Warning
This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.
Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.
Although relatively few New Zealanders have emigrated to Canada, the following have attained important positions in their respective fields.
Arthur, Eric Ross
(1898– ).
Professor of architectural design.
Eric Ross Arthur was born at Dunedin, New Zealand, on 1 July 1898. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School and studied at the University of Liverpool, being the Lord Kitchener National Memorial Scholar (Great Britain) in 1919. He also won the Lord Leverhulme Prize in architecture and civic design and the Holt travelling scholarship. Although he served in the London offices of Sir Edwin Lutyens and Sir Aston Webb, most of his work has been done in Canada. During the First World War he served in the New Zealand Rifle Brigade; and, in the Second, as an able seaman in the merchant navy. He is now professor of architectural design at the University of Toronto and partner in the firm of Fleury, Arthur, and Barclay. Besides being editor of the Journal of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, Professor Arthur has published a number of books. In 1956 he was awarded a gold medal for his services to Canadian architecture by the University of Alberta and has received an honorary L.L.D. from the University of Manitoba.
Baldwin, Gerald William
(1907– ).
Member of the House of Commons.
Gerald William Baldwin was born on 18 January 1907 at Palmerston North, New Zealand, and educated at Edmonton, where he trained in law. During the Second World War he served with the Canadian Army in Britain and Europe. He was a political candidate at the 1935 provincial elections and entered Federal politics in 1957. At the general election of 1958 he was returned to represent Peace River (Alberta) in the House of Commons, where he sits as a Progressive Conservative. He has been returned at succeeding elections and, in 1962, was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister. Besides his political interests, he is registrar of the (Anglican) Diocese of Athabaska and was bencher of the Law Society of Alberta (1955–58).
Banks, Charles Arthur, C.M.G.
(1885– ).
Former Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia.
Charles Arthur Banks was born on 18 May 1885 at Thames, New Zealand, and educated at the Thames School of Mines and Colorado School of Mines, where he gained his D.Eng. degree. He served with the Royal Engineers in the First World War. In 1937 he was awarded the Mining and Metallurgical Society of America Gold Medal for his work in connection with the aerial development of remote mines. During the Second World War he was the London representative of the Canadian Department of Munitions and Supply (1940–45); and, on his return, became Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia (1946–50). He has been president of Bulolo Gold Dredging Co. Ltd. since 1952 and chairman of the Placer Development Co. since 1957.
Hawthorn, Harry Bertram
(1910– ).
Professor of anthropology.
Harry Bertram Hawthorn was born on 15 October 1910 at Wellington, New Zealand, and educated at Wellington College, Victoria Univ. College, Wellington, the University of Hawaii, and Yale University. He was research assistant at the Institute of Human Relations at Yale (1939–42), studying in Bolivia in the latter year, and, from 1942–47, member of the faculty of Sarah Lawrence College, New York. Since 1947 he has been professor of anthropology at the University of British Columbia, being head of the department since 1956. Professor Hawthorn's publications include The Maori — a Study in Acculturation (1944); The Doukhobors of British Columbia (1955); The Indians of British Columbia (1957). In 1963 he was appointed director of a research programme to assess the participation of Indians in the social and economic life of Canada.
Jenness, Diamond
(1886– ).
Anthropologist.
Diamond Jenness was born at Wellington, New Zealand, on 10 February 1886. He was educated at Wellington College and graduated master of arts in classics from Victoria University College in 1908. He proceeded to Balliol College, Oxford, where he took a diploma in anthropology in 1911 and M.A. in 1916. In 1911 he conducted an expedition in New Guinea in search of material on Papuan ethnology. Two years later he took part in the Southern Party Canadian Arctic Expedition and for three years studied the habits and customs of certain Eskimos and made a valuable contribution to the knowledge of the Copper Eskimos. In 1916 he joined the Canadian Expeditionary Force as a gunner, and after the armistice returned to Ottawa, where he joined the National Museum as an ethnologist. In 1926 he was appointed chief of the Anthropological Section of the National Museum of Canada. Between the two world wars he prepared and published a large number of scientific works based on anthropological and archaeological surveys he has carried out from time to time in different regions of Canada. At the outbreak of the Second World War Dr Jenness worked with the Dependent's Allowance Board, then as Royal Canadian Air Force Deputy Director of Intelligence from 1940 to 1943. He then became chief of the Inter-Service Topographical Section in the Department of National Defence until 1946 and, finally, Director of Research in the same Department's Geographical Bureau. The honorary degree of LL.D. was conferred on him by the University of New Zealand in 1933 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to anthropology, and in 1962 he was awarded the Royal Geographical Society's Massey Medal for his geographical work.
Nanson, Eric Musard
(1915– ).
Professor of surgery.
Eric Musard Nanson was born at Geraldine on 4 January 1915 and attended Cathedral Grammar School and Christ's College, Christchurch. He graduated M.B. Ch.B. from the University of Otago and, after two years as a house surgeon at Christchurch Hospital, joined the Medical Corps and served with the Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Middle East until the end of 1944. After two more years in New Zealand hospitals he went to London, where he qualified F.R.C.S. in 1947 and was associated with various London hospitals till 1950 when he went to Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, U.S.A., as Rockefeller Foundation fellow in surgery. On his return to England in 1951 he was appointed lecturer in surgery at the University of Bristol till the end of 1952, when he became associate professor of surgery at Johns Hopkins University. Since 1954 he has been professor of surgery at the University of Saskatchewan and surgeon-in-chief to the University Hospital. He also acts as consulting surgeon to a number of other Saskatoon hospitals. Professor Nanson has published numerous papers in medical journals and was Hunterian professor of the Royal College of Surgeons in England in 1950 and 1959.
Taylor, William Irving
(1923– ).
Associate professor of chemistry.
William Irving Taylor was born at Auckland, New Zealand, on 23 July 1923 and was educated at Auckland University College, graduating M.Sc. in 1946 and Ph.D two years later. He then spent a year in Switzerland as national research scholar. In 1950 he became a fellow of the National Research Council of Canada. He was awarded an I.C.I., fellowship to Cambridge for 1951–52. Since then he has been associate professor of chemistry at the University of New Brunswick, Canada.
Many New Zealanders have emigrated to Australia where they have risen to the top of their professions. The largest group has gone to Australian universities, but more have found by no means insignificant places in other fields. The following are some of the more important New Zealand expatriates living in Australia.
Baume, Frederick Ehrenfried
(1900– ).
Novelist, journalist, and broadcaster.
Frederick Ehrenfried Baume was born on 29 May 1900 at Auckland, New Zealand, and educated at Waitaki Boys' High School. He became a reporter on the Timaru Herald (1922–23), news editor of the Sydney Guardian (1923–29), and editor of the Sunday Sun (1929–39). During the Second World War (1939–45) he acted as war correspondent with the British Army and, until 1949, was also European editor of Truth and Sportsman and of the Sydney Daily Mirror. From 1949 to 1952 he was deputy editor-in-chief of the Sydney Truth. In addition to his work as a journalist F. E. Baume has written the following books: Tragedy Track (1932); Half-Caste (1933); Burnt Sugar (1934); I Lived These Years (1941); I Lived Another Year (1942); Sydney Duck (1944); Five Graves at Nijmegan (1945); Mercia Wade (1946); I'll Always be With You (1946); Ponty Galler (1947); Devil Lord's Daughter (1948); Unrehearsed Incident (1949); and The Mortal Sin of Father Grossard (1953). Since 1961 he has been executive editor of Radio 2GB, Sydney.
Borrie, Wilfred David
(1913– ).
Professor of demography.
Wilfred David Borrie was born at Waimate, New Zealand, on 2 September 1913. He was educated at Waitaki Boys' High School, Oamaru, and at the University of Otago, where he graduated M.A. From 1944 to 1947 he was a senior lecturer at the University of Sydney and for the following three years was a senior research fellow at the Australian National University. His next appointment was as reader in charge of the Department of Demography. Since 1957 he has been professor of demography at the Australian National University.
Bullen, Keith Edward, F.R.S.
(1906– ).
Professor of applied mathematics.
Keith Edward Bullen was born at Auckland, New Zealand, on 29 June 1906. He was educated at Auckland Grammar School and at Auckland University College, where he graduated B.Sc. and M.A. He won a senior scholarship and undertook post-graduate study for D.Sc. and Ph.D. at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he was Strathcona Exhibitioner. After a brief period as a teacher at Auckland Grammar School, he was lecturer in mathematics at Auckland University (1927–39). From 1940 to 1945 he was senior lecturer in mathematics at Melbourne University. Since 1946 he has been professor of applied mathematics at the University of Sydney. Professor Bullen has been associated with a number of national and international bodies concerned with geophysics and seismology and has been awarded a number of medals (including the Hector Medal for his contributions in those fields. Since 1958 he has been Vice-President of the International Special Committee for Antarctic Research and from 1958–60 was Chairman of the Australian National Committee for the International Geophysical Year.
Davidson, James Wightman
(1915– ).
Professor of Pacific history.
James Wightman Davidson was born at Wellington, New Zealand, on 1 October 1915. He was educated at Waitaki Boys' High School and at Victoria University College, where he graduated M.A. Afterwards he attended St. John's College, Cambridge, where he obtained his Ph.D. He joined the New Zealand Department of Internal Affairs (1938), but later (1941–42) became a research fellow at Nuffield College. He served in the Naval Intelligence Division of the Admiralty from 1942 to 1945. From 1944 to 1951 he was a fellow of St. John's College and a lecturer in history at Cambridge University (1946–50). Since 1950 Professor Davidson has occupied the Chair of Pacific History at the Australian National University, Canberra. From 1959 to 1961 he was constitutional adviser to the Government of Western Samoa.
Heffron, Robert James
(1890– ).
Premier of New South Wales.
Robert Heffron was born at Thames, New Zealand, on 10 September 1890. He was educated in Auckland and trained as a secretary and accountant. Subsequently he went to Australia to live. Since entering politics he has been a member of the Legislative Assembly for Botany, Sydney (1930–50), and for Maroubra. He was Minister for National Emergency Services (1941–44), of Education and Welfare, from 1944, and Deputy Premier (1952–59). In the latter year he became Labour Premier of New South Wales, holding this position until his retirement in May 1964.
Hicks, Sir Cedric Stanton
(1892– ).
Emeritus professor of human physiology and pharmacology.
Sir Cedric Stanton Hicks was born at Mosgiel, near Dunedin, on 2 June 1892. He was educated at Otago Boys' High School and at the University of Otago, where he graduated M.Sc., M.B., Ch.B. In addition he has obtained the degrees of M.D. (Adelaide) and Ph.D. (Cambridge). In 1914 he was a lecturer in chemistry at the University of Otago, but his teaching was interrupted by service with the First New Zealand Expeditionary Force Medical Corps. After his demobilisation he became New Zealand national resident scholar at the Royal Institute of Chemistry, where he obtained his fellowship (F.R.I.C.) in 1923. From there he became a Beit memorial resident fellow of Cambridge. In 1923 he returned to the University of Otago as lecturer in pathology and also acted as clinical pathologist at Dunedin Hospital. Three years later he was appointed professor of human physiology and pharmacology at the University of Adelaide, which post he held until 1948. After the First World War he made a study of endemic goitre in New Zealand, Switzerland, Carinthia, and the United States. Since then he has done a great deal of research into food and nutrition problems. From 1940 to 1946 he served with the Australian Imperial Forces and was the Army repre-presentative on the Red Cross National Nutrition Committee. Sir Stanton was knighted in 1936.
Hudson, Sir William, K.B.E., F.R.S.
(1896– ).
Hydro-electric Commissioner.
Sir William Hudson was born at Nelson, New Zealand, on 27 April 1896. He was educated at Nelson College and London University, where he obtained his B.Sc. Prior to his appointment as Commissioner of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority he had considerable and varied experience in New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and Australia. He was, successively, assistant engineer in the hydro-electric section of Armstrong Whitworth and Co. (London), engineer in charge of construction at Arapuni (New Zealand), and assistant resident engineer in the construction of the Nepean Dam. In Scotland he was engineer in charge of the Galloway Hydro-electric Scheme. On his return to New South Wales he became resident engineer and, eventually, engineer-in-chief in the construction of the Woronora Dam. Sir William became head of the Snowy Mountain project in 1949 and was knighted six years later.
Macfarlane, Walter Victor
(1913– ).
Professorial fellow in physiology.
Walter Victor Macfarlane was born at Christchurch, New Zealand, on 27 September 1913. He was educated at Canterbury University College and the University of Otago, where he gained his M.A. and M.D. degrees. For a time he was a parasitologist at Wallaceville Animal Research Station and, later, became an assistant in neurosurgery at Dunedin Hospital. Later, he was senior lecturer in physiology at the University of Otago, but resigned in 1949 to take up the Chair of Physiology at Queensland University. In 1958 he was appointed professorial fellow in physiology at the Australian National University, Canberra.
Niland (née Park), Ruth Lucia
(1917– ).
Novelist.
Ruth Park was born at Auckland, New Zealand, on 24 August 1917 and was educated at Te Kuiti District High School and St. Benedict's College, Auckland. She started her literary career as a proof reader for the Auckland Star in 1937, became children's editor two years later, and general reporter in 1941. In 1942 she married D'Arcy Francis Niland, the Australian radio dramatist. She published her first novel, Harp of the South, in 1947 and won the Sydney Morning Herald prize. Since then she has written Poor Man's Orange, The Witch's Thorn, A Power of Roses, Pink Flannel, The Golden Boomerang, One-a-Pecker-Two-a-Pecker, The Good Looking Woman, and several children's books and plays.
Storkey, Percy Valentine, V.C.
(1891– ).
District Judge.
Percy Valentine Storkey was born at Napier, New Zealand, on 9 September 1891. He was educated at Napier Boys' High School and Victoria University College before going to Sydney, where he graduated LL.B. From 1915 to 1919 he served with 19th Battalion, Australian Imperial Forces. On 7 April 1918 he was awarded the Victoria Cross for “most conspicuous bravery, leadership and devotion to duty when in charge of a platoon in the attack on Hangard Wood, near Villers-Bretonneux”. He was called to the New South Wales Bar in 1921 and later became Crown Prosecutor on the Southwestern Circuit. From 1939 to 1955 he was a Judge of the New South Wales District Court.
Tayler, Eric Archdale
(1921– ).
A.B.C. drama producer.
Eric Archdale Tayler was born on 4 December 1921 at Hastings, New Zealand, and educated at Auckland Grammar School. During the Second World War he served in the Middle East and Italy and, from 1947 to 1950, attended the Royal Adademy of Dramatic Art, London. For the next five years he acted in various repertory companies. In 1955 he joined the B.B.C. drama department and was associated with some notable TV productions including the Maigret series, Z Cars, and Oliver Twist. Earl in 1965 Tayler joined the A.B.C. as a drama producer.
Trendall, Arthur Dale, C.M.G., K.C.S.G.
(1909– ).
Master of University House and deputy vice-chancellor, Australian National University, Canberra.
Arthur Dale Trendall was born at Auckland, New Zealand, on 28 March 1909. He was educated at Kings College, Auckland, and at the University of Otago. In 1931 he won a post-graduate scholarship in arts and went to Trinity College, Cambridge, where in 1933 he became Watson student. From 1933 to 1936 he studied at Athens and Rome, holding a Rome scholarship for the latter two years. The next two years were spent as librarian to the British School in Rome and, after this, was a fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, for three years. In 1939 he was appointed professor of Greek at the University of Sydney and of archaeology in 1948. Since 1954 Professor Trendall has been the master of University House, Australian National University, Canberra, deputy vice-chancellor of the University, an emeritus professor of the University of Sydney, and honorary curator of the Nicholson Museam. Professor Trendall has received degrees from the New Zealand, Cambridge, Melbourne, and Adelaide Universities. He is a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, a member of the German Archaeological Institute. He received the C.M.G. in 1961 and holds a knighthood in the Papal Order of St. Gregory. In 1961 he was made Cavaliere Ufficiale Ordine al Merito of Italy.
Watson, Alan Cameron
(1900– ).
Moderator-General of the Presbyterian General Assembly of Australia.
Alan Cameron Watson was born at Feilding, New Zealand, on 16 March 1900. He was educated at the University of Otago, where he obtained his M.A. and D.D. degrees, as well as the Diploma in Social Science. From 1922 to 1927 he was a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Otago; for the next 15 years he was a minister at East Taieri and at St. Paul's, Christchurch. Since 1942 he has been minister at Toorak Presbyterian Church, Melbourne. From 1959 to 1962 he held office as moderator-general of the Presbyterian General Assembly of Australia.
Watson-Munro, Charles Norman, O.B.E.
(1915– ).
Professor of plasma physics.
Charles Norman Watson-Munro was born at Dunedin, New Zealand, on 1 August 1915 and was educated at Victoria University College, Wellington. He was New Zealand scientific liaison officer in 1942 and Director of the New Zealand Radar Laboratory from 1942 to 1944. For the next three years he worked as principal scientific officer at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Research Establishment where he led the team who built the first atomic pile. On his return to New Zealand he became Assistant Secretary to the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, which post he held until 1951 when he became professor of physics at Victoria University College. In 1954 he was appointed chief scientist for the Australian Atomic Energy Commission. He resigned from this position in 1959 and in the following year became professor of plasma physics at the University of Sydney.
White, Sir Frederick William George, K.B.E.
(1905– ).
Chairman of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation.
Frederick W. G. White was born at Wellington, New Zealand, on 26 May 1905. He was educated at Victoria University College before proceeding to Cambridge on a postgraduate research scholarship to study under Lord Rutherford. From 1931 to 1936 he lectured in physics at London University and in 1937 became professor of physics at Canterbury University College. In 1941 he left New Zealand to become Chairman of the Radiophysics Advisory Board of C.S.I.R.O. He was Chief of the Radiophysics Division (1942), an Executive Officer three years later, and on the Executive Committee in 1946. Sir Frederick became Chairman of C.S.I.R.O. in 1959. He received the C.B.E. in 1954 and was created K.B.E. in 1962.
Among many other New Zealanders who have made names for themselves in Australia, the following may be mentioned: Tessa Birnie (Ashburton), concert pianist; Dr Keith Dudson (Wellington), a medical practitioner who has pioneered the buffalo meat trade in the Northern Territory; Dr Ernest Duncan (Auckland), headmaster of Newington College, Sydney; Dr S. Faine (Wellington), associate professor of bacteriology, University of Sydney; C. McD. Gilray, M.C., O.B.E. (Otago), formerly headmaster of Scotch College, Melbourne; Roger Mirams (Wellington), director of Pacific Films, Melbourne; D. E. Nicholson (Wairarapa), Speaker of the Queensland Legislative Assembly; Dr G. Ogg (Hastings), medical superintendent at the North Ryde Psychiatric Centre, Sydney; L. H. Smith (New Plymouth), former general manager of the Victorian Totalisator Board; and Terry Vaughan who is Director of the Canberra Civic Auditorium.
Over the years a few New Zealanders have lived in Argentina, where they were associated with agricultural pursuits. The most famous of these was A. A. Cameron, of Hakataramea, who went to South America about 1893 and became almost a legendary figure in Argentina and Chile. He joined the Sociedad Explotadora de Tierra del Fuego and established what became the largest sheep station in the world. Although the station began with Merino sheep, Cameron later imported New Zealand Corriedales. When he retired in 1915 he established New Zealand Phormium tenax in Argentina. Another New Zealander, Edgar Clarke, of Waimate, has been engineer to the Tierra del Fuego Co.
This section gives a brief summary of the activities of certain New Zealanders living more or less permanently abroad, who may therefore be classed as expatriates. In this sense the term New Zealander refers to a person who was born in New Zealand or who arrived in this country at an early age, and who was educated here to a reasonably advanced standard before proceeding overseas. The list is far from complete and it is likely that some outstanding names have been inadvertently omitted because of paucity of information. But the list does serve to show the way in which New Zealanders, like the Scots of previous generations, have become prominent in many fields throughout the world. It is not intended that this section should supply full biographical details. In most cases these may readily be obtained from publications such as Who's Who – Ed.
The overall picture, then, is of an emergent society not yet able to contain and nourish all its best talent. One may argue about the extent of New Zealand's concern with the steady drain away, but no one should question the right of any New Zealander to seek the best climate for his own development. Let us be aware of the problem and recognise the need for advancement. A society gets the culture it deserves.
by Edith Ngaio Marsh, O.B.E., F.R.S.A., HON.D.LITT., Authoress, Christchurch.
It is here, in the living theatre, that one sees the biggest deadlock. Drama in New Zealand is a puzzle. The country is said to possess more amateur societies for its population than any other in the world. There are drama competitions and drama festivals but, above the level of light musicals and out-of-date farces, New Zealand is unable to support a full-scale professional theatre of any scope or stability. It is true that broadcasting and television offer a limited field to a handful of extremely able directors and a number of part-time players. It is also true that there are State bursaries that give a year or two years' training at British drama schools. If these bursars display real talent, what are their prospects if they decide to return to New Zealand? To what? There are in England at the present time several young players from this country, all of whom are in constant work in the most competitive and uncertain field that exists. The prospect of any one of them returning, as things stand at the moment, is dim indeed. Are New Zealanders, then, as a community more musically than theatrically inclined? If so, why all the amateur activity? Is there any chance of a State-subsidised theatre on the same scale as the National Orchestra? Can the costs of touring a company, staggeringly high as they undoubtedly are, be more formidable than the costs of moving a symphony orchestra, a ballet, or a grand opera about the country? Whatever the answer, the fact remains that, of all expatriates, the actor, as things stand, is the least likely to return.
Writers are in a different class. A writer is the most solitary of craftsman and the most self-contained. Whether, like James Courage, he works and publishes in England, or whether, like the best of our poets, he stays in New Zealand, his books appear and are read in both countries by people whom they are likely to please. Janet Frame lives in England and writes about New Zealand. If, like Allen Curnow and Kenneth Melvin, for instance, the author is also a lecturer in a university, or if in any other way he enriches what Americans call the “cultural stream”, then, of course, his absence would be a direct loss.
Finally, the painters, draughtsmen, and sculptors. They, perhaps more than any of the other groups discussed, do tend to remain in New Zealand. They, too, are given certain travelling grants. Those of them who win these awards seem, nowadays, to be drawn back to their country. Perhaps the most notable exception is Douglas McDiarmid who, after a brief return, has settled in Paris where his paintings have become widely known. There is no doubt that progressive bodies, such as the Auckland Gallery, have had a considerable influence in retaining many of our contemporary artists.
New Zealanders do very well in Great Britain. Once the early loneliness, defensiveness, and inverted arrogance wears off, they soon become acclimatised and they have a very high reputation. It is perhaps true to say that, of all importations from the Dominions, New Zealanders are the most welcome and the most popular. They retain their independence of outlook and their initiative and they lose their insularity. For the most part, they prosper. It is not to be wondered at that so many of them never return; those that do, sometimes find that they have made a mistake.
Any criticisms that may be levelled at the possible neglect of talent in this country fall flat when it comes to music. The establishment of the National Symphony Orchestra, the New Zealand Opera Co., the New Zealand Ballet Co., and the Chamber Music Society are magnificent achievements. Their standard of performance is admirable, they attract visiting artists of the first rank, and they offer professional work at a high level to local instrumentalists. It is significant that New Zealand's two leading composers, Douglas Lilburn and David Farquhar, have both studied abroad and then returned to work and to teach in this country. With the establishment of a conservatorium, when it comes, there will be no need for any but the most highly gifted music students to study abroad and, for those that do so, there will be every reasonable incentive to return. With the will, the foresight, and the understanding to bring about such an advance in musical achievement, one feels that the State will before long give comparable help to another and allied art: that of the theatre.
Before and since their day there have been other expatriates whose loss we cannot but regret, but must recognise as inevitable: among the painters there were Dora Meeson, Raymond McIntyre, and James Cook; among the writers, Pember Reeves, John Mulgan, and James Courage. Many singers, instrumentalists, and an increasing number of actors have trained abroad and never returned. Nor is this constant exodus confined to the pure arts. Today there are in England, America, and Europe, New Zealand surgeons, physicians, scholars, men of law, men of science, men of business, engineers, nurses, designers, broadcasters, and television experts. Some of them may wish, from time to time, that they could find comparable opportunities in their native country but for few of them does the suitable opening occur.
Nobody is going to say of these New Zealanders that they ought to come back. They are themselves and they have the right to order their own lives and develop such talents as they possess in the climate that is most favourable to them. May it not be urged that the responsibility lies at home, that it is time New Zealanders examined this state of affairs and asked themselves, for example, whether the balance of opportunity in New Zealand needs a new look? How does the salary of a schoolmaster or a lecturer in a New Zealand university compare, first, with the equivalent salary in other countries, and then with the wages of semi- or unskilled labour in New Zealand? How far is the disparity, if one exists, a matter of necessity, of sound judgment, or of dictation from sources that are not qualified to judge? How big an effort is being made to give young New Zealanders an awareness of their place, even though it is a remote place, in the history and growth of European culture, that they are a living extension of a great cultural tradition, and that their growth, as a thinking people, is historically and organically linked with the outside world and must be dependent upon it? Geographically, New Zealand may be out on a limb, but as long as the sap flows it is a branch of no mean tree.
One of the difficulties in discussing the present situation and the consequent drain away of talent rests on the circumstance of there being very few countries with whom New Zealanders may profitably compare themselves. This is an extremely young country. The circumstances under which it was settled, the declared aims and objects of the pioneers, and the overall pattern of development have no exact contemporary parallel: there are no other truly comparable countries. In size alone, apart from its early history, Australia offers no useful talking point. New Zealanders are a small community in a small country: the crux of the matter is whether they have too low a saturation point when it comes to using their most gifted people.
In the growth and emergence of the New Zealand Welfare State over the past 30 years, certain points of view have come to light. They are perhaps implicit in any social structure that has as its principal ideal the concept of the greatest good for the greatest number. There is an unspoken mistrust of any kind of élite, not only socially, but intellectually as well. In the schools and universities, overcrowded, understaffed, and constantly expanding as they are, there is an unavoidable tendency to let the brilliant student get on with it while the rank and file are crammed over their educational fences and brought up to examination levels. Opportunities for specialisation and experiment are not conspicuous in the general scheme. Postgraduate development is in many cases only to be had by going to another country for it. And the brilliant graduate goes. He becomes very highly equipped in his special subject and arrives at a point where his own country can offer him nothing that measures up to the opportunities that present themselves elsewhere.
Like many another circumstance in New Zealand, the problem of the expatriate is implicit in the conditions that governed the early colonisation of this country, though it is doubtful if the pioneers gave very much thought to it. Almost any discussion about this country will, sooner or later, turn about its geographical isolation and its small population. New Zealanders are an emergent people and are as yet not able to absorb all their native talent. They are also a lonely people, at so great a distance from the source of their culture that frequent short-term visits or exchanges are beyond the means of most of them. It is inevitable in a community that has come into being through a tough, unremitting struggle with the land itself that the emphasis should be on material gains and on visible, useful, and tangible development. The attitudes of the early settlers are the attitudes of many of their living descendants and this is particularly true of the arts and of pure scholarship: in a considerable number of New Zealand minds they are regarded as trimmings, fair enough as far as they go, but not to be compared with a hydro-electric dam or the manufacture, under licence, of a new type of gentlemen's underwear. This is a perfectly natural point of view and the wonder of it is that there should be so many New Zealanders who hold to a different scale of values.
It can be argued that it was inevitable that Katherine Mansfield, Frances Hodgkins, and Ernest Rutherford should leave this country. Neither the writer nor the painter had her peers in New Zealand and there were virtually no links with the immensely exciting changes and revolts that stimulated their European contemporaries; nothing to fight against, except polite indifference. For the physicist there were simply no facilities for research on the level for which he was destined. They went away and they did not return, and it was right that this should be so.
Evidence of a fact is that which tends to prove it, and the law of evidence consists of the rules determining what evidence will be admitted in judicial proceedings to prove facts in issue and how it must be given. Irrelevant evidence is never admissible, but not all logically relevant evidence is admissible in Court. There are several types of inadmissible evidence, for example, hearsay and opinions, and there are numerous exceptions in each case. Sometimes public policy forbids the giving of otherwise admissible evidence. One important instance occurs where certain confidential relationships exist. A lawyer may not, without his client's consent, disclose communications made to him in his professional capacity. A similar rule applies in New Zealand to clergymen and, in civil cases only, to doctors. Journalists have no such privilege. Communications to a marriage guidance counsellor are probably protected from disclosure without consent. There is a statutory rule that no disclosure may be made of anything said to a conciliator appointed by the Court in matrimonial proceedings.
Generally, anyone is a competent witness in any proceeding and can be compelled to give evidence for either side. In criminal cases, however, the prosecution cannot call the accused as a witness, nor can it call his spouse, except in a few instances when a spouse is a competent witness for the prosecution. In no case can the witness be compelled to testify against his wife or, in the case of a woman, against her husband.
Evidence is admissible even though it has been obtained by improper means, for example, an illegal search. This rule extends in New Zealand to induced confessions, which are excluded in most other Commonwealth countries, if the Court is satisfied that the inducement was unlikely to cause an untrue admission. In the United States, on the other hand, the argument has prevailed that the best safeguard against the improper obtaining of evidence is to reject it as proof of guilt. The only justification for the New Zealand rule is confidence that improper means of gathering evidence will not ordinarily be used.
One part of the law of evidence deals with the onus of proof and the degree of proof necessary in judicial proceedings. The burden of proving a fact is on the person alleging it. Broadly speaking, it is sufficient in civil cases to show that a fact is true on the balance of probability. In criminal proceedings, however, the prosecution must prove the guilt of the accused beyond reasonable doubt. Where exceptionally the onus of proving a defence is placed on the accused (for example, insanity), he need only satisfy the balance of probability test.
by Bruce James Cameron, B.A., LL.M., Legal Adviser, Department of Justice, Wellington.
