SIR APIRANA NGATA.

Taranaki Daily News, 9 December 1931, Page 6

SIR APIRANA NGATA.

Sir Apirana Ngata’s determination, to retire from public life at the termination of the present Parliament will be generally regretted. Though his official duties are primarily the administration of the Department of Native Affairs, his European colleagues would be the first to bear tribute to his shrewd analysis and sound judgment in regard to problems that affect pakeha and. Maori alike or have even a greater bearing upon, the life of the European community. But it is for his work ’as leader and teacher of his own people that Sir Apirana Ngata is most highly appreciated.. When he and one or two other enthusiasts began their efforts to inaugurate better methods of Maori development the outlook for the race seemed almost hopeless. On the one hand were those who wished the Maori well and were prepared to recognise the duty of the pakeha towards the race. Unfortunately, the attitude was that of a superior to an inferior people, and the best of the methode adopted was to impose upon Maori boys and girls a European education that took little or no notice of racial characteristics or tradition. It was not surprising that the veneer of Western civilisation soon wore thin and that the Maori seemed only to absorb from the pakeha all that was least desirable. On the other hand, association. between the two races far too often was left to the European who was indifferent to), the effect upon the Maori of bad habits, or who was deliberately seeking to trade upon the Maori characteristics of generosity and ignorance of sharp practice. It was Sir Apirana Ngata and his friends who first proclaimed that the development .of. the Maori people must come from within. They asserted that while much that was integral to the old tribal system, particularly in regard to land ownership, must be shed in order to accommodate the Maori to the civilisation with which he must now associate, there was still much left of tradition and pride of race that should be developed and not be treated as the curious habits of an inferior people. To his own people Sir Apirana has always urged the necessity for work as an aid to development. He had seen the effects of the Maori’s being treated as a spoilt child by some and as a pigeon to be plucked by others. The result was ominous. It looked as though extermination was inevitable. In his thirty years of labour the Native Minister has seen that fear removed and a steady increase in Maori population recorded. Hygiene, medical attention, education, and, above all, the use of their own lands by themselves, and for the benefit of the race, have been the methods adopted. Much remains to be done. There is still ample scope for the display of personal interest by the pakeha towards his Maori follow citizen. It must be shown with tact and discretion and with no hint of race superiority. The response to Sir Apirana’s appeals has ebbed and flowed, but on the whole a distinct advance has been made, and the work is still progressing. That his teaching is still a living force is tile finest tribute to the Maori leader who is contemplating retirement.