WILKINSON—BELL. A marriage has been arranged, and will take place shortly, between Roy Alston, only son of the late Mr. W. H. Wilkinson, and of Mrs. Wilkinson, of North Warren House, Gainsborough, and Mary Caroline, elder daughter of the late Major and Mrs. H. A. Bell, of Lindum Close, Lincoln. [School House, 1917-21]
NOTES ON NEW ZEALAND The other day it occurred to me that I am probably the only O.P. in New Zeauand. If there are others I would like to hear of them. In any event, with the accent today on migration to the Dominions, a few lines from one who has been settled in this Dominion over the past five years may be of interest to those about to leave School. Let me say, first of all, that the enterprise of the pioneers in this country has produced, during the course of a hundred years, a modern, wealthy, versatile and satisfied community. A couple of wars against the Maoris, which earned no fewer than half a dozen V.C.s for the British detachments, is some indication not only of the early problems attending colonisation, but also of the ferocity of the Maori warriors who resented intrusion by the pakeha, or white man. Lest the exponents of yard hockey should seek to assuage their thirst for blood in New Zealand now, I ought to say that the Maoris are no longer cannibalistic and illiterate, but well educated and respected subjects of the Queen. The first settlers cleared great tracts of bush and native trees to establish farms, and then the towns, communications, and ports to carry the fruits of their labours to the distant markets of the world. Today New Zealand exports every year a million and a quarter bales of wool, principally to Britain; a quarter of a million tons of lamb and mutton, principally to Britain; and butter, dried milk and cheese, again nearly all of it to Britain. She boasts excellent libraries, universities, schools, and hospitals. New Zealanders are justifiably proud of their great record which has been achieved within the lifetime of men who are living today and who came out in the sailing ships of the Victorian era. There are two million of them now, including the population of both races, and experts come from far and wide to study their successful methods of primary production, of industrial harmony and social security, and racial unity. In no other country in the world do white and coloured men live together in such a state of mutual trust and respect. Both islands have been endowed by Nature with a wide variety of scenery and phenomena. Not far distant from the rolling plains, lush with green pastures, stand towering, snow-capped mountains with trout 7
