HOW THE NEW LEGISLATION WORKS AMONG MAORIS

White Ribbon, Volume 21, Issue 8, 1 September 1949, Page 5

HOW THE NEW LEGISLATION WORKS AMONG MAORIS

The very frequent assurances being made to the Press that the new liberties given to the Maori people hav e had no had results, and that things arc better than before, were strongly challenged by the coroner at New Plymouth in connection with the death of a Maori at the Pnniho Pa. He described the drinking of liquor in Maori communities as a “great evil,” and spoke of the death of Alex Taueki as having been entirely the result of drink taken after the men bad come home to the Pa, friendly and peaceable. “It is my opinion that ibis death would not have occurred but for the drink consumed in his house by the two of them ...” The coroner, Mr. W. H. Woodward, S.M., added that in his capacity as a magistrate, he intended to enforce the section of the Maori Social and Economic Advancement Act, which prohibited the introduction of intoxicating liquor into any Maori village as defined in the Act, save under medical authority or for religions purposes. “ The penalty for so doing is a fine or imprisonment,” Mr. Woodward said. “ For the protection of this splendid race. I shall in a proper case enforce this prohibition with the utmost rigour of the law.” In this connection, stories told by eye-witnesses, of scenes at feasts and celebrations in the Bay of Plenty, unprintable as to detail, give reason to believe that it will not be long before the Maori himself will seek for a reversal of the present position. It is on record that the Maori people themselves asked for the original ban on the supply of liquor for consumption off licensed premises. It is not on record that they ever asked for the ban to he removed. It will be noted at once that the efficacy of this measure has been seriously reduced if not nullified by the Government’s new legislation permitting liquor to be purchased for consumption *by Maoris off licensed premises. This was the key law, which should not have been altered. Under it control was possible because the onus was on the publican, and police jurisdiction of hotels is fa r more efficiently carried out than the patrolling of pas. Where, after all, is the Maori to consume the liquor he D allowed to take aw ay from a hotel ? On the road home? And if it is recognised as unwise and harmful for liquor to be consumed in a pa, can drinking by Maoris in a house in a town or city he regarded as less harmful? It is on record that the Maori people themselves asked for the original ban on the supply of liquor for consumption off licensed premises. It is not on record that the Maoris — their responsible and earnest spokesmen —asked for the ban to he removed.