DISTRESS IN NORTH.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19415, 25 August 1926, Page 10

DISTRESS IN NORTH.

" HAND TO MOUTH " EXISTENCE. SOIVIE CASES OF HARDSHIP. CHILDREN MISERABLY CLAD. NO EVIDENCE OF STARVATION.. [BY . TELEGRAPH.—SPECIAL BEPOETEII.] TE KAO, Tuesday. First-hand evidence obtained daring a 60-mile journey from Waipapakauri to Te Hapua shows beyond doubt that the people in- this district are fighting against a' form of want and hardship not to be found' in any other part of New Zealand. This does not mean that, anyone is actually starving or that children are underfed and a prey to disease, v but it does imply that hundreds of families are living from hand to month and that many children are miserably clad. It is. no exaggeration to say that most of the Maori, children possess, only the clothes they stand up in, which means, in a.great many cases, not more than two torn 'and threadbare' garments. There is not a family on. the gumfields that would not welcome a gift of clothing, for the little mofiey they earn from the sale of their-gum-is absorbed entirely in purchasing fbod." ' Anyone new to life among the Maoris would be shocked at the' scarcity o.f clothing, particularly underwear, which is often non-existent, but so far no harmful effects have accrued and tlfo children seem wonderfully hardy. All who have lived in this part of the country are satisfied that the economic condition of the people is worse than it has ever been before. Poverty has been aggravated since Christmas. '..They are fearful, however, of exaggeration, and being accustomed to severe hardship all their lives are content to regard things stoically and face the situation without complaint. So many cases of severe hardship meat the eye, however, that it is a hard man who would blink at the facts, much less deny their authenticity. Some Typical Instances. At, Te. Hapua, where the distress is most, noticeable, a Dalmatian gumdigger in ill health is supporting a family of eight children on a very small income. His wife , died about three years ago. Owing to a recurring illness he is periodically prevented-from digging and has been thus incapacitated during the last three months. The eldest boy, aged 34, has been taken away from school to .work on the fields, but ■ the family's earnings are hardly sufficient, to buy food. The h J,IS9 is a substantial • wooden one with two large rooms, but is almost bare of furniture. Tlie younger children could do with more clothing. A Maori widow at Te Hapua'is digging on the fields to support herself and her five children. The eldest is 13 and the youngest 20 monthg. 'When she goes ; out to dig gum she carries the baby with her and makes a bed for it in the bushes while she works with the spade and spear. The children are ill-clad and on short food rations.

There is another young woman:: at Te Hapua who is the sole support of herself and five children,, the eldest eight years and the youngest . one year and - seven months. ' ", ' . Living in a Tin Shed. Another Te Hapua Maori.family.consisting of 11 persons were living in a tin. shed measuring 12ft. by" 9ft. with " walls only 4ft. 6in. high. Theiy ate and slept in the one room, man, wife and nine children. The eldest child is a boy of 17. There was only one bed and three blankets for the whole family. Happily they have since gone into a- new wooden shanty on the gumfields at > Puripuri, two miles beyond Te Haupa, but they are still short of clothing. At Houhora a Maori family, consisting of two adults and seven children, are living in a one-roomed tin shack 15ft square. The eldest girl has a baby. . They have only made £8 in seven months out of gum, and if it had not been for the relief wotk started by the Government' in this district they would have starved. As it-.is the man has received 14s a day during the past sis weeks, the bulk of which went to pay outstanding accounts. The relief" work is the sole factor in keeping many of* these people from starving. About £ISOO has been spent in the past few weeks in effecting improvements to the coast. road from Waiharara to Ngataki, and work has now,, been resumed which will absorb another £IOOO. As there are approximately 200 men in urgent need of employment, and the work can only , absorb 50 at a time, recourse has been made to a system of fortnightly shifts, work being given to 50 men for two weeks, at the expiry of which their places are taken by another 50 men. In the Far North work is being found for a number of men on the new road in course of construction between Te Kao and 4 Te Faki." This will.be the most northern road in, New Zealand., It should materially relieve the distress at Te Hapua. Clothing the Chief Need* In a one-roomed Maori shack in Waihopo five people are living with three blankets between them. They received £l2 from gum sold in the past two months and the father has earned 14s a day for three weeks on relief work All this will go- to pay off an instalment of his grocer's account. Clothing; is the chief need ia all these places and gifts will be put to deserving use. It is highly desirable, however, that they should be distributed through local committees," which will have the confidence of all the people. - The appointment of a sole distributor in each centre is bound to result in grumbling and ill-feeling.