NO MONEY: NO ORDER

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 238, 28 May 1932, Page 6

NO MONEY: NO ORDER

worked for stores WHOLE PA DEPENDENT UPON COMMUNAL SAWMILL "A CHAMPION JOB" Some interesting and amusing sidelights on the Maori communal • spirit were provided in the Taupo Magistrate's Court on Thursday when ten Maori defendants from Waihi Pa, outside Tokaanu, explained to Mr. S. L. Paterson, S.M., that they were unable to pay monies due on judgment summonses owing to the fact that they had been working for varying periods without wages, and merely in return for food and supplies bartered for timber. • It was explained that the whole pa of approximately 150 persons was almost entirely dependant upon the returns from a sawmill which was being operated on a communal basis by the able-bodied men of the village. The share capital of this mill was supplied by three Europeans who, undei' the memorandum of association, waived any claim upon the profits from its operation and merely held the shares in trust for the natives. Mr. M. H. Hampson, who explained these facts to his Worship, said that owing to the depression in the timber trade, it had been found impossible to pay wages to the men who had been working for some time in return for groceries and other necessaries which were exchanged for the milled timber. Asked Not to Show Goods The plaintiff in the various proceedings, S. I. Beton, counsel stated, was an itinerant hawker, who had come to the pa and displayed his wares. He had been told by the native mill manager, Mr. Pau Mariu, that the Maoris were not receiving money and asked not to show his goods, as the natives had nothing with which to make pruchases. However, in spite of this warning, Beton had displayed his goods to a number of Maori women who, in the absence of the men, had made purchases on credit. Beton was now seeking to recover the amounts incurred. Hard to Keep Going It had been desperately hard to keep the mill going, Mr. Hampson stated, and the bank had been pressing the guarantors very hard. Under these circumstances it had been impossible to pay the men wages, and when the position had been explained they had agreed to operate the mill in return for stores and necessaries until such time as things improved; it had only been possible to obtain sufficient of these to keep the pa going and no more. Some of these natives were partowxiers of some extremely valuable timber rights, but the area had been locked up by the Crown pending negotiations for purchase, and they were unable to realise upon the asset. Mr. Hampson then ealled Pau Mariu, who said that he had warned Beton not to display his wares as the men could not pay fo rthem. The mill had been through a very difficult period, and they had only been cutting sufficient timber to exehange for stores. Assist Natives The mill had been built to assist the natives at Waihi, and the whole village of approvimately 150 persons was dependant upon it. Actually there was only full time worlc for about a dozen men, but in order to keep them going the mill had been employing all the able-bodied men in the pa. Morehu Te Tomo, one of the debtors, was then called. He said that he had been working in the mill for some time in return for stores. The Tuwharetoa Trust Board supplied a nurse who gave free medical attention. His wife had ordered the goods in question without his permission. Mr. E. Roe (for judgment creditor) : You find you can get along without money, do you? — Well, they give us any flour and all that sort of thing. No order was made. His "Future" The next defendant was Erehu Whakapukau, a single man, who stated that he had been working at the mill for the past four years in return for stores and clothing. He had not received more than 5/- or 10/- a month in cash during that time. He had bought a pair of shoes and a blanket from Beton, who had told hina he could pay for them whenever he got the money. He had had no money since then, however. Mr. Roe: How do you get on when you go to a dance? — Oh, borrow two bob, eh. Oh, you can still get credit, can you? — Yes. I have one or two pretty rich mates. Don't you ever take girls to dances? — No. Never been guilty of such a thing? — I only take my future. Your future what? — My future wife. I am not a dancing man. What is your sport, then? — Football and tennis. Where do you get the racquets and balls to play tennis? — Oh, they belong to the club. We made the court ourselves. No order was made. Similar evidence was given by George Kaipara, who said that he had been working at the mill for three years without wages. Even the cigarettes were "on the company." Asked whether he was not a single man, Kaipara said that he was "deceased" by his wife, which, translated, meant that he was a widower. "Champion Job" No order was made in this ease or in that of K. Himapo, another native -who said that he iiad drawn no wages since the order was made. With a wide smile, Tai Hepi, who with his brothers, Tini, Francis and Berry, said he had "not had any money for "a long time." Mr. Roe: If I offered you a job at £2 10s a week, would you take it or would you rather stop at the mill? — Oh, I would not get the job. The Magistrate: You had better be careful, Mr. Roe, he might take it. Mr. Hampson: As long as you don't

make it en bloc. Mr. Roe: Well, if I offered you a job would you take it or stop with the company? — I would stop with the company. It must be a good job, this company? — It is sure tucker, anyway. The Magistrate: He means that your job might not be, Mr. Roe. Francis Hepi said that he thought the same as his brother. "I think it is a champion job," he said, with a smile that showed an exeellent set of teeth at their best. Mr. Roe: Do you go to pictures? — No. Do you smoke? — About a tin a day Is that all your fun? — Yes. Don't you get much fun? — No (with another very cheerful smile). No orders were made in any of the cases, one being dismissed as against a pensioner, and a second as against a married woman.