REUNION OF PIONEERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 20074, 11 October 1928, Page 10

REUNION OF PIONEERS.

The annual reunion of pioneers, at which survivors and descendants of those who arrived at Auckland by 'the earliest immigrant ships meet to renew old friendships and recall the bravo days gone by, is a function the city could ill spare. Everybody cannot go, and everybody is not entitled to be there, but the fact of the gatherings and their significance arc well enough known for the lessons they suggest to be universally appreciated. It is well to be reminded sometimes, when discontented with the conditions of the moment, when impatient that the wheels of progress seem to turn but slowly, that this is an exceedingly young country measured by the history of other lands, that what has been achieved in it is indeed a marvel of progress. It is even more appropriate now, when tho subject of Empire migration seems able to arouse only tepid enthusiasm where it is not greeted with actual hostility, to realise that every living soul in New Zealand to-day is either an immigrant or the immediate descendant of one. Without immigration this country would still be the untouched demesne of the Maori, with no imprint of modern development on its face. The oldest of the pioneers belong to a time when many things now regarded as absolute necessaries were more than luxuries, they were absolutely unknown. These veterans lived happily without many of the trappings and accessories of modern life, lived every minute of their days and survived to a placid old age. Especially are they exemplars of a time when self-help was esteemed a greater virtue than it is to-day, when success won was success earned every inch of the way. It was a hard life, but a life encouiaging health of both body and mind. These are the lessons for the present generation in the gathering of the pioneers. They do not preach it. Thcv meet purely for social ends, but'the moral of their lives and their careers is outstanding in their reunion all tho same. I'or that reason, as well as for the enjoyment the function gives its participants. the Old Colonists' Association docs well to continue its work of organising the annual gathering.