every. Maori parish throughout the land, under the aegis of the Bishop of Aotearoa. I have heard sufficient hearty discussion of both views as to be convinced that sooner or later they will come into healthy conflict. The issue, I think, will become a matter of Hui Topu politics and will be discussed, not only in Synod, but in the largest arena of the Hui itself within the next year or two. Now let me make it clear, at once, that I realise that this must be a matter for decision within the Maori church itself. I hope, however, that my Maori friends will not mind if I offer a few thoughts on the subject for I have attended these functions with great interest for several years. I am one who has watched this annually growing attendance with some satisfaction and approval. I think it was at Whangara that I heard the first talk of the Hui “becoming too large”, and “getting out of hand”, but it was not until the following year, at Omahu, that anything concrete was done about it. During the Synod discussions at the Omahu hui a proposal was made that a special committee should be set up to plan and control the future Hui Topus. It was felt by the mover of this motion that the gathering had grown to such a size that it made it difficult for any parish, especially a small one, to undertake the financing, the organisation of food, the provision of transport and above all the finding, or the erection, of buildings large enough for the purposes of the Hui. An instance was made of the erection, at Omahu, of a special building, used both as a dining hall and a concert hall, at a cost of several thousand pounds. This suggestion to take the control and organisation of the hui out of the hands of the host parish and put it under the control of a special committee did not meet with much favour, especially among the elders. In the end the proposal was withdrawn without even going to the vote. But though no action was taken on this occasion I have since heard many discussions which show that there are many people who would like to see the hui kept small enough to be organised within parish, or at least diocesan, limits. The objections to the larger Hui Topu are not all on the ground of practical difficulties such as finance, accommodation or transport. I have listened to many who sincerely fear that the religious and spiritual purposes of the Hui Topu are being lost sight of or are being overshadowed by the competitions and secular activities. I myself do not think this is so. As long as the competitions are rewarded by mana only and not by material prizes I cannot see them being anything but for good. In fact the steady rise in the standard of both choral and Maori cultural items through the years has been remarkable. From this point of view the extension of the Hui Topu to an inter-diocese status would offer several advantages. One is that it would enable teams from all parishes to enter as competitors whereas now they are appearing as guest artists only. The growth in six years from the one thousand which attended the Ruatoria Hui Topu to the over five thousand which attended the 1960 Hui at Rotorua is, I think, the answer to the question. You do not get so much growth unless there is a need for it and the reason for the need is not far to seek. If there is one present attribute or characteristic of the Maori people which, more than any other, is a part of what is so often referred to as Maoritanga, it is their instinct to live as a community and a people and for that community and people. It would, I think, be possible to retain a Maoritanga without arts and crafts, without a knowledge of whakapapa and tribal history, without perhaps even the language. It would be sad to think of any of these things as passing away, but it must be sadly admitted that as far as many young people are concerned they are none the less vanishing. But this instinct to gather together, to work together and to cling communally to their Maori identity seems to me to becoming stronger, and not weaker, with the passing of years. The late Dr Maharaia Winiata once described the Maori pattern of life, as it affected his pakeha fellow citizens, as a pattern of co-mingling and withdrawal. By that he meant that the Maori of today is being forced by educational, economic and social circumstances into closer and closer association with the pakeha. Following his instinct he withdrew, every now and then, into his own Maori world to refresh, as it were, the springs of his Maoritanga. In the past he withdrew to his marae. Today the marae is not always there to withdraw to. In country communities it is true the marae still plays an important part in community life, but for the overwhelming majority of those who are being increasingly drawn into the towns and cities there is no marae available. It has been estimated that from seventy to eighty per cent. of young Maoris who leave country schools finish up in the cities. the trend towards better housing sends them to new housing centres where they become Maori islands in surrounding pakeha neighbourhoods. At work, at home and at school they mix more and more with the pakeha. During the years I have been going to the Hui Topu I have seen many children pass into adolescence and many adolescents grow into young manhood and womanhood. Many of them, from the towns and cities, have told me that the only time they attend a hui, and certainly the only time they sleep in wharepunis, is at the Hui Topu. The Hui Topu affords, each year, a marae gathering on the highest plane. Because its purpose is first and foremost a spiritual one it makes an appeal much wider than is possible on any other occasion. All human beings, irrespective of race, are subject to spiritual hungers. This is especially so of the Maori, and in addition he has his tribal and racial hungers all of which are