at first hand the peculiar trials and rewards of the pioneering- days. Doubtless, too, in many a homely archive are records of the period when foundations were laid and direction' first given to the helm. The demand is for real-life history, and in a hundred years New Zealand has amassed a wealth of experience comparable with the most famous in any other part of the world. Perhaps we have lacked the facility or inclination to impart that atmosphere of glamour with which events in other nations’ histories are endowed; probably it is a result of the matter-of-fact manner in which we have modestly accomplished immense tasks and have continued with the good work without pause for approbation. Be that as it may'- —and it certainly'- seems to be the case in both New Zealaml and Australia —the present time is opportune to view in perspective the road so far traversed, to take stock, point a moral to the present generation, and, with justifiable pride, prepare to meet the guerdon of the ensuing- century. The vital, vivid island story of the achievements of New' Zealanders both Maori and pakeha—unique in world histoiy as an example of loyal co-operation—is what is sought.