THE Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 1879. THE MAORI CENSUS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume I, Issue 68, 22 April 1879, Page 2

THE Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, APRIL 22, 1879. THE MAORI CENSUS.

9 The Census of the Maori population, taken in March of last year, and presented to Parliament during the session, has recently been printed, and is now before us. It tells a melancholy story of the gradual decay of the native race. Some persons profess to see in this decay the fulfilment of prophecy, and the triumph of one race of men over another. The facts and figures before us rather attribute it to the action of iuexorable natural laws. Sentimentalise and boast as we may, the occupation by the British *of New Zealand has been a curse to its aboriginal inhabitants. Neither our civilisation nor our religion have laid any hold upon them ; whilst our national vices are hewing them down by thousands, as the following figures will show —

Decrease (exclusive of Ghatuam Islands, 122) 3,319. It will therefore be seen thut, accepting the above figures, the Maoris

aro decreasing at the rate of about 800 per annum, which is an enormous percentage of the whole. The following are the numbers of the population at the various Kaingas in this district : — Awahuri . . . . 12& Hokowhitu . . . . 18 Awapuni . . . . 36 Tiaki Tahuna v . 19 Oroua Bridge . . 12 To Motuiti . . . . 35 Matakarapa. . ■„ 56 Potu „ > „ » , 86. Moutoa » . . . 47' Poroutawhao .. 53 Horowhenua . . 109. Muhunoa . . „ 24 Ohau 25 Waikawa . . „ 51 Pukekaraka > > 56 Oiaki „ >, 210 Whether there has been any decrease at the places mentioned above, we have no means of ascertaining, as the details are not given. In the Wauganui District, in which Manawatu is included, there has been an increase of 8. Possibly, therefore, any decrease in this part of the district may have been more than compensated for at the Patea end, or vice versa. The census is accompanied by reports from the collectors, who are mostly Resident Magistrates. From these, a very good idea can be gained of the causes which are rapidly ef*> fecting the extinction of the natives. Mr Von Stunner writes as follows from the Hokianga District j — I feel sure it must be plain to all observers that the Native population is slowly but surely passing away. Where so many causes exist, it is difficult to assign any particular reason. It is certainly not that the women are unfruitful, as it is not at all uncommon to find who have been the parents of families of six or even ten children unable to succeed in rearing one I may be in error, but I attribute a great deal of this to the inordinate use of spirits, and that of the worst possible description ; and I believe that the parents, though naturally ,of strong constitutions, have in many instances co debauched them selves that they cannot become the pro* genitora of a population as healthy as their forefatheis. Mr. "Williams, writing from the Bay of Islands, says : — The*present return shows a decrease ameunfciuft to 8 per cent since the last census w*' taken. No virulent disease or epidemic has prevailed to account for this decrease, nor are the Natives generally an uu» healthy race of people ; but their want of cleanliness, their careless mode of living, and reckless exposure of themselves to all weathers, are causes which, combined, render them an easy prey to disease, and when attacked they at once give up in despair. The only hope for the Native race is their being induced to adopt European habits and customs ; to cultivate cleanliness, a better attention to clothing and diet, and providing for themselves and their children some more comfortable shelter from the elements than the miserable hovels which they now call houses, and in which, with bub few exceptions, they are content to huddle together in the greatest state of discomfort. Mr Jackson writes as follows from Pokeno . — There are three principal causes accounting for the decrease of the native population. First, their love of drink. Second, the sacrifice of their females to prostitution, often when very young-. Third, their change in mode of living and clothing. Formerly they wore little or no clothes, and were from infancy inured to the weather ; and their bodies being covered with " red ochre" and oil, prevented them from feeling the changes in the weather as they seem now to do. Since taking to wear blankets and oiher warm clothing, they appear to have become more susceptible of cold ; no doubt on account of the irregular way they clothe themselves, sometimes having sufficient, and at others having scarcely any. Most, and I think nearly all who live near European settlements, when they have funds sufficient aiter paying for drink and food, buy clothing ; at other times, when without sufficient to pay for the three necessary items, buy food and drink, and neglect the clothing; they consequently are bound to suffer under such a state of things. This refers principally to natives living near settlements where they can procure liquor. Mr. Alexander Mackay, Civil Commissioner, reports as follows upon the natives residing in the Provincial Districts of Westland, Marlborough, and Nelson : — At present the aggregate population is 692. In 1858 it was 3,514. The difference, therefore, between the numbers at that date aud now represents a decrease equal to 45 per cent during the two decennary periods under consideiation. It shoull, however, be borne in mind that fully 20 per cent of the decrease is attributable to immigration. Another point is the paucity of females. This fact, combined with the inadequate number of births that occur to counteract the high rate of mortality that prevails, readily accounts for the decline in number*. The prudential checks to populotion which operate in many parts of the world exercise no retarding influence with the natives, as they usually possesi an abundance of good land with every facility for obtaining the necassaries of life, to which is added the advantage of dwelling in a climate of greater salubrity than is enjoyed in most parts of the world ; but, notwithstanding all these advantages that tend to keep a population in a normal condition, the Maori is giadually passing away. The main causes, apart from other reasons that may be advanced for the decline of the native race, are their low social habits, the weakness of tho females, the inequality of the sexes in a directly inverse order to that obtaining amongst the population of other countries in a healthy condition, and the great paucity of births together with a high rate of mortality • All these influences tend to show that, so long as so many and such powerful causes adverse to the increase of population exist, any result except decrease it impossible. 1 he above extracts from gentlemen who are intimately acquainted with the native'race speak for themselves. Gradually but surely they are dying out, and Macaulay's New Zealander who sketches the ruins of London will certainly not be one of the aboriginal inuabitants. I v deed, if they continue to decline at the present rate, another two generations may witness the inevitable time when the Maori will be a rare sight even in his own land. Humanity naturally impels us to take measures to pro*

vout their extinction. Perhaps by sanitary laws of a compulsory clia' racter, they might be induced to live in; such a n«anner that the ruce would be preserved. The steps neCdssary to thisj however j are totally opposed to the whole of the propensities and instincts of the average Maori. He delights in drink: He is too idle to till his grouud, if ho can avoid it. Ha will live in a low unhealthy whafe, although able to erect a house. Endowed with vast poosessions of laud, the Maoris have never been compelled to work. Their wealth has been their curse j It ha 3 made lliem the pray of designing Europeans, who have been only too ready to teach them dur national vices-. It has made them idle, and lin consequence dissolute ; and whilst the active, working Anglo Saxon race is increasing in these isles, the native inhabitants, are far more rapidly dying out. The civilisation they need to be taught is thisj— that man is sent into the worid to work.

Maori population, 1874, 46,016 „ 1878, 42,819