WHERE THE WHITE MAN TREADS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 12818, 18 March 1905, Page 1 (Supplement)

WHERE THE WHITE MAN TREADS.

[l)T W.11.,TK num.]

THE OLD, OLD PLEA.

"'We are dying fast, and want you to show us how to live and work, so that we may not all go down to the grave." This pathos-laden appeal is touching; tut it is not new. It is merely another instance of the Maoris' superstitious belief in the supernatural; it is reciuding evidence that his faith in tohunga impostures, whether of white or brown, and no matter how often falsified, if iterated with a sufficiently vi-

1 brant glottis, and enriched with appropriate 1 mystifications, old platitudes clad in fresh disguises and bombastic assurance, find on open portal to his creedful soul; that alluring phrases of: "Our coloured brother," Privileges of British subjects," "One people, one Jaw," "Magnificent race," cdministered in cunningly graduated doses, and at proper limes—as at public meetings, when, the fever pulse of pomp and parade beats high, and all is unreal and toxic—may, as of old, be relied upon to mould his plastic faith anew. And what accentuates the pathos is the futility of it all;' that this burden of travail is wailed) into ears that understand not what the suppliant ails of. This is why no amendment accrues, and the plea lias "degraded from musket and tomahawk to sullen despair, and in the more hopeful, to urgent appeal. This is pitiful, but that which wells up yet further tears is the titter 'hopelessness of a change, so long as incompetence is permitted to dally and experiment with the precious lives of men.

Tit Wliakariri (I have permission to use Ids name) is the owner of 9180 acres of land in various parts of this district; divided', between himself, his wife, and five children. He is a young man, strongly imbued with notions of pakcha progress. He is anxious to conform himself and family, to all the actions of pakeha prejudice; to work his land, build a house worthy of his status, bin- good -stock, and show the pakcha what the Maori under favourable conditions can do. But with all this landed wealth he is a pauper—a titled lord! without a rent-roll! And to acquire the means to compass his desires he is confronted with four shameful alternatives, repellent to the descendant of free men, who never bowed the neck to the oppressor's yoke until tho white man placed it there: —

.1. He can sell to a State which, "nathless a law which prevents the Maori denuding himself of his last acre, docs so denude him. and with a. pittance too sinfully paltry to mention, yet makes earsplittiug boasts of Laving his welfare- at heart.

2. He can entrust it to the enervating ' mediation of that pa.sso invention, the Pub- i lie Trustee, whose very mention dries up! the blood in their veins, with his. 10 per cent, charges, and more, and especially i since lie opposed the pica of Mrs. Brown, of Kohimarama, and Mrs. R. S. Thompson, of Hawera, to have their lands cut up and let them manage their own affairs—two -highly-educated halfenste women, living the lives of cultured ladies, both legally married to honest European gentleman, whoso children and grandchildren understand of Maori "kapai" and no more, and are.infinitely belter gifted' to manage their oi'yu'i -granted lands-than, that saint -Public 1 Trustee who caused "their humble petition to so manage- it to be cast out of the House! Which is no defaming of, ; tbat officer,. In - cause he is the'scfrvlnt of this iniquitous embarragc. ... v . <

3. He can submit to the humiliating interforencc*of impotent Maori councils, whose mana-less transactions must await a soulwearying interchange of correspondence from Wellington, until the disgusted prospective) lessee ends the negotiations, and goes else-, where; and, should the lease eventuate, the' poor lessor is surcharged with 2s in the £ lor fees and expenses!

4. Or he may, as he does, curse all things, and sulk, and—die!

These are Tu Whakaiiri's alternatives, and why'.' It would melt the type were I in appropriate language to describe thesenseless, bewildering win. Let us further consider this man (Ids'kind is broadcast over the '.audi. Here we have a. decent, clean-lived wealthy'' pauper, with glorious ambitious, which he cannot, gratify—the ambition to stand beside the "while man and be his equal, to utilise lands now gorsc and briar covered for the proper nurturing of his child!en. To consummate this-, desirable progress he wishes to iell If CO acres of this to him useless 'and. and ytt leave sufficient for hi:: children and descendants It, untold generations, were lie legally permitted to do so. Consider his case in till its bearings. A pakeho has offered him £7> per acre, which is £3000, only too glad to pay thi*. spot cash. My heart saw face to face with his when he cried in desperation : " Why am I not allowed to benefit by this which hurts no one? I only wish to keep flesh of my flesh alive! Spy on me; watch how I spend'it; restrict me tore and aft : see to it that every penny is spent on land, house, and stock; tako.it from me if I squander it! Only let me bargain with this pakeha, who if 1 pressed him would add sufficient to pay transfer expenses. I am told that if it were put up to public competition it would rise to £5 per acre, because if is first-class land." Then he threw his cap on the ground and spat on it. "Tell me why!" And that question flutter* east, and west, and north, and south, and evorv echo calls back, " Why "

Because of the supreme importance that .something be done at once, and because they are mv friend;, I will c-le another rase, but for a- reason can only mention . lielitious names. Blank owns 12,000 acres. ' He has no children of his own, but has | adopted as his h"ir one of his brother's. j He also ha,s high ambitions: he knows that onlv Ivy keeping pace with the pakeha in till his various progressive customs can his nephew escape the fate of his race. He sre« the truth, and has profited by that which lies on this hand and that, but cannot gratify his desires because of his poverty. He asked mv advice: Should he send his nephew to the high school, and so prepare him? "Yes," I replied, "send him. but. so sine as the sun will rise on the morrow, so surely will you fail in your mission!" "What then shall I do?" "Send him to the local school until he can read, write, and cypher; then have nim taught carpentry and useful smithy work; want him to avoid the racecourse, cigarettes. and waipiro: teach him to respect himself and the pakeha. That is all. and when he is man-g'own he will revere the memory of his benefactor with a benison of love and affection." He sits on his verandah,and looks across to his ancestors' craves on a hill which lies between him and the setting sun, and sees the end of his day dreams there! Presently he rises wearily and says: —" Kua pa.ihorea aku ringa ; e kore taea." (My hands arc bound; it cannot be done.) He merely wishes to sell 1100 acres of his surplus lands, which a pakeha is eagerly awaiting some change in native land transactions to pay him £4000 for; but, as things are now, dare not—one-half to be banked, and the remainder spent- on the lad's education. And thus Maori progress is checked, and by whom, and what? By a buffoonery y'clent native laud administration! By a criminal mania to lest moth-eaten fads! By ignorance, prating, and incompetence : caring no jot that it, "mangles and slays its "coloured brother." "noble Maori." "mag-, nificent race," so long as it can strut and parade as its patriarchal protects; but. which posterity will crown-quest and verdict guilty. I/Since 'writing the above i have read "Anglo-Maori's" letter, and the Herald's comment thereon—-and I thought 1 was playing a lone hand! I ask my renders to ! preserve both. Wait, there is more to be said.] , '..'*-