"ENCOURAGING VICE"

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 83, Issue 165, 15 July 1939, Page 14

"ENCOURAGING VICE"

i EXCESSIVE DRINKING < t TRAFFICKING AMONG MAORIS c NEW PLYMOUTH, July 12. i “In my opinion, wherever there •- ( excessive drinking through trafficking ( there is some kind of vice," said the ! Rev. E. L. B. Gribble, vicar of Okato, > in an interview in which he referred ( to criticism of his remarks about 1 drinking in Maori pas. 1 “I have been fully conscious of the ■ good work being done among the 1 Maoris by various charitable institutions and equally conscious of the i Maoris’ response and I do believe that 1 the Maori, if he was given every chance by the pakeha, would be able ( to take his place in our social .life ’ with every credit to himself and the pakeha. “My words were said not against < the Maori at all, but rather against ’ the pakeha, so that the Maori may 1 have a greater opportunity of preserv- ! ing his own race. J Ignorant of Past “1 speak only of my personal experience during the past three years. I am very ignorant of past history," said ' Mr. Gribble. “1 have not done ver> much among the Maoris, in fact very little, during that period because I : was not commissioned to Maori work. However, I have now been asked to do it and I will not shirk my respond- ; bility. The supply of liquor to Maori pas I have no doubt will in future be kept from my observation. “From newspaper reports I now fully realise the greatness of the difficulties and hope that with that greater understanding I will be able to do more good for the Maoris. The Maori view of civilisation is not the job of a few, it is the duty of every pakeha, in high place or low place, to ( xveild and paddle for his betterment and survival.”