The Press MONDAY, MARCH 2, 1936. The Maori Problem

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21721, 2 March 1936, Page 10

The Press MONDAY, MARCH 2, 1936. The Maori Problem

The full text of Lord Bledisloe’s address on the Maori situation, a summary of which appeared in the cable news on Saturday, will be awaited with interest. As Governor-General of New Zealand, Lord Bledisloe took a keen interest in the Maori race and its problems; and by the time his term expired he knew more about those problems than the great majority of New Zealanders. With his general contention that the Maoris have reached a crisis in their history no one .who is familial’ with the situation will disagree. It is not too much to say that the whole future of the Maoris depends on the wisdom with which native affairs are administered in the next year or two. The danger of “racial obliteration,” of which Lord Bledisloe speaks, is perhaps the least of the dangers which confront them. Of the 75,000 Maoris estimated to be living in New Zealand at the present time, it is unlikely that more than half are of pure Maori blood, a proportion which is likely to decrease fairly rapidly. ‘ The “pure Maori population,” says Dr. Sutherland in his recent pamphlet on the Maori situation, “ will eventually be supplanted by a population “of mixed bloods. This is inevitable.” On the whole, this is not a tendency to be resisted or regretted. But it must not be assumed that it makes the existing Maori problem any less acute or justifies a policy of laisser faire on the part of the New Zealand Government. For a very long time to come there will be a Maori population with an outlook and problems very different from the outlook and problems of the European population. Unless the Government recognises this and uses sympathy and insight in its dealings with the Maoris, the social and economic degradation which Lord Bledisloe fears for them will come to pass. There is no need for paternalism or excessive generosity. In the last 20 years or so the Maoris have shown a remarkable capacity for thinking out the solutions of their problems and finding their own leaders. All that is necessary is that the Government should recognise this capacity and that it should not assume that methods of administration suited to Europeans are also suited to Maoris. At the moment the Maori race has not recovered from the bewilderment and dismay caused to it by the resignation of Sir Apirana Ngata and the findings of the Native Affairs Commission The task of the new Government is to show the Maoris that their welfare is not dependent on political fortunes and that it is as determined as the last government was to make amends for past neglects and blunders.