PROBLEMS OF MAORI
SYMPATHETIC UNDERSTANDING NEEDED
Not enough attention was given by the average pakeha to the problems of the Maori race, said Mr Vernon Thomas in an address to the Christchurch Businessmen’s Club at a luncheon recently. The Maori was part and parcel of the community in New Zealand, and perhaps because they were automatically accepted as such they did not attract any particular notice. During the recent world war the Maori had stepped out of his normal rural and labouring life and had won a great name for himself, Mr Thomas said. The rehabilitation of Maori servicemen would be a serious problem, and he did not think that the Maoris could give the necessary attention to it. A sympathetic understanding was necessary on the part of the pakeha, for there were few Maoris in business and professional walks of life. After the Maoris had completed their primary education they were generally lost to secondary schools because their families could not afford to send them to such schools, and few university bursaries were available. Thus the Maori drifted into labouring work and life in rural communities. The number of Maoris that had been successful in business and professions was very small, said Mr Thomas. If the pakeha would take effective steps to ensure that the Maori received a good education and received the chances to make his way in life, then the Maori would be a force and not an accepted part and parcel of the community, left to drift through life.
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Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24905, 19 June 1946, Page 5
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253PROBLEMS OF MAORI Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24905, 19 June 1946, Page 5
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