Maori Should Work For What He Gets

Manawatu Times, Volume 62, Issue 34, 10 February 1937, Page 5

Maori Should Work For What He Gets

Speeds. Sustenance Money on Drink CONDITIONS IN NORTH ANJ HAWKE’S BAY. g’er Press Association. WELLINGTON, Last Night. A declaration that the condition of the Maoris in North Auckland was “all the fault of the Government” was made at a meeting of the Dominion Council of the New Zealand Red Cross Society at Wellington to-day by Mr. T. MeNab (Auckland) when reference was made to the importance of the health work of the Red Cross Society and lo the appointment of a nurse who had taken a special course in England to work among the Maoris in North Auckland. Mr. McNab said attention to the condition of the Maoris was a necessity, but his opinion was that the position was all the fault of the Government. “They give them free money and they use most of it on drink,” he declared. “The Maori where money is concerned is a child. What he gets easily he spends quickly. The Government has brought this trouble on itself by giving them money. The Maori should be made to work for every penny lie gets.” Mrs. T. H. Lowry (Hawke's Bay)* “We know that from our experience at home. ’ * Mr. McNab: “All the sustenance money and that sort of thing goes to the hotels, in the north, at any rate." Mrs. Lowry: “They should be given food and seeds and not money.” Mr. McNab: "Certainly they should have food and clothing, not money. Going through North Auckland yon can see Maori children ill-fed and ill-cloth-ed. It *s all because they get sustenance money and pension money and so ofl free.”