MAORI TESTIMONY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23574, 7 February 1940, Page 10

MAORI TESTIMONY

Testimony as to the value of the Treaty of Waitangi and flaws in its observance were given by leaders of Maori thought at the ceremony held yesterday. The most striking tributes were those paid by Sir Apirana Ngata. He did not gloss over the existence of grievances; in fact, he stated them with considerable emphasis, but transcending them was his declaration that in the whole world he doubted if any native race had been so well treated by a European race as in New Zealand. With that, and with his acknowledgment that the acceptance of British sovereignty in 1840 had made the Maori a free people ( to-day, the statement of grievances falls into its proper perspective as being of far less importance than the essential issue of liberty preserved. There is historic interest in this particular confession, since the Maori chiefs who answered the summons to meet Captain Hobson were told by opponents of British occupation that acceptance of the treaty would mean their enslavement. Now, 100 years later, comes the free admission that it meant the exact opposite. Those facts may be taken as proof that, whatever failures there may have been on either side, the balance after 100 years of close association has been on the right side. So much must be counted as gain in an imperfect world. The Treaty of Waitangi represented an attempt to put relations on a satisfactory basis in the beginning. It was a brief document, enunciating a few general principles. In no circumstances could it have been expected to cover the many and complex questions arising as European settlement proceeded. These had to be worked out as they arose. A century of experience gained in this way offers a valuable basis for further endeavour as the two races face their future in continued association.