TE AO HOU THE NEW WORLD published quarterly for the maori purposes fund board by the maori affairs department No. 17 (Vol. 4 No. 4) Only one quarter of the Maori people are above thirty years of age. According to the traditional Maori way of looking at life, it is these older people who are expected to give the lead in all matters affecting the community; the younger people can undertake little without their sanction. The first time, probably, in Maori history, when a group of young people presumed to suggest far-reaching improvements in Maori life was in the days of the Young Maori Party This however was a very unusual happening in Maori history, and one cannot expect a ‘Young Maori Party’ with every generation. The difference in European knowledge between the elders and the young people is no longer as great as it was. Nonetheless, Maori youth is playing an increasingly important role in Maori affairs. In many communities there is a youth club either under the authority of the tribal committee or quite independent. These youth clubs are often extremely active not only in sports and action song work, but also in money raising for tribal projects. Helped by their elders, some have done a great deal to improve their communities. In towns and cities, youth clubs are sometimes the most active Maori organizations in existence. The youth club has become an important means of spreading Maori traditions, arts and crafts. People nowadays sometimes learn as much or more from other members of these clubs as they do from the elders of their own tribe. There are also places where the people only began to listen to their own elders and learn what they had to give after forming a Maori club. Once the people had got together as a club they began to realise their ignorance and came to the elders to be taught. Youth groups and their sponsors also organize weekends and summer schools where they can compete in sports and haka events and where they can talk about their problems and ideas. Such meetings can be of great educational value, particularly if they are planned so as to include something of interest in addition to the usual competitions. The churches have been active in this kind of work. The Maori adult education tutors have also become interested in youth gatherings from an educational point of view. There have been several weekend schools and next January a full week's summer school will be held at Massey College under the auspices of the Regional Council of Adult Education in Wellington. In youth group work, it is good for groups from different places to meet and it is good to combine educational activities with competitive events, as long as the knowledge imparted is the kind the young people really want. It is wise to guard against gatherings that are too large because that would reduce their educational value. Youth congresses on a moderate scale are already well-known in the European world. Held in various districts from time to time they can be most valuable in Maori youth work.