The Evening Herald. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1874.

Wanganui Herald, Volume VIII, Issue 2304, 9 November 1874, Page 2

The Evening Herald. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1874.

Sir James, Feugusson has delivered to the natives at Otaki a very practical lecture ,on, Hygiene. The.'..interval of peace/which: the colony has enjoyed has enabled......Governors, politicians, and ,>vriters ; to discuss the preservation of the. native,race.. without those heated prejudices which at one time prevented a philosophic consideration of the. question. TVie confess an ardent desire to see the race, survive the fate of most peoples, if the object can be reached Avithout a series of devastatingwars or chronic rebellion. The, Governor's words on the subject : are worthy of the reputation which lie has already obtained for sound practical : sense. : , He has touched the vital point when he appeals to the ordi-. nary laws of health,_as the remedy. " I;see;strong men and fine women and healthy children," he remarks," but I told some of your chiefs that I was afraid while we give our children milk and ..forbid them;tobacco, you Jet yours iise tobacco, and , often do , not give them enough milk." It is not tlie amount s pf truth: the Governor conveys j ,but;/the :: line of thought he opens up', that, is. .of importance That younochildren should, be allowed,.to indulo-'e in the habit of .smoking is very sad as it leads :directly; to degeneracy in the race ; but' this is only one out of a multitude.1 of vices which have all the same tendency. The communistic system of living is in itself degrading, and if the .natives could be shown the advantages, of family seclusion and the importance of morality as an element of longevity, much might be done to prevent .'their\, decline. The Maori has .proved himself to be capable of great resolution of character ; his desire to see his race perpetuated is one of {tlie firmest, .principles of his nature, v and if he were convinced of the relation between cause and effect in matters of health, we believe there would soon be .an .effort to obey those laws, which the ; Governor, rightly holds as essential to ' the existence "of the race. The education of the young in the language and ' customs" of " the colonising race lias Ijeguri to receive that attention r which it deserves, though the result ' may not'be seen for a generation. We do not overlook certain truths which obtrude themselves after we have concluded that the Maori may be reclaimed from habits which, if continued would prove fatal. If we suppose the natives brought to that state of civilization which we desire to see we cannot imagine that they wouldl remain isolated or independent. Their absorption would only be a question of

time but they would live as certainly as ii tiiey continued to exist as the pure *Uion stock. Humanity, no less than an attempt to resolve a great ethnological problem, requires that c^ew effort be made to civilise the race. ""it is a pity that so fine a race should fade away. When Sir James Fcrgusson says—" there is no sufficient cause tor it, ho means that there is no cause but what may be removed, and I>. points to the condition cf health as of essential importance. In the struggle for existence in the large cities of the world, neglect of the same conditions entails death ) so it may be demonstrated from experience that if the native race is declining, it is because its members fail to observe those elementary laws by which alone the health and vigour and life of any people may be maintained- ' L