PROBLEMS AT OTIRIA NORTHERN ADVOCATE PHOTOGRAPH Fresh from the seminars of Edinburgh University, Dr. Maharaia Winiata, speaking to Maori churchmen at Otiria, made the pronouncement that the two most important recent developments in Maori leadership were the Maori Women's Welfare League and the Maori Section of the New Zealand National Council of Churches. It was quite an important remark to make, and of course Dr Winiata meant all he said, even though he was speaking to the Maori Section using for a platform the imposing Otiria Pa dining hall where the seventh and latest annual conference of the Maori Section was held last February. In many ways it was the Maori Section's most crucial conference so far. To a certain extent, the opening by the Hon. E. B. Corbett was indication that the organization has gone a long way to becoming firmly established. Equally significant was that Otiria provided firm policies on many matters that had been discussed by the Maori churchmen for years. Among these, the temperance and race relations questions were perhaps of the greatest public interest, while the announcement that the Maori Section's Rotorua Hostel (Whanaungatanga Hostel) would be opened on April 1, was also a sign of progress. This hostel, built by the government, and the first in the country to be managed by three church denominations in common, will hold thirty apprentices and public service cadets. Mr Corbett said, in opening the conference on the night of February 15th: “Some people think that New Zealand can advance as two separate entities—Maori and pakeha. There are some who believe that the destiny of the Maori is back in the customs and traditions of a hundred years ago.” In the Minister's view, unity between Maori and pakeha could be achieved just by both races getting together, in the same way, as various denominations got together in the National Council of Churches. The younger Maori farmers wanted tractors to cultivate their land—not horses like their fathers or wooden hoes like their ancestors. Similarly they wanted a Maori policy that was up to date. Mr Corbett emphasised that in saying these things he was speaking as a practical administrator working in the material world. For instance, he had the task of ensuring the rights of Maoris to retain ownership of their land. With the rapid increase of population in New Zealand, and the ever-increasing land-hunger, there was the danger that the last heritage of the Maori people would be gradually usurped. The only way of safeguarding the land was to ensure that the Maori people use it productively. With that in mind, said Mr Corbett, the land legislation of 1953 had been introduced.