MAORI RHETORIC

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 74, Issue 151, 29 June 1931, Page 5

MAORI RHETORIC

PRAYERS FOR A RAILWAY POVERTY BAY MISNAMED APPEAL TO GOVERNOR-GENERAL. Typical Maori rhetoric enlivened the speeches at the reception to the Gov-ernor-General, Lord Bledisloe, and the Lady Bledisloe on their visit to Kaiti, Gisborne, last week. One eloquent Maori spokesman, referring to the district's unfortunate name, Poverty Bay, said that since it had been saddled with that misnomer it had had no harbour, no railway and no efficient outlet. The Bible implored people to pray to obtain their desires, but the Maoris of Poverty Bay had prayed in vain. They now prayed to His Excellency to give them a rail way. The Maori spokesman continued m flattering vein. He said he was confident that the Governor-General, being His Majesty’s representative, would do all he could to comply with the request, for it was certain the King would not wish to deprive his people of anything so obviously necessary. Only a small portion of the railway remained to bo completed and once the trains were running the name ‘‘Poverty Bay” would automatically fall off, making room for a more appropriate name, for example, "Bay of Plenty” or "Golden Bay.’ The speaker concluded dramatically: "Therefore L say unto you, answer our prayer in the affirmative and your name will live for ever.” Referring to the dole, another Maori speaker said that in olden days all the Maori people worked together, bur now, some people wanted to work am! others did not, seeking merely the wealth of the country in the shape of a dole, which they might obtain for nothing. The Maoris were pleased to welcome His Excellency as a great agriculturist, the speaker continued. In the olden days, the Maoris needed no money; they merely filled their pits with potatoes and kumaras: but with tho introduction of the pakcha methods, the potatoes and kumaras developed complaints which were unknown in pre-European days. Therefore, it was up to the. pakeha t<» explain how to get. rid of those complaints. Tho remark caused general laughter among the Maoris arid white pcopiO present. In the course of his reply, Lord Bled isloo, referring to the Treaty of Waitangi, said there was no more sacred treatv signed and he could promise on behalf of His Majesty the King that the freedom of the Maori race would never be encroached upon. It was his earnest w r ish that more Maoris would settle on the land, making a livelihood from its cultivation. There was no more reliable source of wealth than pasture if properly treated and main tained. The wealth of mines and oil wells might be exhausted, but tho wealth of hind, with correct treatment, would never fail. His Excellency's remarks were greet od with prolonged applause.