POLYNESIAN SOCIETY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 181, 30 January 1912, Page 7

POLYNESIAN SOCIETY.

THE ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the Polynesian Society was held at the library, Technical College, on the 2(ith inst., when several members were present, the president, Mr. S. Percy-Smith, being in the chair. After reading the minutes of the previous annual meeting and the annual report, the officers for the year were elected. Mr. S. Percy-Smith was reelected president, and Mr. F. P. Corkill was re-elected a member of the council, with Mr. J. B. Roy. Mr. W. W. Smith was appointed joint secretary and treasurer, and' Mr. W. D. Webster hon. auditor. The annual report for the year ending December 31, 1911, states:— The council feels, in presenting its. nineteenth report, that there is some' jwtification for congratulating the society on having attained its twentieth year of existence. On January 8, 1892, some twenty gentlemen gathered together under the chairmanship of Lieut.Col.. W. E. Gudgeon, C.M.G., in the library of the New Zealand Institute,' Wellington, where the names of 112 ladies and gentlemen were read out who had expressed a wish to join the new society, and it was then decided to form the society on the lines of a circular which had been sent to a large number of.perßons likely to taken an interest in Polynesian history, traditions, languages and cognate subjects'. At that meeting officers of the new society were appointed. They were: Patron, H.M. Liliuokalani, Queen of Hawaii; president, H. G. Seth Smith Esq., M.A.; council, the Rev. W. T. Habens, 8.A., A. Carroll Esq., M.A., M.D., J. R. Blair, Esq., Elsdon Best j Esq., E. Tregear, Esq., F.R.G.S., and S. 1 Percy-Smith, Esq., F.R.G.S., the two 'atter also holding the joint offices of ] hon. secretaries and hon. treasurers. Of" these gentlemen, forming the first council, two (the Hev. W. T.' Habens and Dr. Carroll) have passed over to the majority, but the others are happily still on our roll of membership. At the same meeting, two hon. members were appointed (Sir George Grey, K.C.8., and F. D. Fenton, Esq., both of whom are dead), and two corresponding members, of whom the Rev. T. G. Hammond is still { with us. Of the 112 original members 2-3 are known to have died, and many others have left, leaving only 35 of the founders still on the roll. To these survivors of the original roll the thanks of the society as at present constituted are due for their hearty support and encouragement during the past two decades. When the society was started in 1892, there was not wanting on the part of some people in New Zealand, the prediction that its life would be swift and inglorious; it was certainly felt by some that, even if the society succeeded in struggling into life, it would at least injure the New Zealand Institute by withdrawing some of its members. Neither of these fears have been realised, for our society is perhaps more flourishing now, after twenty years, than it has ever been, and certainly the New Zealand Institute has not been affected by our existence.

The society may fairly claim to have added to the saim of human knowledge, in as far as it has rescued from oblivion a large amount of information regarding the Polynesian race that, but for the columns of our ''Journal," would inevitably have been lost. Our publications have' offered to many writers the means of placing on record many important facts that would otherwise not have seen the light, and to those writers who have gratuitously given freely of their knowledge and time to our special work, the society cannot express sufficient thanks. It is proposed to publish a list <?f authors and their papers, with the March number of the Journal, which will be of great use to students, and form, as it were, a standpoint from which we may look back and s«e in concise form what has already been accomplished, and 1 from which, let ue hope, encouragement towards future efforts may be derived. For this Bhould be clearly understood that the work of the society in furnishing the groundwork on which many will yet build structures the magnitude and far-reaching exent of which is as yet undreamed of. We would be satisfied if we can lay the foundation of these structures well and truly. In this connection we may perhaps predict that the Maori manuscripts which have been occupying our attention for some eighteen months, in their transcription and translation, will cause somewhat of a revolution in the conception of the ideas held by a race that within so short a period past were in their stone age. To turn, however, to the brief history of the transactions of the past year. Theyljave not been marked by any very prominent features; the Jbprnal has appeared regularly each quarter,, aijd contains a considerable amount of original most contributed front Eastern Polynesian sources. Quite a number of short articles from the collection of the late Rev. W. Wyatt Gill's papers have appeared, both in the original and in translation. We have also printed several other articles on Tahitian and Paumotuan traditions. . To those .who do not bring a student's knowledge to the reading of these papers, they may appear childish and uninteresting. .But when the time arrives for showing the bearing these simple.tales have on the history of mankind generally, it will probably cause considerable, surprise, as no doubt will the statement that they contain many of the same incidents to be found also in Celtic literature. This is not the plaee to indicate how these remarkable coincidences arose; suffice to say that to him who can read between the lines they afford the material that in the hands of e#mp?tent scholars will throw -light on some of the great ethnic movements that are as yet seen but darkly. The late Mr. Shand's Moriori papers as originally published in our Journal have, thanks to the liberality of the Government, been partly reprinted and are now available in volume form. They are the sole record of that almost defunct branch of the Polynesian race, the preservation of whose records would alone have justified the existence of the society. To understand their importance one must again read "between the lines." It is hoped that the third volume of our memoirs may be published during the ensuing year; they will contain the Maori manuscripts already alluded , to. Ihe translation is well forward. The actual cash in hand for this purpose amounts to £155, besidesi some outstanding promises, which will be available whenever the money is wanted. Our library continues to increase, and under Mr. W. W Smith's care is now made considerable use of. It is to be hoped that this use may be productive of _som,& tangible result some day, in addition to the reading for mere amusement—it certainly wil] do so in one case. We regret to report that Mr. R. Coupland Harding is unable any longer to prepare the index to the* annual volume; failing eyesight is the cause. He lias undertaken this onerous work for the past sixteen years, and the thanks of the society are due to him for his labors. Mr. W. n. Webster has continued his services to the society bv auditing its accounts, and to him'also the thanks of the society are due.

We regret to record the death of three of our members: Aporo Te Kumeroa, one of the corresponding members; Mr. C. W. llursthouse, one of our original members, a good Maori scholar; and Mr. IT. R. Jiemi, of Rotornn, a member since ISP.i, Tn addition, two members llave resigned and six have been struck off for non-payment of their subscriptions. This leaves us. as at December 31, with the following members on the roll: Patron ], honorary members 7, corresponding; members 16. contributing members 177—total 201. Tlie.se figures show

I 1 . gf. i -m »—/ an increase of one over the figures of N last year, and this means that the new J members elected about equal the deaths, i I resignations, and those struck off. It I is always with great regret that the! council takes the extreme step of strik-1 ing members off, but as the defaulting I members are invariably wanting in the i common courtesy of replying to the gee- ) retary's letters, and also put them to unnecessary trouble, such members cannot expect much consideration. Our financial position Is good, though there are a few members in arrear with their subscriptions, as shown by the treasurer's balance-sheet attached. The treasurer's accounts show that with the balance on hand from last year, a sum of £194 Is 6d was received, and that £IGS 2s lid was spent in the publication of the Journal and other incidental expenses, leaving a balance of £2B 18s 7d tiwards the expenses of the coming yeaf.