Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 19, 1938. DYING RACES.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVIII, Issue 43, 19 January 1938, Page 8

Manawatu Evening Standard. WEDNESDAY, JAN. 19, 1938. DYING RACES.

Revived interest in the problem of the Australian aborigine has been evident of late in the Commonwealth, and the subject has also gained some attention in London with the petition recently' sent to the King by 1800 members of the dying race of “blackfellows” asking His Majesty to save them from extinction and to empower one of their own people, or a sympathetic white, to represent them in the Federal Parliament. The question of how to save some of the aboriginal tribes from extinction has become acute in recent years. Many are in different stages of degeneracy and an attitude of 'complete despair is common among them. Persons who have a lifetime’s expedience of them feel that the aborigines are their own worst enemies, because of their inability to see where their best interests now lie. It is frequently heard that the blacks are bound to die out; at least 150,000 have in fact died out, and it is contended that the others assuredly will unless some action is taken with great determination and ■with expert knowledge of immediate requirements in different localities. Thousands are living in small bands in squalid camps on the fringes of bush towns 01 cattle stations. Many more are in large organised camps or reservations, while others are to be found near mission stations Others still are living as individuals as they did centuries ago in the hills. All are in need of a much higher standard of nutrition; much iSore medical supervision is needed. Land hunger, disease, poor food, loss of social equilibrium, a widespread decline in tribal spirit, a drift to white settlements —all have played their share in the break-up and extinction of tribes. There are no fewer than six different Administrations trying to deal with such problems, and little headway seems to have been made. Financial provision and a united policy for the treatment of the subject seem to be needed badly,, and one factor which should in spurring the authorities into adequate action is the report of several anthropologists working among the tribes in the most remote part ot the continent that these undisturbed natives are restlessly moving off their traditional lands and that some are drifting into areas of white settlement. Segregation of the blacks still seems practicable, and observers , of conditions at first hand assert that unless this is done, and adequate assistance and expert guidance given, the process of extinction may be-

come even more rapid, Australia has much to her credit in her administration of the hi ew Guinea mandate -where, though the conditions are by no means parallel, she has shown that she can handle the native question with success. The rehabilitation of the aborigines remaining in the Commonwealth should not be beyond her. There are many interested persons following the fate of the Australian blacks with close attention and it is contended in some quarters that, unless Australia takes the problem of threatened extinction in hand immediately and with appropriate and adequate measures, her name may suffer in future history .