THE GOSPEL OF WORK.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 504, 11 May 1909, Page 6

THE GOSPEL OF WORK.

GOOD ADVICE TO THE MAORIS. THE HON. A. T. NGATA IN THE SOUTH. • (bi TBLiOEirn.—srsaAl colinr-sronlJl!.vr.l Chrlstchurch, May 10. Tho Hon. A. T. Ngata, who visited Tuahrwi, near Kaiapoi, oa-Frklny and Saturday, is no stranger in tho-kainga, having acted as returning officer for tho first Maori Council election, at Kaiapoi seven years ago, and during his college' days in Christchurch ho frequontly acted as-lay roador in' St. Steph-en's--'Church at tho pa. His earnost dosiro\ then displayed to advance the moral and social woU-boing of' tho Maoris won him the friendship and esteem' of the inhabitants of the pa, and consequently his elevation to tho was received, by thom with much satisfaction. I The chief object of the. Minister's visit to tho different. Maori centres is to enahlo him to. becomo'personally acquainted with the mombors'of the Maori Councils and the leading; men of th . kaingas, and : to use: his influence to' arouse them to a: full realisatioli pf. the uhportance of .'taking advantage of the ■powers, conferred, upon them by the Maori Counoils Act passed > nine years ago.: On Saturday morning he attended -the. first meeting 'of the nowly-eleoted Maahunui, Council, ■which has the oversight, of Native. . affairs .'within the distriot botween the Clarence and Waitaki. Rivers, .and';' includes ' the'; West Coast.'v.'Ho .took ;advantago, of tihe opportunity: to, speak/ very: frankly, to the members of the council. It ■ was; a question, he. said, whether the Maori Councils had done justice to'their position or net. He drew attention to the importance of the by-laws relating-to public .health, , stoppage of tho liquor traffic, and;the prevention of the Natives from keeping- thair- dead l top. long unburied. , The .Government had given the counoils powor to tax biraefs of'dogs'and'to infliot finesj ;the, revenue- from these sources being expected to bo'devoted "to the improvement of the highways':in the. villages. The dog tax had not beon collected properly, and tho people in the kaingas had failed to report where'dogs .wfre kept... It- was one .of; the. primary objects' of nis meeting with the councils to toll them that they were not'attending to their (luties. 'l'hoy should- see : that the by-laws and regulations were properly administered. A tax should bo levied on the houses to provido revonuo for keeping tho roads and footpaths, and furnishing proper drainage in tho pas. The travelling expenses of the members of the council would have to bo paid out of tho .tax and fines. The councils had dono good in restraining-tho liquor traffic by. putting 'it out of the pas, but there was still room for improvement'. They, should ; uso their best .endeavours toigetythe assistance of. the women, in dealing with the liquor traffic. They would do more than the men in keeping the liquor outside the pas.: Subsequently, speaking at a banquet, Mr. Ngata said the Young : Maori , party had at first done, rts work quiotly, but it was now becoming more insistent, with the result that:, its work was now being recognised by tho Government. The_ party had ultimately been drawn into politics. . They could not avoid it..; The question of education led. .them there ; and there was the one , great maelstrom-in tho North Island, that of tho Native lands question. . They could not take up any_ question, relative to the Maoris withr out being drawn into the vortex of the maelstrom. The paj-ty had,, however, but one land plank in itheir platform:, that was that 't-he.Nativo. must hold' his land, • and' to' justify, His "titloj to it he; must work it himself. Thoy desired to teach the Maori the, value of 'cultivating his land and to recognise that tho backbone of the country was tho fanner, j Referring to his .appointment to the Ministry, Mr. Ngata Baid it had been; criticised 'on the ground that it would, be • unconstitutional for a Maori to administer European affairs. 'Ho would leave that to the lawyers to decide, but if *,it .was reasonable for a European, to administer Natiyo affairs, it was equally for" a Maori to ad-, minister European , affairs.

; Turning again to Native matters,-he said the' gospel' for the Maori people was work. The Maori must be an out-of-doors man. lie .was not constituted for confinement or sedentary' occupations. :lt had been said that tho Maori was a dreamer of' dreams. ; Scientists would tell them that ,fjhe brain of tho Maori was as good in quality and as active as that of -the Chucasim-racesj ; hut what was lacking in his* constitution was tho practical element. If ho could only harness his active brain to a nimble pair of-hands he would bo a formidable rival of tho European. . ; AIIENATION OF -NATIVE LANDS. (DI TKLEGBirH—rriES3 ASSOCIATION.] '' iV Chrlstchurch, May 10. At .a deputation;- to-day,.'tho' restrictions against-the alienation/6f Native lands .in the South Island' wero discussed. ' Several speakers urged that the restrictions should be removed, and that tJio Maoris should bo placed •on tho same footing",as Europeans. Other speakers strenuously opposed the idea. They ; siid; that feared that if. their lands ;ifore.'freo','tp 'be'i'aliohated as theT owners might desire, the South Island Maoris would' soon be absolutely landless. •; -1;'. : ■ ; : Mr-iNgata'said., that in many respects tho ■conditions in tho South Island differed from those -in tho ■ North ■ Island.-: The reserves, ■oscluOTe'bf.'.tbb'.proyiiion made by the South .'lsland Landless,. Natives Act, were barely r sufficient to maintain the grantees and their descendants. -. Even 'now a majority of the : secti(>ns 'hid'-Been!'leased. to Europeans,' and :tho rents received were not sufficient to maintain, tho families. - Many younger mon' and women wore practically landless, and iypt, ; h'ad tho„uso,of':land for residence rent ,freo;, :The conditions and facts wero interestling to 'il student; of the Nativo land question'. ; Both-.political.parties- agreed that under any Bysrtem . ,of : alienation .. sufficient land should be reserved , for'tho maintenance of Maori owners. There, was a difference of opinion as ■to the extent-of-.'rosGrvation. The southern conditions,raised-a doiibt whether the policy 'of, ,re^i^ationy/was : ;wiso: ' He .thought that ,'tho South,lslaind Maoris should submit in dej tail>the. position of.their reserves and,their, jviows for consideration of the Nativo llinister. The', facts might be instructive, and the deductions'from them so clear-as to necessitate a modification of the principles on which the Native land legislation was based.'