WI PERE MEMORIAL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14883, 10 April 1919, Page 2

WI PERE MEMORIAL.

UNVEILING CEREMONY. j The handsome. menioi*ial obelisk, erected to the memory of the departed chief, Wi Pere, by the Guvennneut of New Zealand and 'the Maovi people, was unveiled yesterday by UiV Mnn. Sir Jas. i Carroll, The functioji took jiiiiro m the. pre-; sencc of the local natives of the Maori : Pioneer Uattalion autt a large gathei*ihg of citizens and natives of the- Kast ■ Coast and visiting tribes. The. . proceedi in^s passed oif quietly, the Junction being -largely of a native '.character, and most of the ceremony being conducted m the Maori tongue. The Rev. R. T., Kohere ((Waiapa), Chaplaiii-Captain P. 1-laki.wai (Pioneers), and 'the Key. F. Bennett (Hastings) participated m the religious service, several appropriate ! hy«ins being sung. A FITTING OCCASION, The Hon. Sir James Carroll, who spoke in 'Maori, said it was fitting that this monument to Wi ,Pere ; should be .unveiled on the occasion- when ; the boys whom he sent to t^e fi-ont;. had arrived home. There might be some present who failed to see iwhy ihey shoiild 'raise tliis memorial to the memory of Wi Pei % e. No doubt he liad his faults, i just as anybody else, but those who j we're 'speakiiig like that must have knowledge that Wi Pere had done great service to the Dominion. For i many ' years he represented the natives ! m Parliament, and he had given ooun- • ael to the different tribes, and of that counsel there "was now mo > record. The last of ,hia days was to ' .encourage : th© Maori boys to go to th© front. ' He , was unable to go hknself , but the boys .'he helped to send were his representatives. He (Sir James) personally, ' knew Wi Pere for niany -'-years; He i knew, him well, as a friend knows a friend. He had his faults, but let those ' faults be buried at the bottom of the monument, and let us remember his good > points. Wi Pere -would.be remembered by . his good^. points,' and not his I bad ones. With these 'few -remarks he j would unveil the moniument. •■?,■■■

Drawing aside the, -Union. Jack which, covered the memorial, slabs,-. Sir James j unveiled the .monument, remarking as | he did so that it was fitting that the young people and th&. older folk-. should be .^present to witness the . function; , WHtf WI SHOULD BE HO-NORED. J ',, The Hon. A. T. Ngata, continuing • the addresses m .Maori, said lie would be brief, as it should be the older people <who should speak on such an Occasion, and not for him as a. young nian. Addressing the assemblage m English, the Hon. Mr Ngata. apologised i for the absence of the Minister of Defence (Sir James Allen), recalled to | Wellington on urgent duties. T^-.Min-ister had accepted the invitation to be present m Griaborne, to receivS the Maori Pioneers, and also to unveil the monument, and he had" left this . to. Sir James . Carroll as member for the district, and to himself as tlie ;Ataori representative. . Wi Per.©,- continued the speaker, was well known to the older inhabitants of Gisborne .: MaJny said ,he waa a bad man and not worthy of a monument m the borough of -Gisborne. He wished to say that if they said the late Wi Pere did no good for this district then they did not know anything of the early history of Poverty Bay and the East Coast: They had had their differences with Wi Pere. In the early part j>i his career he was opposed by Sir James Carroll and later by himself, but they could both say that the late Wi Pere had the interests. of the natives of the district at heart. There was no man >who had done more for the pakehas of the district than Wi .Pere, and history would prove what he (the speaker) was saying was' -correct.In the early days there had been, differences m the ideas and conception^ between the Maori and the pakeha," but ! Wi Pere was sufficiently • modem m his ideas; to attempt to bridge the gap. between the old Maori axujt, the incoming settlefs m the settlement of the,, land, and if Wi Pere m some respects failed, that .was not due to any failing of his • intentions, but was due to the fact that things moved much nioro quickly than he was able to keep aErtast of. The settlement of the land problem m Poverty Bay was much more due to Wi Pere than to. any other man who might stand there, 'and say Wi was not worthy of this memorial. "I would* point out to you. that all this land belonged' to the Mahaki and Gisborne tribes which he represented, and the very soii this monument now rests on, that was once his. (Applause.) So they could justify, to their children and their children's children the right and honor of the memorial, as Wi Pere was head of the tribe and once owned this very soil on which the mon/umerit stood. ; What greater honor could , there be to him than erection of the memorial on soil which he once owned? Tliis monument was erected) by the Government of. New Zealand and, tjie Maori people, the Government providing hsli the cost and the natives the other half. People had been saying that the , National- Government was a fool. They had been saying that for the last three years^ oi* so, and some said one of its foolish , acts was the granting of this £dbO, tlie half cost of this memorial^ but the native civil list was authorised Sy Parliament for this special "thing and no .one could, say that from his genealogy or. otherwise Wi Pere was not' an outstanding figure m the Maori i'ace. No one could stand up against his genealogy. He was one of the foremost men of the East > Coast, and was. certainly entitled to some recognition and honor through the Civil list fwrni the-Govern-ment* of New Zealand.. Sir James Carroll, had referred to the evil deeds of j a .man being buried witlivhlni, but what •did Shakespeare say-? Shakespeare said quite the opposite. He said: "The evil that men do Jives after them; the good is v pft interred with their bones. '* So let it be with Wi Pere. "They (the Maoris) would remember his name for a long time after those, critics ha^d passed away, and "the memorial Vrould stand aa .an object fdr the curious residents of Gisbonie, and perhaps some kids running .along the street would' ask^ Who <was Wi Pere? But the Maori people would cherish his memory for generations because he' stood head and shoulders above . the people of ;h'is ! day. He was wrong a good many times, and they : (the Maoris) told him so—(Laugh- ! ter) wrong,, but that did' hot gainsay the fact that his heart was right and that he acted up to what he thought was for the benefit of his people, at the time. It was most fitting that the memorial should be unveiled on the occasion of the .return of the boys whom he travelled with to Napier m October, 1914, and sent to the war. And yet the people said he had not been loyal ! He accompanied the Maori contingent from Gisborne to Napier, and speaJcing ' from the rotunda on the Marine Parade he addi-essed the departing warriors and the Joyal peoplg-vof Napier, and he sent forward the East Coast section of the first Maori contingent to take their share m the fight lor t . freedom. There were standing m front of them that afternoon men of thait' first Maori contingent, the contingent which had been constantly reinforced by the men of Wi Peve's tribe. Wi.Pere never drew back an inch. He had said to his son; Xo Kani, .and to Lady Ckrron that they .must put all their resources : from' Gjsborne, Wairoa, ; Baajb Coast, and Hawke's.;Bay into the (Applause.) The Maori people had never departed on© aota from that word. And yet people eaid iOs 1 ,? 61^ w asnot.,|pyal. .(Applaawei;: I Chalan-Captam Wainohu was one~ mm left .with the first' Maori contingent, aftiH; it. was only right that he should' sta^d at, the base of the memorial and pay

tribute to the man m whose lifetime , he left "ltfew Zealand. \ A TRIBUTE FROM PADRE WEPIHA f Chaplain Captain Wainohu opened with the words : "Pakeha friends, Maori friends, — Greetings to you. Since our arrival you have showered kindnesses upon us, and they have been very touching. Now you have honored me, as representative of the Maori Contingent, to say a. few words iniconnection with the Wi Pere memorial.' W i Pere, as you nil know, didvnot belong to my generation. He belonged to the old world, and as Mr. Ngata has said, he was a link between the old world and the new." There was a saying that when the old net goes to the beach a new one gpes fishing. It was fitting that they should be present at this ceremony. It was Wi Pere who helped to send the'first contingent .to the. front. I There were few of the original men of I that contingent now present, but they who had returned found that their elder had departed to another world, and „ therefore it was' regretted Wi Pere did not live to welcome them back, as he | sent them forth. Wi Pere was a great j man, and he did what he thought to be j the best m his time. There was an old \ Maori saying that when one .chief goes J another falls into his placie, and he j hoped tliat some of the young men pres- '; j ent would follow m Wi Pere's steps. •{ The best memorial to a man was the' « good deeds "Which he wrought while „ living, and that could be said for Wi ~ Pere. He was well-known on the Coast, j and respected for allihe '"'did.-' He; would}. say- to the younger ; generation : "Here lies the link between the old order of things and the present. .• There are young Maoris who nave reaped, the bene- . fits of civilisation and education, and > yet with all these advantages of civilisation there is snot a young Maori who < could excel Wi Pere m wisdom." Beading out the inscription, the speaker added : "So this monument will also be.'a memorial to the return of the local portion of the Maori Pioneer Battalion, ft is history recorded, m stone." (Applause.) - '"' '>■'■■' •

HANDSOME PRESENTATION TO ' ■• ' . " THE MEN". ' Lady Carroll said they w^re present to do honor to the memory of Wi Pere. She did not intend making a speech , : but was there to present the mats; *. which decorated the base of the monument, and a' slim of £250 to Chaplain ' Wainohu and his boys^as gifts of ; the Native Committee to them on their arrival at Gisborne. Proceeding, Lady ■* Carroll added • that the widow and people of. Hori Mahae. of Te Araroa, had given her -£50 for this purpose, and the balance was made up by the Wi Pere family. The singing of the hymn: "Oh, God. our help m ages patt," and the Benediction aiid the singing of the National Anthem concluded the gather- j ing. 1

; The obelisk is an imposing structure of grey Haricourt Victorian granite — which ja one of the finest granites obtainable — with red finished granite columns and ornaments. The total height is 24 feet on a concrete base 12ft. square and 2ft. ., >6in. high, with two steps, a border of black and white tiles being placed on the top one. On the fir,st base is carved the design of a meeting house peculiar to this district, the various marks representing certain historical facts. On, the spire is engraved the form of a taiha (Maori weapon). On the front panel, m between the red ©61---umfas, are I^hese Words m English : "Erected by the Government of New Zealand and the Maori people m memory of.. Wi Pere, 1837-1915." On the left-hand side is the following inscription m Maori: "I whakaarahia ite wa o te hui aroha mo te tahua ma nga hoia Maori, Aperira, 1919." The translation of this is : "Unveiled, at the time of the Maori hui to raise money for the soldiers." On the right-hand, side there are the words :"I hurahia i te wa i a mai ai te'opi hoia Maori te Hokowhitu a. tu Aperira, 1919," the translation being: "To commemorate the landing of the Maori troops at Gisborne, April, 1919." The obelisk was erected by H. E. Tweed, Gisborne, and is a highly creditable piece of work, the cost being £640.