MAORI ART SPECIMENS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20302, 9 July 1929, Page 10

MAORI ART SPECIMENS.

It may sfcem a little, thing to buy and sell a few kiwi feathers, but the case heard yesterday in llotorua, concluding} with a conviction and an order to pay costs, has an importance that should not escape public attention. The case was brought under official instructions to take steps towtird stopping traffic in protected bitds, of which the doing of business In the feathers of such birds is prima facie evidence ; but it also had relation to traffic in Maori art specimeite, as the feathers were sewn into articles of Maori manufacture. The legislation of 1001, amended in 100-1 and consolidated in 1008, has application to the case, especially as it wfls prompted in part by the business, of bird-collecting, which once caused sad havoc in the Dominican's beautiful and interesting avifaunas ' Under that legislation, it is an offence to offer for sale, with-a view to export, anything "of historical or scientific value or interest and relating to New Zealand." without first offering it to the Government, an additional safeguard being provided in the necessity of written permission from the Minister of Internal Affairs before export is permissible. In the case .under notice there was no apparent expectation that the articles were wanted for export, but there was certairjly a very loose regard for the law. It is well that the department (should continue its vigilance in thin matter, as many valuable art treasures, of which one article under-consideration in this case may be cifjed as typical although not of high price, have been irrevocably lost ijo the country through unchecked freedom of sale. The precautions ought to be rigorously enforced. Probably much.business of the kind has been transacted in ignoijanco of the legislation, but therq is a reasonable presumption that dealers know the law. I