THE NEW ZEALAND OFFICIAL YEAR-BOOK, 1915

THE Dominion of New Zealand consists of three main islands, with several groups of smaller islands lying at some distance from the principal group. The main islands, known as the North, the South, and Stewart Islands, have a coast-line 4,330 miles in length: North Island, 2,200 miles; South Island, 2,000 miles; and Stewart Island, 130 miles. Other islands included within the Dominion are the Chatham, Auckland, Campbell, Snares, Antipodes, Bounty, and Kermadec Islands. The Cook Group of islands and certain neighbouring islands were included in the Dominion by proclamation of the 10th June, 1901.

The total area of the Dominion proper (i.e., excluding the islands annexed in 1901) is 66,292,232 acres or 103,581 square miles. The land area of the Cook Group is about 150 square miles, and of the other islands annexed in 1901 about 130 square miles. Full information as to boundaries and area, together with descriptive matter relating to the physical features of the various portions of the Dominion, will be found in the 1913 issue of this book.

The rivers of New Zealand were fully discussed in the 1914 issue of this book in an article (pages 948–56), supplied by R. Speight, Esq., M.Sc., F.G.S., Curator of the Canterbury Museum. Considerations of space in the present book prevent more than a list of the more important rivers being given. These are as follows, the lengths shown being in most cases only approximate. Very few of these rivers are navigable by vessels of any size.

In the 1913 issue of the Year-book (pages 32 to 34) appears a short account of the Flora of New Zealand, supplied by Dr. L. Cockayne, F.R.S. The article covers briefly the various points of interest in connection with the flora of the main Islands, and deals also with that of the outlying islands.

For information re the fauna of New Zealand the reader is referred to the article by James Drummond, Esq., F.L.S., F.Z.S., appearing on pages 957 to 961 of the Year-book for 1914. The article, though brief, contains a fairly comprehensive account of the Dominion's fauna.

The first authentic account of the discovery of New Zealand is that given by Abel Jansen Tasman, the Dutch navigator. He left Batavia on the 14th August, 1642, in the yacht “Heemskercq,” accompanied by the “Zeehaen” (or “Sea-hen”) fly-boat. After having visited Mauritius, and discovered Tasmania, named by him “Van Diemen's Land,” in honour of Anthony van Diemen, Governor of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies, he steered eastward, and on the 13th December of the same year sighted the west coast of the South Island of New Zealand, described by him as “a high mountainous country.”

Tasman, under the belief that the land he saw belonged to a great polar continent, and was part of the country discovered some years before by Schouten and Le Maire, to which the name of Staten Land had been given, gave the same name of Staten Land to New Zealand; but within about three months afterwards Schouten's “Staten Land” was found to be merely an inconsiderable island. Upon this discovery being announced, the country that Tasman had called Staten Land received the name of “New Zealand,” by which it has ever since been known. Tasman sailed along the coast to a bay, where he anchored. To this he gave the name of Murderers (since termed Massacre or Golden) Bay, on account of an unprovoked attack on a boat's crew by the Natives, and the massacre of four white men. Thence he steered along the west coast of the North Island, and gave the name of Cape Maria van Diemen to the north-western extremity thereof. After sighting the islands of the Three Kings he finally departed, not having set foot in the country.

There is no record of any visit to New Zealand after Tasman's departure until the time of Captain Cook, who, after leaving the Society Islands, sailed in search of a southern continent then believed to exist. He sighted land on the 6th October, 1769, at Young Nick's Head, and on the 8th of that month cast anchor in Poverty Bay. After having coasted round the North Island and the South and Stewart Islands—which last he mistook for part of the South Island—he took his departure from Cape Farewell on the 31st March, 1770, for Australia. He visited New Zealand again in 1773, in 1774, and in 1777.

M. de Surville, a French officer in command of the vessel “Saint Jean Baptiste,” while on a voyage of discovery, sighted the north-east coast of New Zealand on the 12th December, 1769, and remained for a short time. A visit was soon after paid by another French officer, M. Marion du Fresne, who arrived on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand on the 24th March, 1772, but was, on the 12th June following, murdered at the Bay of Islands by the Natives.

Captain George Vancouver in the “Discovery,” accompanied by Captain Broughton in the “Chatham,” anchored in Dusky Bay, on the west coast of the South Island, on the 2nd November, 1791, and remained there until the 21st. After leaving Dusky Bay the two vessels parted company during a gale, not meeting again until their arrival at Otaheite. During the passage of the “Chatham” to this place, Captain Broughton discovered and named the Chatham Islands (on the 29th November, 1791).

On the 5th November, 1792, the “Britannia” (Captain Raven) anchored in Facile Harbour, on the west coast of the South Island. She had come from Sydney for the purpose of procuring seal-skins. A party of men was landed and accommodation for them built, and, on the 1st December the “Britannia” sailed for the Cape of Good Hope. On her return on the 27th December, 1793, the men were found to be in good health. So far as is known, this was the first instance of Europeans being left in New Zealand to their own resources.

The Spanish expedition in the vessels “Descubrierta” and “Atrevida,” the former commanded by Alejandro Malaspina and the latter by José de Bustamente y Guerra, sighted the west coast of the South Island on the 25th February, 1793. A boat's crew went into Doubtful Bay, whilst the vessels remained off the entrance. Next morning they unsuccessfully attempted to enter Dusky Bay, but the weather becoming stormy they left for Sydney, after giving Spanish names to several places in and around Dusky and Doubtful Bays.

In 1793 also the “Dædalus,” under the command of Lieutenant Hanson, was sent by the Government of New South Wales to New Zealand, and two chiefs were taken thence to Norfolk Island. There was after this an occasional intercourse between the islands of New Zealand and the English settlements in New South Wales.

On the 23rd May, 1820, Thaddeus Bellingshausen, in command of the two Russian ships “Wostok” and “Mirny,” sailed into Cook Strait, in the course of his voyage round the world. The vessels anchored in Queen Charlotte Sound on the 28th May, and remained there till the 3rd June.

In 1814 the first missionaries arrived in New Zealand—Messrs. Hall and Kendall—who had been sent as forerunners by Mr. Marsden, chaplain to the New South Wales Government. After a short stay they returned to New South Wales, and on the 19th November of that year again embarked in company with Mr. Marsden, who preached his first sermon in New Zealand on Christmas Day, 1814. He returned to Sydney on the 23rd March, 1815, leaving Messrs. Hall, Kendall, and King, who formed the first mission station at Rangihoua, Bay of Islands, under the auspices of the Church Missionary Society. Six years later, in 1821, the work of evangelization was put on a more durable basis; but the first station of the Wesleyan mission, established by Mr. Leigh and his wife, at the valley of the Kaeo, Whangaroa, was not taken possession of until the 10th June, 1823.

Almost immediately after Cook returned to England on the completion of his first voyage round the world there was published in London, on the 29th August, 1771, a pamphlet by Alexander Dalrymple, entitled “Scheme of a Voyage to convey the Conveniences of Life, Domestic Animals, Corn, Iron, &c., to New Zealand [sic], with Dr. Benjamin Franklin's Sentiments upon the Subject.” The idea Dalrymple had in mind was to civilize the Maoris by furnishing them with useful commodities, taking in exchange whatever goods the Natives could supply by way of trade. Dalrymple being unsuccessful in raising money to carry out his plan the matter dropped, but he was the first to suggest the idea of opening up commerce with New Zealand, thus paving the way for its colonization.

The first attempt at colonization was made in 1825 by a company formed in London, and called the New Zealand Company. An expedition was sent out under the command of Captain Herd, who acquired tracts of land at Hokianga, at Manakau, and on the borders of the Thames. The company was prevented by adverse circumstances from forming a settlement. In the same year two other persons—namely, Baron Charles de Thierry and Mr. William Stewart—were trying to form colonization companies in London. The former chose for his sphere the North Island and the latter Stewart Island, but neither scheme was successful.

In consequence of frequent visits of whaling-vessels to the Bay of Islands, a settlement grew up at Kororareka—now called Russell—and in 1833 Mr. Busby was appointed British Resident there. A number of Europeans gradually settled in different parts of the country, and married Native women.

In 1837 the New Zealand Association was formed, to apply to New Zealand the Wakefield system of colonization. A Royal Charter was applied for, but the terms offered by the British Government not being acceptable, the association dissolved. Some of the members of this association formed a plan for the prosecution of its leading objects by means of a joint-stock company. On the 29th August, 1838, a private copartnership was established under the name of “The New Zealand Colonization Company.” By the spring of 1839 it had raised sufficient funds to purchase an extensive territory (principally surrounding Hokianga and Kaipara Harbours), and to fit out a preliminary expedition for surveying the coasts, making further purchases, and preparing for the early arrival of settlers. On the 2nd May, 1839, the New Zealand Colonization Company ceased to exist, and the New Zealand Company (the second of that name) was formed with a capital of £100,000 in 4,000 shares of £25 each, to establish settlement in New Zealand on systematic principles.

On the 22nd January, 1840, the first body of immigrants arrived in Port Nicholson, and founded the town of Wellington. About the same time—namely, on the 29th January, 1840—Captain Hobson, R.N., arrived at the Bay of Islands, empowered, with the consent of the Natives, to proclaim the sovereignty of Queen Victoria over the Islands of New Zealand, and to assume the government thereof. A compact called the Treaty of Waitangi, to which in less than six months five hundred and twelve names were affixed, was entered into, whereby all rights and powers of sovereignty were ceded to the Queen, all territorial rights being secured to the chiefs and their tribes. The seat of Government was established at Waitemata (Auckland), and a settlement formed there.

The New Zealand Company having decided to form another settlement, to which the name of “Nelson” was to be given, despatched a preliminary expedition from England in April, 1841, for the purpose of selecting a site. The spot chosen was the head of Blind Bay, where a settlement was established. About the same time a number of pioneers arrived in Taranaki despatched thither by the New Plymouth Company, a colonizing society which had been formed in England, and had bought 50,000 acres of land from the New Zealand Company.

The next important event in the progress of colonization was the arrival at Port Chalmers, on the 23rd March, 1848, of the first of two emigrant ships sent out by the Otago Association for the foundation of a settlement by persons belonging to or in sympathy with the Free Church of Scotland.

In 1849 the “Canterbury Association for founding a Settlement in New Zealand” was incorporated. On the 16th December, 1850, the first emigrant ship despatched by the association arrived at Port Cooper, and the work of opening up the adjoining country was set about in a systematic fashion, the intention of the promoters being to establish a settlement complete in itself, and composed entirely of members of the then United Church of England and Ireland.

The rich tussock plains of Canterbury yielded at once to the efforts of the settlers, and the province soon became the great pastoral and agricultural centre of the colony. Grain and wool were exported, and the volume of trade increased rapidly. The district grew prosperous, and many of the settlers became wealthy men. The foresight of the founders of the settlement provided for endowments for schools and churches, and for the construction of roads and bridges, and when the provinces were abolished in 1875 Canterbury handed over not only a well-equipped district but a large credit balance at its bankers.

Up to the early sixties Otago had made a slow but steady advance, much of the province being adapted to agriculture, to which the energies of the majority of the early settlers were devoted. In 1861, however, gold was discovered in the Lindis Valley, and this, together with further rich finds in Gabriel's Gully and various other parts of Otago, attracted people from all parts of Australasia. The province rapidly increased in wealth and prosperity, and Dunedin soon became a thriving and populous commercial centre.

Southland advanced steadily, mainly on account of its rich agricultural and pastoral lands; and in the northern and western parts of the South Island good progress was also made. Marlborough and the eastern portion of Nelson, with their good soil and attractive climate, became the homes of farming communities, while West-land and the west coast of Nelson owed their progress to rich finds of gold and coal.

For many years the North Island lagged behind the South Island. Its progress was retarded by troubles with the Maoris, and in the early days many settlers, terrified by the warlike attitude of the aboriginals, abandoned their farms and left New Zealand. The unrest caused by the wars put a stop to settlement, and for years left the interior of the Island a terra incognita. After the initial conflicts with the Natives when the British flag was hoisted at the Bay of Islands, colonization proceeded quietly at Auckland, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Wellington, and Hawke's Bay.

In 1861, however, a serious misunderstanding arose at Waitara over the question of land, and almost without warning active hostilities were commenced by the Natives. The Taranaki settlers were driven from their homes, and the labour of years was destroyed in a few weeks. Blood was shed, and many men were killed on both sides. Soon the whole country from Auckland to Wellington was in arms. The settlers around Wanganui, Napier, and Wellington were forced to leave their farms and take refuge in the towns, and for a time all progress was stayed. Over ten thousand troops were brought from England to quell the disturbance, and after several years of fighting the Maoris at last sued for peace. The Waikato Natives lost their land, which was confiscated and handed over to military settlers, who soon converted the district into a thriving farming centre. Slowly the settlers restored their homes and farms, and gradually the North Island became settled by an ever-growing industrious community.

The discovery of rich gold at the Thames in 1367 attracted a large number of people from Australia and from other parts of New Zealand, and since the termination of the Maori wars the North Island has made immense progress, overtaking and, in later years, rapidly outstripping the South Island.

The record of formal Government of New Zealand under the British Crown begins with the following Proclamation issued by Captain William Hobson, R.N., on the 21st May. 1840:—

The Government of the colony was first vested in a Governor, who was responsible only to the Crown; there was an Executive Council and a Legislative Council with advisory powers only. On the 23rd December, 1847, a Charter was signed dividing the colony into two provinces—New Ulster and New Minister—and this was proclaimed in New Zealand on the 10th March, 1848. The Province of New Ulster consisted of the whole of the North Island with the exception of that portion adjacent to Cook Strait and lying to the south of a line commencing at the centre of the mouth of the Patea River and running thence due east until it reaches the sea on the east coast. The Province of New Munster consisted of the portion of the North Island excluded from New Ulster and the whole of the South and Stewart Islands. Each province had a Lieutenant-Governor, an Executive Council, and a Legislative Council, while the Governor-in-Chief for the whole colony was also Governor of each province. Provision had also been made for a House of Representatives in each province, but this portion of the Charter was suspended for five years, and before it came into operation a new Constitution was obtained.

On the 30th June, 1852, the Act granting representative institutions was passed by the Imperial Parliament, and published in New Zealand by Proclamation on the 17th January, 1853. Under it the constitution of a General Assembly for the whole colony was provided for, to consist of a Legislative Council and a House of Representatives.

By the same Act the Provinces of New Ulster and New Munster were abolished and the colony was divided into six new provinces—Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago. Each province was to be presided over by an elective Superintendent, and to have an elective Provincial Council empowered to legislate, except on certain specified subjects. The franchise amounted practically to household suffrage. In each case the election was for four years, but a dissolution of the Provincial Council by the Governor could take place at any time, necessitating a fresh election both of the Council and of the Superintendent. The Superintendent was chosen by the whole body of the electors of the province, and each member of the Provincial Council by the electors of a district. The boundaries of the new provinces were gazetted on the 2nd April, 1853, and the boundaries of the electoral districts on the 14th May following, the first general elections for the House of Representatives and the Provincial Councils being held during 1853 and the beginning of 1854. The Provincial Governments, afterwards increased to ten, but subsequently reduced to nine, remained as integral parts of the Constitution of the colony until the 1st November, 1876, when they were abolished by an Act of the General Assembly, that body having been vested with the power of altering the Constitution Act. On the same day an Act of the General Assembly subdivided the colony (exclusive of the areas included within municipalities) into counties and established a system of local government.

The first Executive for the colony included the Governor and three gentlemen holding office as Colonial Secretary, Attorney-General, and Colonial Treasurer—namely, Messrs. Willoughby Shortland, Francis Fisher, and George Cooper—all appointed on the 3rd May, 1841. The successors of those gentlemen (Andrew Sinclair, appointed 6th January, 1844; William Swainson, appointed 10th August, 1841; and Alexander Shepherd, appointed 9th May, 1842) continued in office until the establishment of Responsible Government on the 7th May, 1856. Only one of them, the Hon. Mr. Swainson, without ceasing to be Attorney-General, sat as a member of the first General Assembly, being Speaker of the Legislative Council. The first session of the General Assembly was opened on the 27th May, 1854, but the members of the Executive were not responsible to Parliament. During the session of that year there were associated with the permanent members of the Executive Council certain members of the House of Representatives. These latter held no portfolios. The first Ministers under a system of responsible government were appointed in the year 1856.

On addresses from both Houses of the General Assembly. His Majesty the King, by Order in Council dated 9th September, 1907, and by Proclamation issued 10th September, 1907, was graciously pleased to change the style and designation of the Colony of New Zealand to “The Dominion of New Zealand”; the change taking effect from Thursday, the 26th September, 1907.

The following are the names of successive Governors of New Zealand, with dates on which they assumed and retired from office:—

Major-General George Dean Pitt, All appointed 1st January, 1848.

Andrew Sinclair, Colonial Secretary, All appointed 1st January, 1848.

William Swainson, Attorney-General, All appointed 1st January, 1848.

Alexander Shepherd, Colonial Treasurer, All appointed 1st January, 1848.

Lieutenant-Colonel R. D. Bolton, appointed 21st June, 1851.

The Executive Council now consists of:—

The Legislative Council assembled for its first session at Auckland on the 24th May, 1854, and comprised fourteen members.

The Councillors had been designated a year earlier by the Governor, and their names submitted to Her late Majesty Queen Victoria for the Royal approval; and they were gazetted in New Zealand in December, 1853. Until 1868 the rule was that the appointment of members should be made by an instrument under the Royal sign manual, but the rule was not strictly observed after 1861. An Act of the Imperial Parliament in 1868 validated any appointments of Councillors that might have been made irregularly in the past, and provided that future appointments should be made by the Governor (not by the Sovereign).

Until 1891 members were appointed for life, and the Speaker was appointed by the Governor; but since that year appointments have been for seven years only, members, however, being eligible for reappointment. The Council elects its own Speaker, who holds office for five years. A Chairman of Committees is elected every session, and holds office till the election of his successor. Speaker and Chairman are both eligible for re-election. The Imperial Act under which the earliest appointments were made did not fix a minimum number of members, though it provided that the first batch to be appointed should be not less than ten in number. The number actually summoned was sixteen, of whom only fourteen attended and were enrolled. The number increased irregularly for thirty years. In 1885 and 1886 it stood at fifty-three, but has not since reached that limit. The number on the roll at present (12th August, 1915) is thirty-seven.

An Act passed in the session of 1914 provides for an elective Legislative Council. For the purposes of the election of Legislative Councillors the Dominion is divided into four electoral divisions, two in each of the main Islands. At the first election, to be held simultaneously with the first general election after the end of the year 1915, twenty-four members are to be returned, seven in each of the North Island divisions and five in each South Island division. At subsequent elections forty members are to be elected, divided between the two Islands on a population basis. The term of office of Legislative Councillors under the new system will be from the date of election until the dissolution or expiry of Parliament next after the expiration of five years, except that in case of a dissolution of both Houses of Parliament (provided for under certain circumstances) a new election becomes necessary.

Life members and other appointed members of the Legislative Council who held their seats at the 5th November, 1914, will continue to do so until the end of the term of their appointment. Members appointed after the 5th November, 1914, and before the 1st January, 1916 (after which date no European members are to be appointed), will hold their seats only until the 1st July, 1921. The new Act empowers the Governor to appoint not more than three Maori members to the Council, the maximum strength of which will eventually be forty-three.

A Councillor must be a male person, of the full age of twenty-one years, and a British subject, either natural-born or naturalized; and he must not be in the receipt of pay out of the public purse, whether as a public servant or under a Government contract.^* The seat of a member is voided if he enters the service or places himself under the protection of any foreign Power; or if he becomes bankrupt or compounds with his creditors; or if he is a public defaulter; or if he is convicted of any crime punishable by death or by imprisonment with hard labour for three years or more; or if he resigns his seat; or if he absents himself without the leave of the Governor for more than one whole session.

Before the year 1892 the honorarium of Councillors was understood to be for the session, not for the year, and formed the subject of a special vote every session, the amount varying in different sessions. By the Payment of Members Act, 1892, the honorarium was made annual, not sessional, and was fixed at £150 a year. The amount was raised in 1904 to £200 a year. Besides the honorarium, members are allowed travelling-expenses actually incurred in going to and from Parliament.

Subject to certain exemptions, members not attending the Council are liable to be fined.

* The Suspension of Disqualifications during War Act, 1915, however, permits of members of either branch of the Legislature drawing pay as members of His Majesty's Military or Naval Forces raised for service beyond New Zealand.

The number of members constituting the House of Representatives is eighty—seventy-six Europeans and four Maoris. They are now designated Members of Parliament. The number was originally fixed by the Constitution Act as not more than forty-two and not less than twenty-four, and the first Parliament called together in 1854 consisted of forty members. Legislation passed in 1858 fixed the number of European members at forty-one; in 1860, at fifty-three; in 1862, at fifty-seven; in 1865, at seventy; in 1867, at seventy-two; in 1870, at seventy-four; in 1875, at eighty-four; in 1881, at ninety-one; in 1887, at seventy; and in 1900, at seventy-six. By the Maori Representation Act, 1867, which is still in force, as embodied in the Legislature Act, 1908, four Maori members were added, three for the North Island and one for the South.

The North Island at present returns forty-two European members, and the South Island thirty-four. The elections are triennial, except in the case of a dissolution by the Governor. Quinquennial Parliaments, instituted under the Constitution Act, were abolished by the Triennial Parliaments Act, 1879.

Every registered elector, being of the male sex and free from any of the disqualifications mentioned in the Legislature Act, 1908, is eligible for membership. All contractors to the public service of New Zealand to whom any public money above the sum of £50 is payable, directly or indirectly, in any one financial year, as well as the public servants of the Dominion, are incapable of being elected as, or of sitting or voting as, members. An exception is made by the Suspension of Disqualifications during War Act, 1915, whereby it is laid down that the receipt of pay as a member of any of His Majesty's military or naval forces raised for service beyond New Zealand shall not cause a member of either branch of the Legislature to be deemed a Civil servant or contractor for purposes of the Legislature Act.

The payment made to members of the House of Representatives is £25 per month, amounting to £300 per annum, subject to certain deductions for absence during session not due to sickness or other unavoidable cause. Travelling-expenses to and from Wellington are also allowed. This scale of payment came into force on the 7th November, 1901, under the provisions of an Act passed in that year.

The election of a Speaker is the first business of a new House after the members have been sworn. A Chairman of Committees is elected as soon after as is convenient. Both Speaker and Chairman of Committees hold office until a dissolution, but receive payment until the first meeting of a new Parliament.

Twenty members, inclusive of the Speaker, constitute a quorum.

ROLL OF MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT (12TH AUGUST, 1915) IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES.