THE DYING MAORI RACE.

North Otago Times, 22 May 1909, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE DYING MAORI RACE.

." 4 WHITE CIVILISATION FATAL TO •J THE NATIVES OF NEW ZEALAND,:

The Maoris of New Zealand, who have often been called tho finest aboriginal rneo in tho world, are rapidly passing away. Tho causes aro described in a book just published by tho New Zealand Institute and written by Archdeacon Walsh. The whole story may ba summed up in the statement that though European civilisation haß brought to tho natives many advantages, it rea>ly acts upori them like an insidious poison and. saps tho very essence of their life.

Several reasons are given for the boliof that when the whites first saw New Zealand tho Maoris numbered several hundred thousand. The latest census showed that 47,721 of them were living. The Maoris were once a healthy, vigorous, jand prolific race, and the dying remnant to-day is a people of lowered physique and declining birthrate. Archdeacon Walsh says that nothing can save them, and that at present death-rate a. comparatively short time will witness their extinction, Tho Maoris themselves, are aware of this, and look forward with grim resignation to the final extinction of (heir race. They say :-

"The olover of tho white man killed our fern. The European dog exterminated tho Maori dog. Tho Maori rqt was destroyed by tho rat that canio here in the white man's ships: just so our people arc being pushed aside and will bo exterminated by the Europeans," One of the first steps toward tho extinction of the Maoris was the acquisition of firearms, .When they first heard the explosion of guns and saw their warriors drop without apparent cause they said in their panic"We can fight against men, but who can fight against the gods 1" They soon learned the efficacy of guns, and their greatest chief, Hongi, conceived the idea that if ho might only procure plenty of guns he could mako himself tho supremo ruler of the Maoris.

When the British toot him to England they sent him home again with a great quantity of agricultural implements. .He sold them all in Sydney and bought guns. The greatest passion in life among the large part of the race which "he ruled became tho collection of guns. For ton years after he had formed his arsenal. Hongi kept the whole country in fire and bloodshed, and it, is estimated that a fourth of the whole Maori people perished in those intcrniclno wars. Owing to the numbers killed in battle the women greatly outnumbered the men when the wars ended, and the poor creatures, .utterly demoralised by the vices of tho whites, were so enfeebled in stamina and health that their descendants to this day have inherited their physical and moral debasement. At first the natives did not take kindly to spirituous liquors, but in timo strong drink became a ruling passion among them. Every festive occasion and even funerals were tho scenes of unlimited indulgence. Strange to say, this craze for liquor, after holding the Maoris in bondage for several generations, began to Bill-side some twenty-five years ago, and a drunken Maori is now often seen. But the effect of the evil was not to be undone, and the children born under such conditions and their descendants suffered most.

The partial adoption of European customs and ways of living has also contributed to their decay. Their little houses built in European style, their clothing fashioned on the European model, have had an injurious effect. ''

It is becoming rare to see a Maori above the middle age, Children are dying wholesale, and young men and women, apparently robust and healthy, are cut down in a few days by fever and quick consumption. Tho natives themselves have abandoned hope.-New York "Sun."