The Maori and New Zealand Politics Edited

Te Ao Hou, September 1966, Page 58

The Maori and New Zealand Politics Edited by J. G. A. Pocock Blackwood and Janet Paul, 18s reviewed by John Barrington. The symposium will prove of great value to all students of Maori Society and Politics. Although the majority of the essays are brief, each has been written by a specialist in his field and the reader consequently receives a great deal of thought provoking information in the symposium's 86 pages. In his introduction, the Editor, Professor J. G. A. Pocock of the Political Science Department at the University of Canterbury, examines some of the similarities and differences between the Maori peoples political and religious reactions to the impact of the West, and the reactions of other ‘non-Western’ peoples. His suggestion that ‘Land Wars’ might well replace ‘Maori Wars’ in school text-books and public usage is an idea which appears to have a great deal to commend it. It stems from a number of factors; realization of the ‘divisive implications’ of the term Maori Wars (i.e. the idea that ‘we’ fought ‘them’), the fact that the Wars were chiefly fought over the land issue, and that the actual fighting was only one phase of the long term confiscation and purchase of Maori lands. In the first essay Professor Sinclair demonstrates that although most Maoris were effectively excluded from the vote in the 1852 Constitution (because of a land and property qualification), the effect of this exclusion was to increase rather than diminish their interest in political activities, particularly as these had relevance to the issue of land sale and confiscation. The series of political meetings held throughout the North Island during the eighteen-fifties culminated in the election of the first Maori King in 1858 and the formation of a Land League to protect Maori interests. But as well as refusing to sell and going to war as means of preserving their lands and demanding that their voices be heard by the Government, some Maoris also practised ‘gentler’ political arts during the eighteen-sixties. We learn from Professor Sinclair that forms of non-violet protest engaged in included writing letters to ministers of religion, politicians and newspapers; petitioning the Queen; sending delegates to England to protest to the Government; and giving evidence to parliamentary committees. In the second essay Dr Sorrenson first discusses in greater detail the development of the King Movement prior to 1860, and then shows how the land question and particularly the proceedings of the Land Court continued to be the dominant concern in Maori politics for many years after the end of the Wars… (p 34) ‘for in many ways the purchase of land from individuals through the Land Court posed a greater threat to the Maoris than War and confiscation.’ In R. J. Martin's ‘The Liberal Experiment’, J. A. William's ‘The Foundation of Apirana Ngata's Career', and J. Henderson's ‘The Ratana Movement’ we are shown how Maori political and religious leaders began to make their voices much more strongly heard both inside and outside Parliament after 1890. The dominance of James Carroll as a political figure after his election to represent Eastern Maori in 1887 is emphasized; member of the Executive Council in 1892, member for Waipa between 1893 and 1908, member for Gisborne between 1908 and 1919, Colonial Secretary in 1895, Commissioner of Stamp Duties in 1896. Native Minister and Commissioner of Stamp Duties between 1899 and 1909, acting Prime Minister in 1909 and 1911. But at the same time we see how the sittings of the Maori Parliament and the continued existence of the King Movement ensured that more conservative Maori political opinion continued to be represented during the Liberal era. With the emergence of the Young Maori Party, a further thread is added to the total Maori political scene, and at the beginning of the present century a common revulsion against the loss of Maori land, a desire for reforms in many aspects of Maori society, and for land utilization, began to draw these separate threads much more closely together. Dr William's essay, based on his Ph.D. thesis, presents a very brief but perceptive account of Sir Apirana Ngata's association with the Young Maori Party and his long parliamentary career of 37 years. Mr Henderson traces the historical development of the Ratana movement, described in the Editor's introduction as ‘the major factor in Maori political life at the present day’. In their respective essays Mr Schwimmer and Professor Ritchie make some interesting comments on aspects of the contemporary scene, the former dealing with the development of local leadership and the

importance of education, religion and farming in one small Maori community, and the latter with the link between Maori politics at the local and national level. All of these essays except for the last two are very strongly weighted on the historical side up until 1935 and one has the feeling that an additional section dealing with the dynamic aspects of Maori politics since then would have given the symposium even greater value. The reader is left more or less uninformed about the political developments which have followed Ratana's visit to Prime Minister Savage in 1935, although much of importance has undoubtedly occurred since then, including the growing political significance of the Ratana and Mormon churches; the passing of the 1937 Election Amendment Act which granted Maoris the secret ballot, the introduction for the first time in 1949 of Maori rolls, the extension of compulsory registration to Maoris in 1956 and the continuing debate on separate Maori representation. The symposium however only claims to ‘provide something of the story’ and it achieves this admirably. What we still await is a full history of Maori political development and the Editor himself points out that ‘there is reason to believe that the materials for such a history exist and await their synthesizer.’ In this regard it is interesting to note that Maori scholars are now themselves working in the field of Maori politics, or in closely related fields, and that we might some day have a Maori view of Maori political history.