THE MAORI MISSION.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 218, 8 June 1908, Page 6

THE MAORI MISSION.

A YEAR OF DIFFICULTIES. SHORT-STAFFED AND ILL-FINANCED. Ilia Anglican Maori Mission, to which tho offertories of all the churches in the diocese were devoted yesterday, is in sore straits at present for lack of funds and men.' The Rev. •A. 0. Williams, Superintendent of the Mission, made stirring appeals for the cause, and told a moving tale of difficulties, at St. Peter's Church, yesterday morning, and at St. Mark's in tho evening. Speaking at St. Mark's, Mr. Williams stated that the dioccsa of Wellington, in addition to finding funds for its' own Maori Mission, provided, ha thought, about £105 a year to assist , the work in the Auckland. and Waiapu dioceses. Ho referred to the early work among the Natives of Mr. Ronaldson, in the Wairarapa district, Bishop Hadfield, the first missionary at Otaki, and Mr. Richard Taylor and his son, Mr. Basil Taylor, who worked and laid down their lives in the' Wanganui district. Tho names of these men should be romembered for all : time. It was but fitting that the people of Wellington should help the missionaries to-day, for in tho early days, when To Jlauparaha' and Rangihaeta had made up their minds to come down and sack Wollington and put every European to death, Bishop Hadfield, by the grace of God, was able to prevent it. Special Difficulties. ' The Wellington diocese was divided. into the four sub-districts of Wanganui, Rangitikei, Otaki, and Wairarapa. During the past; year the mission had experienced very great and special difficulties. At the end of l'JCp one of the two Maori ckiuymcn in tho district north of, rnd including, the 'Wanganui River, was removed .to another district, and the other clergyman left on a> long journey to the Sandwich Islands. Tho result was that for seven months the whole of this northern district was without the ministration of a clergyman. That difficulty ended on June 1 of last year, and then tho Maori clergyman in cliargo of the Wairarapa subdivision went off without notice, and it took six mouths to find out where he had 'gonel Ho did not blame this clergyman altogether; lie had gone away' in conncction witli his land, which was going through the Natiyo Land Court, and if'lie. had. not attended to look after his interests, lie- would probabjy havo lost all the land. He had -been afraid to ask for leave of absence, lest it should be refused. Tho consequence of his action was that for seven months the Wairarapa ' district was without a Maori The Native clergyman at Otaki lost, his wife in October last, and then for two months was laid up with pneumonia. At present,, the troubles of the mission were confined to one district. There- were two men in the northern sub-division, but the man formerly in charge. of Rangitikbi had been moved to Otaki, and the whole of the Rnngitikei district was loft to the lay readers alone.

" A Terrible Stats of Things." To his mind this was a terrible state of things. It seemed absolutely impossible to station another minister there for want; of funds. He had written to the bishop some time before his departure to England, telling him that he did not know how to carry on the work in the district. The bishop replied that lie must do the best he could. He (the speaker) pointed out how poor a best that necessarily was in the circumstances, and asked would the bishop authoriso him to try to find an experienced man in one of the other, diooeses. The bishop gave the nccessary authority, -provided that tho diocesan funds at tho end of the year

should show a sufficient balance to support the clergyman. Instead, they showed a deficiency equal to , the amount of a clergyman's stipend—some £70. Accordingly, ho could not try to find a clergyman for the Rangitikei district. . Natives Aggrieved. It might,bo said, let theNativ.es wait till they could support a clergyman themselves. But let those present put' themselves.inrthe place of the Maoris, They had prepared a monster petition praying the bishop not to move'their former clergyman, but before the necessary signatures were obtained, the bishop had left for England. The Maori? said' that it looked to them as if neither the bishop nor tho missionary cared a straw, and declared that.'they would never givo another penny to the Maori mission fund. He could not blamo them ; lie thought that tho peoplo of St. Mark's would speak out pretty plainly if they wore in. tho same, position. There were from' 800 to 1000 Maoris in the Rangitikei district, and last year there were 189 communicants. The district had a staff of 25 lay readers, who had banded themselves.together to subscribe £1 a year each towards the. travelling expenses necessary for holding services in places , where: thoro was neither clergyman nor. lay reader. -Every. year the Maoris in 'thio district .had contributedto tho .support of the native clergy, so that they were well worthy of consideration, They could have ho services', except those conducted by lay readers,i who'did not, as a rule', preach sermons. There was" nobody to' visit -their sick and dying. Sometimes the sense of his awful responsibility ■; and;. the knowledge of his utter inability to supply the needs required made him feel - inclined to run away'from it all; perhaps some one elso could carry on the work better. Two years ago St. Mark's parish had given tho biggest offertory to the Mission which' had ever beeu given. They needed, not merely offertory, but also regular subscribers and prayers. V: :

Wrong Mothotfs. People asked if any really encouraging results came of the Maori work. Ho asked what sort of work would bo done among St. Mark's' parishioners if they saw a clergyman. only onco in three or six months. It was not fair to expect (any results : from tho Maori work until it could be followed up'in a different manner. He' went on to shouj, however, that results were evident:' \Ho wanted four more Maori clergymen atleast: he would like five. At present they. coula not got one for the' Rangitikei district, be-; cause they could hot, raise -£7Q a year. Ha was sure that there wero people in tho church that night ■ who give £70 a year and not miss it. Ho-did not know, sometimes, what European Cliristianity whs worth. Tne only two parishes that had ever made a real response <x> the - appeal as far as he could remember then, were St. Mark's, two years ago, and St. St.: Peter's had done nobly, year after year,; for about twelve years. Why could not SV. Mark's havo a missionary of their owii inith\S:Rangitikei district. Then a constant interest m the work would bo assured. ■ There'.Wore ton thousand Maoris in Now Zealand living in dark heathenism. ; ' Yesterday's Offertories. '•■. ; oThe offertories for tho Mission.,: 'St. ; Peter's yesterday totalled £26, which is'-tile largest amount yet given by that-ohnlVihi \ It is expected that the contribution' fion^Stl 1 Mark's will provo as large. St. Paul's-Of-y fertories amounted to £17... 'I"*