Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY. APRIL 2, 1938 THOSE EARLY DAYS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 2 April 1938, Page 6

Nelson Evening Mail SATURDAY. APRIL 2, 1938 THOSE EARLY DAYS

! IN another column will be found |an account of the genesis of the I New Zealand Association, which appears to have been the forerunner of the New Zealand ComJ pany which founded the settle- j j menus of Wellington, Nelson, Wanganui, and New Plymouth. It is not proposed here to refer to the ! oft told tale of colonisation, but to a few of the less known aspects of the early settlers lives, with a; ! view to illustrating their hardihood and steadfastness. In the ( first place it must be remembered (hat they made the voyage across the oceans in small wooden vessels ' i of some 300 to 600 tons, and that they were in some instances as much as six months at sea before (reaching their destination. There ■ was nothing ready for them when they arrived no houses, no furni- | ture (except such as they brought; with them), no city, no streets, nothing but a scrub-covered expanse where their city was to , stand. When they came ashore , they must for the most part have lived in tents, or under tempor- | ary shelters hastily erected. Yet ; they throve. I his was owing to a variety of causes. They were | mostly people who were in the i heyday of life. They were willing I and able to turn their hands to almost anything. They had come to a new country in the spirit of I pioneers, and they did not expect : everything to be prepared for them. They expected to do every- 1 thing for themselves, and they made a brave attempt to act accordingly. True, they did not always succeed, but the measure > of success which attended their efforts was wonderful, as was demonstrated by their comfortable homes, their flourishing j farms, their means of communication, and general prosperity. But all this was not easy of accomplishment. For instance, there was not enough land in the Waimea and adjacent valleys for the Nelson settlers’ needs. It was decided to include part of the Wairau Valley in the scheme of settlement. It is not necessary to recapitulate the story of the Wairau tragedy and Captain Wakefield’s death, except to say that the effect of the disaster was but temporary, and the settlement of the Wairau went forward in spite of it. But those early years were lean. As yet there was no stable industry, no great frozen mutton trade, no exports of any importance. The pioneers were not only enterprising to an incredible extent, they were frugal, able to do without things which in many communities were considered necessaries of life, appreciative of the rudiments of comfort. Having to create everything for themselves, it is interesting to note the nature of the pioneers’ performance. The houses which they built were generally large, because their families were large, and timber was plentiful. There was among them a spirit of mutual assistance. It would be incorrect to say that their standard of living was high I —the virtue of doing without was widely practised but the aim : ever was to raise the standard of ! living until it approximated life 'in the Old Country. All the standards of life were taken from there. The fashions in clothing for both sexes were the English fashions. The houses, though usually of wood, were replicas of the English houses, and they were furnished in the English manner, so far as was possible. There was no attempt to break away from the English traditions of life: as people thought and acted in England, they thought and acted in ; New Zealand, which has been called the Britain of the South. ' So much for the past: but what of the future? Without entering the realm of prophecy, it may be expected that New Zealanders will continue to derive their manners and customs from England. They will not always succeed in doing so, but their success will probably be sufficient to warrant the continued use of the phrase, “Britons of the South,” in reference to them. They will continue i to look to England as their principal market. They will be likely to continue to look to England for | their standards in clothes, literature, art, and manner of living, j The scientists and technologists I are ever bringing closer together ■ the distant parts of the world. New Zealand’s separation from ; England, as well as from other i parts of the Empire, tends to grow less. Is it not likely, therefore, ! that the people of this country will continue to draw their standards in many departments of life from England?