THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1891.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8530, 2 April 1891, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, APRIL 2, 1891.

The colonists of Taranaki are now celebrating the jubilee of their settlement and we may, on behalf of the colonists of Auckland, wish them an enjoyable event, and that the fondest anticipations they may indulge in for the prosperity of their beloved province may be fully realised. Taranaki and Auckland have always regarded each other as sisters. They have experienced together the vicissitudes of the colony, and they have been associated in regard to native troubles, which make up so much of their histories. Happily for Auckland, these did not fall upon us with such crushing effect i as upon our sister province, from which it seemed at one time as if twenty years of colonisation would be blotted out. From the foundation of Taranaki, it was seen that it would be of great advantage to both provinces if they could be connected through the interior. The native difficulty was not then considered to be the formidable obstacle to progress which it subsequently turned out to be, and it was thought that if a line of travel could be opened between Auckland and Taranaki, it would lead to the virtual settlement of the extensive and fertile country between. Some thirty or forty years ago, when Mr. John Williamson , was Superintendent of Auckland Province, and Mr. Charles Brown Superintendent of Taranaki, an overland mail was established and kept up for some time. But alas ! this, with many other good projects, came to grief as the war approached.

The Plymouth Company, established for the purpose of colonising inN^wZealand, was formed at a public meeting held in the town of Plymouth, on the 25th of January, 1840, and those who took a part in it were mostly from Devonshire and the neighbouring counties of the West of England, a good, honest, industrious, hospitable stock. With all the discouragements and afflictions that came upon them, most of the early settlers stuck to the part of New Zealand which they had chosen for their homes, and as there has not been much of an infusion of foreign elements, one can see in the present Taranaki settlers the excellent qualities of the pioneers.

A jubilee celebration in the colonies consists mainly of a glorification of the progress that has been made in fifty years. It is shown that in that space of time, which a yet active man's recollection may carry him over, a city has been built on a site which was a wilderness, and that golden harvests are yielded by land which at the ; beginning of the period was covered by "the forest primeval." But Taranaki must confess that the hopes of the early settlers have not been realised. For some years after the foundation of the settlement everything went smoothly. But then came native wars, and finally the fatal occupation of Waitara turned all those turbulent native tribes against us. The whole of the settlers of the province were cooped up in an area of a few hundred acres, and at last the women and children were sent to Nelson, and the Taranaki settlement was but • a barracks on Marsland Hill. Not a few of the early settlers were killed in action, or were shot by marauding natives on their homesteads. And when the war had passed away, the extension of European occupation was greatly hindered by the difficulties of native title. If the Taranaki settlers cannot boast of the wonderful progress they have made since the first settlers landed on March 30, 1841, they can claim to have shown that they were made of heroic stuff, have endured many trials, and have exhibited courage in meeting the enemy in the field. They may now with confidence look to the future. Taranaki has in it a larger proportion of good land than any other province in New Zealand. It is now connected by rail with Wellington, while year by year the area under cultivation is greatly extended. Unfortunately, the harbour works have been a disappointment, and it does not seem probable that New Plymouth will ever achieve the distinction of being a port of foreign export. But "the garden of New Zealand ' will assert itself. In a few years settlement will have made progress into the interior, and Taranaki will be connected with Auckland by rail. Prosperous townships are now in existence where only a few years ago it was thought dangerous to attempt to penetrate with an army. Where General Chute executed his famous march through the bush a railway now runs, and the land is reckoned amongst the most valuable areas in the colony. It was fated that the first generation of the Taranaki settlers should almost all have passed away before the province could really commence to build on a substantial foundation. Younger men have now entered into the labours of the pioneers. But of the first men their successors may be proud, and it is fitting that they should receive all honour at this time of jubilee.

not receive _ the degrees. In the ease of, for ' instance, Miss - Fawcett, who in the University lists appeared as "above the senior wrangler," but who, not being a male, could not be teamed the senior wrangler, Professor Aid is asked, that the University of New Zealand .should admit her to a degree. The following answer to the formal application has come to hand :—University of New Zealand, ; Wellington, March 23, 1891. Sir, —I have the honour to inform you that the Senate, at its late session, considered your letter of the 12th February, asking that provision should be made by the University for the admission to its degrees, without-further examination, of women who had passed, from Girton and Newnham Colleges, the examination of the University of Cambridge. The Senate, after consideration, resolved that, as the University has no power to grant degrees other than ad eundem. or after its own examinations, the application contained in your letter could not be entertained. —I have,.etc., W. M. Maskell, Registrar. Professor Aldis, M.A., Auckland." The members, of the Senate consider that the wording of their statute prevents them from admitting any except those who have actually had the degrees conferred upon them in England, and does not permit them to recognise the simple passing of examinations. It will now be for those who favour the movement, and who believe that in such cases as those of Miss Ramsay and Miss Fawcett, the University of New Zealand would have, been honoured by conferring the title which Cambridge refused, to take means to alter the statute in this particular.