Fruits of Training

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 497, 29 October 1928, Page 8

Fruits of Training

Maoris’ Higher Living Standards

CONSISTENT effort in the education of Maori children—particularly in the Auckland district —has exercised a decided influence in the living and working conditions of the New Zealand native. The adoption of the profitable pursuit of dairying in place of the struggling occupation of gum-digging is the most noticeable manifestation of industry in the native race observed by the education authorities.

It has been decided long since that the Maori, for his distinctive traditions in chivalry and art, and for his progressive culture and assimilation of European conditions, has earned the right to walk side ttty side with his Pakeha brethren along the path of industry and progress. Science and politics readily pay their graceful tribute to the outstanding achievements of the dusky sons of New Zealand who have shared the law-making task of the State. Yet the insistent encroachment of the whites upon native holdings has reduced the heritage of the Maoris to comparatively narrow confines, and

for many years it has become necessary for the Government to undertake systematic education at heavy cost, but with gratifying results. This work has been increasing annually, and last year four new Maori schools were opened, bringing the number of village institutions up to 134. The cost to the country for administration was just on £BB,OOO. In addition, 12 native secondary schools, training 525 students, are flourishing, and scholarships are keenly competed for. The greater part of Maori education is centred In the Auckland, Waikato and Bay of Plenty districts, where (he authorities have concentrated, through the children, upon the general education of the natives to a higher standard of living. Economic influences drove many Maoris to the gumfields of North Auckland; others were forced to leave their tribal environs and seek fields wherever they could eke out a meagre

existence: a few tilled for a new master the soil which once had been their own. But all this is changing, and the Maoris are rising again to a happier and more profitable status than they found on the gum-digging fields of the North, and in the potato-growing fields of the East Coast. GUM-DIGGING TO DAIRYING The education authorities reveal in a report presented to Parliament that in the majority of the 134 settlements where schools are working, there is distinct evidence of effort on the part of the people toward profitable pursuits and a better utilisation of their land. The results of this progress are seen particularly in the attention they are devoting to better living conditions, more congenial sanitary environment and to the rearing of their children. In the Hokianga, Bay of Islands, Bay of Plenty, Waikato, East Coast and Wairoa districts they have taken up dairying quite successfully, and the tone of the settlements has been completely altered by engagement in the new occupation. In some settlements the people who eked out a miserable pittance In gumdigging have abandoned this work and are now profitably engaged in small dairy farming. At Te Kao, In the far north, the Maoris have abandoned gum-digging as an occupation and have gone on to the land with successful results, while In localities further south, sheepfarming, cattle-raising and maizegrowing claim their attention and incidentally produce for them a fair return. OWN DAIRY FACTORIES In both the Bay of Plenty and the East Coast districts dairy factories have been erected, managed and controlled by the people. The subdivision of native lands, as the result of the consolidation scheme, and the individualisation of holdings, has resulted in the adoption of this additional industry. Much depends upon the enthusiasm of the teachers, who are chosen with infinite care for their adaptability to this work.

The greatest tribute to the work of the State in producing better conditions for the Maoris comes from a distinguished member of the race, and a noted New Zealand legislator, Sir Apirana Ngata, who refers to the improvement in the lives of the Ngati Porou (East Coast) tribe. "... Lastly, the tribe has arrived at that stage of development,” he says, “where persistent patronage o.f the schools and colleges for a generation and a-half has leavened it through and through with men and women who aim at higher standards of living, and who are more than conscious, are confident, of their ability to translate their acquired knowledge into flourishing farms, better houses healthier villages and a greater share of the benefits of civilisation.”