By Opening His Mkouth He Emptied His Pocket

NZ Truth, Issue 1079, 29 July 1926, Page 7

By Opening His Mkouth He Emptied His Pocket

A BOVE are two extracts from the re- *•' markable story of av/oung Maori who very thoroughly skinned a boastful pakeha. When the white man m his. vanity — and ignorance— -speaks of. his superior attainments to any member of a native race he is surely taking 'a big risk! ■ . | \ EVERYTHING m • jM^^^ .. "speak^-of 60, Wei - W&lgßf. |jj|| /£' A v ck.l an d, was , April of last year. \\]&Ssßffii^if*/y Boarding there I jHMflgpr^l/V %v a s Arthur l^lW^ffiJ^^ George; for many yeai's he had been carefully saving," and — it is said — was shortly to enter into ■' doubleharness.,, ''■'.. George seems to have , been i very proud of the fact that he belonged to the great white race; he was so full of it, m fact, that he was unable to keep it to himself. The gods 'laughed and m. their mischief they sent t0..- Nb;. 6o, a very presentable; young '»" Maori named Rangatahi Tauroa., . The, latter was \just such a genii as the mischievous gods might ; choose for. their , purpose. HV was a rather tall young, man, slim; and his thin face wore a somewhat, .humorous smile. . , .;.'■. .. '•'A Very Smart Man" * George met Rangatahi m the course of time and it is interesting to read extracts from the. Maori's story m his own words. "Dated July 10. lam a full-bloodeo Maori, aged 36 years,' better known as Sam Tauroa. I was married m April. "I wish to tell the truth' about me getting , the money frojn a man named Arthur George by. telling him a lot of lies." ..i:;,'.., , He goes on to say that his brother, sister and himself were left 113 acres at Apuatia between them.---"I first met Mr. George m a board-

v urn n iiniiuiiiiiiitmiiiiiiiiiiiiimimtHinmmittmii n v nn t mv^ (From "Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) ff "T KNEW that I would go to gaol when I was caught, || If but Ido not mind, as Mr. George make out to me that \\ H he was very smart and that he was too smart for the || 1 1 Maori ; so I thought I would sh ow him that the Maori was 1 1 , If too, smart. for him. ')/ f| If "I got married and went away for a honeymoon on the |j II money. I spent the balance ofvthe money having a good time || II about Auckland and- country, driving about m car and tak- || f| ing my young lady with me." : [I twimiHmmimiS uiiiimiiimimimiiiiiiiiniiimiiiniiin jliiiiimiimumiliiM.s

> . ' , : •/. •"" ' — — t— o • On' February' 6 the superior white man parted with £400. Like a,-, lamb George, went with his bland friend to the office' of a solicitor, Mr. Woodley, and^for the loan of £400 he gave a P.N. of £519/4/6, Rangatahi giving £100 for the loan 'and ten per, cent. . "I promised m the event of me ' not repaying the money on May 2, I wpuld (execute a mortgage on beha)f of Mr. George," says "Sam." On April I—did the Maori, appreciate the appropriate date? — a further sum i of £42 was extracted on the plea that a. brother, Willy Tauroa, was m need of money to pay his workmen. Free Honeymoon Trip A week later another £8 was needed by* Rangatahi to register his car— . which, it appears, he had bought out of the proceeds of the £400. v Then £5. for the Native Land Court ' and £4 to fix the car up. Being so "financial," the Maori opened an account with. h,is plun-. . der at the Bank of New Zealand, but— as he calmlyy says m his statement — he has since withdraw^ . it all. • 8 "I spent £250 of this money on buying a car which has since been resold and the money spent," he states. "I got married and went away ■ for a honeymoon and was arrested . at . Taumarunui while on the honeymoon. I spent the balance of the money having a good time about Auckland and country, driving about m the car and taking my young lady with me. "I knew I was doing wrong m telling Mr. George air these lies and getting him to give me money, 'and that I would go to gaol when I was caught, But I do not mind, as Mr. George make out that he was very smart and that he was too smart for the Maori; so I thought I would try and show him that the Maori was too smart for him." .And he finished off: "But I did not tell him so." .

"— — ■ : : i "I am quite satisfied to go to gaol I as I know I done 'wrong and that I beat him for his money. . ■*'■' "I took him to a lawyer so that he could have a fair chance of ; showing me if he was too smart for me, but he : was not smart .enough. "■ , "He thought that he was lending his money out to me and was going^to make a lot of N interest on his money put of me when ray £5000 was dve — and he made a mistake. "I gave * him plenty of chances to find out if I .was telling the truth when I took him before a lawyer to get him to pay money to me. "All this is true but the £100 he says I got from him m February, which is not true." ,' Such is substantially the story of how the Maori proved to the European that he did not belong to a race lacking the fine 1 - art of high finance. Well dressed, and with every appearance of being a man who took considerable pride m himself, the cleanshaven and alert-looking young Maori stood m the dock of the Auckland Magistrate's Court the other day charged with obtaining £581 with intent to defraud. He pleaded guilty. He was entirely at his ease and listened to the evidence which was placed before Magistrate Poynton with attention and occasional smiles. A Bank Comedy Arthur George, whose savings had been dissipated as the result of his untimely boasting, went into the box. All he had to say. substantially bore out the statement that Rangatahi had made to the police — with some few additions. ■ . The Maori had secured the assistance of the witness to write several letters to people, and had even addressed» and stamped the envelopes which the other had then taken out to post.

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Possibly he was asking himself as he walked away — a sadder, wiser and very much poorer man: "Is our civilization a failure?" . .'"■... When" Rangitahi Tauroa made his ,bow before Judge Stringer for sentence .he was not .represented by counsel and told the judge through an Interpreter that he. had nothing to say. His Honor: He seems to be able to speak English fairly welJ and to good effect. I notice that he has persuaded some fool of a man to part with . the whole, of ' his savings. To the Crown Prosecutor: Is it known if he has any property or not? Mr. S. L. Paterson: It is believed that he has some interest m 113 acres, but he has refused to sign over his interest. ' . His Honor: I notice that a member of the legal profession has as- ; sisted m the fraud by a receipt which was hot- worth the , paper it was 'written on, but which gave an air of reality to the proceedings. Mr. Paterson (having perused the document): It seems incredible ; that any solicitor should be a party to the drawing-up of such; a document. . . The Judge: It is certainly a matter which t-equires investigation by the Law Society. : ■. ■ •Mr. Paterson. : Yes, sir, I will have the matter brought, before them. To Think it Over The Judge: In his statement the. prisoner, has' evidently deliberately set out to. swindle a pakeha, which he did successfully to the extent of £581. "You succeeded m doing what you said you would, prisoner, and. I will give you: two years to think ' how foolish. you were to have done . so."' ■ '_„'. . His Honor . suggested that some steps should be taken to find oujt the position of tbs prisoner's interest m the land mentioned.