FUTURE OF THE MAORI.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 162, 9 July 1907, Page 3

FUTURE OF THE MAORI.

EXTINCTION OR ABSORPTION. Archdeacon Walsh's lecture, "The Passing of the Maori," at the Auckland Institute meeting last evening, ivas absorbingly interesting and instructive. The lecturer based his opinions upon a residence of over 41 years in this colony, during which time he had closely studied the racial characteristics and physical and moTal capacity of the Maori, and his verdict was that the Maori was gradually, though surely, passing away; that their early extinction as a race ■would be a matter of no great interval if the present rate of decay continued; and more or less convincingly, the speaker depicted the gradual decay of the race from the first appearance of the invading -white, with his demoralising introductions of firearms and alcoholic liquor. The partial and indiscriminate adoption of the clothing and modes of living foreign to his nature, and of agricultural methods not understood -were also contributing largely to the decay of the Maori race.

Dr. Pomare (Chief Native Health Officer) expressed the opinion that the Maori was doomed not to extinction, but to absorption. Nearly 80 per cent of the South Island Maoris now have European blood in them, while the North Island Maoris also have a large admixture of pakeha blood. He did not. however, believe the Maoris would entirely die out,bburt r the future would find a new Tace, in whose veins would be commingled the blood of Anglo-Saxon and Maori.

Addressing the audience, Dr. Pomare thus continued in the poetic strain of the Maori:—"At the point where wo two Arian races diverged, you had the good luck to turn westward; you were afraid of the sea in those days. My ancestors, having no such fear, turned eastward, and we travelled on until we arrived to people the sunny isles of this great southern sea. You had the good luck in turning westward to come across the metal; we, by keeping eastward, were still in the stone age. Westward, you met other people from whom you learned in arts and sciences, we met nought but inferior negroid races. Thus it was that when, in the years to come, we two branches of the same race met again, you were possessed of all which civilisation was able to lend you, while we were still a stone age people. The British have been slowly arriving at their state for hundreds, nay thousands, of years. We have been brought into the fierce light of civilisation almost at a flash, and it naturally takes time for a people to adapt themselves to new surroundings."

Dr. Buck, assistant native health officer, in expressing the hope for a brighter future for the race, said: "If we can hold our own a little longer and become accustomed to civilisation, then perhaps we may be able to hold our own, and live in the future through you and with you as the future race of New Zealand.

In reply, Archdeacon Walsh said that nothing but his love for the Maori had prompted his remarks.

Dr. Pomare: "We have the greatest respect and affection for such men as Archdeacon Walsh, and for many of the provisions made by the pakeha in what were considered our best interests, but many things there are that could well be remedied. For the last thirty years for instance you have set up schools among my people, but what were they? When you want a master for your children you advertise and obtain a man of the necessary qualifications, but for us any broken down man is good enough. Can you wonder at the failures?"

A hearty vote of thanks was accorded the lecturer at the meeting's conclusion.