conference was that of finance. The only income of the Maori Councils was derived from fines and dog taxes. This being hopelessly insufficient, the conference proposed the institution of various additional taxes. It seems, however, that in practice it was impossible to levy any of them satisfactorily. It is, indeed, remarkable that the Maori Councils were able to keep alive as long as they did with practically no money. In 1930, some new life was infused into them when they were empowered by a Health Act to carry out sanitary works and to enforce by-laws relating to health and sanitation. Control over the Councils was taken over by the Health Department and a Director of Maori Hygiene appointed. Sir Peter Buck was the first Director. Even so the difficulties of finance and the inability to enforce the by-laws prevented the Maori Councils from being healthy institutions. A new large Maori Councils conference was held at Ngaruawahia in 1929. Here a letter to the Native Minister was unanimously approved, expressing the opinion ‘that the Act did not supply that authority which was necessary to enable the several Councils to carry out the full intention of Parliament’. The conference recommended consolidating the Maori Councils Act and by-laws and supplying finance by means of subsidy. As a result of these recommendations the by-laws were in fact revived, but nothing further happened until 1940. According to the Health Department the position of the Maori Councils in 1945 (the date of their abolition) was as follows: Number of Councils 26 Inactive operation 6 Village Committees appointed (representing 12 Councils only) 149 Inactive operation (including Tribal Committees acting as Village Committees) 84

War Years During the war years the importance of the Maori Councils suddenly became obvious to all. Perhaps the reason was the much closer contact between Government and population. As Maoris were not registered in any way the only possible contact could be through Maori local bodies. The Army had to make use of the Tribal organisations for its recruiting. At the same time the Health Department became concerned at the inactivity of many of the Councils, not only due to lack of financial support and inability to enforce by-laws, but also in some cases to the personnel of the Councils which was sometimes unsuitable. The various Health schemes inaugurated by the Department required the efficiency of the Councils. Accordingly, the Director General wrote to the Native Department, as it was then called, proposing that a small grant should be made to Maori Councils providing they were doing satisfactory work. Simultaneously, the Maori Affairs Department received requests from many quarters to revive the Maori Councils, The effect was that the Maori Affairs Department prepared a Bill submitted to the Minister on the 27th January, 1941. The threat to New Zealand in the Pacific postponed the consideration of this Bill till late in 1942, when it was considered by the Law Draughting Office and interested Departments. The Bill was to come into operation as the Maori Councils Act, 1943, and was discussed fully at the conference of Maori delegates convened by the War Effort Organization. However, Maori opinion did not agree with some parts of the Bill which was accordingly not passed. In particular, this early Bill still desired to confer statutory powers on the Maori Councils, while in fact Maori administration in 1943 was already beginning to be conducted through Tribal Executives. While the Government was attempting to revive the Maori Councils in this way an entirely new movement, the Maori War Effort Organisation, had grown up in the Maori world. The origin of this movement was to be found in the voluntary recruiting done by local Maori groups in the early days of the war. These groups were responsible for very efficient recruiting in certain parts of the country. Towards the end of 1941 it became, however, apparent that some Maori districts were lagging behind in the supply of manpower for the battalion while the drain on other districts had almost reached the point of exhaustion. At one stage, the War Cabinet felt inclined to introduce conscription for Maoris, but these plans were dropped when the Hon. P. K. Paikea proposed the founding of his War Effort Organisation. In July, 1942, when the Maori War Effort Organisation was begun, the recruitment totalled approximately 6,000 men in the Armed Forces, and 7,500 in the Home Guard. In addition, approximately 8,000 Maoris had been drafted into the essential industries. By the 9th of March, 1943, according to the Organisation Statistics, an additional