FUTURE OF THE MAORI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18168, 14 August 1922, Page 8

FUTURE OF THE MAORI.

SALVATION IN THE LAND. BETTER THAN PROFESSIONS. NEED FOR EXPERT TRAINING [ill TELEQRAVTT. —SPECIAL' REPORTER.} WELLINGTON. Saturday. <' We most make an effort to divert the moro brilliant Maori boys fronTlaw, mcdicino, and other professions and induce them to take up scientific agricuT-. ture education and engineering," said the Hon. A. T. Ngata (Eastern Maori) in the House yesterday, when the annua] report 0:1 native education was under consideration. He mentioned that after half a century of .association with the pakeha the Maori was eager to learn the white man*S way, and particularly as to how he got on in the world. The .Maori hoy when brilliant at school seemed to think that his future lay in the professions, but the leaders of" the race were desirous that the Maori should make the best use of the land which remained to him, being convinced that the prosperity of the race rested on the intensive cultivation of small holdings. Mr. Ngata said his own tribe thought they should endeavoift to evolve leaders from among the natives themselves, and they selected a number of the brighter young men and sent them to Hawkesbury College in Australia for training. The war, however, interrupted tho career of these students. The time was now ripe to revive this method, t but the parents were unable to send the boys to the college without outside assistance. Ho thought there should bo a Government subsidy, and this would be asked for if the money were available. Mr. Ngata said a Maori learned well from a pakeha, but better still from a Maori. The Maori thought that if a pakeha excelled that was only natural as -he was a pakeha, but if a Maori excelled other natives knew Chey could hope to equal this success.