LEFT WITH MAORIS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 691, 16 December 1909, Page 8

LEFT WITH MAORIS.

, > CHILDREN ABANDONED BY PARENTS. ASTONISHING EVIDENCE, ffiy Tclegraph.-Speclal Correspondent I t " . Wanganui, December 13. Lvidanco was given to-da> beforo tho magistrate in tho case of tho lour whito children , abandoned by their parents, to Moons. Con- i stable Breo, who went up the river to "ar- , Teal tho children, whoso ages range from four to ipino i years, baid they wore supplied with j ' food but scantily clothed and kept m a place no iwould not caro to sleep in m winter. -~ ' • Alexander Hatriok, who Tilth other citizens < had brought tho case undei tho notu.o of tho i police), referred to tho caso of a white man at Farakina who had been brought up with Nai tires from a child Ha could hardly speak a i word of his mother tongno It was a fact | that European children reared by Natucs v. ire i as a rnlo not nearly such useful members of , society as tho Natives themselves. Tho environment in a Maori pa was far from conducive to tho boat interests of European children Consumption was rifo amongst jthe Natives, and this scourge wns largely lesponsiblo for ] , tho decimation of tho Natives who to-da> did | not number ono half what they did when ho , commenced the river service 17 years ago TJhe I ( ( unfortunoto children concerned in the present , case were located in a place under consumnj tivo environments, whero medical aid could i not bo obtained. Tho Moons iu many respects were outside tho jurisdiction of Eniopcan J hnvs, and m the matter of sickness and death , j their customs wcro very peculiar They were frequently, under tho control of tohungas, who had very peculiar ideas of treating sickness, ' such as dipping fever patients in tho rivei. There were no inquests' among tho Moons, no ' * necessity to report deaths, and what was to ' become of white' children under such condiv. tionsp Altogether it was most nndesirablo that European children should bo palmed off on. Natives, who in tbeir . good nature woro ' i, oply too pleased to get thom. There was a ' European boy to-day at Pipiriln who, when a baby, i was given to the Natives at Putiku, and ' by them transferred to up-mer Natives, and ' who begged pennies and sixpences from tourists. This giving away of children was quite common amongst the Natives. , Re-ciammed, Mr' Hatnck said ho had seen i tho wharo where children lived, and in his opinion it would bo condemned as ' for a poultry house by tho Government poultry ' expert. Tho application to have tho children committed to tho Wellington, Receiving Homo was opposed by the Charitable Aid Board llr W. M. Ritchie, chairman of the board, said there was scarcely a pa in the district where a , white child could not be found It children iwro to bo handed over to tho board, what was it going to do. Tho question should 1 bo taken up by Parliament. He was averse to ' the suggestion that tho Citizens should provide temporarily for the children, as it would probably result in tho board eventual!} having to tako charge of thom. ' "Mr. Cohan, who appeared on behalf of Mr. , Hatnck and others, pointed out - tho gra\o danger of allowing white children to bo dropped down promiscuously in every pah, and i baidjit was.intolerable.that the authorities who. dispensed charitable aid should suggest that they should be given back to the Natives. s Mr. Marshall, who appeared for the Charit- ,' »Mo Aid Board, admitted that tho pas on ii > - the Wanganui Eiver were really becoming a « dumping ground for these children, manj of ft them illegitimate. He aTgued that his WorV ship, before sending tho children to a reformal tory, should be satisfied that they were desti- / tuto within tho meaning of the Act Really, * the proper body to deal with such cases was , Parliament, but Parliament would not pass a law to prevent Natives adopting white children. ,' Mr. Kerr, S.M, said, even if the Charitable ; * 'Aid Board vcere inundated, as had been suggested, Viitli children as the result of bis deci-' , s»n, that was no reason why the board should not make provision for them. If tho children ' ( were dumped down in "Wanganui it was the ■j board's duty to try and get the law altered Provision had been made in the law for such * children, and looking at all tho circumstances, r ho had come to tho conclusion that the children were practically abandoned to the chanty ( of tho natives, who, owing to their commun.stio habits, might not have the means of subsistence for themselves Tho insanitary conditions of tho pa, absence of educational facilities, and environment generally, showed that the Nativee were unsuitable to tako charge of European children. His plain duty was to commit them to tho Wellington Receiving Home, but ' arrangements could bo made to t the Wangtunu Orphanage. ' *