The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MARCH 2, 1905. A DOOMED RACE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1393, 2 March 1905, Page 2

The Gisborne Times PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MARCH 2, 1905. A DOOMED RACE.

A! good deal of interest in the s.u,bjec.t .of .The Future of .the Maori -- has teen aroused by .tint views given expression to by Professor J. McMillan Brown, Recently, he furnished the Press With an interesting account of the revival of Hauhauism in the Urewcra country,, and now. he has given his views on the future of the Maori., He entered upon his investigations, he says, .with the idea, gathered from the last census returns,, that the decrease in the number of Maoris had ceased, and that in the nve years, preceding the taking ' of the census the race had gained in numbers. He states .that he was reluctantly compelled to relinquish the idea, and once more to accept the old belief as to the doom race. The census returns, he states, give the impression that there has been an increase from 40,000. to 43,000 between the late census and the previous one. He explains that on former- occasions the takers of the census merely, wont into the t>ahs, and sawi the chiefs, .who told them from memory the numbers they behaved tu bo in the villages, .while the recent census was taken iirst hand in the ordinary way, the extra 2000 being due mainly to greater accuracy in the taking pfi the census. He was informed by Father Milliard, for I some years stationed below. Pipiriki, and who returned after an absence [of nine years, that during the time he was away the population had decreased from 167 to 88. Father Milliard added that the same tendency was noted in connection with all the pahs on the .Wanganui river. Ho attributed the cause to tuberculosis—--75 of the infants, he said,' die of that disease. Its growth .was due to the adoption and, abuse of European clothing, which had had a great deal to do with the spread of colds, and with the hacking coughs that were heard in the Maori villages. With considerable force he might have referred to the way in which bodies are .kept about so that tangis may be held. The shocking instance at Wairoa the other day might account for the transmission of .many cases lof disease. At the same time, we need more than the statements of the Professor to convince us: that what is happening in some parts is so general as to apply to the .whole of the colony. Professor) Brown stated that he regarded the habit of expectoration as one of the chief causes - of the prevalence ofl lung diseases among the Natives. In the old days it was considered raslf to SDit on an enemy, [who, if he obtained possession of the , saliva, might work •* makutu,’-' or | ■evil with it- The introduction o:

tobacco brought into New Zeal anU, a s ii> did into the Western World, spitting habit. The result is that a visitor never enters a Maori whare, or even a sacred building, without noting that both men and

women •xpectorate frequently, and the children mimic them. The professor has no doubt that this is the real cause of the high death-rate from consumption among the Maoris as it has been the cause of the prevalence of the malady throughout Christendom since the introduction

of tobacco. '•* As long as tobacco is used,” he says,, “that flow of saliva which causes consumption will never he rooted out (of the Maori) race.” Professor Brown points out, however, that the diseases which have existed since the advent of the Europeans have Josh their ' virulence

to some extent. Referring fro itho rate of .decadence amongs t the Maori race. Professor Crown states that Dr. Hlochsfetter, in liis work on New Zealand, written in the “ fifties,” calculated from the previous rate of dccadonco that the Maori, would become extinct early in the twentieth century* hut ho forgot that the prevalence of diseases ultimately made the races attacked either completely or partially immune from them. It is this partial immunity that explains a decrease in the rate of decadence of the Maori. ‘‘ He is dying,'' Professor Crown says, ‘‘ hut at a slower rate than was threatened. The process may he slow, hut the Maori is sure to die.” Mr Bird, inspector of Native schools, told him that iin those there is a large predominance of hoys, the number of hoys being about twice as large as the number of gifts. The Professor regards this as a true mark of the decadence of the race, which, he says, must come to an end.

NominatioDe for the Wa'piro Racing Club close on Saturday, Ma-ob 4th, For the month of February the vital statistics at Gisborne were: Births 34, deaths 11, marriages 10. Tho Public Works Office calls for tonders for tho erection of a post-office at Waipiro Boy.

An unreserved clearing snlo of furniture will take place to-day at Mr Wilkinson’s residence, Cook street. Dr Henry, of Melbourne, talking of the toeth of the rising generation, says that instruction in mastication should be added to the State sohooi curriculum. Mr W. Miller left for Wellington by the Victoria yesterday on business, we understand, in connection with tho State Fire Inßurauoo Office. Owing to the. rain preventing many poople attending the opening of the Kaiti soap works yesterday, the proprietors extend a hearty invitation to visitors this afternoon, when they will be shown over tho works. In connection with the sale being held at Messrs Eure and Ambridge’s Economic, a speoial price list is given in our advertis iog columns for to-day whioh should attract many purchasers. An elderly man named Henry Vivian was before the Police Court yesterday on a charge of drunkenness, and was fined 10s, cobt 2s, in default 48 hours’ imprisonment.

The sale of Mr F. : A. Ford’s fine residence to Mr li'amon has been effee ted, at a satisfactory figure, through the agency of Mr D. R. UeCoata. While- hare shooting at Uralla, New South Wales, Mr J. Faulkner, gold miner, was bitten twice on the foot by a brown ■ snake. After shooting the snake ho walked four miles homo, and two hours elupsed before, a doctor saw him. Although every thing possible was done, he died next morning. Reoently John Smith, a prisoner at Brisbane gaol, was found dead in his cell, having hanged himßelf with his hammock rops. He was serving three months for assaulting the police, and was due for discharge at the beginning of the month. The deceased was a young man, who had no previous police record. The gymnasium in connection with the Trinity Young Men’s Club will be opened at 7.30 this evening in the Drillshed, when it is expected there will be a large attendance. Members are requested to wear rubber shoes in the gymnasium. On account of the weather the gardenparty arranged by the Waiapu No-License League for this afternoon has been abandoned, but a gathering will be held at the Theatre Royal at 3 o’clock, to which the public are invited. Afternoon tea will be provided. At the Perth Court recently, a number of Chinese were prosecuted in connection with the recent gambling raid. The keeper of the house was fined £25, the banker £2O, the occupier JglO, and eight persons found on the premises £2 each, with eosts. Thirty others pleaded “ Not guilty,” and were discharged. The death is announced of Mr John Goodall, who was for many years city engineer of Auckland. The late Mr Goodall was a widower, Mrs Goodall having lost her life by a tram accident in Kyber Pass road when out driving. Mr Goodall was & highly-trained engineer, and he erected one of the first quartz mills on the Thames goldfields. A cricket match has been arranged for j this afternoon between the Union and Gisborne clubs, to bo played at the Victoria Domain. The following will represent Union : —Lang, Sheridan (2), Tattersail, Delaney, Don, Andrews, Melville, Rice, Pirie, Morgan, and Torkington. Gisborne will be represented by H. Sharp, Übert, Doyle, "Witty, Gibson, McPherson, Featon, Stevens, Peebles, Butler, and Carroll.

The following are the customs returns collected at Gisborne last month :—Spirits i 5965 4s 6d, cigarettes £BB, tobacco £491 4s 6d, wine £llß 9s 6d, beer £IOO, tea £2 10s, sugar £B6 6s Bd, goods by weight £B6 16s 6d, ad valorem £B2B, other duties £32 19s 6d, total £2799 10s 2d. Seer excise duty £ll7 12s 6d. The returns for February. 1904, wore : £2787 11s 9d, and for February, 1903, £1415 6s 9d. According to Professor Brown, of Christchurch, the curse of idleness is militating against the welfare of the Maori race. In the old days the principal occupation of the Maori man was war. As long as ho was a warrior ho was strenuous, musoular, and vigorous. The close of the Te Kooti rebellion in 1871 finally deprived the North Island Maori of that occupation. Since that time ha has been afflicted with the curse of idleness. Most of the tribes have too much land, and they need but little effort in order to obtain sustenanoe. Large families are, therefore, rare, and a large proportion of the people die before they reaoh theadult age; One wharo at Umunoa, in the Urewera Country, where 12 children had been born, was pointed out to him. All of them had grown up to manhood and womanhood, but it was ascertained that the father had adopted -European ways of life, and had worked every day of the year. The man had before him tbe task of bringing up a large family, and the duties imposed saved both him and bis family. A few of the young men take up road-making and ebeariDgt but the efforts are spasmodic. Everybody who employs a Maori has the same story I to tell. He warks splondidly for the first few days, but he then fails off, and ultimately abandons the work. |