COLOUR LINE DRAWN.

Otago Witness, Issue 3854, 24 January 1928, Page 15

COLOUR LINE DRAWN.

——-- ■ ■ ■ - DISCRIMINATION AGAINST MAORIS. - GIRLS REFUSED ACCOMMODATION. AUCKLAND, January 20. Another instance of the 44 colour line ” being drawn against the Maoris nas occurred, on this occasion in Rotorua, where two Native girls were recently refused accommodation by the proprietor of a large boarding house. The case was aggravated by the fact that the girls had booked their rooms in advance, out when the proprietor saw that his gues s were Natives he refused to acknowledge the reservation already made by him, and practically hustled the girls off the premises. As it was the busy holiday season the girls could not find accommodation elsewhere, and were finally forced to seek shelter for the night in the Native village at Whakarewarewa. The matter came before the Akarana Maori Association last. evening, a body which recently dealt with the discrimina tion shown against Maoris by the proprieor of a large Auckland hairdressing establishment. Members expressed indignation at the treatment received by the two girls. It was emphasised that they were strangers in Rotorua, but girls of good character, education, and address. A member of the association asked what good it was to aspire to European standards of living and education ir they were to meet with such rebuffs. Another member remarked that it was odd for Maoris to be unwelcome in Rotorua, where, as a matter of fact, they constituted a large part of the attraction for tourists. It was not consistent to exploit the tourist value if the Maoris and at the same time ignore them socially. These girls were of’ good birth and education. They were stange. 3 in a strange town, and yet they we.a denied accommodation which thev had booked in advance and for which they were prepared to pay. The association finally decided to write to the Rotorua Progress Committee setting forth the case, and asking that boarding-house-keepers should be requested to dis countenance such a practice when reputable Native visitors to Rotorua applied for accommodation.