HON. DR McNAB

Southland Times, Issue 17894, 9 December 1916, Page 2

HON. DR McNAB

ENTERTAINED BY SOUTHLAND LEAGUE. The Hon. Dr. McNab, Minister of Justice and Maripe. who is at present paying a visit to Southland, was yesterday entertained at a luncheon by the Southland League. There were about fifty gentlemen present, and Mr Eustace Russell, who presided, read apologies from a number who were unable to be present. In proposing the toast, "Our Guest, the Hon. Dr McNab, and his colleagues in the National Ministry,” the chairman said that they were all very glad indeed to have the privilege of paying a little homage to the Hon. Dr McNao. As they all knew, Dr McNab was born in Southland, and the little home in which their guest first saw the light was still standing at One Tree Point Dr McNab had grown up amongst them. He had practised law, but had used it as a stepping stone towards gaining high political honours, and it was very gratifying that a Southlander should attain such a high position with credit Mr Russell paid a tribute to Dr McNab's research work in connection with Now Zealand’s history. Their guest had spared neither time, money, nor ability in obtaining information from the furthest ends of the earth, and from this he had woven a wonderful story, enabling us to have an Idea of what had happened in those early days. Mr Russell also cxp:-ssed appreciation i>f Parliament * n having sunk their party differences and in having formed a National Cabins*. also of the work <hc neuters of the Cabinet had done • ..wards overimwing the Huns. The Hon. Dr McNab, who was received with ’cud applause whan he ir.se to respond to the toast, thanked those present for the very hearty manner in which they had honoured it. He felt sure that they would excuse him if he did not reply at length, owing to his having to take the platform that evening. He congratulated them and Southland on the latest development in the formation of the Southland League, and as an old Southlander, he was pleased to be able to give them an Instance of the benefit to be derived from having an institution such as theirs. The Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald, Minister of Agriculture, when recently he paid his first visit to Southland, was taken possession of by the League, and he had gained a knowledge of Southland in consequence which ho would n'ot have done if he had had to rely on his own initiative. Mr Mac Donald had told the speaker, who had also heard ; him declare to others that Southland was the garden of New Zealand without one solitary exception. He had not made that statement to curry favour with anyone, but in doing so he had been speaking against his own political interests. Dr McNab said that he - sincerely hoped that the League would continue the good work that had been done In the past, and would extend Its usefulness rather than limit it. If the lecture he was giving that night was a success, it would redound to the credit of the League, without whose assistance it would not have been received with the same interest. Referring to the National Ministry, Dr McNab said that when its formation waa first mooted, he was one of those who held very grave doubts Indeed In regard to the two political parties working together. Politics were not like any other class of. business, for in politics It was not always that the best way of doing a thing was the best way to do it. (Laughter). That raised a difficulty which they must always face. All politicians were ambitious and strove to attain high positions. Some did not get there, and some did who ought not to be there. (Laughter). It was not because he was afraid that Sir Joseph Ward and Mr Massey would not get on well together that he had had his doubts regarding a National Cabinet, but because of the supporters of each who .might not be lucky enough to be drawn In the ballot. (Laughter). But he was pleased to be able to say that although the National Cabinet had not done a lot of things it was expected to do the formation of it had probably been the best course they could have followed. (Applause). They had done It in the Old Country, and although they had trouble and turmoil there, when they looked at Australia they must feel that things would have been worse in the Old Countryr If they had not gone in for a Natlohal Cabinet there. He was not giving away any Cabinet secrets in stating that in working together for a common purpose, the relations existing amongst members of the Cabinet could not be one whit more harmonious than they could be in other circumstances. He did not say that that friendly feeling extended to tbe rank and file, but he believed it would if they realised the obstacles that had to be overcome. He had nothing but the most friendly feelings towards his colleagues, and was not afraid to express his feelings in regard to them at any gathering. (Applause). In reference to party warfare, he held very strongly that as soon as the war was at an end, and with so many post-war problems to settle, the sooner they got back to the party system the better. While the enemy was at the gates they should have a National Cabinet, but when that was settled they had got to get back to party government. He believed that party strife In the future would be carried out on entirely different lines. He could not think it possible that the old party fight could be carried on as in the past. They would have a purified system, free of bickerings, personalities and aspersions; and so far as the leaders were concerned such would be entirely absent, so that they would have a better system than any they had had In the past Then they would have, in his idea, the best form of government. He believed in having a party engaged in carrying out a policy which in their opinion was in the best interests of the country, and another criticising that policy, and the position might have to be reversed and the critics go to the top. He did not think that it would be in the interests of the country to carry on without criticism, and what he had outlined was going to be a result after the present awful conflagration came to an end. Considering everything, they had dbne what they considered was in the interests of the country, and he knew that those present would join with him in expressing the hope that the nation to which they belonged had lived through its darkest hours. Every male in Germany from 16 to 60 was under the command of one man, and it behoved the people of our Empire to do likewise. Then the sooner we would win, and the more complete the win would be. They would have to subordinate their own personal views, and he believed that that time was going to be hastened by the political changes that were happening in the Old Country. Then they could face with perfect confidence the position as to what the result of the present frightful struggle was going to be. (Loud applause). Other toasts honoured were "The King": “The Army and Navy,” proposed by Mr G. Crulckshank, and responded to by Major T. D. Pearce; “Our Allies,” by Mr W, Macalls’er and responded to by Mr C. J. Ronaldson. Songs were rendered by Dr Stanley E. V. Brown and Mr E. Service, and a most pleasant function was brought to a conclusion in the usual loyal manner. THE SAILORS* SLATE. AND THE MEN AND THE TIMES IT RECORDS. AN INTERESTING LECTURE. In the evening Dr McNab lectured in the Albion Theatre under the auspices of the Southland League, taking as a basis the slate which was discovered in 1905 by Mr Harry Roderlque, of Bluff, In a cave about a mile and a half northwest of Cepe Providence, the western headland i.i Chalky Inlet, lying in the midst of a mass of seal guano, and among bones of the seal and the whale. Particulars of this find have been previously given in the Southland Times. Dr McNab said that the writing on the face of the stone, fortunately, aroused the curiosity of the members of the party, and the slate was taken away by Wm. Planks and given to Dr Sale, of Invercargill, who forwarded it to the Southland Museum. The inscription was as follows : “Lond Richard Jones Esq. owner John Dawson master. Beware of the natives plentey at Preservation. “Brig Elizabeth John Grono mas called at this place the 23rd December. A. Brooks, Edward N'^'ton.”

Dr McNab said that the most superficial examination disclosed two separate notices, the upper by men belonging to a vessel owned by Richard Jones and commanded by John Dawson, recorded the fact that a numerous band of Maoris were at Preservation Inlet, which was nearby, and warned anyone reading it to be on his guard. The lower, by the men of the brig Elizabeth, commanded by John Grono, recorded the fact that the brig had called there on the 23rd of December, but of what year was not stated. The lecturer related how he had found In Sydney particulars of the vessels that had visited New Zealand in the early days, and said that it was before July 31, 1824, that the first notice was transcribed on the slate, and he had come to the conclusion that the notice had been put up by the crew of the Samuel, of which John Dawson was master . In regard to the second notice, John Grono was a very old captain on the New Zealand coast, and his connection with our early trade covered the period from 1809 to 1834, and there was reason to believe that earlier than 1809 he was on our coast. He was first recorded as sailing in the Governor Bllgh, but the last two years of his sea work he spent on the Elizabeth, a vessel owned by himself and Mr Levy', the same individual after whom Port Levy in Banks Peninsula was called. Incidents in connection with several of THE VOYAGES OF CAPTAIN GRONO were mentioned by Dr McNab. Grono’s connection with the navigation of the Elizabeth, of which he was part-owner, commenced In 1822 when she was built. Her advent heralded a revival of New Zealand sealing after several lean seasons, and Grono’s record for sensational incidents continued on board his new command. The third sealing cruise of the Elizabeth under Grono’s command lasted from early in February, 1823, to March 10, 1824. Grono then retired from the sea, and Brooks took command. Brooks was probably the men whose name was inscribed on the slate, and who had taken a gang ashore to examine the cave for seals. These three voyages, which were the only ones that Grono ever made on board the brig Elizabeth, showed that it was only on December 23, 1822, or on December 23, 1823, that the Elizabeth could have visited the locality where the notice was discovered. As the Samuel had not reached Australia from England in 1822, her men could not have put up the first notice before 1823. Therefore, the date of the second notice on the slate must have been December 23. 1823. Dawson’s men must have Inscribed the slate between November and December 23, 1823, and, allowing a fortnight for the Samuel to run from Sydney and learn before reaching the cave that there were “plentey of Maoris” at Preservation, It would be seen that the Inscription must have been put on the slate between December 1 and 22, 1823. In other words, it was Just after the Samuel had put up her notice that the cave was visited by Brooks with a boat’s crew from the Elizabeth, and the second notice put up. There was only one other "record” of that class belonging to the distant past of southern New Zealand that the lecturer knew of, and he described it as an old Maori menu card. This interesting relic was discovered in 1879 by Mr R. B. Williams, late of Invercargill, and now of Wellington, half way between Bluff and Ocean Beach. A gale of wind had cleared away the sand and laid bare an old Maori oven, some bones (of what kind it was not known), a small piece of greenstone, two large sinkers, and a round nodule which Mr Williams at first thought was a copper bolt, but which, when fired and cleaned, was found to be an Indian coin the size of a King Edward halfpenny. An Inscription In Hindoo gave its date as 1759, and stated that 1 it was coined in the reign of the Emperor Shah Alam, the father of Acbar 11. Probably other information could be got from it if it were closely examined by an expert in Indian coins. It was roughly pierced as if for a cord to pass through, and was probably suspended from a string worn round the neck of some Lascar. It was well known that many of the early sailing craft had Indians among their crews; in fact, few had not, particularly about the year 1813. That year the Matilda visited the southern coast sealing, and no less than eleven Lascars fell into the hands of the Maoris. Four years afterwards one of these same men was seen at Otago Heads, and he stated that six of his mates HAD BEEN KILLED AND EATEN by the Maoris. Mr W’illlams was firmly convinced, and Dr McNab thought it very probable, that the coin had been suspended round the neck of one of the unfortunate Lascars, and which, from its indigestible nature, survived the feast upon the owner in the oven nearby, and now had come down to us as the menu card of the occasion. (Laughter). Dr McNab then had something to say of the manner in which the sealing trade was carried on. the procedure of which, he said, could be pieced together from the shipping news in the columns of the old Sydney Gazette; but the material was supplied in a more complete form by the officers of the Coquilla, a French exploration vessel which spent about two months in Sydney in the early part of 1824. When a vessel was fitted out for sealing It was provisioned for an extended period, and the men were paid a “lay,” or proportion of the “take.” The proportion varied with the number of men employed and the route to be taken. From some of the agreements which have come to light, it was learned that pay was the following portion of the cargo :—Captain, one-twentieth; first mate, one-thir-tieth; second mate, one-fortieth; boatswain, carpenter, steward and cooper, one-eightieth; seamen, one-ninety-fifth; and sealers, one-hundredth. In addition to the “lay” there was the food ration. It was, as a rule, 71bs of meat, 51bs of bread, and 31bs of flour, per week, per man; in money value it was reckoned at 12s. He told of the sufferings and misery endured by sealing parties, giving particulars of several expeditions, and of how they were traced. The sealer in some cases returned to Sydney before visiting a gang again, and the long wait of the men on the dreary sealing station often meant that their provisions gave out, and they were compelled to go and hunt up some other gang. Sometimes when the sealer returned all that they found were traces of a bloody struggle and indications of a cannibal feast. There was still another class, where the sealer was lost, and with It all knowledge of the sealing gang, until by the merest accident, years afterwards, a party of men. wasted to skeletons, clad in greasy sealskin habiliments and more like wild beasts than men. were discovered on some rocky islet, and their long vigil brought to an end. Perhaps there was another class. They did not know how many sealers that had sailed away and never were heard of more, left sealing gangs on lonely islands, which, after WAITING FOR YEARS for rescue, died at their stations, or, in some fruitless attempt to secure relief, perished by shipwreck or at the hands of cannibal foes. Dr McNab dealt with the adventures of the crew of the. General Gates In 1822, and said that the three chiefs who were engaged in running down the gangs established by the General Gates were Palhi, whose headquarters were at the place of the same name, near Orepuki; Toupi, the chief of Ruapuke, and To Ouhcrra. whose village was round to the west of Bluff. These were the leading chiefs, but Mr John Guard, of Port Underwood, ttic first white child born in the South Island, told the lecturer that his father used to taunt Talroa, during his visits to Cook Strait, with having eaten some of the General Gates sealers. It was interesting to note how easily the New Zealanders were turned from their manhunt and induced to resume the character of peaceful individuals. They were evidently genuine "sports”; they derived physical pleasure hunting sealers, and gastronomlcal pleasure eating them, but there was no feeling of illwill at all. (Laughter). The slate recorded a period in the trade of Foveaux Strait which covered more desperate struggles between Europeans and Maoris, and more ACTS OF CANNIBALISM on the part of the latter, than any other period of New Zealand’s history. Of the names on the slate, Dr McNab said that he had reason to believe that Edward Norton was the founder of the well known Norton family which carried on whaling at Tory channel and Campbell Island. Alexander Brooks was then first mate of the Elizabeth. He obtained command of her the next trip, and took

from the sealing grounds in February. 1825, and January, 1826, two very cargoes, amounting in all to some 730u skins. After that he had evaded the searchlight. When Grona retired from the sea he became a ship-owner and ship builder, and in addition to the Elizabeth owned the Industry, which was wrecked at Easy Bay, Stewart Island, In IS3I. Wiseman, the captain, was his son-in-law. The news of the wreck was brought to Sydney by Captain Anglem (or Anglin as it ought to be), on board their old friend tlic Samuel. Dr McNab referred at some length to the efforts that were made as lar back as 1822 to promote the flax trade in New Zealand, and mentioned the different processes that were tried during this endeavour, which operations only excited the derision of the Maoris. After a time the New South Wales Government had had enough of experimenting in promoting the flax trade, and they gave it up. The slate was one of the few (of the very few) local records which had come down to them, and that fact made it a matter of congratulation that when it was found it fell into curious hands and was given to Dr Sale who presented it to the Southland Museum ,and it was to be hoped tha 1 in its present situation it would find a permanent resting place. Though u could not be described as “wordy,” and at first blush did not appear very illuminating. he thought they could congratulate themselves on having won some information from its cold, uninviting surface; and after having raked up its early history’, and having exposed it to the gaze of the inhabitants of another century, it only remained to take their leave of the old relic, and teimlnate the recital of the circumstarccs which brought it Into being. (Loud applause).On the motion of Mr Eustace Russell, who presided, a very hearty vote of thanks was accorded Dr McNab by' acclamation, which Dr McNab briefly acknowledged.

Thereafter the N.Z, Tourist Department’s beautiful film depleting "Alpine Climbing in New Zealand” was thrown on the screen, and evoked unstinted expressions of approval. Dr McNab explained that moving pictures marked a new development in the Tourist Department in the matter of advertising. The alpine pictures were taken by Mr Taylor for the Department so as to advertise the scenic wonders of the dominion. Copies of it had been sent to Sydney, Melbourne and London, and probably would next be sent to Canada. It was proposed to later deal with the scenery in the southern fiords. The pictures that had been taken for the Panama Exposition were now being shown in the Commonwealth. He mentioned these facts in order to indicate the lines the Tourist Department were adopting in order to bring under the notice of the people of the world New Zealand’s magnificent scenery.