IS IT BEER ?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 8, Issue 23, 10 November 1944, Page 5

IS IT BEER ?

DISEASE AMONGST MAORIS BOARD MEMBER'S CONTENTION That the growing incidence of tuberculosis amongst Maoris in the Eastern Bay was due almost entirely to the over indulgence in, alcoholic liquor was put forward by Mr H. C. McCready at the meeting' of the Whakatane Hospital Board' yesterday when the question of coping,wiith this growing complaint amongst the native race was under discussion. The sugestion of proA'iding Maoris Avith better living conditions Avas raised in a letter from the Cook Hospital Board Avhen Mr McCready rose to speak with some force. "What is tlie good of giving Maoris good homes/' he said, "unles-s Ave are prepared to teach them good habits when Ave get into them?" Mr F. Burt isiiid that sixty years ago the Maoris lived in their simple Avharepunis Avith one door and one window - . Their conditions Avere crowded compared with today, and yet. they never knew Avhat illness Avas. Today, T.B. Avas carrying them off like flies. Mr Suckling: We should do more to maintain health than the mere proA'is-ion of houses. The Chairman: I agree. It is not necessary to have a big house to be clean. It is a question of personally instructing them and it is a suggestion that more district nurses could be appointed for this purpose, to impress upon the Maoris the necessity for hygiene. Mr Suckling: It actually needs one and a half to tAVo generations to complete the training. Mr Mullins pointed out. that in many cases eA r en Maoris who had been through college Avere inclined to go back to the old ways Avhen they returned to their native pahs. "You've, touched on tlie sorest point of our problem/' said Mr Mc,Cre,ady j "yet you are prepared to hover round it and do nothing. If. you have more nurses it won't help you at all. This disease is breaking out and getting aAvay, and the root, of it is 'booze.' It is a disgracc to this country to see the Maori money which is being spent in this direction. The disease incidence increases and then we call upon tlie people who can't afford it to build bigger and more costly institutions. We havn't got the 'guts' to stand up and fight it because it is money interests Ave're up against. We have all seen the Maoris rolling home. We see it going on every day and yet Ave won't get up and fight it. It, is ho use blaming the Maoris. They had a better social system than our's before Ave introduced them to ''booze.' I say that it is no use giving them good farms, decent houses;, and family allowances if AA T e are going to allow them to pour poison into themselves. Let's get doAvn to the bottom and build up. The, Chairman: I thought you might have mentioned gambling as Avell. Mr McCready: A man Avho gambles can still be a man. He doesn't behave like a pig. He doesn't go home and thrash his Avife and kids. Mr Mullins: What's going to happen when you start, to restrict the individual's liberty. Mr McCready: Is it a case of liberty when the individual can't walk past an institution Avithout spending money he can't afford in it? The Chairman then brought the meeting back to the point under discussion namely, the control of T.B. ' - •