"FATAL POLICY"

Evening Post, Volume CXL, Issue 56, 4 September 1945, Page 8

"FATAL POLICY"

MAORIS AND DRINK

RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

"I hold the view that all discriminatory restrictions directed against the Maori people should be removed with one exception, namely, the retention of the powers conferred on the council of a Maori district by the Maori Councils Act, 1900," said Mr. J. H. Luxford, S.M., today in evidence before the Royal Commission on Licensing. "A policy, fatal to the well-being of the Maori people, is now in force. Summarised that policy is the attempt to absorb the Maori people in the economic, industrial, commercial and social life of the country on a basis of equality of rights and responsibilities, and at the same time trying to maintain the integrity of the Maori race by keeping alive its language and traditional customs. In other words, attempting to make the Maori an equal competitor with the European in the battle of life under modern conditions, but at the same time encouraging him to retain his primordial mental outlook founded on ancient custom and superstition. The' bresult has been a psychological clash, and the development of a racial problem. A PARADOX. "It is indeed a paradox that, for over 60 years after the Maori wars, the Maori and European were able to get along without any serious 'racial' problem arising, and then, in spite of the passing of the old-time Maori, and the system of education provided for the new generations, we find a definite moral deterioration set in and the appearance of a racial problem." Mr. Luxford quoted figures of committals which showed that whereas in 1936 1022 Europeans and 199 Maoris were involved, in 1943 the numbers were 1401 and 523 respectively. In his opinion the traditional history of the Maori people and the practice of their arts and crafts and of their customs, should hold for them nothing more than academic interest, in exactly the same way as the old customs of England held for the pakeha nothing more than academic interest. New Zealand as a whole would have no chance of holding its own among the nations of the world if its people's minds were developed along pre- or even mid-Victorian lines. The same principle applied to the Maori people, and the sooner the Maori was placed on exactly the same status as any other New Zealander the better it would be for the Maori and the country as a whole. "These observations are general and to some extent explanatory of my reasons for saying* that the present restrictions in regard to the supply of liquor to Maoris should be removed," said the witness. "Individual Maoris who become intoxicated may be dealt with in the same way as pakehas, namely by being made subject to prohibition orders. "It should be remembered that prior to the passing of the Licensing Amendment Act, 1910, the restriction in proclaimed areas against Maoris being supplied with liquor applied only when the supply was made for consumption off any premises, not necessarily licensed premises. The effect of a proclamation under Section 43 of the 1910 Amendment is to make it unlawful for every person, whether the holder of a licence to sell liquor or not, to supply liquor to a Maori within the area defined by the proclamation except on licensed premises for consumption on those premises. "BACKHANDED WAY." "I deal with many cases against pel-sons in the City of Auckland who are charged with aiding and assisting the commission of the offence of supplying liquor to a Maori in a proclaimed area. The basis of the charge is generally the fact that a Maori is found in possession of a bottle of beer, which he says was given to him by a pakeha whose name he does not know; it has even been based on the fact that a Maori was seen drinking a glass of beer inside a house. It is a backhanded way of going about things. "The Legislature made the offence in respect of the supply, ostensibly for the urotectl-on of the Maori. It refrained from creating it an offence for the Maori to receive the liquor: but the police have been able to invoke the aiding and assisting provisions of the Justices of the Peace Act, 1927, and so do what apparently the Legislature considered should not be done." Many Maoris in Auckland worked side by side with Europeans, and may be, have a drink with them after work is over. The psychological effect of being prohibited from having a drink in his own home or at any social gathering which he may attend with his fellow-workers, was bad. Nor was it made any better by the fact that the restriction was so often ignored. Discriminatory restrictions based on racial grounds were inimical to the public good, and there was no room for such restrictions in New Zealand, said Mr. Luxford.