"APPALLING."

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 186, 8 August 1931, Page 9

"APPALLING."

DESTITUTION OF MAOFttS CONDITIONS AT MANGERE. EVICTION ORDERS SERVED* HEALTH DEPARTMENT'S PROBLEM "During the rccent bitter weather, Health Department officials notified destitute Maori families in the Mangere district to vacate their scanty shelters," writes Mr. Arthur Sainsbury, of Mangere. "A family who had received permission from me to occupy a shed on my property, as they had nowhere else to go, were included in the list of those affected. "These Maoris, when they approached me, appeared to be •on the verge of starvation, and, taking pity on them, I offered them a week's work. It appears, however, that acts of mercy are not welcomed as far as the Government is concerned. The Maoris dug in. They camo from nowhere and had nowhere to go. The storm period was selected by the officials to descend on these Maoris and I was threatened with proceedings for giving permission for them to remain. The law considered I should have turned them away. The mother was sick and she had little children to care for whose hunger cries pierced the walls. "Harassed into Destitution." "Though their presence on my property was a great embarrassment, and I repeatedly urged them to move out into the cold world, I could not refuse occasional succour which the cruelty of our civilisation elsewhere made inaccessible. While I and my pakeha neighbours were hugging our bungalow firesides and listening to the storm, it did not occur to me to push these humble natives out into the street. It took the official mind to suggest such a course. I am not blaming the officials. It is their duty to carry out the local and State Government's instructions. The justification put forward is that employers must properly house their "workers. Many of the socalled 'employers' are merely making a sacrifice in giving work in these hard times. This applies also to some of the Chinese gardeners, who have a reputation for kindness. The result of the Health Department 'drive' is that Maori families are being harassed into destitution, hunger and utter hopelessness, tinged with a fully-justified hatred of the pakeha oppressionFear of Epidemics. "The weightiest excuse of this crusade of eviction is the fear of epidemics. This is an utterly hollow pretence, because the single act of providing sanitarysystems where Maoris are being charitably allowed to shelter is the duty of the authorities. It is a public responsibility, and the authorities alone have the funds. "I found a cottage for the family that took refuge- on my property, and paid a week's rent, but the owner now refuses to allow the Maoris to enter. The Health Department is unable to help me, and the shifting of the Maoris cannot be accomplished unless I use force, which I am not prepared to do."

Health Officer's Statement. "Appalling" was the comment of Dr. T. J. Hughes, medical officer of health, when he was asked about the conditions under which some of the Maoris wero living at Mangere. He explained that the Health Department had a clearlydefined duty, but although notices had been served on two groups of Maoris to vacate tlie places where they were living, no steps had been taken to enforce the notices. Dr. Hughes said he knew of the case described by Mr. Sainsbury. He had visited a Chinese garden at the back of Mangere, not far from the aerodrome, during the week, and the conditions were shocking. Three families were residing in a cowshed with a concrete floor. There were a number of children, and when he arrived they were huddled up, blue with : cold. The shed was terribly exposed to the weather, and the place was not fit for human habitation. Some time ago Chinese had sheltered in the same shed, and the Department had forced' tliein to vacate it. His attention had been drawn to the cases by the inspector of the Manukau County Council. When he visited the Maoris he took with him half a car load of clothes and other comforts, and distributed them. "A Terrible Problem." "The Maoris are a terrible problem to the Department," said Dr. Hughes. "We do all that is possible for them. Frequently we provide them with railway warrants to take them to their own homes. If a Maori is given work in a garden it is not long before his relatives arrive and 'squat down' on him. The same applies to Pukekohe. Maoris get work with Chinese and other Maoris get work with Chinese and other Asiatics, and although their pas may not be very far away, they 'squat down 5 on the property where they work. "The only solution I see is for the Maoris to keep to their own homes and districts. They wander to Auckland from all parts of New Zealand, and their relatives follow, and they soon find that they are destitute." Dr. Hughes paid a tribute to the work done for the Maoris by Mrs. Newton, of the Maori Women's Welfare League. "They Have Lost Heart." Mrs. Mere Newton, president of the Maori Women's Welfare League at i Onehunga, said some Maoris appeai'ed to have lost all initiative. A welfare officer was needed who understood the Maori heart. "They drag one foot behind the other," she said, "and have lost heart. They have nothing to look forward to. It is all terribly sad. They will not cry out. They would sooner starve." Mrs. Newton said that , a hostel was urgently needed, preferably on the Mangere Domain. She understood that Sir John Logan Campbell had left £5000 for a Maori memorial to be erected on One Iree Hill. "Surely, if lie were alive to-day," she said, "lie would appreciate the suggestion to erect a living monument, something practical. If we could only get £500 of the £5000, which does not seem to have been spent, it would be a great help." Mis. Newton said that the-distress and pox ei ty amongst the natives were heartbicaking. .Until she had actually visited some of the "shelters," she would not i have believed it possible for such con- | ditions to exist right in the heart of civilisation. In one case a child was being sent to school. "It gets very little to eat at the shed," she said, "and cocs to school without any lunch. That child is housed in a place where one would not put fowls." Mrs. Newton described a baby sister of the child as being in "a terrible condition," and said she had had the Health Department's, nurse sent out to give assistance. She added that the Health Department was ever ready to assist whenever approached.