MAORI WELFARE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLII, Issue 20513, 3 September 1936, Page 8

MAORI WELFARE

THREE VITAL POINTS HOUSING, SANITATION AND WATER SUPPLY By Telegraph - Pres? Association WELLINGTON, September 2. A conference comprising about 60 delegates called by the Government to consider questions of Maori education and health opened in Parliament buildings to-day, the Minister of Education and Health (Hon. P. Fraser) presiding.; In opening the conference Mr Savage ■ said he was particularly anxious that the welfare of the Maoris should be advanced in every passible way. He expressed the opinion that the question of health could not be discussed without reference to the fundamental question of the economic conditions of the Maori race. The Government was prepared to undertake a great advance ' in this direction. Dr. M. H. Watt, Director-General of Health, said the Maori death rate was 19.29 per 1,000 and the European 8.22. The only favourable point of compari- I son was the Maori birthrate, the percentage increase being 2.41 for Maoris and 0.80 for Europeans. Referring to ! fever Dr. Watt said the benefits of ; inoculation had been clearly estab- i lished in control of the disease. ’ Typhoid fever could never be eradi- ■ cated from the Maori race until the • sanitation of the settlements and ■ individual homes had been improved. I The high incidence of tuberculosis | amongst the Maoris was a reflex of ’ their unsatisfactory economic position,; and particularly of the poor standard | of their housing, Dr. Watt said the I benefits of the school dental service ! should be extended to Maori children. ' The Hon. Sir Apirana Ngata said the fundamental problem to be faced con- ' cerned housing and sanitation, in-I eluding water supply. Dr. B. Turbott said the Maori responded excellently to educational : measures, and he emphasised the desirability of establishing a farm colony for certain selected cases in the East Cape area. Sir Apirana Ngata, in this connection, said the Maoris were willing to grant 10 acres of land and provide sufficient finance to allow of the erection of 20 hutments. The conference expressed agreement and requested an extension of the Native Department’s land development schemes and the provision of medical services for Maoris as outlined by the Health Department. The conference agreed on the necessity for adopting a housing policy for the Maoris and recommended that any organisation set up should co-opt the services of the Health, Education and Native Affairs Departments. Delegates expressed uneasiness about the use being made of some of the money paid out in sustenance and other Government channels. It was agreed that practical steps should be taken to insure better use of the moneys received.