HISTORIC SCENE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLVIII, Issue 21555, 18 January 1940, Page 4

HISTORIC SCENE

BIRTH of dominion EVENTS ON FEBRUARY 6 The re-enactment of historic scenes intimately connected with the birth of New Zealand as a British community will take place on February 6, when a party representing Governor William Hobson and his attendants will land again below the Waitangi flagpole, meet waiting natives and proceed to the Treaty House, where Maori and pakeha will affix signatures to a document as did their predecessors to the famous treaty exactly 100 years before. Together with other ceremonies, including the opening of a whare-runa-nga, or meeting house, this will compromise the principal centennial celebration of the north. Great crowds are expected to attend, including several thousand Maoris, among whom will be members of the Maori Battalion. Early Start Arranged The day will begin early. Shortly after nine o’clock Governor Hobson’s party will land from the bay in an open whale boat. There will be greetings between Maori and pakeha and the proceedings of long ago leading up to the signing of the treaty will be re-enacted in a great show of pageantry by members of both races. Then there will be the opening of the handsome whare-runanga and its ceremonial handing over by the Maoris to the Waitangi Trust Board, an event in which the Governor-General, Viscount Galway, will participate. A fine example of Maori carving and craftsmanship, the whare-runanga has been built near the Treaty House from funds provided by the Maori people, assisted by the Government. The afternoon will see further ceremonies. Chief among these will be the unveiling of a high obelisk near the Treaty House in memory of Governor Hobson. Several commemorative plaques in the Treaty House will also be unveiled. / Lord Galway and Mr Savage In proceeding to Waitangi, the Governor-General will probably travel to the Bay of Islands in the Government steamer Matai. A special train will run from Wellington to Opua with an official party comprising the Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. M. J. Savage, the Marquess of Willingdon, representing the British Government, Lady Willingdon, members of the Legislature and other guests. Maori visitors to the proceedings will be the guests of the Ngapuhi and other northern tribes. For their accommodation special structures are now being, erected by the Public Works Department. To facilitate access to Waitangi a new jetty has been constructed and roads in the vicinity have been greatly improved. Prominent in the arrangements for the celebration has been a strong committee of leading Ngapuhi chiefs. On the Government side, the organisation has been in the hands of the centennial branch of the Internal Affairs Department, a special committee of Internal Affairs and Native Department officials under the secretaryship of Mr A. W. Mulligan being directly responsible.