THE PARIHAKA MEETING.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 874, 27 August 1879, Page 2

THE PARIHAKA MEETING.

The monthly Parihaka meeting is an expensive luxury which the Natives indulge in to the neglect of their ordinary pursuits. The time occupied in going to and .'returning from Parihaka, as well as their stay of generally a week with the prophet, leaves them vevy little time to see about planting crops or performing any profitable labour. They live without care for the future. They are provided with money by means best known to themselves, but not quite understood by the majority of the colonists. When one looks at the abundant supplies the Natives have at these Parihaka meetings, the questions suggest themselves : Who pays for all this 1 How do the natives get the money ? They can afford to waste their time in a manner that would soon bring utter starvation upon a European community, yet they are free from any kind of. poverty — they revel in apparent abundance. How can these things be ? It is a singular anomaly for the Natives to wish the Europeans to leave New Zealand when they derive all their ease and comforts through the presence of the Europeans. Of what value would their land be if they had all New Zealand to themselves ! They Would, be compelled to perform much more laborious work than they do now, without any of the comforts they are at present enjoying. — Tarcmaki Herald.