The Iced Coffee U-Turn Tour

Netvibes Baby!!!

At the end of last term some of the staff went to a course on Netvibes.

It allows users to aggregate a number of websites RSS feeds and various applications together. A few years ago these were called Portals and were all the rage but those were corporate

I had a play with it and developed some ideas. You can find them here. I plan to use Netvibes along with Moodle to teach next year...

You can also join and create your own - it's free!

Taranaki Fieldtrip - The Iced Coffee U-Turn Tour

Well we have survived the inaugural field trip to the Taranaki. I had a really good time and 'Poppa H' has commented how much he enjoyed your company.

For both us the highlight was the Sap and Pa at Pukerangiora which really brought home the Waitara conflict to us and far better than seeing the same site on Belichs video had.

Nothing against Belichs series but it was cool to actually stand in the Sap or even better to look down on the Sap from the top of the Pa.

Other higlights for us included the Cameron Blockhouse, the Jumping Pillow at the Top10, the Memorial Tower and of course Kowhai Park in Wanganui.

Its not often you see so many 18 years old so quickly loose their inhibitions and turn into 8 year olds.

Apart from Seeing 'Sue', Puke Ariki was a disappointment as was missing some of the other sites because of poor signposting. Bugger. (Tauranga Ika, Parihaka, Kohia Pa)

The weird irony that a site like Te Ngutu O Te Mana is now a camping ground was not lost on some us.

It does look like next year will deinitely be a 4 day expedition to give us the time to explore the region properly.

I plan to try and turn the pictures into a photostory and will post the video upto youtube soon.

Have great holiday.

Party Politics

The 1890 strike was a failure but it did create a huge amount of sympathy for the labour cause. Ballance as leader of the Liberals was able to organise an opposition to the Government. In the subsequent election Atkinsons Government was toppled by Ballance in conjunction with several Union backed MP's. In the interlude between the election and the new Government, Atkinson stacked the Legislative council with his Conservative supporters. These supporters then refused to pass any of the Liberal legislation.

This initially slowed Liberal reforms and created a constitutional crisis in which the Governor General was forced to accept the appointees that Ballance wanted to make to correct the imbalance.Ballances slow decline into illness also slowed the Liberals so that much of their most memorable legislation appeared after the 1893 election and Ballance had died before his preferred replacement, Stout, could take his seat.

This left the leadership open for Seddon to take the reigns which he would retain for the next 13 years. Ballance had surrounded himself with a talented Cabinet which included , Seddon, Pember -Reeves, Stout and McKenzie. they are most famous for their groundbreaking legislation that included the Electoral Act of 1893 which gave Women the vote, the 1895 Arbitration and Conciliation Act (Pember-Reeves)and the 1898 Pension Act.

McKenzie was also held responsible for breaking up the "Great Estates". However this was not the savage attack on the rich (on behalf of the 'Small man' )that it is portrayed as. The Depression had hit overstretched run holders, many of whom were forced into receivership by their Banks. The Liberals were offered several times more land in the South than they purchased and the most of the land they did acquire came from Maori in the north.

Their most famous piece of legislation is perhaps the Electoral Act of 1893. Championed by the WCTU and Kate Sheppard with the support of several leading politicians it gave women the vote establishing a truly universal suffrage. Seddon did his best to oppose the law but allowed the bill to pass through tot he Legislative Council where he expected it to die. Several mmbers of the Council found Seddon more objectionable and passed the bill to spite him.

The Arbitration Act gave recognition to Unions and many took the chance to work through the process. Once in arbitration both parties had to accept the decision given to them. As a result there was relative calm on the industrial front giving the appearance all was well. Pember -Reeves left almost immediately for London, his fabian background does not always appear to have seen him able to work with the more moderate caucus.

The Pension Act was a favourite of Seddons, who could see the benefits for the many (now indigent) elderly gold miners because of his personal history as a miner and a pblican in Kumara. However it was only available to persons of good character, who could prove their age and who were not Chinese. It is an interesting idea that this act reflected New Zealands growing egalitarianism and desire to give everyone a fair go (perhaps even an extension of Phillips 'Mateship' or Belichs 'Crew Culture'.)

The Liberals faced little challenge at the subsequent elections because there was little in the way of an organised opposition. Thus, although they lost support in 1896 they held onto power. Increasingly as well Seddon came to dominate the party creating a top down style of leadership, surrounding himself with 'lesser' men who tended to agree with him. The idea of party politics started with Ballance but it was Seddon who enshrined its ideals and created the system we have today.

The economic situation today.

In todays class we talked about the Banking system and how Banks operate. I found this link explaining how the sub-prime mortgage market in the USA worked. Its collapse sparked the current collapse of Banks. (excuse some of the language)

http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=ddp4zq7n_0cdjsr4fn&skipauth=true

Jenna will be taking the class this week while we are in the Taranaki.

Also if you want to check the marking schedules for the Essays and Resources go to Moodle and download them. Normal school network login is required.

Governor to Government

1833
James Busby arrives in the Bay of Islands as British Resident in New Zealand – a junior consular representative with little power.

1834
Northern chiefs gather at Busby's house at Waitangi to choose a ‘Flag of the United Tribe of New Zealand’.

1835
A Declaration of Independence of New Zealand is drawn up by Busby without authorisation from his superiors. This asserts the independence of New Zealand, with all sovereign power and authority resting with the hereditary chiefs and tribes. The declaration is eventually signed by 52 Maori chiefs.

1839
The British government appoints William Hobson as consul to New Zealand, with instructions to obtain sovereignty with the consent of a 'sufficient number' of chiefs.

1840
The Treaty of Waitangi is signed on 6 February by about 40 chiefs. By September another 500 chiefs in different parts of the country have signed. On 21 May Lieutenant-Governor Hobson proclaims British sovereignty over all of New Zealand: over the North Island on the basis of cession through the Treaty of Waitangi, and over the southern islands by right of discovery. New Zealand becomes a dependency of New South Wales, a British Crown Colony whose governor is Sir George Gipps.

1841
New Zealand becomes a separate Crown Colony, ending its connection with New South Wales. Communicating with London takes many months.

1846
New Zealand is divided into two provinces, New Ulster and New Munster.

1852
The New Zealand Constitution Act (UK) establishes a system of representative government for New Zealand. Six (eventually 10) provinces are created, with elected superintendents and councils. At the national level, a General Assembly is established, consisting of a Legislative Council appointed by the Crown and a House of Representatives elected every five years by males over the age of 21 who own, lease or rent property of a certain value.

1853
The House of Representatives' first 37 MPs are elected.

1854
The First Parliament meets in Auckland.

1856
‘Responsible’ government begins in New Zealand, with an executive supported by a majority in House of Representatives. The Governor retains responsibility for defence and Maori affairs.

1858
The Waikato chief Te Wherowhero becomes the first Maori King, taking the name Potatau. The rise of Te Kingitanga reflects Maori desires for a leader to unite the tribes, protect land from further sales and make laws for Maori.

1864
The colonial government asserts its responsibility for Maori affairs.

1867
Four Maori parliamentary seats are created (initially as a temporary measure for five years), with universal suffrage for Maori males over 21. The first Maori elections are held in 1868.

1876
The provinces are abolished, leaving central government as the single legislative authority. Hundreds of local bodies soon come into being.

1879
Universal suffrage is introduced for all males over 21.

1893
Universal suffrage introduced for women over 21 (including Maori). New Zealand becomes the first self-governing country to grant the right to vote to all adult women.

1900
New Zealand claims the Cook Islands and annexes several other territories in the early twentieth century.

The Long Depression & Labour Relations

Jenna will be taking this topic.

The Long Depression of course began before the collapse of the Bank of Glasgow in 1878. Virtually all of the available land in the South was now occupied by run holders. Sheer greed meant that most runholders had overgrazed their land (too many sheep for to long). Continual burn-offs and the rabbit plague had left a lot of land bare and unproductive. There was nowhere left to expand into. Many of the larger stations were also financially stretched having borrowed heavily to expand their operations. This could only be sustained while incomes remained high.

The drop in world wide wool prices hit the overstretched mortagages of the runholders hard and pushed many to the wall. The drop in prices and the collapse of the rural economy led to the depression.We've been through this in class but remember the downward spiral...

The Depression took almost 5 years to be felt in the North. Why? Because, the north was less reliant on sheep, and (Cheap) Maori land continued to come onto the market allowing that economy to expand. Eventually the depression did arrive but the advent of refrigeration in the early 1880's also helped to aleviate the economic downturn.

The Government of Atkinson were also stretched because of the debt burden imposed by Vogels Scheme. The 20 million pounds required huge amounts of interest and in order to make payments they reduced their spending. This retrenchment policy while sensible thinking at the time actually made things worse. It put more people out of work and increased the downward spiral...

Older Historians (Sinclair, Oliver) have described the period as a depression but Belich has called it a (long) stagnation. Technically a depression is a continual series of regression (prices & wages fall) and this did not necessarily happen - wages did rise albeit slowly. Another effect was in the area of employment. In the South a lot of money was withdrawn from the sheep stations and needed new investment areas. There was still plenty of wool about and it was cheap. Money was pushed towards processing the wool. Woolen Mills sprang up and were filled with women whose wages and conditions were kept down.

Eventually Reverend Waddell gave his sermon on the 'Sin of Cheapness' and the Sweating Commision was created in the wake of public outrage that Sweating had followed them to this 'Better Britain'.

This possibility struck a raw nerve in the minds of settlers whose aspirations did not include the poverty and its attendant problems. The Royal Commission report denied the presence of sweating although many of the 'necessary conditions' existed in Dunedin and other southern towns. The Tailoresses Union was widely supported and soon other Unions appeared to protect workers and to employ collective bargaining as a bargaining tool. In areas where Unions had similar interests they grouped together, the Maritime Unions - Wharfies, Seamen and Railway workers had common interests (employers) and in 1889 chose to join their equivalent Australian Unions in a strike. There was little support (it was an Australian Strike after all). They lost.

However it resulted in an awakening an underlying class conciousness and political awareness in settlers especially those who had recently acquired the vote. Having a say in Government gave many people the belief that their MP's should actually represent them. Until now the it seemed logical that MP'swould support the big businesses that had elected them. Now that every man had the vote they looked for fair representation from their MP. The old 'Continuous Ministry' was the Government of the old system... it was this that led to the election of the Liberals.

Resource Questions.

As promised here are the (abbreviated) answers to the 2005 paper:To get Merit you need to provide informed (Your own knowledge) and for Excellence you need perceptive analysis. (Describe How or Why events happened/the results of ...)

POINTS OF VIEW & HISTORICAL IDEAS

Resource A - The two editorials

Identify Different points of view - how and why they are held.

You were expected to identify that the 'Lyttleton Times' identifies the Liberals as winners of the election because voters 'stayed true to Liberal principles', while the 'Poverty Bay Herald' believes the Government won and still 'have a majority'.Merit or Excellence answers identify Ballance (Liberals) and Atkinson (Continous Ministry)as the opposing leaders. The Liberals then began a program of social legislation. The differing points of view may reflect regional support for the Liberal with much of its support in the South Island. Key pieces of legislation covered land reform, suffrage and industrial relations. (named legislation with general discussion of their effects)

Resource B - Canterbury Wheat Fields. What economy and political developments in NZ's led to changes in Canterbury farming.You should identify the 'shrinkage' field in 1863 averaged 30,000 acres, with much of the wheat going to Otago (Miners) by 1903 the average was down to 350 acres with a greater diversification (variety) of crops.Merit or Excellence answers note the wheat boom of the 1870's and 1880's brought about by the rise in populaltion (thank-you Vogel) development of Infrastructure (road & rail) allowed more what to be transported. In the 1890's the Liberals broke up the the Great Estates betting more 'small men' onto the land. Refrigeration also made small farms more economic.

HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIPS

Resource C - The Moutoa Battle Memorial.How perspectives (viewpoints) of past events have changed over time.You were expected to identify when the battle was fought it was between those fighting for 'law and order' and 'fanatics and barbarians'. Today it is seen as a civil war fought between relatives.Merit or Excellence answers identifies the Upper Whanganui Iwi accepting Pai Marire (Hau Hau) and coming into conflict with the Lower Whanganui Iwi who wanted to protect the advantage they gained from having the Pakeha nearby. The memorial is from the perspective of Pakeha who supported kupapa tribes. The Te Papa exhibit is from the viewpoint of the Whangaui Iwi showing the grief and tension of the time which is reflected in recent occupations at Moutoa Gardens.

Resource D - The Sin of Cheapness.According to Reverend Waddell the lust for bargains, drove down prices, leading to lower wages and for many workers to be below the poverty line. (think todays Middle Class consumerism and the Big Red Shed style wages)Merit or Excellence answers noted that Dunedin was harder hit by the Long Depression because of the Gold rushes and Vogel immigration. The Depression hurt the South hardest, with factors beyond the employers control. As prices fell employers were forced to cut wages and conditions. Waddell's agitation led to inquiries and to increased support for the Liberals in 1890. Belich has described this period as the 'Long Stagnation'. Real incomes fell.

THE USEFULNESS OR RELIABILITY OF EVIDENCE

For EACH of the following 2 resources you MUST make a statement about how useful they might be and give an example.

Resource E - A Migrants Journey.It could be a good starting point for a historian. On initial viewing this resources appear to show both positive and negative effects of migration (requires examples). It does not seem overly biased.Excellence answers noted much of the material supplied by Migration agents was heavily biased (remember the 2 posters 'Here and There' and 'The Needle Woman'?) and this seems to provide a more balanced viewpoint. It was published in NZ and probably reflects a common experience. It would be very useful to an historian.

Resource F - Governor GreyThis source identifies Greys achievements in his first term as Governor but the language and tone are biased, and inaccurate. As a source it is flawed and would not be useful.An Excellence answer may identify the idea that this book is all about Empire not New Zealand. Also note the patronising tone of the material towards Maori (crafty and insolent) . Belich has noted the British did not 'win' the Northern War and that is the reason Heke did not have to give up any land. Grey undermined the Treaty in his treatment of Te Rauparaha (Kidnapped & held without trial), he did not uphold the Treaty, the source is thus not reliable.

Growing Grass - Re-Colonisation

Before 1882 Dairying had been a minor industry. It was a small scale localised operation run out of small mixed farms. Poor infrastructure (esp. transportation) mean that milk could only be supplied to local towns or villages. Processed into butter or cheese it could travel further but not much, especially in the summer. There was also the problem of consistency, each farmer (or his wife) had their own recipe so that every batch was different.Dairy farms were thus generally small affairs dealing to the local population and barely making a living.

In the Taranaki, Chew Chong, a chinese trader kept many small farmers from starvation when he began to purchase a local fungus from them. When refrigeration was introduced small dairy factory's sprang up to support the growing dairy industry and the Taranaki was ideally suited to this. Chong built one of the first factories, continuing to support his clients. He preferred to take their milk and produce his own cheese and butter, a more consistent product that sold more readily.

Later co-operatives forced him out of the business but he remained a highly regarded member of the community.Dairying opened up the Taranaki and other areas, giving many of the small farmers a leg up the economic ladder. The creation of co-operatives gave them the strength of many and allowed them to apply economies of scale. Wool was hard pressed by the depression but Dairying resulted in an economic expansion rather than retrenchment and the bankruptcy that devastated some parts of the South.

The export of dairy products helped to diversify the economy and expanded the settlement of New Zealand, along with the expanding infrastructure that pushed Europeans into every corner of the country. As noted in your handout New Zealand went from a single commodity economy (Wool) to a treble (Wool, Meat and Dairy Products). Expansion of this industry through the 1880s meant it was well placed to take advantage as the 'Long depression' dragged to an end.

So the effects of dairying can be summed up with the opening up of the North island, increased settlement with improved transport (road and rail) and communications. The development of new industries including dairy factories and abbatoirs for the processing of meat (creating more employment opportunities) . The expansion and diversification of the economy and finally the destruction of the Kahikatea (White Pine) which was used in the production of boxes for butter. (aka the butter-box wood).

(New 2008) Belich in his book Paradise Reforged has proposed that in the 1860's and 1870's New Zealand was beginning to lose its ties with britain and forging its own sense of identity. The advent of refrigeration however reinforced our dependence upon Britain and effectively recolonised the country. This dependence both econiomic and social would not be broken for almost a century.

Growing Grass - Feeding Britain

The wool period was responsible for opening up large areas of the South Island and created a new class of land owners. By the end of the 1860's most of the South Island was owned by a relatively small number of families. The Sheep stations were enormous with tens of thousands of sheep supplying vast quantitie's of wool, but relatively little meat. It turns out Merino meat is not very tasty. Apart from parts of the Wairarapa and the Hawkes Bay sheep farming made little impact in the North island, due in part to the less suitable heavily forested land and the reluctance of Maori to sell their land.

The confiscations and the Land Court would in the main remove the Maori from this equation, but the forest would slow down any development.By the 1870's the growth in Britains population and its increased earning power created a demand for better quality food from around the world, increasingly they demanded meat - fresh or frozen. Argentina had already sent shipments across the Atlantic with some success. Australia sent its first shipment in 1871, giving sheep breeders in New Zealand hope that they to could establish a new industry.

The voyage of the 'Dunedin' in 1882 is accorded little real significance in our history certainly less than it deserves, and yet it is the watershed/tipping point in our history.Only one carcass was rejected at the end of that first voyage, and reports were very favourable. So successful was this venture that British farmers demanded that shipments be labelled as 'New Zealand Mutton'. Initially we sent only Merino and mainly mutton, but quickly adapted to british demand for lamb. This worked both ways, the British got tastier meat in small (oven size) portions, we got to send more carcasses which were worth more. We also changed the breeds of sheep, Merino remained on some Runs producing high quality wool, while Corriedale and other breeds were producing a mix of wool and meat. In 1882 we sent 35,000 carcasses, by 1900 it was 3.5m per annum.

The downstream effect of refrigeration lay in the new industry surrounding the killing and processing of the meat. Refrigeration led to Railways to ship the meat and Cool stores to keep the meat, under the Vogels schemes, road and rail became a necessity to transport the meat to port where it was stored.While the main trunk line connected the main centers, branchline's were used to connect the hinterland to the ports.In many respects refrigeration created a new demand for land, but land was still hard to find. However the 'Long Depression' which arrived in 1879 with the collapse of the Bank of Glasgow had already begun to impact with many of the stations falling into financial hardship. The new exports helped but many were to over stretched and became bankrupt. It would take the Liberals to free up land for the 'little' man.

Growing Grass - Feeding Sheep

As we discussed in class Pastoralism is the farming of pasture ( aka grass). In New Zealand this has traditionally been in conjunction with either sheep or cattle. Before 1882 pastoralism was associated with sheep (and only Merino) and the wool they produced. In farming terms this is called extensive sheep farming. The farms are large and a long way from town. The farms had their own name 'stations' borrowed from their equivalent in Australia and most likely carried across with the earliest sheep farmers who came over to the South Island in the 1850's.

This was the also the origin of the term "Cockie" for farmer (Refering to the Cockatiels that infested farmland especially at harvest time).This period from the 1850's was the 'wool period' when the imported Merino sheep ruled the tussock lands of the South Island, and the flat lands of the Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay. This period saw the creation of vast estates especially in the South Island.

Using the Australian model it was a simple matter of claiming land with the Provinical Government and leaseholding the land, often with the view of making it freehold as quickly as possible. Although as we will discover they did not always own all of the land they controlled. The key was liquidity and the creation of huge flocks of sheep. New Zealand's climate provided warm weather and plentiful rain, which meant plenty of grass, a few ewes and a ram did the rest.

The Stations needed large pools of labour, especially at shearing time. Shearing gangs travelled with the season southward to stations as they were needed. Wool could then be stored and transported to port for shipping to Britain. Wool developed a new market in coastal transportation. All of this created vast wealth for a favoured few and left a bitter taste in the mouths of many migrants who found land difficult to acquire in the 1870's. In the south this wealth tended to dominate local and later national politics.In 1882 this all changed.