FUTURE OF THE MAORI.

Gisborne Times, 3 April 1907, Page 4

FUTURE OF THE MAORI.

' -T-. V REMO VAT; - OK- pA ST : IN- .- PL URN CIOS. ' wmm

Tho recent, dealh oDTohu, a mainstay ol the ihirilmka impuivstition, is stated to have revealed to the Maoris tho falseness of their prophets, and. to have shaken their edufidonco in the old beliefs. This was made very evident by the proceedings' at a recent meet in g"at Hawera between. prominent Maoris and the Native Minister. Tlioso .who followed the deliberations were convinced that the meeting marked a turning point- in Maori history. The Hnwcra Star says that tho influence of Tohu and To AVhiti was largely- personal, and that the extraordinary faith in them is unlikely to be reposed in others. ‘‘There win be no succession,” says our contemporary, “no . successor was over thought of, because dilfieult as il/is to cred it tlie tl»i •• g, man v, i r not the hulk of the natives, never looked forward to Toliu or To AVhiti dying. That illusion has been dispelled; no other man or men can occupy a position similar to that winch Tolm and To AVhiti have occupied so long. Tho speakers at tho meeting, though no admissions were made, seemed to suggest this. Ihe parting of the ways ' between the old order nnd the now was spoken of, and we doubt not it has come. 1 l]c very fact of old Parihaka men being at the meeting to ask the Government to assist them to advance showed Miat a now order of things is in contemplation. Mr Carroll was wise and tactful in pull rug down the curtain with respect to tho past, and ju giving tlio natives tho assurance that if they really desired to share in the aspirations’which have done so much for natives in other parts ol the colony, he was ready to urge the Government to give them every assistance. He can very well afford to ignore Parihaka, and it must he too obvious to the intelligent natives that Parihaka has proved to be a delusion, a very expensive delusion, that there is nothing to be hoped for from that quarter, and that their future depends on work and education, and a closer approach to methods of life which natives in other parts of tho island have found stimulating to progress.”

IN MID-AIR. Thousands of excited Sydney people are provided with a thrill in Marlin Place by an employee of tlio'contractors for tho now University building. who steers huge blocks of stone from lho ground to tlie top of the building. Air Neilson stands on the stone, grasps the wire leading from tho crane, blows his whistle, and is shot up JiO feel: in tho air, until the stone looks like a sinker at the end of a fishing line. At that height lie calmly directs the movement of the cram*, while the crowd below wonders when tlio accident will happen. The operation is performed several times a lay, and Air Neilson makes light of it. He says it is ; ‘dead easy” for an old sailor, and that he is careful to see that everything' is right. Put he admits that if anything goes wrong he will “hit the would, hard, and never know what happened.” He is a middles! ged man, hut says he feels no diminution of nerve. It is all the same whether he looks up or down, and he minds dangling in the air ro little that he can always attend to the balance of tho stone, if one tilts up. Sometimes his experiences are quite sufficient even for his cool head. .“The holt's fixed up with a hall-bear-ing swivel, so that however much the cable twists the stone’ll always stay the same way. Rut, somehow, the ball-bearings got jammed, and the two of ns were just about . 100 feet up when we began to waltz round like billy-oh. The higher they the stone the faster wo spun. Everything went sort of whizzy, and tho whole of Sydney looke d like a \Vonion i hiograph. The Post Office tower went past us 20 times a second, and the harbor was running all over the place. AVo just bring on all we know until she steadied down, and it wasn’t too soon. I toll von.” But early every .morning, before there are many people in the streets, Mr Neilson performs a more daring act. Thearm of the. crane, is lowered till it is horizontal) and he crawls out to the end and oils the joints. Only tlie tight grasp of his logs keeps him in positron, and the slightest miscalculation'' would mean certain death. But why should he 'get a bump, he asks. AVo crying will not save him; besides, there was a. friend who was so scared at the spectacle"- of Neilson dangling on a stone that he departed. What hnppenod-to him? “AVhy. he went round the corner of George street and broke his leg on a banana-skin. Don’t tall: to me about danger V\ Would more.of us wore so philosophical. , , ,

; A SOUDAN fV3 ETROPOLiS. "VYc mentioned the other day' that r Khartoum .was on the regular beat of . tourists. A writer in tho j rail Mall Gazette gi yes a most in- . tercsting account ,of the Kartourh of [ to-day. To the traveller by train, after a thousand miles of barrenness. . Khartoum comes as a charming * change. Backed by rlic African blue J of the sky, and framed iti beautiful f masses* of green, rises the white , palace of the -Governor., in . which ’ beauty and elegance, have been com* ' limed with strength, for there may \ again be trouble in 'his paid of the ' world. The dervish hordes who did their best io destroy buildings, left his trees, and to-day Khartoum is beautifully verdant, in the garden of the ] > alace there are still to bo seen the rose, trees which the hero | tended.. One of tin- flights of steps in ‘ tho new palace building leads past ‘ tho. place where Gordon made his last stand, nn-.l a granite slab, with an inscription., marks the spot. Besides the palace there arc other lino'build- ; mgs, including beautiful private resi- • donees ami excel hint hotels for the visitors who troop* down from Cairo. ; Gardens have been laid out in many* ■ directions, and there is a shady promenade two miles in length along the river, whore Khartoum society rides and walks. “Khartoum Jins been so ' rapidly modernised that it is impossible to say where it will stop when the completion of the great con linen 1 tal li i d places it. on one uf the world's ■ groat' commercial highways. Already in its present state of development, a splendid monument of British civilising energy, II is the.wonder of beholders from Europe -and Anieria.” One travels comfortably to Khartoum on u splendid line fitted with dining and sleeping cars, and one can enjoy tho luxury of a hot. hath at Abit Homed. Tinder British rule the country is recovering from, the scourge, of Dervish oppression, and population, is increasing,'and the, natives are contented..' As a sheikh observed to the writer the other day, ‘ Our people have never known such blessings, such peace, and justice helorc." .liisi, before last Christmas a consignment of puddings with a case of holly, berries and all. was brought all the way from London. “Could •"anything more generally emphasise the wondrous transformation scene, surpassing anything that old Drury Lane could produce—which British rule, or rather the rule of Britons, has.effected ■ hero in a few short years?” But one must have boon through the dark days of battle, niiir- . dor and sudden' death to appieciatc folly the rise of this splendid city . -from a filthy shambles, ,