RACIAL RELATIONS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVII, Issue 113, 16 May 1939, Page 5

RACIAL RELATIONS

DIFFERENCES NOTED

PROBLEMS FOR FUTURE

VARYING OUTLOOK

Speaking of racial relations he had observed during his recent world tour, Dr. W. R. B. Oliver told members of the Wellington branch of the League of Nations Union last evening that racial differences must constitute a problem in future relations between different countries. There were racial differences that could not be bridged over, and if some of the present-day problems were to be solved, the solution would have to be found without disturbing racial characteristics.

New Zealanders did not worry about racial differences, Dr. Oliver said, but many nations did. In some countries there were minorities and such a minority might be the ruling race, as was the case in South Africa. All through life there were biological problems, and where two races lived side by side the different mental characteristics, which were inherited like physical characteristics, had to ba studied.

While he was abroad he had met members of many different races. In Europe there was little evidence of racial hates; foreigners were treated just as they would be in New Zealand. There was no animosity between individuals even if there was between races. One interesting point in Europe was that raised by Hitler regarding purity of race. The traveller going through Europe would see a difference in the races. In the Scandinavian countries the people, except for language, were just like the British. In Germany, however, the people were different physically and temperamentally. They were round-headed instead of long-headed. Further south the people i were a long-headed race, but they were! not like the long-headed people of the north. Each race had its own traditions and outlook, and it was the difference in outlook that would have to be thoroughly studied if the races were to work together. EVERYDAY LIFE. Differences in living were not so great, but New Zealanders might not like to do some of the things done in Europe. In some parts the people and cattle lived in the same building.

He had come in contact with representatives of the Arab race and they had surprised him very much. In the past the Arabs had carried learning through the Dark Ages, but today they did not appear capable of doing anything like that. ' They lived in a way that seemed incredible to the European. The streets in Algiers were narrow but the household garbage was thrown into them to get away as best it could. A family would live in one room, the children were not properly fed, and there was a good deal of disease. What could be done with such people? If they were content to live like that they could not mix with the more enlightened races. They would have to be kept segregated, and it appeared to be a case of "Africa for the Africans." To see the Arabs was to realise that the slogan "A White Australia" was right.

Further east the Mongolian peoples were quite different from the people of Northern Africa, Arabia, and India, They were much more honest. The Arabs and Indians always tried to rob the traveller by overcharging him, but the Chinese would not do that. The Javanese were gentle folk, but they were kept in social subjection by the Dutch. The Javanese were not allowed to address the Europeans in any language except their own and the Dutch learned Javanese so that the natives would not learn Dutch. The Dutch kept the Javanese at work in agricultural pursuits and they had to cultivate the fields by primitive methods. The Dutch would not introduce labour-saving devices because they wanted all of the natives kept in employment. The whole attitude of the ruling race appeared to be to keep the natives in a lower social order. THE BLACK BACES. As in Europe, many different types of people were found in the Negroid races. The negro properly belonged to Africa, but the slave trade to America and the subsequent increase of the race there had led to 10 per cent, of the population being Negroid. The negroes in the United States were largely in certain positions, such as porters. It had been said that the negro, if educated, could fill the positions occupied by Europeans, but it had been found that 97 per cent, of the negroes who had followed the higher callings had European blood. The American army took intelligence tests of all recruits and graded them, and the negro was found to be much lower in mentality than the European. The negro population in America was a problem that Americans felt should be tackled, but nothing was done about it. The Negroid races in the South Seas were also of *r type that did not measure up to European standards, and would not make headway outside their own islands. The Germans claimed everything depended on the purity of the race, Dr. Oliver said, and there was something in that. Heredity counted for more than environment. It had been proved in America that criminal characteristics continued from generation to generation although the environment was changed. _ m _ mmmmmmmmmmmmm^mmm^mm