LOAFING ON MAORIS.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 8335, 11 April 1889, Page 3

LOAFING ON MAORIS.

SIR,— I noticed in your paper of the 3rd inst. an article referring to the native meeting now being held near Auckland, and was pleased to observe the remarks you made re wasting time and food. I think that a great deal remains to be done in the Maori interests, and that the Government are very much to blame for the state of almost abject poverty and sad immorality now existing amongst the natives. I hope you will grant me a little of your valuable space to lay before yon a matter that has come under my notice lately. In spite of the protection laws it is almost incredible the way the_ Maoris art befooled and robbed by a certain class. I refer to the very scum of the white population of this colony— men (?) who nave probably been bred in the dark corners of our towns, deserters from ships, . gaol-birds, and in other cases (I think the majority), boys who have left their homes at an earlj age, to escape, perhaps, harsh treatment and drunken parents, and who, as a natural result of their bringing up, go from bad to worse, and at last seek refuge in some Maori settlement, where the poor Maoris are only too willing to have them. If is absurd and childish, the honor a Maori thinks is paid him if a white man lives in his whare. It gains for him a certain amount ot importance from his Maori friends. He thinks that " his white man " is like all other white men, and takes a pride in following as closely as possible the example set h!m by " the pakeha," and by attending any of the country race meetings it is only too easy to see what this leads to. The pakehas, as I suppose is natural, are in most cases embittered against their white brethren, hence a great deal of the ill-feeling existing between the t\\ o races. There is a pah not many miles from here, and to my knowledge there are seven white men there at present. They do nothing bnt lounge about and smoke all day, or drink and play billiards if they happen to get a little money. You cannot < imagine the wrong done the Maoris by Allowing these men to remain amongst them. Is it not possible to prevent strong able-bodied men from living in the settlements like this, anil setting the natives such an example of idleness and immorality? "A stitch in time saves nine," so it is to be hoped that our Ministers, instead of wasting time at useless meetings, will do something more practical for the Maoris' benefit while there is yet time. Trusting that this matter will be taken up by some abler pea,— l am, &c, Tiwa. Danevirke, April 9, 1889.