WELL-BEING OF THE MAORI

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22675, 12 March 1937, Page 10

WELL-BEING OF THE MAORI

A generously comprehensive scheme of land settlement «,nd housing for the Maori people is in hand, and it is not altogether surprising, therefore, to read Ministerial doubts about the wisdom of establishing further Maori showplaces. At Gisborne Mr. Langstone placed emphasis upon the fundamental needs of the native race when invited to consider the establishment of a model pa. Perhaps he expects too much when he raises the ideal of the production of arts and crafts in Maori homes, for it may well be argued that the communal instincts of the people tend to give them much more enthusiasm for culture centred in the wharepuni than in the wharfc. But his general contention is sound. The future of the Maori people is on the land. The settlement schemes initiated by the last Government 1 and carried on with vigour by the ' present one are offering great j opportunities, and» part of the | responsibility is to arouse the Maoris to seize them. In his recent tour of North Auckland Mr. Langstone saw not only the deterioration that can overtake a Maori community which, lacking the old discipline imposed by tribal authority, obtains sustenance without effort. So serious has this evil become that the Minister of Labour has decided to suspend relief in eases where it is wasted. In Poverty Bay a very much better state of things prevails. All New Zealand knows the valuable work performed by Maoris on the sheep stations and in the timber industry and allied occupations, but evidently drift is there also. It is to be hoped that the Government does not hesitate to carry out its decision to take the firm way. At the same time it should not forget that there are many pakehas living on sustenance who also should be saved from themselves. They need grit put into them just as much as many Maoris.