MANPOWERING OF MAORI GIRLS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 98, 14 July 1944, Page 4

MANPOWERING OF MAORI GIRLS

A RECENT article in this paper criticising the Manpower Authorities for the removal of young Maori women from their native Pas to work in essential industries in the larger centres, the points of which were gleaned from Maori representations made recently at Ruatoki, has been the subject of an indignant and very natural denial on the part of a Department which claims that its greatest aim is to preserve young Maori women from the very conditions which we have mentioned. Young Maori women and girls who drifted to the cities with large military populations apparently did so despite the efforts of the Manpowering officers, and over the heads of their own tribal committees. Only in rare cases were young women removed, and then with the fullest endorsement of their own tribal committees. We have been asked to correct the impression of our article which was written in good faith as a measure to overcome a grave and growing evil, and in all fairness we hasten to do so. The position as explained by the Controller is that many young Maori women, lured by the glamour and excitement of city life, left their country homes despite departmental and local efforts to prevent them. It was not long before the appalling conditions under which they were living were brought to public notice, and the Manpower authorities in the cities were quickly on the trail. With some knowledge of the difficulty of tracing Maori names, and also of the complications which can arise from vague references as to where the subjects came from and had their permanent homes, we can easily appreciate the fact that the Manpower officers assumed the girls lived within the neighbourhood of the city, and quick-' ly drafted them into avenues of useful employment. As a result the subjects soon discovered that they filled positions which being essential/ tlley could not easily leave. Letters to their relatives quickly spread news of their predicament. It was this position which led to the local belief that the girls had been manpowered away from their homes, and furthermore, a position which we can assume from the tone of their representations, was honestly believed by most of the Maori speakers at the meeting referred to. However as a result of investigation and careful enquiry most of the young women concerned have now been released and returned to'their homes as stated in our previous article. The Manpbwer authorities, desire it to be known that in practically all cases concerning Maori women a rigid stand is made that they be retained for work in their own centres. Exceptions are sometimes necessary, and cover such occupations as market gardening etc., in other country districts. "In such cases the girls are only released subject to the corfsent of their own tribal committee, and are placed undel* the control of a matron of their own community whilst away. From the above it will be seen that the drastic condition of Maori girls living in the cities has been largely one of their own making, and although a mistaken impression of the facts can be readily understood, we are glad to be able to make the' position plain and thus correct any wrong impressions.