THE MAORI RACE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26774, 18 May 1948, Page 4

THE MAORI RACE

A minister in Auckland has again drawn attention to the scandal of the prostitution of the Maori race for political ends. It is a scandal to which attention has been drawn with varying degrees of vehemence in recent years, and which has already sown the seeds of incalculable harm for New Zealand, and the longer it is permitted to continue the graver will be the social and economic problems that will eventually have to be faced. Church leaders may draw public notice to the problem—many have done so—and through various organisations may succeed in offsetting the worst of the many demoralising influences to which the Maori people to-day are exposed. The remedy that is required is beyond the power of any church to administer. Spiritual regeneration will be possible only when the Maori is psychologically conditioned to an acknowledgment and acceptance of his rights, and his responsibilities, as a citizen of New Zealand. That is the goal that must be aimed at, the goal that has been urged by all Maori and. pakeha thinkers who have closely observed the moral degeneration that is so tragically evident in many Maori communities, but it cannot, and never will be, attained while he is led to believe that his only importance is political and that the reward of his political amenability will be a life of indolence. The traditions and the mental outlook that have developed in any one race during a thousand years cannot be destroyed in one generation, or even half a dozen. Indeed, it is not desirable that the Maoris should altogether dispense with many of their old beliefs and observances. They must, however, learn to adapt themselves to changed conditions, and in this they require tolerant and constant leadership—but not spoon feeding. The Rev. E. Blackwood Moore has stated that among some Maoris, children are being born simply because of a desire on the part of their parents to qualify for the family allowance. This is but one aspect of the widespread problem that has been created by a policy of encouraging Maoris, by the disbursement of easy Tnoney, to withdraw from competition with Europeans in the normal fields of endeavour,- with the consequent exposure of their. socially immature minds to influences of an undesirable nature. This trend has been observed and commented upon, by persons qualified to speak authoritatively, not only in the daily

press but in the important studies published by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research of Maori existence in a modern society. The warning yiese people have sounded is too grave to be disregarded. Their remarks do not apply, of course, to all members of the Maori race. Thousands of Maoris have proved themselves as capable and as industrious as pakeha New Zealanders. With a little understanding and sympathy the Maoris generally can train themselves to fill positions of the highest importance with dignity and honour. The manner in which a substantial proportion of the race is living today, however, is leading to the development of a prolxlem as socially undesirable as it is politically unnecessary.