The Chronicle LEVIN SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1916 MAORI DOGS AND PAKEHA COMPLAINTS.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 2 September 1916, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 1916 MAORI DOGS AND PAKEHA COMPLAINTS.

Maori lands, Maori dogs and Maori methods were diisclissed in an unusual manner when the Native Land Amendment Act Adjustment Bill was before the House of Representatives during the dying hours of tilt* session. Tho wlTole debate was a most interesting one, but it was specially remarkable for the .speech by the Hoil. Dr. Pomare. The Minister's remarks voiced the Maori opinion so well, andi illuctrated the •Maori attitude and ideas in respect of •dog-tax collection so clearly, and so entertainingly"~also, that we are constrained to quote from it in extenso, to the end that pakehn condemnators of the kuri and: the taihoa and similar pete and predilections of the Maori may have opportunity to judge of these vexed matters from the Maori aspect. The Horowheima County Council, incidentally, may be interested in reading the allegation that County Councils in general showed a marked diminution in their demands to be allowed to enforce the collection of Maori dog tax due to the Maori Councils as soon as •the fact was made clear to the County Councils that they would have to refund to tho Maori Councils the monies thus derived. The inference, of course, is that the Oountv Councils are more concerned for the extra revenue that they thought would have resulted to them than for the protection of the settlers' sheep From ownerless, uncontrolled kuris allowed to exist througli the taihoa. policy of the Maori Councils.

Folio-wing on a speech by Mr Field, member for this (electorate, "who (referred to loescs occasioned in iETorowlienua County by the acts of Maori knris, "Dr. Poinare, Minifiter-in-Cliarge of Maori Councils, said."lwas very much interested in the remarks that fell from the last speaker's lips, especially when he referred to the Maori's love for dogs. Tt ifi quite true that the Maori loves dogs, and I believe that some of the pakehas love dogs also. I read in a newspaper the other day an account of a banquet given by a pakeha woman in honor of her dog, and that banquet cost £5,000. Well. I do not think there aTe any feasts given in Maoriland by any Maori for a dog. Let me give you another illustration of the difference between Maori and pakeha in that respect. I was traveling in one of the tramoars the other day in Wellington, and I <?aw there a very stylishly-diressed pa-

kelia lady in one corner engrossed in saying, "Diddum, diddit, diddities,' 1 while bending over the nose of a poodle. I do not know that the Maoris arc as fond of their dogs as that; but it is told—and I daresay it is true, that the reason why the Maoris are so fond of their dogs is beeausc an ancestor of theirs— Irawaru, had been turned into ii dog by the magic of a certain demigodi by the name of Miaui. Recognising that one of their ancestors had been turned 'into a dog. the Maoris' have loved their dogs ever since. I do not know whether the pakeha has any such good reason for loving dogs, and giving them banquets. In regard to the Maori dogs there is a law in existence that the Maoris must pay taxes for their dogs, and they do pay taxes. Perhaps it is true that ill some cases all the taxes are not got in,' but there is an arrangement made by Act of Parliament whereby if the natives fail, through their council, to collect the dog-tax, they win requisition the county councils to collect this diog-tax. Un- ' fortunately, the county councils that have to collect this dog-tax do not like to part with the money after they have collected it, and that is where the hitch has occurred. So" long as they could retain the money which they had collected it was all right, but when they had 1 to give it up to the Maori council, which, did not do the collecting, it was all wrong; and that is why the law is of no use, and probably that, is why w'e have to amend the law now. Then, I have heard it said that the Maoi i dogs worry the pakehas' sheep. It is peculiar how the pakehas always find out the earmark on the dog. It is peculiar how the pakehas know if is Maori dog. I do no£ know whether it is,'because of the colour of "the dog, oi- the length of his tail, or the shortness of h75 ears that the pakeha is absolutely certain that it is *1 Maori dog, and not registered, andi without a collar on. An lion, member: Are your sure it is not done by catching the dog?*. The Hon. Dr. Pomare: I have had many of these cases repoi*ted to me, but in not one instance have they been able to capture the dog and prove it to have been a Maori dog. I have been Min-ister-in-Charge of Maori councils here for the past three years — Mr W. H. Field:-I have caught a good many of them. The Hon. Dr. Pomare: If the honourable gentleman caught them, well and good; but in ever case where it was reported that the Maori dogs had worried pakeha sheep they could not prove it. I do not know whether all the pakehas register their dogs. If they can get out of it they will not register. It might have been a pakeha dog that had been worrying these sheep; but wli-at about the Maori sheep, that have been worried by the pakeha dog? We never hear anything a.bout that. 1 dare say that, my honourable friend from the Eastern Maori Electorate, who has control of a great many sheep in that district will be able to say that the pakeha dogs worry hi sheep. An hon. member: They shoot them on sight. The Hon. Dr. Pomare: Well, that is a. good remedy, and 1 would recommend that remedy to my pakeha friend,s whe complain 'about their sheep being worried by Maori dogs. Then, again, my friend from Otaki said that the Maori did not respect the bush and the bird*}. il do not. know. The Maoris used to worship the bush, and the pakehas' way of worshipping it is to cut it down. They are doing it now. They have denuded practically the wb«le of the country of its bush ; and for that reason we have to conserve seme of what is left, and; it is generally the Maori land that is left with the bush on it—the Maori's land has to be conserved with the bush on it, and he is not able to farm it, and we say he is too la ay. But the men who are concerned about scenery preservation' have done some most extraordinary tilings. They have taken some places along the Wanganui river which have been Maori plantations and. cultivations for hundreds of years—these places were of absolutely no scenic value. And in some oases, as my honourable fi.end has pointed out, the Maoris felt hurt i.ecause their dead, who were o.ir ie-.i in t' ese places, were taken. I know t f on? such case in the northern district, ic which my own ancestors have been buried for generations.. I'hat burial ' l ,: ae has been taken as scenic reserve, andi with it 30 acres of land which the natives have been cultivating. But, after the land was acjinred, the most extraordinary part of the ! ; teiiiass to .me was that this land was leased to a pakeha. Mr W. H. Field;: Urupa and a'! 0 I The Hon. Dr. Pomare: Yes, uruxi and all. I complained to my colleague the Prime Minister, and he was good enough to say he would look into , the matter, and if lie found it necessary he' would get a Royal Commission to inquire into the question of scenic reserves. But since then the war has broken out, and) 1 have not worried him further; but I shall remember it and will worry him about it later on. I am not going to deal with the clauses of this Bill. The House has already been assured by the Minister-in-Charge of the Bill and by the member for the Eastern Maori District that there is nothing in the Bill that is detrimental to the Maoris; and you may be sure that if there was anything in it detrimental to the natives we would jump up quickly enough and point it out. A lot has been said about the Maori and the Maori landlord and the settlement of the Maori land. -I reckon that one of the greatest mistakes'of our Legislature, has been that no provision has been made for financing the Maori to enable him to work hie landl. It is all very well to say that the Maori should go ahead and work; but if lie has no capital to start with it is useless to say that. We provide the pakelia settler with every means to enable him to take up and oocupy land profitably. We have the Advances tcTSettlers offioe and the State aids him in every possible way ; hut the Maoriis handicapped, and he is regarded as a bad mark

by the'pakelia financiers. But I may here point out that the dairy factory managers in one district lent the Maoris dairy cows to assist tile natives in dairy fawning, and in all instances the natives have been able to repay the value of the cows and are proving successful dairy farmers. I think tliat, seeing that our Maori Land Boaids have a lot of funds in hand which belong to the natives, and that the Public Trustee holds funds belonging to the natives, there should be some legislation dealing with the financing of native settlers. I think the Native Minister haw a plan in mind regarding those lands, where this money could be utilised by the natives who Are bona fide settlers; and if that were done I am sure the Maori would advance with greater rapidity than he has done heretofore.