THE DECAY OF THE NATIVE RACE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1335, 7 September 1886, Page 3

THE DECAY OF THE NATIVE RACE.

In accordance with that inexorable 1 of Nature, which decrees “ the survi' of the fittest,” wherever the white m comes in contact with colored rac the latter are doomed to disappe; There arc two great exceptions in tl Negro and the Mongolian—the blai man and yellow-skin being able hold their own in almost any climatebut the rule holds good ot red an brown men of all shades, tints, an derivations, save only, perhaps, i respect to the Native races of or Indian Empire. The red man c North America and the brown men c the islands of the Pacific—including alas ! the finest aboriginal people ii the world, the Maoris of New Zealand—are fast disappearing ■ melting away lik( snow before the rising sun. It is, per haps, curious that this should be so, seeing that, if scientists are correct, the red man is the oldest species of the genm hoi/to —it being argued, from the circumstance that the word “ Adam” means “ red earth,” that the primal pair of the garden of Eden were redskins. But whether this be so or not the fact admits of no dispute that, with the one oxception we hare noted, the red man and the brown man are fast being improved off the face of the globe. And with regard to the greater number of these primitive peoples, then disappearance from the earth’s surface is not by any means matter for 4.regret, as some of them appear wholly incapable of elevation or improvement,

and natural traits of th< most unpleasant and undesirable char ter, but there were qualities about othei of them—the North American Indian, for example—physical powers and mental characteristics, which we could fain have hoped would have saved them from the common fate. But of the group of peoples whose extinction appears to be but a matter of time the race whose approaching disappearance is cause for the most complete and unmingled regret is that of the Maori, which stands out prominently as by far the noblest and the best worth saving. Happily the white people of New Zealand are nearly blameless in respect to the Maori people, no aboriginal race in the whole history of colonisation having received such generous treatment as has been extended to the Native people of these Islands; but although there has not only been no such thing as hunting them down, but, on the contrary, they have been admitted to equal privilegessocial, and political, with ourselves; though every effort has been put forth to enable this grand aboriginal people to keep their place among us, there’ is yet, we are sorry to say, reason to fear that they are doomed to extinc.tion, and that at no distant date. The Taranaki Herald, pointing to the results of the recent census as showing the steadfast decay—gradual and slow, but sure —of the Native race, which it regards as “ one of the saddest circumstances in connection with the settlement of New Zealand,” says: “ When their numbers were first estimated, in 185 S, it was reported that there were 55,800 Maoris in the colony. The race had, however, even then commenced to degenerate and decay, and a hundred years ago there could not have been less than double the number stated. The census of the ftfaori race taken the other day shows that there are only 41,432 Natives now existing; thus in less than thirty years the race has decreased by 14,368.” And, tracing out the reason for this diminution, the Herald says : H Intemperance, poor feeding, miserable shelter, and communistic habits are the main cause ot this decay. Men, wemen, and children are given up to the vices named. Children die when young from neglect, and the old Natives by wasting their substance in 1 drinking the vilest of spirits, which is usually given them. The marked decrease in the number of females is due 00 doubt to two causes. Girls are less carefully tended than boys, and with this and immorality, their constitutions break down early in life.” And, quoting from the reports of the census enumerators for the Hokianga district, our contemporary adds the following passages. Mr Von Stunner says of the natives ; —“ I feel that as a people they can have no hope of permanency unless, having cast aside their old habits and modes of life, they adopt those of their European neighbors in their entirety ; as at present, mixed up with the new habits and ideas (and those are not of the best) which they have acquired from us, they still retain some of the very worst of their own old customs. I allude more particularly to the treatment of the sick, their close and ill-ventilated dwellings, and also to the food they live upon. The „good old habits of thrift and industry * (for prior to our advent among them

they were a very busy, industrious people) they have almost lost. ‘ Taihoa’ appears to be the watchword of the race, and will be so, 1 fear, to the last. Opr only hope for the future is in the children, who, as far as possible, are being trained in the native schools in habits ot cleanliness and industry.” Mr Rennell speaks of the existence among them of consumption in all its forms, and concludes his report by . stating that in his opinion the race is steadily decreasing. There is, fore, we fear, no escaping from the conclusion that the fate of the red and the brown man is fast overtaking the Maori race, and we entirely concur with the Herald in the sentiment that “ this is much to be regretted, because they are a fine people, and although pinch degenerated, possess many good qualities, which make them [deservedly] respected. ”