OUR UNHONOURED DEAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14359, 31 October 1908, Page 4

OUR UNHONOURED DEAL

I. BY C. A. YorxG. • 'A spectator and onlooker may find much to interest' him in observing the development oi 'this Dominion, especially if lie may huvc had similar experience in other lands, It/may be said it is given to few to be able to segregate themselves euflicicntly from the ordinary interests of life which animate mankind to become impartial in their judgments; but if any arrive at this position, it is surely the world-weary traveller. In this new country the vagaries of public opinion— or what is supposed to represent, public opinion: i.e., the extreme writings of the sensational part of the press of' the Dominion—are always amusing, and some-times-pitiable. Ono week a. section, of the press may ho bumptious and .vain: glorious, swelling tne iS'ew Zealander's head with pride in the illimitable possibilities of his country, and picturing a glorious future"; next week we are quaking in abject fear of what will become of us when the " Yellow Peril" arrives on our shores; then wo become excited to a pitch of hysterical frenzy in entertaining tlie American licet-, and a local (I hope) poet breaks forth into song to this effect;

O American fleet! if you p'.ense,' Protect v.s from tho Japanese. When we recover from this .state we say pleasant things to soothe tlio susceptibilities of the "Old Mother," who supplies us with pocket-money and maintains ii number of marine bulldogs to frighten expectant-robbers. This is all very amusing, but there are elements in the situation which ought to give us pause. Macaulay says somewhere '' that a, people that does not keep in memory the great deeds of its ancestors is not likely to do anything worthy of being remembered by its descendants." .What- have we done or what are we doing to " keep in memory the great deeds" dono for this and futuro generations by our unhonoured dead?

- In the north, in the little graveyard oi the village church of Waiinate, lntve been collected the bones of a few of those who fell in attacking the Maori pas of Ohaeawai and Okaihau, in tne war which followed after Hone Heke cut down the English flagstaff at- Kororarika, Bay of Islands, in 1845; at Te Ngutu o te Manu, where Major Yon'tcmpsky fell; and in tlio pretty little Anglican church of St, Mary's, New Plymouth, and its adjacent graveyard, generous efforts have been made to honour the deeds of a few of

those who fell in the Taranaki wars of 1860-70. As 1 laving instigated these humane and patriotic efforts to perpetuate the memory of these honoured dead, it is a pleasure to record here that at Waimate and in New Plymouth the namo of Archdeacon Walsh will always be honourably associated.

But around the pas stormed by onr troops during the war in the north—at Wait at a, Maivmtu. 01-apava, Turututa, Ngatapu, and many other places from Waitotara, to White Cliffs, in Taranaki;

at ltangiriri, Orakau, and the numerous '' battlefields of Waikato; at Pukehinahina (Gate) Pa, Tauranga; and along the Napier-Taupo road, —in tho pursuit- of Te Koot-i, lie the nnhonoured remains of many of the Queen's troops and of the organised bodies of the settlers who fought and fell—tho one at the call of duty, the other in defence of the country 'of their adoption. Those of the present generation do not know at what cost their forefathers won this country for them, or sntely they •would not neglect an obvious duty. Tlie graves oi the dead, lying nnhonoured whero they fought and fell, call mutely irum the past. Nor is the present generation to be altogether blamed for this ignorancc. In a country where neither the Bible nor history is taught in too public schools how can patriotism be inculcated? What is the use of tlm Government calling upon the able-bodied youth of the Dominion to join the defence forces when these have not been taught what patriotism means? . . Among the many omissions of duty oi the present and past Governments none will have such far-reaching conseiniences us the neglect to teach the history of the Dominion in the public schools, as Eko their neglect to appoint a commission to inquire into and rqiort upon the scattered places of interment and the stato of tho little cemeteries lovingly formed and left bv the Queen's troops as a sac Ted leigacy to the care of the Dominion. Such a commission might also .well employed in collecting and recording the incidents of our little ware, for wliich purpose tho published records of the Queen's regiments engaged in these wars would probably -be found of service. Copies of these regimental records ought surely to be provided in every public library of the Dominion. Here are two incidents which might with advantage be illustrated and, with their stories, hung 011 the walls of oiir pakeha and Maori schools: In May, 1846, owing to disagreements as to the legal purchase of land, tho Maoris threatened to attack Wellington. A dctachment of the 58t-'h Regiment, •under Lieutenant (afterwards General) l'age, was billeted at Boulcott's farm to "guard the Ilult bridge, and near the triage was mounted a non-commicsioned officer's guard with a bugler, a little follow of some 12 or 13 summers. On the morning of the 18th of May, in the dark hour before the dawn, the attacking 'Maoris stealthily approached- the guard tent-, in which the soldiers wore soundly Bleeping, trusting implicitly to the vigilance of the sentinel posted on an eminence commanding a view of the country around. Tho sentry was nat true to his trust, and, instead of keeping every sense alert, ''stood at ease,' perhaps dreaming of the lovo-.l ones he had Iqft in the Homeland over the sea. That was -his laet dream on earth: a- tomahawk crashed into his brain and sikneed him for ever. Tho Maoris then encircled the guard tent, and when close rushed upon it, and with their tomahawks sMi-ed at every movement under them. The littlt lx>y bugler crawled out from under the tent, and,springing' to his feet, was sounding "The alarm ,r when a Maori cut oil ■his bugle arm. Without- hesitation tb: brave boy stooped and, seizing the bugle with' is left hand, again essayed to dc his duty, but it was Ins own "Last post' lis sounded, as the Maori's tomahawk descending upon his head despatched bin to await tho "Great Ifeveiile." The other incident occurred at Waitara from which a chain of redoubts extendei at- intervals to the Pukerangiora pa, neai which the Maoris were strongly entrenchei in Te Arei pa. The Queen's troops oecu pied these redoubts, and were paticnth sapping the intervals between to scizi , Te Arei pa. Karly one morning th< Maoris attempted to take 3 redoub' by storm, and puccecdrd in surmount ing the ramparls, whence t-liey wen shooting down tho garrison within. Tin officer in command, realising hi:; critica position, ordered his bugler to sound tin irc,gimental call of the regiment guardin; 4he neighbouring Tedoubt. The call wa; understood, and reinforcements came Meanwhile the (Maoris pressed the attack and rushed upon the foldicrs. Ono 0 them received a bayonet, thrust throng! hi 6 -breast, hut, seizing the soldier', musket with his oi-l;ov hand, he forcei tho bayonet further through his chest ii his &tcc endeavour to reach his eiienr with his tomahawk. When the Maori" observed they wero being eurroimeled b; the reinforcements they endeavoured ti retire, taking with tlie'm their dead am wounded, a-monij them our brown her* with the soldier'.s bayonet elickin through him. Neither of the combatant' ■would quit his hold of the musket.-bu the soldier finding himself being draggei away by the retreating Maoris at last- Je go. This Maori recovered from his wounds and afterthe war was often seen in Ne\ rijmonthj where .he would laughingly an' proudly 'show the cicatrice of luVwoun* 011 clitst and back. At tlris and at Mahoekihi the '(Maoris exhibitc conspicuous bravery in the open, and las heavily. Surely, with the lapse of time, the fee' ings excited then have calmed ito deserved respect for a brave people, whe after all, only fought after their jiativ maimer in defcnce of their homeland Would it not, therefore, be a graceh: and conciliatory policy, soothing to t-h feelings of a fine racc, were we now t include them in whatever efforts wc ma undertake to perpetuate the memory : the deadif ' ,