to give a wrong or exaggerated image, and if the image is given of a Maori as a great and persistent offender there is pressure upon him to move in this direction. If you go on telling someone that he is a so-and-so, then eventually he is inclined gradually to believe it. First, we must understand, as I have already mentioned, that the Maori population is essentially a younger one than the Pakeha. If the comparison referred to were applied only to the 18–24 age group the Maori offending rate would come down to about three times the overall rate. Further the Justice Department, in publishing these figures, notes that persons who are less than half Maori have been willing to classify themselves as Maori in the courts, although they may not do so for census purposes. This may further reduce the comparable rate of offending. What is really wanted is an adequate comparison relating to the young men—and I deliberately say young men, because they are the main offenders—in the same or similar social and economic groups. But such a comparison is not available. I have it on very reputable authority, that, if the comparison was available, it could well show that the criminal tendencies of a young urban Maori man do not differ so very much from those of his Pakeha equivalent. Another instance in which an image can get so wrong—one of our prominent academicians published figures a little while ago showing that in a particular year the number of convictions per 1000 males, 15 years and over, was 76 for those born in Western Samoa, 65 for the New Zealand Maori, and only 15 for the New Zealand non-Maori. This obviously put the Samoan at the top of the violence group, but here again we must look more closely. In the particular year in which those figures were taken there is reason to believe that nearly all the Samoan men in New Zealand were between the ages of 15 and 30. There were few old men and there were very few babies. The Samoan population in New Zealand is younger than the Maori. Naturally, therefore, the figures would show a higher crime rate, because the young male 15–30 age group is the most crime-prone group in our society, whether they are Polynesian, or Pakeha, or what have you. Thus I think a false image has been given of our Samoan brothers. I have no wish to minimise this problem. There are, as we all know, too many Polynesian offenders and too many in prison. This is, however, a matter of grave social concern for us all—Maori, Pakeha and Palagi—and is not really a legal discussion. But in a legal discussion it is necessary to bear some of the social problems in mind. It is partly the same ancient old problem of rebellious youth. A very famous philosopher said this: ‘What has happened to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the laws. They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?’ All that was written by the great Greek, Plato, at least 360 years before the birth of Christ. We Pakeha do not have to go very far back in our own history to remember the expression, ‘Oh, he is just sowing his wild oats’, referring to an erring young man. It is true also that in Polynesian society as well as in Pakeha society, the young male is essentially of an aggressive disposition and has to let off steam somehow. In present times it is the fashion for him to be anti-establishment, and if he is a young Maori he can quite easily be anti-Pakeha-establishment adding to his natural rebellious youth an induced factor of racial antagonism. It is partly the problem of culture shock. Take the case of young Polynesian parents. All young parents find it difficult to cope with today's stresses; and this I think is particularly true for young Polynesian parents. We are aware that schools find it difficult to get Polynesians parents to join in school activities. There seems to be some fear of embarrassment which keeps them away. Schools I am glad to say are taking a much more outgoing and welcoming view in this respect, and many go out of their way to bring Polynesian parents into the parent-teacher-student structure. The first generation Islander living in New Zealand presents