53

H.—3l

The whole Maori question has to be one of evolution. It takes time to do all things —Rome was not built in a day, neither can we teach old dogs new tricks. I am certain that with the individualisation of Maori lands independent effort and its rewards will grow; communism with all its accompanying evils will die out. The individualistic idea will be infused till the turning of time and sand into gold will become the absorbing theme, as with the pakeha. With the abolition of communism and the securing of the fruit of individual effort, the Maori will not only become a prosperous tiller of the soil, but his home-life will become more private and moral, till we find him ultimately absorbed in the pakeha. Whenever two communities live together throughout the world, the weaker must tend to become absorbed in the greater and more powerful: this then will be the destiny of the Maori—not extinction, but absorption. This process will take many years, but it is inevitable. The greater decrease in the Maori population since the dawn of civilisation has produced a crop of would-be authorities who assert that the Maori is doomed to utter extinction in a short space of time—in fact, we have been quoted as having uttered this prophecy. To my mind such presumptuous are adverse to fact, because the decrease in the past does not necessarily warrant a continuance, and, further, the decrease of the future will be in the purity of the Maori blood. I would like to prove this to you by actual figures, but, unfortunately, the Government returns being mere approximations in earlier censuses makes it unsatisfactory; however, you can see by even allowing for these fallacies that since 1886 there has been a continual increase of half-castes, till to-day we have 6,516 half-castes in our midst, to say nothing of those hundreds who have already become absolute pakehas, though they are not included in the enumeration. A further interesting fact is that there are 211 Maori women who are the wives of Europeans, besides a few men who are married to European wives. Generally speaking, these women are prolific when mated with Europeans—in fact, much more so than when mated with one of their own. I know families of such unions to range from two to seventeen. Then, again, as we progress the half-caste girls will give more consorts to the pakeha, who is better able to give them the luxuries of life. The half-castes who marry Maoris are lightening the blood in their progeny, and so the process goes on, till in time we shall have a new race. That when the old is past and gone, We still may find its trace In nobler types of human kind, With traits wherein there blend The white man's more prosaic mind, , The poet Maori trend. • The Maori as a Wobker I have rejoiced greatly in the steadfastness of our Maoris in dairying pursuits, because it has not only silenced a great many of our critics in regard to the ability of the Maori to stick to anything for any length of time, but chiefly because of the altered conditions which has been brought about through this industry. This serves as a good example of what can be done with the Maori is he is given opportunity. The filthy surroundings, the low, unventilated whares, the indolence, the poorly fed, ragged children of a few years ago are indeed a great contrast to what we find now, for nearly all the Maoris are living in comfortable, floored, and well-ventilated cottages. There ih no more idleness, but they can be heard each morning singing merrily as they take their milk to the local dairy. The children are tidy and have plenty to eat—the cheque comes in every month. Such is the picture about Nuhaka. We would that the whole Maori population were thus employed. We must not suppose that the Nuhaka Maoris are the only ones who are employed in dairying pursuits. There are Maoris in all districts milking cows. The attached list will give you an idea of the number so engaged, with the approximate number of gallons and number of cows owned by each individual. A great many of these Natives obtained their cows from the factories on shares, and I am pleased to state that they have nearly all paid up their creditors with the exception of two or three. I would like to insert many of the letters which I have received from the managers of the dairy factories, but space prohibits me. The universal cry is individualisation, so that each Native can have some land to run his cows on. The Taranaki Maoris are by far the greatest suppliers, and I am sure if proper measures were adopted in regard to their lands the number would double itself within a year.

List of Maori Milk-suppliers.

As we proceed up the coast we can see that the Maori is rapidly leaving the raupo whare. Hundreds of new houses have been built since the passing of the Public Health Act. We find i through the east coast district Natives as sheep-farmers, more or less under the guidance of my worthy friend Mr. Ngata. We see in this district sheep-runs entirely managed and worked by Natives. Wherever the individual shares are too small to work apart, the owners in a block of land co-operate. A Native manager, with his complement of shepherds and men, are put into active service; then, at the end of the year, if there are any dividends each owner receives his

Province. Number Approximate of Number of Pounds Suppliers. per Month. Approximate Number of Cows. .uokland ... 'aranaki ... [awke's Bay Wellington 58 80 41 33 724,270 1,964,170 420,210 352,940 1,689 4,M5 979 718 Totals 212 3,461,590 7,531