DESTITUTE NATIVES

Opotiki News, Volume I, Issue 36, 25 May 1938, Page 4

DESTITUTE NATIVES

y'i . v v , VoNLY ISOLATED CASES

APPROVED' CHARGES/ QF IMPROVIDENCE TAKEN Strong -exception to the sweeping condemnation of .Maori housing and. health’.conditions, made at the lu.vA/' meeting of ' the Waiapu Hospital Board, is taken by of the native race in the .ciisti&ety several w4o in then/' capacity as officers of the Native Department have occasion to- regular visits to the East Cbast',., spates the I\B. Herald. It is elaiiiped that so far from desti- ; tution and improvidence being general among the Maoris of the toast iuM l Poverty Bay] very substantial • pi, gress has bejen made in bringing ,/ne housing of natives clo?d to j the European standard. There are i so ~ lated cases’in'vyhicli families and viduals ; am living hutjs. oiVjn shacks of Much hut th3*:, are not p&ans'-’ % fithttv those wljjse ;btts&Wi int ° the lnost jeiifote oi^t^^i^lenients. ‘ of" MaariL-Jivihg -wider uWis v x of |uropea' ; m,:\vhoi live iif'unhealthy 5 ;-tsium towns and cities of New.Ze|iland, : ’/stated one champion of the Maori race. “The mention of concentration camps for improvident Maoris reflects no credit upon the goodwill or judgment of members of the Wainpu Hospital Board. Obviously, the suggestib.A was thrown out in a moment of abstraction* and ' possibly without knowledge that the. discussion at tlie board table was being reported fully. Most of our people, will regret, however, that the board member who mentioned concentration camps was not restrained by the chairman or other members.’' •.Another well-known Mlaori stated that some of the men who had least to sSow in the way of material goods were veterans who had fought with the Europeans in the Great War. These men were even less able to make a good showing, economically, than the.. European returned soldiers, who were in closer touch with official quarters and moreover had an active association working on their behalf.

The belief that raupo. could be and /healthy. . than of European design • wa&h'-&feo/;piit to a pressman making i -quiries into Maori housing conditions., Th> tacit That many Maori domiciles were tmfloofed was admitted, but this in itsel%w.as/v not considered inimical to health;) C&gj. The majority, of native outside European settlements had dirt floors, except for the portion devoted to sleeping accommodation,it was explained, and the dirt .floors were hard-packed and regularly 'swept. “Thtflsact- that the- -Maori housewife- Uf TflT a - nianuka broom instead of a brpigljUf ctjrii;, or hair.broom dues not '‘-(.ietracq friph the cleanliness of her house, V,;'the'?'jjresspian was informed. Nor ale ,family..,conditioiis in the average Maori homfe worse: from the point of view’-of than Van be 'found ill dozens, <&'. instances among Europeans in 'tie hackblocks.” An effort ttf seevre comment upon - the AVaiapu Hcftpitij Bpard discussion • . from Sir Mpirai‘vS’fea.ta was without result. E'' Apiray(i / interviewed while--5 parsing through Cftsbfrme on .Saturday; afternoon, stated that Ife had not a report '«S&he dischissihr, had no to cd»u) t biit s ciimstancJisv>“ V'G Pb'osress of StareSphemes. / Ylnteju'irie.s at the Native Dcpartnmnt’s oitiee regarding the progress of the Government’s scheme lor improving housing 1 conditions among the Maoris l-ev-e.f .vj that a large number ol applications lor leans and grants \had been approved, and that substantial results had been obtained to date im/teplacing obsolete accommodation Wb|r£:up-toidate dwellings. •Jm the Waiapu Hospital Board’s ayeU,: a total of 2(5 houses have been approved for Maoris in a position to guarantee loan repayments out of rentsV, or other revenue accruing to them '(through the agency of the Maori I/aiid Board. In 16: other cases, in wlpch \tiie applicants were ovithoi.it rent or dividends, or other revenue out of which IoW. instalments and.;interest could be applications had been approved lor indigence grants which would l enable them to lie housed suitably. \

Not all t-hic applications are for new houses. .Several eases require pnly additions or renovations t 0 bring existing houses tip to a better standard of health and/ comfort. The first 2G houses will | absorb , £'6850, and indigence grants will require another 233. G '' '

In the Gisborne district. 25 applications for loans have been approved in eases where revenue to meet iepay-

'■ ; ft >yy - incuts i.s the total amount . involved £5144. Indigence grants mu if all arc granteej, also have oeeji recommended. In all, housing subsidies and indigence grants recommended, to date for the Clisborm* and JCast Coast areas will absorb £20,GJI, should the recommendations Jbey adopted by the Minister of fa,rs. • ' ./» Shortage of Carpenters. / .v; |/ rligj.-.irr One difficulty in connection wit,h(isßc improvement of Maori housing-is ; *tho short supply of competent carpenters. In cases where indigence grants being expended by the Native Department in housing schemes, the regulations provide that Maori" workers should he given opportunities ify as rough ing to buildtaij) a-.-reserve of ijative tradesmen with a capacity for‘ using tools and tijihber. Supervision of th*'# efforts' of these men is a matter of /some '"nionient, and the Public Worksf Department lias appointed Mr I*J. R. Huclson, well known in the trade, as supervisor of housing jobs on which State money is being expended. He has under him two assistants who are domiciled at Manutuke and at Tokomrau Bay respectively, and an organisation is being built up gradually.

ATaiiv other difrrculties have to he overcome., in the course of the worK, but every effort is being made to wipe out the isolated cases of markedly unhealthy housing conditions in the Tairawliiti land district.