New Zealand

by Reginald Horsley

II

The Answer

The text of His Majesty the King's Proclamation, conferring the title of Dominion upon the Colony of New Zealand. Read by His Excellency the Governor (Lord Plunket) from the steps of Parliament House, Wellington, New Zealand, at eleven o'clock in the morning of Thursday 26th of September, 1907.

"Whereas We have, on the petition of the members of the Legislative Council and the House of Representatives of Our Colony of New Zealand, determined that the title of the Dominion of New Zealand shall be substituted for that of the Colony of New Zealand as the designation of the said Colony. We have, therefore, by and with the advice of Our Privy Council, thought fit to issue this, Our Royal Proclamation, and We do ordain, declare, and command, that on and after the 26th day of September 1907, the said Colony of New Zealand and the territory belonging thereto shall be called and known by the title of the Dominion of New Zealand, and We hereby give Our command to all public departments accordingly.

"Edward Rex."

III

Dominion Day

"Ab actu ad posse valet illatio"

So New Zealand, having resisted the blandishments of her big neighbour, and refused to allow her identity to be submerged in the Commonwealth of Australia, craved a gift from the King, who gave her what she craved,—a designation which should convince the world that she had climbed from the ruck of the colonies into a position of distinction. Few would in any case have denied this; but the change of designation made, as was intended, New Zealand's improved status apparent to all.

The gift of this new designation was a public recognition of New Zealand's right to take her place on equal terms among the great self-governing colonies, and in asking for such recognition New Zealand did wisely. Great names were in the air in the South Sea, and for New Zealand not to have chosen one, now that she had elected to stand alone, would have been deliberately to hide her light under the bushel of self-effacement, and quite unnecessarily to seek a lower place than that which Australia had assumed.