FATE OF THE MAORI

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 114, 7 February 1935, Page 4

FATE OF THE MAORI

Lord Bledisloe’s View of Duty of Two Races IMPORTANCE TO NATION Prompted by expressions of opinion by Mr. Johannes Andersen on the effect the incomplete honouring of the Treaty of Waitangi had had on the Maori, the Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, gave what he said was a candid expression of his observations at the meeting of the New Zealand Numismatic Society last night, at which he was presented with a medal struck for the society to celebrate his Excellency’s gift of the. Waitangi estate to New Zealand. « Lord Bledisloe said that he hoped the preservation of the Waitangi estate would encourage a sense of nationhood, which was necessary if New Zealand meant to hold her own in the British Commonwealth of nations and in the nations of the world. “If a sense of nationhood results from it and is to be progressively developed,” said his Excellency, “it is to my mind essential that first of all the Maori people should be convinced that at least the present generation of New Zealanders intends to act up to the terms of the Treaty of Waitangi, and in the second place that both Maoris and pakehas are, on a level footing, subjects of the King and entitled to equal treatment before the law. "Thirdly, they must be convinced that all ‘the tribes of the Maoris must have pride in their race and in the maintenance of old time crafts and accomplishments, as was so well evidenced last year at Waitangi, and must be brought closer together and have greater inter-tribal unity than in the past. Learn the Maori Language.

"Perhaps most important of all, the white people must, if they can, learn the beautiful Maori language—must appreciate to a greater extent than today the mental and spiritual outlook of the Maori race. lam told that at the beginning of this century, and less, a third of the members, of the legislature of this country were reasonably well acquainted with the language and had knowledge of the Maori outlook. I do not think that can be said, to-day. I presume that it could be said with even less truth of the community at large. “I have derived enormous knowledge from the late Professor Macmillan Brown, who has made a generous bequest for the endowment of scholarships to improve the knowledge of Polynesian and particularly Maori customs. I hope that may have the effect of creating widespread knowledge of the Maori language and outlook on life. “I have been prompted by what Mr. Johannes Andersen said to give candid expression to my own impressions and her ExceUency’s. You have the finest coloured race and their fate depends on you. You should be proud there is such a coloured race and that they have been placed in your charge.”