MAORI TELEGRAMS.
TO THB EDITOR OP THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sib, —Ab I have received a few Maori telegrams I crave a few lines with your sanction. Anyone who, has bad. much to do with telegrams in the Native language must have noticed the dreadful hash they get made into because the officers .of the telegraph do not understand Maori, I have been shown some very particular telegrams, at times; relative to large blocks of land which the Government were interested in dealing with, and they were quite' untranslatable ; and I cannot understand why no Defence Minister has ever either considered it necessary for telegraphists in Native districts to know something of the Native language, or tobold out some inducement to the few £ know who take an Interest in it. I had the word “ whenua ” (land) transformed into some absurd English word, and the officer to whom I appealed said he knew it was right, as he repeated it. Trusting you will oblige by inserting the above, I am, &c., J. J. Manawatu, September 26, 1882.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZTIM18820930.2.26.2
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 6694, 30 September 1882, Page 3
Word Count
176MAORI TELEGRAMS. New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIX, Issue 6694, 30 September 1882, Page 3
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