THE ROAD BACK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 85, 11 April 1933, Page 10

THE ROAD BACK.

NGAPUHI ADVANCE.

MEN BEHIND THE SCENES.

VITAL COMMUNITY SPIRIT. (By KAI-M ATARI.) Common needs, mutual good will and collective ideals are the main contributing factors to the production of the community spirit of which such impressive evidence was found during our tour of inspection. That spirit lives in the swamps as on the landed holdings, and in the efforts for the restoration of the whare runanga—a subject at the moment very close to the hearts of the tribes at Waima and Panguru.

Wages payment, or the consumption of aspirations, is not always the reward of this intra-tribal co-operation. On some occasions with the Ngapuhi, food is the only recompense. There is a widow at one of the settlements, and clearing operations on the unit were beyond her capacity and her resources. A gang was organised for the work, and the widow's only responsibility was the provision of meals. For this purpose a grant from the funds was made. The job lasted a month, and the work was well done. For the small sum of £5 the widow covered the total food costs, and, incidentally, made a dent in the official estimate of the expenditure. The instance is quoted to indicate not only the co-operation of the male workers but the care taken by the beneficiary to ensure that the assistance fund did not suffer as a result. . And so the good work goes on. Reproductive Expenditure. In this series of articles, which is now brought to a close, an endeavour has been made to show how the Ngapuhi are marching along the road back to stability and, challenge it who will, to prosperity. With armchair critics of the expenditure out of the Native Development Fund those recorded impressions have no conccn. Hie official figures, already published, answer them. However, one cannot resist the comment that publication of the details was a wise move on the part of the Minister. It revealed that the schemes were financially reproductive —a notable achievement in such a short time. The mere fact that actual cash is finding its way back to the Consolidated Fund from so young a settlement as Pawarenga, for example, is perhaps an outstanding justification of the policy which has beeii inaugurated. Although, in any circumstances, money should not, as , the Pawarenga leaders agreed, he "cast into the sea," enough has been written to defend the contention that the financial consideration is secondary when compared with the immediate and ultimate value to New Zealand in general and the Ngapuhi in particular which the re-establishment plans arc producing. On every side, in each of the settlements visited, was foyjid convincing proof -that the assistance accorded by the State had Ixfen used, and was being employed, to the best advantage. Indeed, at times, one was at a loss to understand how the scheme had flourished under such comparatively slender aid. The explanation is the self-reliance of the natives—a code which, according to the Minister, includes a one-meal-a-day provision when necessity insists. Behind the Guns. It has been pointed out leadership has played a vital, part in the re-awakening of the Ngapuhi; and in this connection it is well to place on record the assistance the settlers have received from the consolidation officers and supervisors of the Department —eome pakelia, and others, like themselves, Maori. They are men with expert knowledge, and in their quiet, efficient way they are true leaders. Guide, philosopher and friend to every settler whose holding is under their supervision, the field officers are performing magnificent service behind the scenes, their one and only thought being the rehabilitation of the Ngapuhi and the development and still further improvement of the land. In the tradiwhich the present generation will eventually hand down, there will be a place for the names of men such as Cooper, Bell, Findlay, Leaf, Wallace and Gilbert. It should have been noted earlier that closely associated with Sir Apirana Ngata as a directing force is his private secretary, Mr. H. It. H. Balneavis, who, day in and day out, is adding chapters of service to what has become his life's work.

If a concluding note may be given to a subject which is almost inexhaustible, it is tihis: The Ngapuhi have, in sporting parlance, "come back." They are back to etay. Progress to date is incidental to the all-embracing objective. Every step upward Is a spur onward. The climb is to the mountain peak and_ not to the resting place of the nearest ridge. (Concluded.)