The Press THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1954. Maori Affairs

Press, Volume XC, Issue 27444, 2 September 1954, Page 10

The Press THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1954. Maori Affairs

Instead of surveying only the year’s work, this year’s report of the Maori Affairs Department deals with the administration of Maori affairs in broad perspective. The evolution of principles and policies is traced; opportunity is taken to restate and clarify the aims of the department. The result is a survey of particular interest to sociologists and welfare workers. It .should also interest the average citizen and improve his knowledge of the work of a government department with which few Europeans in the community come into contact. The Maori Affairs Department doer not regard its task as a perpetual one; the need for a separate department of Maori affairs will disappear when the Maori people have made the necessary " personal and social adjustments that will permit them, their culture, and their possessions t □ be “ harmoniously integrated “ within the wider New Zealand “ patterns In pursuing this objective, the department works in many fields. The national economy requires that all land capable of production should be used to full capacity. The Maoris own a great deal of land, and there are many obstacles in the way of making the best use of Maori lands. The Maori Affairs Department works strenuously to remove or surmount these obstacles, one of the most formidable of which is plural ownership. A person who started farming on his ancestral land was likely at any time to be confronted by co-owners demanding their

demanding their share. This, more than anything else, has beeh the cause of so much Maori land lying idle. Plural ownership militated against development because lending institutions would not finance development where security was unsatisfactory. Various methods have been devised to meet the problem of plural ownership, including consolidation of titles and the incorporation of owners. The emphasis now is on title improvement. The Maori Affairs Act, 1953, gives the Maori Land Court wide powers to make suitable arrangements among successors

while keeping the lands in useful Maori ownership. A good deal of the work to improve titles and to ensure the full use of land falls on the Maori Affairs Depart- ; ment and the Maori Trustee Office. The latter works closely with the , department and acts as legal owner, on trust for the benefit of Maoris, of large areag of valuable land. ; A settled programme of Maori

land development, is now 25 years old; substantial acreage is added each year. At present, 489,000 acres are handled by the department in various stages between gazetting and final disposal. In various ways the department educates, assists, and supervises settlers to ensure that developed land is properly used apd that the settler an adeffvate return'for his labours. The department is actively interested in Maori housing; and in this field Maori interests differ in some important respects from European interests. The vexed questions of plural ownership of land and unsatisfactory security arise here also; and many Maoris do not' appreciate the importance of thrift and self-reliance. In many cases Maori housing standards are much below those of Europeans. The success of the department in the face of these handicaps has been considerable. Last year 511 houses were built for ownership by individual Maoris; and in the department’s considered view, the average Maori lives up to the responsibilities that the provision of good housing entails. Obviously, there is not room on Maori lands to settle all workers of the rapidly expanding race; nor is it desirable that all Maoris should be so employed. The employment of Maoris poses special problems. The Maori population is extremely youthful, over 57 per cent, being under 20 yfcars of age; but most young Maoris do not advance beyond the second or third year of post-primary education. The task of directing a substantial proportion of this pool of youthful labour into useful employment is a special interest of the department The department is able to quote a number of excellent reports from employers who are co-operating in the scheme of apprenticing Maori boys to useful trades. The place the Welfare Division of the department is filling in Maori life is not as widely appreciated as it might be. Most persons know that Maori welfare officers have been paying special attention to the problem of Maoris and liquor, a problem which became serious when, a few years ago, the licensing law was amended to put Maoris on equality with Europeans. It is pleasing to note that progress has been made in tempering the most serious effects of this change. Bu. the department’s welfare officers have many and varied functions in adjusting individlials, families, and communities to present-day conditions. They are in fact helping to fill a void in Maori leadership. The department emphasises that the institution of Maori leadership has been greatly weakened through the impact of western civilisation; Maori society tends to become more and more fragmented. Consequently, the department’s welfare officers are fitting into the new pattern as local leaders. Because the whole emphasis of the work of the Maori Affairs Department is to. help to integrate the Maori into New Zealand’s predominantly European social and economic structure, the department is quaJ’s-:-l and entitled to seek s;. mpatby and understanding from

Europeans. “ Probably the greatest “ mistake the average pakeha makes “ in his attitude, towards the Maori ”, says the report, ' is to judge him “by pakeha social and economic “ standards and to condemn him “because occasionally he does not “ conform with them ”. If he avoids that mistake, the European will help strengthen the bridge between the two races which the Maori Affairs Department is striving to build.