Ohinemuri Regional History Journal 3, April 1965
With this issue our Journal begins its second, year of publication. We can congratulate our Editor, Mrs. Climie, with warm sincerity for a truly great achievement. Under her guidance and direction the Journal has already won a place for itself among similar journals for its imaginative and accurate scholarship, and reader interest. It is far from easy to achieve these ideals. Reader interest can be achieved by the sacrifice of historical accuracy. Most people want their historical reading to be romantic, and are only too eager to accept the romance as truth and to resent criticism. On the other hand, historical accuracy can too often lead to prosaic, uninteresting exposition. The true historian combines both critical accuracy and good writing, so that the reader can be both informed and interested. It is our conviction that our Journal has achieved both these ideals.
Whatof the future? To maintain the high standard alreadyset, the editor needs the co-operation of all members of the two Societies. All older residents have information which it is important to record. They may not all feel qualified to write articles, but they can supply the information which others may put into writing. They may possess diaries of early settlers, photographs of earlier days, letters and documents which have been handed down - all these are invaluable sources and the Societies would be grateful to receive these for possible publication,or for the building up of articles for publication.
Members who have not had the good fortune to have family connections with earlier days, can also make their contributions to the usefulness of the Journal. There is much material to satisfy the diligent researcher. The duties of a local historian are to find out as much as possible about everything that has made his locality what it is now, to collect pieces of a jig-saw puzzle and to assemble them imaginatively, not to wait for knowledge to turn up, but actively to seek it, and to record what he discovers. This is a fascinating task which all can share.
Finally, let us all remember that the work of producing the Journal regularly is not the task of the Editor alone, but the responsibility of all of us. So will it go from strength to strength.
LAWRENCE M. ROGERS
PRESIDENT, PAEROA HISTORICAL SOCIETY