THE MAORI FARMER.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 267, 4 August 1908, Page 8

THE MAORI FARMER.

: .- FEOM THE NATIVE POINT;OF VIEW. "To Pipiwharauroa,"-; tho Maori journal - • . published Sjt ' Gisborne, speaking editorially, . says:-—"Wlien we, first, went,,, to, Te Aute • ■ Collego one ambition possessed'the minds of tbo students/fand .of:,their parents.; as well, ' ' and that was to obtain; tho'knowledgo of the . , . . pakeha "and to:,be on tho same - level with' • . lam. • When a Maori boy'was able to' enter. . a lawyer's' office it gave his parents' muclr ■ satisfaction, so . did the boy' who became; a' i carpenter, or a blacksmith, or a saddler, or : a shop assistant, or who entered any other trades of the pakeha. We nover heard: any ; : ij.. of our. school, fellows aspire .to. becoming a, '. farmer. We have not , quite understood .why , tho Maori in those days did not, discover; . 'that the lifo of a farmer was a noble one; ' the lifo of tho man who bred sheep, horses,. ■■■■ --and cattle, and who - tiUe'd the' soil; a life, ; j which, many :a' pakolia dreams of—a , very 'lucrative calling, in fact the mainstay ■ of - tho country. 1 In our opinion there were many v "'. reasons that misled boys into ■ thinking that ; ; .. . tho lifo of a farmer was not a noblo one, , ■ and tho chiefest of these; reasons: was the . < fact that the at To Auto' College '• • failed to : turn : the thoughts of the Maori r - youth to tho land.. His thoughts' were' mainly turned' to mathematics, to writings and to acquiring foreign languages, and .at . - last ho camo to think that there was no connection ' whatever between his learning and the land. ' Because we have plainly' re- , cognised this evil that we have' striven to agitate that an industrial department 'should _ • be added to Te Aute College.;. And; we will -,- • not . cease to agitate, but will agitate; agitate, agitato till: the day will' arrive when an agricultural' institution be estab- • . . lished for the instruction of; Maori boys in farming. ■ Let tho Maori people unite in this effort, move:the-;powers.that b'o,- eveii the trustees of; Te. Aute.College.;'. Let a resolution be passed at I every meeting ; that the trustees consider this proposal,'for the; school belongs to us.and hot to them. Another rca- ; .' Bon why the. Maori' boy .did .not seriously, ... consider, .the -question'' off arming -his own lands was because ,ho saw - that the, clerk*, the young man who lived in town, vivas always nicely dressed—this sight mado him .despise the land and seek employment in . towns, where life was gayer". - But, we ;'aro glad ,to say, that, the' Maori mind is chang--lng.v,lt.,is beginning io. recognise; that-the: . ; ■ salvation ,of the .' race: lies -in the . utilisation of their lands; the Maori farmer is making progress inspiteof many obstacles in' his ■' : way. Only,the faint-hearted will be deterred by _V . , obstacles; the.■ industrious will go. through .1 • them sail.-- Nature and circumstances have v\ cut out the Maori for a farmer;, and if the •. , Maori is going i to; disobey !the behest of nature. it. will- be at his ;own. expense—ho • must be,wiped offthe face 6f : the,:eartL- t Wo ■- ■do not despise trades, but we'contend 'that ■ the Maori is meant primarily to be a farmer. ■". ■ Our i contention is/based , : on the' following' -reasons,'which weshall now'enumerate:— ' . "First: The Maori is a landowner, so'there i is no. reason why,', he should seek employment • i in.towns or anywhere else.. ■ Leave tho land-' less pakeha to his own trades and calling. -And yet many a pakeha's ambition ,is to be .: on .thoHand. -He-is where lie is now,found '.because lie cannot get land. We' hav'o only •i .. .to watch the tremendous rush whenever a ■ . .■■, Crown. section- is ■ offered 1 to the' public: The . Maori who .deliberately leaves;his own land and seeks employment in towns is mad. ". "Second: The Maori lives an outdoor life. - : Our ancestors lived in the open; they^soughi .-their houses only;at night time,' and their , houses were built on hills. So it is as plain •as ABC that if-the Maori took to a sedent- , , ary life he would certainly; perish. ' Many of our lads who sought a,life in offices, have : found consumptives' 'graves. 1 ';. "Third: Our ancestors wero tillers of the soil, -so -must, we . bo. - The Maori honoured labour. - .The conqueror to all other nations ' : , is the. : conqueror of many bloody battles;'to the Maori ther conqueror worthy: of honour is the conqueror of the soil, as. our own wellknown ' sayifig testifies:/' The conqueror in : .''.battle of - to-day may: not ' be-the' conqueror ' ...Y. of to-morrow; but the-conqueror 'of'the soil is for all times." Although : the" Maori- has ' - only recently taken seriously'to'farming, he has proved hiniself to be 'an'-excellent' farmer i and 'an industrious ono. , -.. -.. • '(Fourth:-Farming is the only life that will save - the MaoriJ and that'will 'give him a . .standing in the nation! The nakeha who 'is coveting the land of the Maori"is a criminal,' a murderer in fact-, for his land is the only 'means that will save the - Maori, arid 'the 1 ' pakeha should keop all his trades. to ■ himself, for they are- his heritage. Only by holding to his land will the Maori .be recognised m : future as having a status,-for'the ■■ rangiitira_of the country, is the'farmer. If \ - the Maori seek the trades and offices of the pakeha he will be trodden uiider foot by the nakeha, his mana will' bo gono he will no longer be heard of, he will sink to rise no . ' 'more in the whirlpool of -pakehadoin." ' ' ■ The editor of To Pipiwharauroa in a footnote explains that 'his> leading article was . written beforo tho Maori! Congress was held in Wellington, at which Congress two reso-lutions-were moved' by Professor Kirk and himself, first, "That Maori'-boys be'discour- ■ > : aged from seeking employment in towns, but bo encouraged rather to go. on the land"; -second, "That the Trustees of Te Aute Col-' lege be recommended'to' carry out tho recommendations of tho Itoyal Commission set up in 1906 to inquire into the working of that iiistitution, that an industrial'department bo ■~ added to the College." Both' these resolution:: v.circ: tabled, but by some means or ; it.lu'r did not come before tho Congress.'