A BETTER UNDERSTANDING

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22824, 7 March 1936, Page 12

A BETTER UNDERSTANDING

The appeal made by Lord Bledisloe, in a recent address in England, for a better understanding of the Maoris by their white neighbours comes most opportunely. His hope that the centenary which is to be celebrated four years hence will be characterised by the Maoris' conviction that their future well-being is assured will be echoed by every man or woman who is acquainted with the latter-day problems of the Native race. In his five years as Governor-General of this country Lord Bledisloe, by his unflagging interest in their customs and traditions, and the encouragement he offered them to keep these alive while the people were progressing in their new means of livelihood, won for himself a place in the heart of the Maoris which few of his predecessors had earned. His present appeal proves that their trust in him has not been misplaced. If the better understanding which he rightly regards as desirable is to be brought about, however, there is much that must be done, and Mr Savage, in his role of Minister for Native Affairs, might well shrink from the magnitude of the task that lie 3 ahead. No one is more alive to the present precarious position than the Maoris themselves. What, however, can they do to remedy it when they are misunderstood by those in whose power it lies to effect the remedy? Years of continual disillusionment have left them with little faith in the workings of the political machine. The man to whom they looked to guide them in their own way has been stripped of his office and held up to pakeha derision. Details of Parliamentary procedure and departmental management, of course, have no interest.for them. Time and again their hopes have been raised up only to be dashed again, and all the while their land—the land on which their whole social life depends—is slipping further from their grasp. The case of the South Island Natives is a particularly striking example. The full story would run into many columns of type and it is only necessary to say here that, after many years of peaceful agitation, the Natives succeeded in having a commission set up in. 1920 to investigate their claims. The report, published the next, year, fully justified their efforts by recommending a payment of more than £350,000 as compensation. Yet at the last election, 14 years later, the possibility of their receiving this money—or even part of it—was one of the principal topics discussed at the meetings of candidates for the Southern Maori seat. There are similar cases of dissatisfaction in the north. The Taranaki Natives are pressing for an increase of the compensation already being paid for lands that were confiscated, while many of the Waikatos still refuse to accept monetary recompense for the land in the defence of which their ancestors A mistake has been made and admitted. Why then, the Maoris ask, is it not rectified? In the eyes of many of them the present efforts on their behalf are being made only to cloud the main issue. Mistrust and despair have created an attitude of secretiveness and even antagonism towards Governmental officers and their inquiries. The recent report that' cases of infectious disease were not being notified supplies an illustration of this. Confidence must be restored before, any progress is possible. It will be a long and tedious task, but when that confidence is won it will be all the more sincere and lasting. Only tolerance, sympathy and careful guidance will win it. With a little unostentatious assistance and ac l v i ce _the Maoris do not expect impossibilities—they are fully capable of Avorking out their own salvation, and the memorial to their proper treatment in the next few years . will be a prosperous and progressive people, proud of their race and name. The present time is a crisis in' their history. It is to be hoped that the solution will reflect credit on those who will.be responsible for the formulation of it.