RIOTOUS MAORIS.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 2242, 22 February 1921, Page 2

RIOTOUS MAORIS.

CONDITIONS AT TE AItAIt O A EUROPEANS TERRORISED. DRINKING IN “DRY” AREA.

Gisborne, Thursday. Stories of wild doings are x>L'hing Gisborne from Te Araroa\tL. township of the east coast, 110 % miles to the north. The iiiiormation given- was fully confirmed and corroborated by the remarks made to a reporter to-day by Mr J. 8. Barton, S.M., the local magistrate, who returned to Gisborne last night. Mr Barton had been away on a tour of the east coast, and during his trip held sittings of the Court.

“I havfc received a good many complaints lately,” he said, “from prominent residents of Te Araroa and business people of the very serious state of affairs existing there, stating that life in the township was becoming intolerable by reason of the excessive drinking by the Maoris. I am informed that white people are in the minority, and also that large.find frequent shipments of spirits tire being made there. The result is seen in the conditions complained of. I am illformed that drunken Maoris attack the storekeepers and demand goods on credit, and the storekeepers complain that conditions are so bad that their assistants will not remain with litem. One of the assistants has made application to me to be allowed to carry arms. Just prior to my leaving for the coast 1 received a strongly-worded letter from a resident, begging to be protected, while the Minister for Justice and the representative in Parliament have also been told of the conditions tit Te Araroa. This letter was accompanied by one from the clerk of the Matakaoa County Council, stating that he was instructed to associate the Council with the application to enforce some remedy. “At the Court at Port Awanni," Mr Barton continued, “a large list of criminal eases was heard, and practically without exception all are based on the over-indulgence in liquor, and revealed a most distressing state of life. The Justice Department has been urged to send an extra policeman to Te Araroa, and to build a lock-up. Constable Mclntyre stated, in evidence, that under the present condition he could not cope with the work without help, but that if the proper facilities were allowed there would be next to nothing for him to do. “Evidence,was given before me." said Mr Barton, “that in connection with the drunken rowdiness that goes on, it is quite impossible for white women to attend the local picture show, by reason of the riotous and disgraceful conduct of drunken Maoris. I have made certain recommendations to the Department, and I hope soon to find time to visit Te Araroa and hold a sitting of the Court, while 1 also intend to bring the matter before my brother members of the Licensing Committee. I may add that the district is a prohibited area, a Maori poll having decided that it is illegal to supply liquor on or off the premises, and yet we find that Constable Mclntyre spends hiwhole time in putting down drunken brawls and separating street lighters."