NATIVE SCHOOLS

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4306, 15 March 1901, Page 3

NATIVE SCHOOLS

WHERE WILE THE FUNDS GOf A circular, issued from Te Ante College, has no doubt reached you, writes “Nohorua.” asking lor a subscription towards establishing u sc.moi mr native girls at Auckland. This c;i;.i;uir lias been issued under the auspices oi the Cnurch of England. 1 have the best interests of the Maori race at heart, and shall willingly give my mile towards any scheme whose object is the elevation of the race, hut like many others, have hesitated in this instance j through a sort of impression that many years ago the natives in various parts of the country gave to the Church of England large and valuable tracts of land for the purpose of having native schools established, and that the trustees of some of these properties have large sums in hand besides still holding the valuable land; yet they have not carried out the purpose for which the property was given. The trustees of the Ronrua grant alone have accumulated over ~£7OOO, to say nothing of the others. Why, then, has the Church not done its duty by the Rorirna people f it canot be said that they do not need teaching, for they have been so neglected that a large pioportion of them are Mormons.

Ten thousand pounds is a small sum for 1 us to give to save the Maoris from destruction ; for with the present moral code ■ of the average Maori maiden continued ' through another generation or two the : race must inevitably die out ‘'from natural i causes.” The only trouble is that in i vieiv of the past history of the schools ’ built for Maoris it is a fair tiling to influ ire first if the money is really going fo , be applied to the purpose for which it is given this time, or whether some clause . will be slipped in again which will tie the matter up for another fifty years, like the Rorirna grant. 1 A positive statement by a bishop or an archdeacon in the Church that the funds will be applied promptly to the original purpose intended, and not, in any case be diverted or hung up indefinitely, will T believe, result in a ready response from philanthropists of every denomination; but with the present suspicion that the funds will go the same way ns the Rorirna funds, and others, few outside "the elect of the Church” will be prepared to risk their money. MAORI SUPERSTITION IN WELLINGTON DISTRICT. Mr Thos. Bevan, sen., of Manakau, in declining to support the movement to inure! a Victoria Memorial School for Maori girls at Auckland, expresses the belief that the Maoris would not send their girls to such an establishment. ‘‘lf/’ he adds, “the wish was to re-establish the Otaki College for the neglected Maori girls and boys in this district, then wo would bo doing good work. The Maoris, as you know, have given the mission two large reserves for the education of their children in Otaki and Rorirna. I could not ask the Maoris to collect, money for iluvAuckland school when they have given those two largo reserves for education, and have never had any benefit from them. Most of the children in-this district are receiving no education, and no Christian teaching. I wish to bring under your notice tbe horrible state of Maori superstition that is going on in this district, and which tlio mission is neglecting, viz., the influence of those called tohungas. ’ This year there has been a great incursion of Maori superstition and Karalda, and numbers have fallen under the influence of the tohnngas, who claim that their gods are spirits of ancestors, who have returned to bring healing to the Maori race, and that they can heal all bodily diseases. So far from those who have sought their aid being cured, the result has been death on all sides. In • this district the revival of Maori superstition is in a deplorable state of weakness among the middle and younger generations, and this is duo to tlio- want of education in the district.”