A Public Meeting.

White Ribbon, Volume 3, Issue 33, 1 March 1898, Page 3

A Public Meeting.

A well-attended uiec'ing was held in the Theatre Royal on the eveniug * f March If, when our uieml>eiß had the opportunity of lading before the piu lic th** objects of the W.C.T.U. The fact of Maori delegates being

present, f »rm«*d one of the chef attractions* not only lavause of the novelty, hut from the de- p interest taken in the grand work done hy Mrs Hewett ami her colleagues in c >nrwti<-n with the native race. Mrs Hewett gave » telling speech. >h** expressed hi h appreciation of th* way in whi h her Maori friends and herself had lH*en re<*eived here, and in parncular a*kno» l**lged her indebtedness to Mrs Wil iain-. of the Ifukarer Native school, Napier. The M *aii in the li*>t Lakes district, said the speaker, had always bsen loyal to the (Jueen. i >ne of the chiefs there ha I received a silver pin from Her Majesty as a tok* n of her appreciation of his loyalty ; also at Whakarvwarcwa an English tiig had heeo presented to the natives by the I take of Kd inburgh, as the (Juten’s representative, for their loyalty. Hut while they were loyal to their they were also loyal to their God, and deeply in earnest in lighting the evils that the pakeha had brought amongst them. The Women’s Christian Temperance Union now had aho it tk*> conv.rts there. The speaker paid a tribute t > the great as-istanee that had ma n rendered to the Union’s eause hy Mrs Foley, who acted as interpreter. Many incidents were qu-ted to show that t e M.i ris, Ben anil women, once having taken t ie pledge remained steadfast. Mrs Foley, who was the n* xt speaker, gave a thrilling a count of her ♦ xperienees in the Maori war, when she joined the rebel f< rc*s to prevent l**ing separated from her brother. At the Gate Pah she faced the bullets and fe’cbed water for the succour of Colonel Hooth, ljing wounded in tiie pah. I his led up to a little action song by the Maor s in c >s turns — ** Haeie Mai ” Mere l'eka fodowel with a few rema'ks, interpreted i*y Mrs F ley, in whi h she expressed h**r gratitude f>*r the g-ssl woik done among the Maoris, and stated that th mtiv s at Te Ngae were about to build a church. The New Zealand W.C.T.U. officers and some of the del gates als) addressed tie* meeting. Musical items were given during the evening. The wnole meeting caused gre it intereiT, and was most sue *< gsful.