duced, small numbers again made it effective for the Maori as well as the Pakeha. This was no small achievement, as any Nixonian administrator of America's ‘Medicare’ would quickly admit. This same factor has applied to every reforming movement before or since. Now there are 200,000 and the hardest work may well be over. The second main factor in this racial situation is the great legacy we have received from the past. Whatever our personal opinions might be about Christian Missions, the first fifty years of the last century was dominated by their influence. By 1850 virtually all Maoris were Christians, and according to British Military Reports, often far better ones than their teachers. The same influence was behind the Treaty of Wai-tangi, which, despite all its limitations and abuses, at least provided a framework to restrain Pakeha greed and redress grievances. Coupled with the fact that Maori Christians were often acting from higher motives, the long-term effect of the Treaty and the Maori Wars, was to leave some Pakehas with a good healthy residue of genuine guilt. This has often been reflected in Parlimentary legislation; particularly in the Royal Commission of 1926. The inspiration, however, for these actions has come from the past … from the example of Christian missionaries and Christian Maoris. Finally, there is the Maori himself. There is in this people an essential quality that is hard to define. It is basically spiritual. Some might argue it is natural intelligence; but there is no evidence to show he has any more of that than … say … the American negro. Others will emphasise the factors of ‘good luck’ and ethnic background; that small numbers and geography enable them to learn their lessons more quickly. Yet surely, the greatest effort must have come from their own inner resources … just as it does with everyone else who makes a little progress in good living. Here again, it may have been their early conversion to Christianity. Out of the disillusion that followed the tragedy of the Maori Wars, there rose up a number of religious movements … most notably the King Movement, Ringatu, and later, Ratana. Although many people would perhaps dispute the claim, these movements were basically Christian … but with a fundmental Maori twist. At the same time, through the influence of several Maori schools, notably Te Aute, there grew up what come to be known as the ‘Young Maori’ movement. These two streams, one flowing among the best educated, the other among the rank and file, restored to the Maori his lost soul. Slowly, painstakingly, he has regained an identity … something to be proud of and on which he could build. It is no accident that so-called ‘Maori Culture’ so beloved of concert groups, is nearly all a post nineteenth century phenomenon. This is precisely where the American negro has failed to a large degree. Among them, religion became an escape method. Here it brought dynamic leadership and social action. There, the negro's inner resources are often wasted in searching for ‘Soul Brothers’ or in ‘African Studies’. Here, the Maori has been able to move into the cities on the tide of Urban Drift, and, to some extent at least, take on the Pakeha at his own game … earning a living and raising a family. Some good luck on the part of Providence. Some goodwill from men of the past … and the Maori himself … and most of the factors involved in the relative harmony of our race relations have been accounted for. If this generation is going to deserve any of the credit, it will depend on how they handle the completely new situation now unfolding in our cities. There again more will probably depend on the Maori's own efforts than anything the Pakeha might do … and again the Maori will deserve the credit!

continued from page 41 school teachers aren't familiar with the rapid changes which have been taking place in technical education. As few Maori parents have been involved with polytechnics this results in a lack of guidance and knowledge at the crucial third, fourth and fifth form stages when decisions are made. More vocational guidance officers and careers advisers are now providing this help but entry to full-time courses is becoming more competitive. Maori parents need to get all the information they can about technical institute opportunities while their children are still in the lower forms.