The Maori Education Foundation The appeal for funds for the Maori Education Foundation is still in full swing; it is much too early yet to be able to say what the appeal will finally achieve. But a progress report can be given. When this issue of Te Ao Hou went to press in the middle of May, almost £400,000 was already available for the Foundation. The Government gave an initial £125,000, and by the time the official appeal for funds was launched on March 26, early donations to the appeal had turned this sum to £250,000. Since then £70,000 has been given; so when this amount receives the £1 for £1 subsidy which the Government has promised to give in the case of all private donations, the total will come to almost £400,000. This is a great deal of money, but there is a long way to go yet, for Mr Hunn has said that a fund of £2,000,000 would be necessary to perform the Foundation's task adequately, and that a sum very much larger than this would really be desirable for the purpose. The exact total which has so far been collected is not yet known, however, because throughout the country people are vigorously continuing -raising activities and a considerable amount of the money which they have collected has not yet been paid into the Foundation, and thus added to the total. This is the first instance where, on a national scale, Europeans and Maoris have worked together for a concern which is designed purely to help the Maori. The goodwill and better understanding on both sides which have come of this is one of the most important things of all.

Maoris Are Enthusiastic It is most notable that Maoris themselves are contributing very enthusiastically to the appeal; in fact, more than half of the amount which has been collected since March 26 has been given by Maoris. This augurs very well for the successful functioning of the Foundation, showing that Maoris realize the great importance of the Foundation's aims, and also understand very well how to ‘talk with their pockets’ on the subject. In a recent radio talk Mr Hunn, the Secretary for Maori Affairs and the man responsible for the idea of the Foundation, discussed some of the reasons for the Foundation's existence. We print here an extract from this talk. ‘In my review of Maori affairs, it seemed to me that we, the people of New Zealand, were confronted with a choice—either to go all-out to lift up the present generation of Maoris while there was still time; or else, to put it off now and get hopelessly bogged down trying to cope eventually with the generations yet unborn. ‘With determination, we could do the job now, while the Maori population is 175,000; but when the population reaches 350,000 in 20 years’ time or 700,000 in 40 years' time, the task will be quite beyond us. Put another way; if we do the proper thing by the Maori children in the schools today, their own children in turn will be able to look after themselves … ‘The Maori people are not only increasing in number at a terrific rate—twice the rate of the European population—but they are also moving into the towns faster and faster each year. About 70,000 Maoris, or 40% of the total, are now town dwellers … ‘In these circumstances, it's imperative that the level of Maori housing and education be raised without a moment's delay. When the two races were living apart—as they were before the War—the disparity in their educational attainments didn't matter very much. But now that Maori and Pakeha are coming together so quickly, living side by side, it's of the utmost importance that they be brought up to the same educational plane. People who are unequal educationally tend to be unequal economically and socially, so they don't mix. And when neighbours don't mix, or won't mix, their mutual attitude and regard is anything but relaxed and friendly. If we have 70,000 neighbours of that kind, living physically nearby yet socially so far away, we have all the makings of unhealthy strain and tension that could lead to deterioration in race relations. Imagine what the situation could be in less than 40 years when there are half a million Maoris living in town, unless we're wise enough to take time by the forelock and act now. ‘So Maori education was seen to be a paramount need, a supreme objective…. The foundation is not just a foundation for Maori education, but a foundation for strengthening racial harmony in New Zealand in the years to come’.