THE MAORI AND HIS LAND

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 151, 5 September 1941, Page 4

THE MAORI AND HIS LAND

NOWHERE in New Zealand mdre so than in the Bay of Plenty districts have the Maori people adapted themselves with success to. the British marker of living. This applies particularly to farming pursuits. The Whakatane district is proud of its Maori farmers, both as regards their numbers and the success which attends their efforts as tillers of the soil and dairymen. Thus in a space of a generation or two the Bay of Plfenty Maori people have become as capable a section of producers as their neighbours of British ancestry. The dairy companies of this district have recognised this fact by giving seats on their directorates to representatives of the Maori shareholders. In the maize growing industry, so peculiarly suited to the land of the Bay of Plenty, the Maori people provide a considerable acreage of crop, and most of the labour. The vital need of more land If or the Maori people—once they had the whole of New Zealand as their domain —was stressed in a recent newspaper article by Mr James Cowan, the distinguished New Zealand historian and author. Here are his views:—"The Maori race has yet to be given the access to the land of New Zealand that it requires in order to obtain the full value of the schools instruction. £here is little use in giving the bright and promising pupils the farming instruction that is its first requirement in vocational training if they are to be told that they can only be provided with land at a price. The Government has given excellent service to the cause of land settlement, and the providing of homes for the Maoris, but all on too small a scale. Not merely the Government but the whole pakeha population must be brought to realise that more land is needed, to make up for the millions of acres that were taken, in one way and another by the successive single-minded Governments of the past —that single-mindedness being the interest and welfare of the pakeha only." With the well known success of the Ruatoki and Ohope Native Schemes in mind we cannot but endorse the views above expressed together with the sincere hope that a further vigorous scheme will be introduced for the benefit of the young Maori soldiers who are away fighting, upon their demobilisation.

Red, Cross Campaign. Sellers of the Red Cross Society will be abroad to-day offering tickets for a benefit picture entertainment which is to be held at the Regent on Wednesday, September 17.

Rubbish Dump. Officials of the Borough Council and Harbour Board intend meeting to-morrow to inspect the mud flats with a view to selecting a sfte for a borough rubbish dump.