TEST FOR SOCIAL ORGANISATION OF NATIVE RACE-EQUALITY ISSUE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22813, 7 December 1948, Page 6

TEST FOR SOCIAL ORGANISATION OF NATIVE RACE-EQUALITY ISSUE

LIQUOR FOR MAORIS

Concern expressed by the Bishop of Aotearoa, the Rt. Rev. F. A. Bennett, lest the removal of legislative bars between the Maori people and sources of liquor supplies will lead to a deterioration in social standards of the native race is shared by many of the more conservative of his parishioners.

Another and probably much stronger section of the Maoris believe, however, that the time is long past due when the race as well as in other matters, equal-

should share, in respect of liquor itv in the face of the law.

Removal of liquor restrictions is expected to pose serious problems, but in the view of the majority of Maoris these problems have to be faced at some time, and as well now as at any time in the future.

Brightest hope for solution of the special difficulties which free access to liquor will bring to the Maori people is the reinforced authority of Maori councils, which will supervise social conduct in the kaingas and exercise some influence, it believed, with tlio.se Maoris who have broken with the old order and struck out for themselves in the towns and cities.

These off shots of the tribes—the dwellers in European communities—have already faced many problems from which the home-staying Maori has been sheltered to some extent even in recent years.

Sustaining Respect of Neighbours

Some of them have succumbed to pressures which their elders never encountered, but large numbers arc well established in their new environment and sustaining their self-respect and 1 the respect of their European neighbours.

The particular concern of the church authorities, it is felt, should be the welfare of the submerged section of the town-dwellers, rather than the communities in which tribal authority and discipline still holds sway. Members of the race in Gisborne fully share the concern of the Bishop of Aotearoa as to the effects of liquor upon Maoris exposed for the first time to temptations. They feel, however, that community opinion will have a strong influence upon the behaviour of Maoris dwelling around the maraes. Allegations that large-scale drinking has developed among the Maori communities are refuted by leaders of the , race, who say that while there were many breaches of the old law they were not condoned by niarae committees to any extent, and that “keg-parties” have always been isolated incidents in this district. Picture From Bad Old Days The picture evoked by Bishop Bennett of men, women and children in a state of intoxication belongs to the distant past, they hold. Those were indeed the bad old days, when communal responsibility was much less marked than now, and Maori appreciation of the benefits of a higher standard of living was hardly in the making. With the Maori community of today, self-respect is becoming more apparent and will wield a major influence upon general behaviour. If lapses occur in relation to liquor, the immediate results may seem disastrous but leading Maoris are convinced that every major lapse will help to build up a revulsion against irresponsibility. When delegations from all the Maori parishes of the Waiapu diocese gathered at Poho-o-Rawiri a few months ago, to discuss not only the affairs of their church but also general moral issues, there was a substantial majority in favour of the lifting of old prohibitions and especially that relating to the consumption of liquor. Prohibition Derogatory To Race It was said at that gathering that foreign nationals in New Zealand enjoyed freedoms not vouchsafed to the Maoris, and that retention of prohibitive statutes was being increasingly felt as derogatory to the Maori race. Freedom from such prohibitions could have adverse immediate effects, but in the long run would be for the benefit of the native people who must learn to handle the liquor problem for themselves. While full consideration was given to the natural reluctance of the clergy to see a wider opportunity for drinking given to their people, many prominent members of the church felt that their race could never enjoy equality with Europeans while the Government continued to shelter it from one of the principal social hazards. They felt, too, that a successful tackling of the liquor problem would provide their people with a tremendous moral uplift, and that the issue should be faced in a spirit of adventure.