Dear Sir

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 99, 15 July 1946, Page 4

Dear Sir

Letters to the Editor must be clearly Written on one side of the paper only and where a nom-de-plume is used the name of the writer must be included for reference purposes. The Editor reserves the right to abridge } amend or withhold any letter or letters. PROBLEMS OF MAORIDOM Sir, With your permission; to the gentlemen who answered my letter “More Broken Glass”, many thanks for your contribution to a problem which is exercising the minds of al clear thinking people. However, due perhaps to the title of the article which may have been misleading and inapt, their replies would seem to infer that the writer’s intention was derogatory and in vilification of the whole Maori race. Such was not the case.

A careful perusal of the letter will reveal that the context mainly expresses the writer’s emphatic ■ disapproval of those unscrupulous persons who purely for monetary gain would retard—by their complete disregard of existing laws—the ultimate emancipation of the Maori from his present status in the community to that of absolute parity with the Pakeha, with complete equality of rights and privileges. May I digress a moment to quote he two first sentences in an Editorial of the Herald July 10, 1946. The article is headed “New light on Maoris” and proceeds: “As the Maori population continues to grow at a much more rapid rate than the European, its future becomes a matter of increasing concern. The public is reminded of this not only by the census figures, but also by the drift 'of Maoris to the towns and a disquieting amount of delinquency among their youths and young men.”

Would Mr J. Creeke still say the ~ writer is biased in endeavouring to point out that the above conditions also apply to our own town and that some effort should be made by our leading citizens to correct them. Sir, I yield to no man in my admiration of the progress of the Maori race. Anyone who has studied the steady ascendency of the Maori from the me .t primitive conditions of the last century, to the presentday high social and economic level which he has attained, must feel proud to be associated with a native race that has no peer on this earth. In conclusion Sir, may I «ay to these three gentlemen collectively, that if they believe that all is well in our midst, not to act like ostriches but to lift their heads out of the sand and look around them, and if they really have the welfare of the ■ Maori at heart, to loose their literary shafts at targets better calculated to further his interests than those aimed at your humble correspondent “PUBLIC OPINION.” P.S. As t I do not propose to elaborate any further on this subject please accept my thanks for the courtesy to me in the use of yoi|r columns. “P. 0.”

FOOD PARCELS FOR BRITAIN Sir, —It may interest other readers to see what a housewife in Manchester, England, wrote in acknowledging a parcel which I sent her this, year. Her letter dated June 19 says: “All the things' in your parcel of food are most acceptable. Your milk powder (Anchor full-cream milk powder) is really delicious. We are using some at present as .cream and we find that it improves our rather dull puddings very much. Our food is certainly, very difficult at present, worse than at any time during the war. I cannot say that we do not get enough to eat, because we do, but the fact remains that we are all losing weight again. My son who was released from the Navy in December then weighed 135t.7 and he is now list. That is due to coming on to a civilian diet. My son-in-law has also lost weight since coming out of the Army. I have l'ost 71b. since February. I do not think we are any the worse off for being lighter, but it is rather an interesting demonstration to show that our food lacks something.” I strongly urge people who also have friends or relatives in Britain to send a parcel from time to time. At least some of the stores in Whakatane offer facilities for sending parcels. All you have to do is pay your money and give the address. In this dairying district all our stores have piles- of milk powder on their shelves. The letter I send you shows how much such extras of food are appreciated by the women who serve meals in British homes. Yours etc., .CHEERFUL GIVER."