ai au. Ka pai ki a au tēnei kai; ka māia au. Koia tēnei te take i huri ai au ki tēnei kai. Ehara nā te reka, ēngari nā te mea i te wā i a au e haurangi ana, tino māia au, kaha, koa. Kīhai i roa ka mōhio ahau kua mate au i tēnei mea. Ka haere au ki hea noa atu. I taku hokinga mai, he wahine tāku. Kīhai au i kai waipiro mō tētahi wā roa. Nō te hanga nuinga a ngā tamariki, ka nui haere aku raruraru. Ka hoki anō au ki taku pou, ki a pia. ēngari hoki nā, kua kino. ‘E hia rā, wiki, marama, tau, i pau i a au. Ara rawa ake au, kua pau kē ngā moni i a au te kai, kua mahue kē au i taku wahine, nā, te mea kino rawa ko tēnei: kua mate kē taku tamaiti. Ae, nā, ināianei he tangata ora au. E ono tau iāianei, ahau he tangata ora. Taku wahine, i hoki mai anō ki a au. ēngari koia tēnei taku oranga. E kore anō au e pā ki tēnei mea ki te pia me ērā atu waipiro, ā, mate noa au.’ ētahi atu nei kōrero he pēnei: Nā ngā minita, ngā tāngata o ngā hāhi—tino aroha rātou ki ngā tāngata e pāngia ana e tēnei mate. E kore rātou e mea atu, ‘Haere atu, he haurangi koe!’ Ka mea kē atu, ‘Haere mai, māku koe e ārahi ki te Atua.’ Nā, e hoa mā, e aku whanaunga, hore kē au e mea atu ana kaua e kai pia. Ko taku tangi kē, me āta kai, kei hinga koe, a tātou, te iwi Māori. I didn't drink because I liked the taste, but because of the great feeling it gave me, and later I realised that it had a hold on me. I went wandering and spent my time drinking. I met and married a girl, bringing her home here with me. For quite a while after this I didn't drink. When the children grew older, our problems grew larger. I found it easier to return to my “crutch”, the bottle. And now, I was really sick. ‘Days, weeks, months and years rolled into one terrible nightmare. When I finally came to my senses, I had spent all my money, my wife had left me, and worst of all, my child had died. Today, well, I am a sober man. For six years I have been “dry”. My wife came back to me. She is my stabilising influence. I know I will never touch beer or other alcohol as long as I live.’ Other statements were made as follows: By the Ministers and representatives of the various churches present: they are greatly concerned with the people suffering with this disease. They will never say, ‘Go away, you are a drunkard’. Rather, they will say, ‘Come, and I will lead you to God’. So, friends and relatives, I am not telling you that you should not drink at all. My plea is, drink in moderation, lest you and I and all our Maori people be affected by this disease.

Gold Star Award Gold Star badges and N.Z.R.S.A. Certificates of Merit were awarded by the Dominion Executive Committee of the New Zealand Returned Services Association recently. One of the Gold Star recipients was Mr William Herewini, Controller of Maori Welfare in the Department of Maori and Islands Affairs. Mr Herewini served with 28 Maori Battalion and was a prisoner of war from 1941 to 1945. After returning to New Zealand he was associated with the Waikato, New Lynn and Porirua branches of the R.S.A., serving for three years as president of the Porirua branch. In 1956, he was appointed to the Dominion Executive Committee as representative of Maori ex-servicemen. He has travelled overseas to Vietnam and to the World Veterans' Federation General Assembly in the Hague, as a representative of the N.Z.R.S.A.