MAORI PEOPLE AND 40-HOUR WEEK

Southland Times, Issue 23376, 7 December 1937, Page 6

MAORI PEOPLE AND 40-HOUR WEEK

INCREASED FACILITIES FOR DRINKING

(United Press Association) WANGANUI, December 6. The 40-hour week and its effect on the Maori people by reason of the increased facilities for consumption of liquor were subject to strong comment by the Right Rev. F. A. Bennett, M.A., Bishop of Aotearoa, speaking at a social function held by the Wanganui Rotary Club tonight. “What will be the end, added the Bishop. “The Labour Government has given the people five days labour and on Saturdays, when the hotels are open, the Maori people, having nothing to do, waste both their time and their money in the bars. With wages paid on Friday night the men gravitate to these places and dire results are becoming apparent already in the north of New Zealand.”

The drink problem was worse than it had been for 20 years, said the speaker. In a recent visit to this part of the country mothers, women and wives had appealed to him to do all in his power to combat the evil, but what could he do in the Waikato. Where, in previous years, no liquor had found a place at tangis and native gatherings now barrels were featured at every one. “The ultimate effect on the rising generation of Maori people is one that will be apparent to all,” said the Bishop. What had become a common habit up and down the Dominion must be eradicated at all costs.