Page 5 Advertisements Column 2

King Country Chronicle, Volume III, Issue 115, 14 December 1908, Page 5

"The Maoris are a proud and sensitive people. Some of them may be poor and self-neglecting, but there is not in any of them the spirit of the serf. They must be free or die." These remarks were made by the Rev J. H. Simmonds, principal of Three Kings College, Auckland, on the occasion of the annual prize distribution on Wednesday last. "For many long years," he went on to say, "the Maori had resented and resisted our domination. He was urged to do so by prophets, who had proved to be false. Despair and extinction seemed inevitable. But nurtured in he missions and Christian schools, there were growing up a band of young men, who were striving to acquire European education and ideas, and in whose hearts there eame to live a new hope. These young men saw that the Europeans prospered because they were industrious, and they said: 'Why cannot our people work and prosper too?' They saw that the best of the Europeans followed the faith and virtues of the Christian religion, and they said: 'Why should not our people be Christians?' There were many things the Europeans could do," said Mr Simmonds. "Thsy could speak kindly to these people, help their self-respect, and cheer their aspiration!',. The Europeans could encourage the schools and support the missions. They could welcome these people into the churches, and encourage the ministers to visit them in their settlements, while every attempt to degrade them by means of liquor and gambling must be fought against."