NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1933. SEARCH FOR THE LOST

Northern Advocate, 19 August 1933, Page 8

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY

SATURDAY, AUGUST 19, 1933. SEARCH FOR THE LOST

Registered for transmission through the post as a Newspaper.

His Excellency the Governor(iencrnl, Lord Blcdisloe, has once more placed the people of New Zealand under a sense of indebtedness to him. He has voiced the regret felt by many that so large a quantity of Maori antiques has been allowed to leave the shores of the Dominion, and he lias declared his intention of endeavouring to retrieve examples of Maori arts and crafts. Lord Blcdisloe discussed this matter in the course of a speech which he made when opening an exhibition of antiques at Wellington yesterday. He pointed out, as the older generation will know to be an indisputable / act > tnat precious relics of Maori arts and

crafts have been poured into Britain and America,,as well as almost exery European country. •Prior to. say, half a century ago, (relies of a more grisly character were in great demand; indeed, it is not too much to say that, with in the memory of some in the North who are not yet xory old, objects which should have been regarded as sacred have gone overseas from this district. As Lord Bledisloe very forcibly comments, the result, of the Dominion's folly in allowing, until a comparatively few years ago, the unrestricted export of Maori curios, is that New Zealand has a. very poor offering to make to.overseas people, who, when they visit museums, are very disappointed at. the paucity and mediocrity of Maori exhibits. It is. of course, useless to cry over spilt milk, but it is sincerely to be hoped that J lis Excellency the GovernorGeneral, will be able to have returned to the Dominion some of the milk which is still in existence. He says that Maori relics of a high order of technical skill, and in unnecessarily large quantities, are believed to be in the British Museum in London as well as in the hands of private individuals in Britain, and he intends to make an appeal to the present | owners to do what they can to j allow New Zealand to boast pos-j session of the most complete and perfect collection of Maori art in the. world. Lord Bledisloe has set out on a noble quest, and we feel, with him, that the trustees of the British Museum will rise to the heights expected of them, even though this should require! them to assist the promotion of an Act of Parliament, which the secretary to the Museum declares would be necessary before the return of gifts could be made.