WORK FOR THE MAORI HANDICRAFTS OR FARMING ?

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 49, 27 February 1908, Page 4

WORK FOR THE MAORI HANDICRAFTS OR FARMING ?

REARING THE YOUNG, ! INTERESTING DISCUSSIONS; [BT TEiKOBAPH.— SrEOIAI TO THE POBT.] AUCKLAND, This Day. Tho future' of the landless native was discussed by Ihe conference of the Young Maori Party at Orakei, when Mr. W. Baucks, of To Kuiti, in the course of a paper on the subject, said that the time had now come when the question was asked : "What has been or is being done for the landless Maori?" Various answers would be given, but they could not satisfy the want. After Jpng years of studying the Maori chara'ctef he was in a position to say that handicraft was the most congenial work for the Maori. His works of o)d, such as canpe buildingpa building, carving, etc., showed that no was a lover of the beautiful and alsc a handicraftsman. Farming was not a congenial Ivork for him. The best thing to do was to place the saw nnd the blacksmith's hammer into his hand, and then he would soon invent things which he would be proud of. Even if h© , failed with the timber from tho yard he coujd go to the bush, and by means of the saw-pit obtain what ho wanted. Ho did not mean to say that farming was nob suitable for some Maoris, bul he did not agree with Mr. Ngata's idea of advocating farming as the most suitable occupation for the Maori, Commenting on th£ paper Dr. Buck wished to point out that the Maori by. heredity had as much respect for the land as for manual labour. .This we know from such instances as 1 Rongqmatacn.e,' the God of cultivation o * agricujtur.e,. and the Taranaki proverb which niea'tas^ Taranaki as the land kissed by Tone, because of its rich soil. He quite" agreed with the writer that the Maori ' ' a craftsman by nature, but all -Maoris could not be tradesmen. Some could compare Work with Europeans, both on the farm, in the blacksmith's shop, in agriculture, and other occupations. Following Dr. Buck, the Rev. Mr. Bennett said he concurred with what l)r\ Buck said •on the , question. He colun not help saying that ttie line given by the writer cf paper to ,follo\v was narrow. . Though most of the ooys working in towns -were craftsman, yet they could not get away from the fact that Ngatipo'ua were- making wonderful strides in the farming line,. and from the accounts given by the Native Land Commission and Dr. Mason he could not deny^thp ,sacfc ,that sheep-fann-ing Ayas a suitable -work for the Ngatipous. ' INFANTILE MORTALITY. The death'- rate of Maori infants was tho subject of discussion at the conference, when a paper on "Infantile Moi*tality" was read By Te Rangi Hiroa. He regretted that exact statistics were not available, but irom his personal observations he knew that the Maori iufanb mortality was very high._ This was 3u"e to the same causes as with the Europeans,- but to an evon -greater extent. Before the artival of the European the Maori was a healthy race. At r ths present day, owing to the clash between the two systems, the Maori had suffered in physique and health ; the mothers did not have the robust health, p'f their ancestors, and as a result their oftspring suffered. The Maori mother of old had only one method of feeding her child. In these days there was cow's milk, tinned milk, and various tinnsd foods to complicate matters. If ths European, suffered "&s a result of this ignorance in the proper use of these 'alternate foods then the Maori suffered still* more. The claims of the European social life, which led to so much bottle-fepding, happily did not «tisfc J amongst the Maori, but to counteract thi> the Maori mother took hei baby w ith her wherever she went, so as to be able to feed it. Tho child was often exposed to inclement weather, and was taken into crowded meeting houses, and kept for a considerable time in a vitiated atmosphere? However, the bot-Ue-feeding amongst tho Maori was fairly large owing chieny to ill-health amongst the mothers. Excessive cigarette smoking and, drinking were often indulged ] in during the period of suckling. Ignorance of proper clothing and hygiene heJptd to swell the mortality list. Tho above weie all serious menaces to the infant population. He exhorted the association that as their ancestors had banded together in times gone by to lais-e men to avonge some tribal defeat, so now they should band together to raise a people with a knowledge of these matters to avenge the deaths that ignorance had wrought upon the race. TWO OCCUPATIONS CONDEMNED. [IJY TELEGRAPH. — PEESS ASSOCIATION.] AUCKLAND,' 26th February. The gum-digging industry was one of tho topics ' aiscusseel at the session of the Te Aute Association to-<3ay/The Rev. H. Hawkins said ho had no sympathy for tho" industry. It had "been the curse, in. the 'form of a disease, ox the Maoris of the North. It had been found by medical men that about/ fifty per cent, of the Maoris of the North had tuberculQsis. The diggers resided in wretched houses, and they worked most of tho time in the wet. Other speakers endorsed 'Mr. ' Hawkins's remarks. The Rev. G. Matmsell added that the flax industry was akin to that of gum-digging. He had seen Maori girls working in tho flax-fields, and standing in water up to the waist the \\hoU> day.