THE GOVERNOR'S DINNER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13324, 2 November 1906, Page 6

THE GOVERNOR'S DINNER.

SPEECH BY SIR JOHN .GORST. ART AND EDUCATION. A dinner was given to oversea representatives and Commissioner? by His Excellency, at Freeman's rooms, this evening. Sir John Gorsl, in responding to the toast of the Exhibition, proposed by the Premier, said that lie returned thanks for the toast with all the greater pleasure because the British Government, which lie had the honour to represent, was one of the largest contributors to the Exhibition. What measure of success the British court might achieve it- would be for public opinion to determine when the public had visited the Exhibition. He could claim, at least, that the motives which had actuated til..' British Government in sending its contribution had been strong sympathy with the aspirations of the colony, and a sincere desire to promote the success .of the undertaking upon which the colony had embarked. In the first place, the British Government had sent illustrations of the progress of art in the Mother Country and of the application that was now being made in the Mother Country of that art to the process of manufacture. He did not know of anything that could be more useful to study in a young country like New Zealand, because the progress of

those in New Zealand. They, were far in advance of any children produced in London or in any of the great cities of the United Kingdom. If these children were trained, riot only to be healthy, but also to be wise, they would produce a future- race, of New Zealanders which might challenge comparison with any race in the world. There was another point to which he would like to call attention. He could not give a lecture on the British court, but he could call the attention of those who visited the Exhibition to a series of photographs, contributed by Sir Benjamin Stone. They illustrated the customsthe quaint original customs —of every part of the old Mother Country, and they would give the people of New Zealand some idea of the variety of qualifications which go to form the nation of the United Kingdom. New Zealanders inherited all those qualifications. They had the enterprise and the versatility of the Englishmen : they had the dogged perseverance of the Scotchmen ; they had the generous and genial humour of the Irishmen; they had the poetry arid the song of Wales; and with those qualifications amongst them they might develop a New Zealand with an originality of its own, not a slavish imitation of anything in the Mother Country, but a race that would contribute to the greatness of the world, and would have qualifications of value to mankind. The British Government had furnished a catalogue, which explained the photographs contributed by Sir Benjamin Stone, and without that explanation they would be comparatively unintell.i-

Messrs. - Souter and Co., J. C. Allen. J. Gordon. Storey. W G. Park, Day, T. Hunter. Clark and Sons, Stone and Co.. Reynolds, Crow t her and Beal, C. C. Brunskill, Ccat'es. W. A. Graham. Sawmiliers' Association, G. J. Neal, Pearson and Co., Farmers' Freezing Company. Hutcheson, Loan and Mercantile Agency Co., Ngaruawiihia Regatta Committee, Bayly and Bollard, Te Kowhai settlers-, J. McCaw, Collins, Wilson and Co., Firth Pumice Company. Tennent. Anderson, Muscalt, Te Aroha Bacon Factory, and others. A great many of these, however, are represented by photographs. Adjoining the Waikato court is space which had been reserved for the Tauranga court, but this was not proceeded with, and the spate remains vacant. OTHER PROVINCES Most of the other provinces and districts of both islands are represented by courts in which samples of their respective products are displayed. There are, however, very few features' of a specially striking character. The raranaki court is an exception, the committee in charge of that province's court having hit upon the happy idea of preparing two large district maps, illustrative of the resources of the district. One of these maps shows at a glance the important dimensions of the dairy industry in the province, sites of the various factories and creameries being indicated by a red disc. The location of the bacon factories, sawmills, etc., is also shown by mean? of variously coloured discs. The other map illustrates the topographical features of the pro-

HOME INDUSTRIES.

The home industries section, which has been formed for the purpose of bringing together for competitive purposes specimens of the work of individuals as distinct from the work of firms and factories, comprises an interesting collection of exhibits from all parts of New Zealand, as well as from some of the Australian States. Drawings, paintings, and models of various kinds are exhibited in large numbers, many of the exhibits being the work of the various technical schools of the colony, thus showing the advance that has been made in regard to tiemore practical department of our educational system. In the architectural department there are models of buildings of various kinds, and some of these are very fine. A model of a Gothic church is a very good specimen, and in the class devoted to Maori subjects is a complete native meeting-house and a Maori war canoe. The collection, which takes up the whole of the southern gallery, is a most comprehensive one. and it would be difficult to say what is not included in the many thousand exhibits which are on view. The committee in charge of the section have aimed at making it one of the most attractive features of the Exhibition, and that they have succeeded in this is very evident from even a cursory look through its contents. THE VICTORY STALL. The Victory stall, which is in charge of Mr. E. XV. -Matthews, secretary of the British and Foreign Sailors' Society, was

Exhibition is exceedingly faithful to fact. Sir John Gorst was delighted with what had been done in this way, It recalled, he said to the chiefs who were presented to him. his early experiences of the Waikato. when the relation* between the Maori and the pakeha were not.so amicable as they are to-day. T. ; name of the pa is " Arai-te-Uru,' meaning "defence of the west." A pathetic interest attaches to ill* pa, because in all probability it is the la.st that will 'ever be constructed by Maoris- who have learned how to build by oral instructions, given by those who themselves were concerned in raising defence works against the enemies of their own race, as well as against the European. Pa building may become a lost art, and if not -lost it may undergo such changes as to entirely alter its original character and purpose. All the lines of th. pa form sharp angles, so placed as to give the defenders great advantage over the attacking force. Th! whole is surrounded by tea-tree stakes, sharpened at the top, and placed very close together. Entrance is effected over a drawbridge, which in time of trouble is drawn up, and forms a solid part- of the general scheme of defence. High posts, with carved figures surmounting them, guard the entrance. The carvings represent heros, mythical or real, and besides serving the purposes of ornament, are considered useful in scaring away the enemy. Other smaller posts are so carved so as to suggest the impalemen of the heads of fallen foes, and are designed to have the utmost moral effect upon hostile tribes. Standing in the pa is a tall monument, richly painted in Maori patterns, and resembling a canoe, end uppermost. The approach to the residential portion of the pa is made beneath a richlycarved gateway. Within the enclosure is a large runanga house, where the Rarotongans were welcomed on their arrival, and where some of them are accommodated. A pataka or food store house is placed near the gateway to the residential portion, and towering aloft on a tree, with the boughs cut off for scaling purposes, is a smaller pataka, used by the tohunga, for whom a house has been built in the pa, according to ancient custom. The arrangements of the pa conform entirely to the ancient plan, and the Maoris inhabiting it, with certain modifications rendered necessary by the changed conditions of their lives, live exactly as they used to do. It is too much to hope that they will adhere strictly to the quaint dress ef former days, so that one is not surprised to see them occasionally walking across the enclosure wearing patent leather boots, hut food will be kept in the patakas as in times past, and cooked very much as it used to be cooked in primitive fashion in hot stone ovens, or grilled on sticks. It is intended that the Maoris, of whom there are over 50 in trie pa, shall live exactly as they did of yore, always having regard to the conventions of European civilisation. The Maoris in the pa have come from the -Wangaiiui, Waikato, Arawa, and Taranaki tribes. Since their arrival their numbers have been increased by one, a boy Arawa, born in the pa. Dr. Buck, of the Public Health Department, is in charge of the pa. He exerts a most beneficent influence over his people in the pa. To them he is known as Te Rangi Hiroa. The pa was constructed under the direction of Mr. A. Hamilton, the curator of the Wellington Museum, and Mr. McGregor, of Wangamii. Crowds visited the pa this afternoon as soon as the Exhibition was opened to the public. It is' intended to give hakas and other wild native dances. The educational value of the pa is recognised to be very great, as the Maori and his customs are far less common in the South Island than in the North. - '- :