THE MAORI RACE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23202, 23 November 1938, Page 18

THE MAORI RACE

REGENERATION PROBLEM SOLUTION BY SELF-EFFORT [from our own correspondent] HAMILTON, Tuesday The opinion that the regeneration oL' the Maoris would be accomplished only by self-effort was expressed by Dr. H. B. Turbott, District Health Officer at Hamilton, in the course of an address to the Hamilton Rotary Club yesterday. Before the advent of the European, the Maori had a relatively high standard of living, he said He had 110 time for idleness and no opportunity for thriftlessness, but had been kept fit by hard work and a satisfactory moral code had been given him by the restrictions of tapu. The decline from the old way of life followed the coming of the Europeans. The king movement grew from the realisation of where the inroads of European civilisation were leading. Outlining the growth of the Young Maori Party, Dr. Turbott said that it was significant that any determined effort to lift the Maori from his adopted mode of lite had come from the leaders of that race, and the efforts being made in this direction to-day were the outcome of the preliminary work done by the Young Maori Party. The Maori was not yet back to the stability he had enjoyed under the old life, but it seemed that he would eventually be successful. Touching on the reports of intemperance among Maoris, Dr. Turbott said he thought the reports were greatly exaggerated and that he had seen far more drinking among white women and girls than among Maoris.