THE RECORD OF THE PAST

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22268, 22 May 1934, Page 8

THE RECORD OF THE PAST

Ix the case of people who have lived all or most of their lives in a place, and possess the feelings born of such an association, there frequently comes in later years a growing interest in all that pertains to its historical record. A fascinating corner of the great field of history itself is readily available for study in the origin and growth of the particular community in which our lot happens to be cast. Where the story is still comprehended within the span of comparatively few years the value of the record becomes more and more evident as change succeeds change, old landmarks are obliterated, and the gap between past and present ever widens. Personal memory is an invaluable ally in. an attempt at reconstruction of the past, but as an aid it inevitably becomes more rare and less dependable. Eighty-six years have elapsed since the first ships brought to Otago the pioneers of organised settlement. In that period a considerable city has been created,' which has itself undergone change upon change in, keeping .with the march of progress. To look back half a century is to recall a scene very different in many features from that which this city presents to-day. A new generation looks forward rather than backward. But an invaluable service is rendered by those who concede the past and those who. figured in it the respect which is their due, and who by their display of personal interest in these matters do much to establish on a permanent basis an appreciation on the part of the citizens of the interest and importance attaching to all that pertains to the early days of the community. Fortunately this impulse is very strongly in evidence in Dunedin, and has been placed on a well-estab-lished basis through the activities of ■the Otago Early Settlers' Association, the annual meeting of which was held; once again under very : favourable auspices, last evening. It is very satisfactory to note that the Association has now a membership of over 3100, and that it can say in its annual report that the interest shown in the early history of Otago is greater than ever. The practical results of the Association's work arc seen in the centrally situated museum, which is now one of the recognised institutions of this city. In view of the fact that the Association was not founded until 1898, it must be agreed that it has achieved remarkable results in establishing a collection which of its kind has no serious rival in the Dominion, and which has evoked many expressions of surprise and admiration from. visitors from other parts of the .world. Deriving its resources largely from the modest yearly subscriptions of its members, mostly descendants nowadays of those who came out in the earlier ships, the Association has shown what can be accomplished by enthusiasm and consistent effort. In the report published by the Museums Association in Great Britain last year, Mr S. F. Markham recorded his appreciation of the Otago Early Settlers' Museum as a great asset to the city of Dunedin. He gave the Association the palm throughout New Zealand for voluntary effort on behalf of any museum, and thought the circumstance worthy of comment that the City Corporation received from it in rates and for lighting nearly £3OO per annum and apparently contributed £25 per annum in return. Attention may be directed to some pertinent observations offered by Mr Crosby Morris last evening on the financial aspect of the Association's activities. For the work which it has done and is doing for the preservation of relics of the early life and settlement in Otago, the Association is indeed to be highly commended. The records have an eloquence of their own. The extraordinarily varied contents of the Early Settlers' Museum provide a most interesting field for contemplation and study by young and old alike. Here, among hundreds of other relics, may be seen, for example, the old cannon which, after the arrival of the first ships, was established on Bell Hill and fired daily at noon "for general information," and adjacent to it is the bell, from a Botany Bay convict ship, which succeeded it in that important office. Here again looms the figurehead of the Surat, wrecked at Catlins beach on New Year's Day sixty years ago, here a steam engine used in the Dunedin gasworks in the sixties, and here the sturdy chair made for the first judge of the Supreme Court of Otago. Down upon the visitor gazes a portrait gallery of a kind which it would surely be very hard to match. Undoubtedly the people of Dunedin owe a debt to the Otago Early Settlers' Association, and they can best acknowledge it by affording practical encouragement to its work of preserving, housing, and displaying for the public benefit so much material of historic value.