THE WRITERS' CLUB

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21912, 22 September 1934, Page 17

THE WRITERS' CLUB

HISTORY OF AUCKLAND An address to the Writers' Club on the "History of Auckland," illustrated by photographs of different stages in its progress, was given yesterday afternoon by Mr. Spenseley Walker, and was of unusual interest. The speaker began by describing the manner in which the Home Government was led to colonise New Zealand. The tribal wars, rendered more disasterous bv the introduction of the musket, the peril of the missionaries and the menace of the French schemes, all took their place in the romantic story, more vital than fiction, of which Governor Hobson was the hero. As Captain Hobson he came rareka to investigate these tribal wars and various incidents in this connection were relkted. The speaker stressed the importance of" the early training at sea of Governor Hobson and of his experiences in the West Indies—where piracy was rife —as they affected his character and made him a man fit to guide the destinies of a nation. His early difficulties and the splendour of the achievement marked by the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, an end attained largely through his own personality, were stressed by the speaker. Theti came the climax, the building upon the Waitemata of what was to be New Zealand's most important city. At that time it was New Zealand's logical capital, and this country owed much to the wisdom which led Governor Hobson to found his capital amid the fertile soils of the isthmus.

His life was given wholeheartedly in the service of this country, said the lecturer, and, hampered though he was by ill-health, by lack of support from Australia and by the unreliability of his subordinates, be built a monument which will endure.

The speaker was accorded a hearty vote of thanks for his address, and Mrs. Walker was given a bouquet of anemones and other spring flowers by the members of the club.