LIQUOR AT CHATEAU

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 822, 16 November 1929, Page 1

LIQUOR AT CHATEAU

MAORI SOCIETY SENDS OBJECTION BREACH OF FAITH ALLEGED Claiming the committing of a breach of faith with the King Country Maoris, the Akarana Maori Association today dispatched an objection to the issuing of a liquor licence for Chateau Tongariro. r J'HE protest, approved at a special meeting, including members representing Rohepotae (King Country) natives, was sent to the acting-Prime Minister, the Hon. G. W. Forbes. An objection to the licence was made this week by the Auckland Presbvtery, which held that New Zealand’s pledge to the natives concerned had been violated. It is probable that further protests will be made by organisations engaged in social and religious work among the Maoris. In the opinion of the Akarana Association, the breach of faith alleged affects the natives of the National Park area in West Taupo, a part of the Rohepotae country. The presentation of Tongariro by the natives to New Zealand should be a sufficient reason, the association contends, for the consideration of Maori opinions and interests. The issue of the licence is regarded as acting against Maori interests and the association does not consider the licence to be for the welfare of Europeans or natives of the district. LEADER IN MOVEMENT Te Heu Heu Tukino, father of the Ngati-Tuwharetoa chief, who gave Tongariro National Park to the Dominion, was one of the leaders of the district in the petition to the Government to ban public houses and liquor licences in the King Country. The Ngati-Maniapoto chiefs, Wahanui and Manga, were others in the peti tion. The Government promised to observe the requests of the natives and the ban was not to be affected by changing times. Illegal traffic in liquor has constituded a problem in the King Country and has resulted in vigilance among social organisations. There have been reports recently of the drinking of methylated spirits by natives. In 1867, the Rev. T. S. Grace, who established a mission station at Taupo, wrote: “The Maoris of the district have petitioned again and again that public houses be not allowed among them. We, a highly civilised and professedly Christian people, stand reproved by these we esteem barbarI ians and savages.”