Advancement of Science.

Hokitika Guardian, 17 January 1923, Page 4

Advancement of Science.

WELLINGTON CONGRESS. | PAPERS ON VARIOUS SUEJ KOTS. ! i WELLINGTON, dan 15. j Before the Science Congress this morning Dr Guy Seholefield read a paper dealing with “The Economic Ke volution in Polynesia.” He pictured in vivid, terms the pre-European condition of the South Sea Islanders, with their many divisions, their primitive industries, and their warlike enterprises. These conditions', he said, continued with little variation until one day in the Eighteenth Century when the first explorer’s ship touched at one of the island groups. 1 hen commenced the economic revolution which taught the man ideas of trade, the use of iron, and so on. Instantly, native economy began to undergo a change. Before the next rare ship arrived, the stock qI" sheep, cattle, pigs and lowl* bred from those left by the early Spaniards, Captain Cook, and Vancouver furnished the wherewithal for regular barter. Runaway whites taught the native show to produce to this new j market, and from the chiefs the power to trade, began to centre in individuals l of a lower caste, introducing, incidentally, the use of money there. Ihe presence of missionaries did much to check the ravages arising from Hie use of firearms, which, on that account did much less damage than in MehimI sia, I By the opening of the Ninelouii!: i Gentiuv native economy had uinlei | gone an enormous ehangt', and already j the population was oil the decrease. The causes of this depopulation. both direct and indirect, were sununaris-'d. and th.* influence of natives, shipping awav as seamen, harpooners. mtci pickers. and plantation labourers was 1 raced.

Tin- ledmer tlien proceeded to 'lon v\‘i(!i economh revolution in Now | ;! ml. wln'ro. ho said. 'I Ilillft illlll' .somewhat different ly. litre tin' r 'h mate being tonijni ;iii- tin' Kn rojM'-i i settlers were aide to work boside D< natives ;mil tiieir sti .nly increase inn ab-airbed tlio 1:1 nils of tin' imtives. win now possessed 11 1 c 1 1 simple ol Imn. amounting t" ninety tn-res pel hea<: whereas tlie Kurop-eans posse.si-.eil m average. of only fifty per head. I'l> io 18!H> tlio nntive population wns falling in numbers. lint since tiien it liml been rising. ;i fai r line to Hire ■ j 111:1 in causes:— (|)—(rail 11a 1 pauperisation, compel! ing tlio natives to work. (•>). -Tlie example of I'niropeans m 1 lieir midst showing llieni how to won . CU. Improved hygiene and mediea! , I services. * I The lecturer added: “While th ■ < natives eottld live in itlleness. living | on rents and moneys received ;:w : j Ivivopeans, limy were (lying elf. Now. : owing to tiie ih'iay of the tribal .system. all this i- changed. They are he- j jug pit-hod into competitive hie, and i th ■ haul work oi which they arc so capable has saved many of their lives. The id: al solution is that tried on In ! Hast. Coast, hy tlie Hon A. T. Ngata.J where the natives I live handed -<>- I geflier in a co-operative scheme for j managing and working their own lands, lliiis combining the competitive system , ol the pakelm with the communism o' tiie Maori.’’ ~\t the close of l)r Seholeliehl'-. |iaper an animated discussion took ! p!i The president. Captain Pii!Hive's, said tile paper was one of the most in;ei'i'st mg that h"ii 'con n-.o and prompted a vast field of comm. -tin. i|e tool; it i hat I>r Srheleik'h! - up rest • ed as a remedy for the decay cf tlie I’olyiU" iaii raw s what really amount 1 d to comiiU'rendi.sing th-t-m. making item part of the mod: i'll economic organisation. Personally he differed emp.ua t.i- . rally from that point of view. It ■o- , mimic lon-es had protluer'd among-! civilised nations what had occurred ill . Itussia and elsewln re. cmild v.e -ug- ' gest. i hey would he any more .saccos— j fid if applied to Polynesians? As an anthropologist I thought tne.v \vnuh; ; not consider the wisdom or otherwise of capitalism as a mentis o! pres«-n in r the race. Ihe trader always supw- e'd , creating a de-ire tor things v. nidi ee alone could sell. Another speak"!' laid stress on th" fact that ihe .Maoris were pinto "pun! 1 , ha: 1 ips.iits in certain fields of thowht. in psychology. in aiatheniaI I ... ami so on. Th -ir -alvr. am vras to In found in (h "eloping them :>lo"g those linos. When limy enter, d the realm ot eommei; " il ey wen- helpl < oils; i|Ueiitlv 0 was e-eh-.-s i" 'oo |- - their -alvatioii in the et notiiie -pis re. Mr C. il. Wide ns. -i >■ m do- i Social S.-iem • S -eti. ii. g.i ve pari icular-s of the disappearum " tic A !I 'C' duet • hlael.s. and' !egr.-d wdh th- v i-'dui.t ot J ,!i„ the-e pue-i ion., of adieu,: tart ion in the interest- <1 tie. Iv ;, in- j ing race- "| the Pneii’u - | ),• p 11. Did.. in propir tig a vol * | Of thanks, age d wohjhe lee. ,le,l eolaiilions in New /.eamml were ~„it,. dilfer.nt fr.m. those m the Is- ! 'l 1,.. X,-.., Z *:•! I ml. licaUh D • pa rl Ill' 11 1 , had gone on. right ini - a iiivoinl ing the eliiei- as aaiian inspectors., thus preserving iho value ol tiie chief sv-tem and reinforeing it by

tho strength of the Government. Sav- t iug was out of the question with the . Maoris. They had never done it. Their , food stores were only for a single season. As regards the supposed in- ; ereia.se of the Maori rave, he said till-1 ieachers • f Native schools had filled rt i forms for him which showed that jus’. , over of) per cent, of the children had j white blood in them. He did no: agree that the Maori was going to do • uppuar with the kiwi and wekn. Tlmy would become more and more dilute'. , with white blood and would be event• i imllv absorbed. ’■ Dr Seholetield. iu reply, mid it wit* a thousand, pities that years ago we '.no ; not know as much of tho Native nice- , Vi ., ,|j,j ,0-dnv, as wo might then have left their civilisation alone. I he race material in Polynesia to-day was mot the unspoiled Native race that Captain Pin-Rivers had world d among, hut rocs whose social organisation >v© had fh-s)roved, who had almost disappeared We could not leave them to die out. We (ould not restore lucir old svstem. We believed the oul.\ «*'.' 1,.' preserve them was hy teaching them to take their pert in the .competitive life of the modern economic system. 11. EE EDIT'V TESTS. ‘•That the surviving influence *>l the ancient hibernating, and - subsequent mating, periods of the year on modern life is inimical to the energies ant! mental activity.” was the subject a paper read hy Dr. Fitt, to the Science C'oujiross to-day. 'lVsts of 3j5 pupils of a Melbourne s-lmol. tile paper said, showed that height and weight increased most ' rapidly in,the first, half of tile vein, from February to July. There was 11 break or crisis in physical development in July and August, the height, increase liee'iiiing dominant. The mental functions of the memory and attention were high in the first part- of the vear, falling suddenly at the July or August crisis, and althouga there was a rise again in the second half of the year, the average was below t hose of the first half-year. Fpee.Vl and aeenraev tests showed evidemc of 1 *"■ Jral in-’inbilitv at the July-August crisis. The (kill's-. (Ill'll dealt "il 1 ! sili'-'de and concept inn of death and disease.

L!;o statistics of which were all affect- ■ j ! by the old 1 ibcnuitine and repro- j !" tioji ] eve. i. -| a i'( *i.vn i:si A. 1 •‘The list i I i).•. e .-.it . of Polynesian j <>;.le4** '•< deoil v. I. .in a p 'per j f -Warded 1 V iMr bo; D 1!. Sullivan \ •*; !>.. assistant curator of the Physi- | c- : Anthoj.-oiojjy A.meiic.-.i- Museum of j • alnr.’l lli-tory. It wrs ;;cncrnlly j l. Id. lie s id. tli't the Polynesians I ere a mixed people. The majority . ' tlv -ted ms felt that the mixture I , o': | 1; c before migration into Poly- j icsia. Proikssor Dixon, of the Har-j \ «rd 'nivevsity. from a detailed study , of available data on Polynesia, pi'o- • <•••> d fieir ty j ics. w'.i. p r.erc teiui-j liv-dy identified as ißwrito. M lanesian j Cnni'ii-ian and .Malay. As a ru.-i It of furiiioi investigation.-. t".'o types had j I eon isolated, which ,oe tentatively < ell. d Polynesian and 1 nd-iiies'an. The .•hniMcterislh s of these two type- were ii-• s •rihed. The Polynesian was slrik- j ingly C uicssian in ftjipenranee. At I n e <-: 1 1 it. re s impossible to determine t heir exact place in tlm human family. '1 he available data seemed to indicate 1 that the Polynesian was an intermediate between Caucasians and Menjiols. The two typos entered the Pacific at different times, and possibly iby dI Hi •'-■! i t routes. There was a Melanesian element in certain parts of rs in Tonga. \ e w Z. aland and Master 1-land. The inflnen e of Polynesians on Melanesia had been renter than that of t lie Moll m sinus on Polynesia. There was a shortherded type in Tonga. Samoa. Tahiti, Hawaii, and Co Mar<|m*sns, wliieli was not Indonesian. The wr’ioi eon-id-red ihem as of Polynesian type, with an artificially flattened occiput. There iia 1 hern recognised four ty• rfil-d In.l-nosinn. .Melanesian. Polynes'ans, and Polyno-inns with doforne'd heads. However, much work had still l i he d0,,-.