EARLY DAY RECORDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18295, 11 January 1923, Page 9

EARLY DAY RECORDS.

PROVINCIAL DOCUMENTS. RECOVERY IN RUBBISH HEAP PLEA FOR PRESERVATION. Several documents that formerly belonged to the correspondence and record files of the Auckland Provincial Council were shown to a Herald representative yesterday by a resident of Parneli, into whose possession they had como in a most casual way. Their holder said that at the trine of the demolition of New Zealand's original Parliament Building in Eden Street, at the back of the Supreme Court, he happened to be strolling'in the vicinity, and found a large number of papers littering tho side of the roadway. Apparently, the old fire room of the Provincial Council, or whatever passed as its equivalent, lad just been dismantled, and it appeared to him that its contents had been disposed of in an indiscriminate stack, and treated as rubbish. At any rate, .they had been dumped in a heap, seemingly abandoned, and a portion of them had been scattered to the winds. Others besides himself idly picked up sundry papers that were lying about, and nobody seemed to care. Certainly iiobody hindered them, neither did anybody seem to be in the least concerned as to whau became of the miscellaneous bundles and scraps of old records that disfigured the landscape. And yet, from an examination of the papers held by this one individual, it would'seem that these old records would be of substantial value to the his-, torianw-ho will some day make investigations into the details of the colonial life of the early days. Immigration of 60 Years Ago. Two of the papers in question are reports to the superintendent of the province from Alexander F. Bidgway, who was at the time immigration agent to the province in England. The first, dated London, July 21, 1856, and addressed to "His Honor, J. Logan Campbell, Esq., Superintendent of the Province, of Auckland, New Zealand," contains some details as to the arrangements made in regard to the financing of the immigration fund. Also, it affords a sidelight into the early lire prevention arrangements of the city, by informing the superintendent that (< a discharge pipe for the fire engine and such .materials for the Water Work Company as can be got ready, shall be sent by the Chapman," an immigrant, vessel that was just being despatched. Document No. 2, which, like the other, is written on foolscap, in a, punctiliously precise hand, is dated June 11, 185S, .and minuted as being in. the Auckland office on August 28. It tells'.of "various intending immigrants, who, for reasons given, ' were unable to make the trans-ocean voyage, or, as the agent puts it, " de- > dined the' boon offered them," and be states his intention to "continue to endeavour to overcome their scruples." I Wages of Land Workers in England. Further, the agent gives particulars of a visit he had paid to Pembrokeshire, j where he "found a great desire on the ! part of very many mechanics, farm ser- ( vants, and many other people, to emigrate, ! and only regretted my total inability to j aid them." Wages in the district are shown to have been extremely low. Woman farm-servants were getting from £3 to £5 a. year, while maid-servants in town 3 had from that rate to about £6 per 'annum. The best—the 'word is underlinedfarming men, those having charge of.teams, and ploughmen, received 12 to 13 shillings per week, without any other advantages, and mechanics' wages were equally low. Small wonder that people ;;o circumstanced should desire to seek the paradise of independence -in-the colonies. Some of them expressed their willingness that " several should be bound together to, repay out of their wages in the colony the'' expenses' incurred on their account for outfit and passage money." The agent refers to new regulations which had been passed by the Provincial Government, but had not yet reached him, under which a colonial employer could pay the expenses of men or women coining out to work for him, apparently taking a lien over their earnings to reimburse him for his expenditure. " If any parties in the colony,", he concludes, "will depute to me and my sons the selection of labourers, and _to make special Contracts with them, we shall be happy to do to, or to do thing else we can to advance the colonisation of the province of Auckland." Auckland's Early Police, Yet another sheet picked up by the same citizen is the pay abstract and acquittance roll of the "Armed Police" of Auckland for the period from August 26 to September 1, 1860. The force of this time consisted of 28 constables—or "privates," as the record calls them—-two corporals, two sergeants, a sergeant-major, and an inspector. Mr. 0 James Nnughtoii was the inspector, and his-immediate successors in rank were Sergeant-Major Henry Syms, and Sergeants William Evers and James Foster, The pay of a constable in 1860 was not munificentss 6d per day_; while the corporals received 6s, the sergeants 6s 7d, and the sergeant-major 9s 7d. . It is also stated that the personal records Of the late Sir Maurice O'Borke have also been to a large extent scattered. One of the mourners who attended his funeral states that on the day of tho burial there were loose papers lying about the grounds, apparently uncared for. At some distancerfrom .th'eliou'sc he picked up a legal-looking document which he has still in his possession, and which proved to be the engrossed .articles under which a gentleman who was in later years a wellknown solicitor in the city learned the minutiae of law practice in Sir Maurice's office. It would be very interesting to know what became of the rest of Sir Maurice's literary remains, for a man who was for a generation foremost in first the provincial legislature and then the General Assembly, must have accumulated documents which would be invaluable to the historian and the writer on the social evolution. One is also prompted to inquire what has become of the documentary collections of other old-time worthies. • What of the papers of for instance, Sir John Logan Campbell, Sir Frederick Whitaker,' " Mr. John Williamson, Mr. T. B. Gillies, Mr. Robert Graham ?—to mention only a few who were prominent in local "arid colonial government in the early days. Suggested Reclamation. In view of the literary value of the materials which must certainly be contained in both the provincial files arid Sir Maurice's papers, it has been suggested that it would be worth while to make an effort to recover those that have passed into private hands. A number of people in Parneli are stated to have gathered up documents from the provincial rubbishheap, which can have no value to them.for other than souvenir purposes, and which they would probably surrender if a movement were made to secure them, for the benefit of posterity. What is suggested is that the authorities 61. the Old Colonists' Museum should invite the sending of such documents to some public place, where they could be, sorted "and those that are of sufficient : interest preserved for the use of the historian o." the future. Perhaps t v e idea may be acted upon..