DRINKING BY MAORIS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23175, 22 October 1938, Page 14

DRINKING BY MAORIS

SUGGESTED SOLUTION SAME RIGHTS AS EUROPEANS TAKING OF LIQUOR TO HOMES [dy telegraph —own correspondent] NEW PLYMOUTH, Friday Equal rights for Maoris and Europeans would go a long way toward solving the liquor problem among the native race, in the opinion of tho Taranaki Maori Council, which concurs with the view of Sir Apirana Ngata that if Maoris are allowed to take liquor to their homes as a European can the trouble of drunken natives on the streets will bo remedied. The matter was discussed by Sir Apirana with elders of tho Maori race at the opening of a new meeting-house on tho East Coast, when Taranaki Maoris were present. A discussion on tho problem followed at a meeting of tho Taranaki Maori Council, when correspondence was received drawing attention to the necessity of a revised form of payment for Maoris on public works in certain parts of tho Dominion, where, it was alleged, tho greater part of their earnings was spent in liquor instead of on household necessities. It was felt by representatives of the Maori race, said Mr. W. Wakarua, secretary of the Taranaki Maori Council, at Hawera to-day, that the native race had reached the time when the intoxication level was about tho game as that of the Europeans, but ho was still prohibited from taking liquor into his home. Consequently, possessed of this knowledge, he often stayed in a hotel until closing time,. when he left in an intoxicated condition. The council decided wholeheartedly to support, the views of Sir Apirana Ngata, but expressed the view that it would not at present indicate any drastic method of reform until the matter was discussed by all their people at the respective settlements.