NO TASTE FOR WORK

Waikato Argus, Volume XXXV, Issue 5549, 5 March 1914, Page 3

NO TASTE FOR WORK

A lamenatable aspect of Maori life in New Zealand at the present time is the lust for amusement and the encouragement given to indolence. A few years ago the Natives of the Wairarapa cropped their lands and grew sufficient quantities of potatoes, maize, melons, and pumpkins to maintain them during the greater portion of the year. Today these Natives, or a large portion of them, are content to ride about in motor cars, attend picture shows and race meetings, and squander the remnant of their estates in riotous living. They have no ambition, no desire to cultivate their land, no thought for the future of their race. Under such conditons, it is easy to prophecy what the future will be. In a very few years the Native population will become a charge upon the State. It is the duty of the Government, while it offers every facility for the profitable occupation of Native lands, to see that the Natives are not permitted to fritter away their estate, and that they recognise their responsibiltie as citizens of the Dominion.

CABLEGRAMS

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