MAORI MEMORIAL

Hokitika Guardian, 22 July 1930, Page 6

MAORI MEMORIAL

CANDIDATES FOR. WESTERN . SEAT. By Telegraph, Per Press Association.j ; NEW PLYMOUTHy .July 19. At a big korero of Taranaki Maori - leaders at ' Waitara; " r.eprte'Sentatrve speakers emphatically denied that they did not want Sir Maui Pomare’s ashes brought back to the district, on account of the fact that his body bad ■cfematbd. ; 'Furthermore, they decided to erect a monument jointly to Sir Maui Pomare and Wiremu Kingi. The latter was a great Atiawa leader in the time of the Maori Wars. An endeavour will be made to obtain the consent of Lady Pomare to deposit the ashes in the memorial. The family had previously decided that the ashes should be placed with the remains of Sir Mauis ancestors on Matii, a little island off Somes Island, with which the Pomare family hive been connected for centuries. However, the two proposals do hot necessarily clash because Maori custom would allow the family to remove the ashes from the monument after they had been there for a time and to deposit them where they'teush them to ,K§main. The question of a successor to Sir Maui in Parliament was discussed, and Sir Maui Pomare’s son, T. Naero Pomare, was asked to stand by a number of speakers. He relied that he would consent only if the people were unanimous that as a tribute to his fathers memory he should do so, and that there would be no need for an election before the coming General Election. As it appeared likely that there would be other candidates, Te Naera withdrew, and it was announced that Taite Titomo (Mr Halcomble), a close associate of the late Sir Maui, would he the candidate of the Western Maori seat in the Reform interests. The name of the Rev. Robert Hnddon has been mentioned as a possible candidate, and there is also a possibility erf a Ratana candidate standing.