MAORI MISSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 158, 8 July 1903, Page 4

MAORI MISSION.

AM INTKRESTINU ME3TING. Thb annml meeting of the New Plymouth Maori Mis ion was held on Monday evening. The chair was cccapud by Archdeacon Cole, the Revs, (vans, F. A. Benne t and Ropere, and gnna half-a-d; ze \ Maoris were amongst frn— present. Th»re was a fair attendant*. The proceedings were opened by the ringing of a Maori hymn by the M loris and prayer by Archdeacon Oole. Mr W. H. Skinner then read the balance sheet, whic'i he said hid already been circulatal with thaanual report of St. Mary's Church. In the course of some explanatory remarks Mr Skinner 8 iiJ it showed abent £9 less th m last year, but the ■am of £35 was eeit away to defray the expense of Mr Waita's cd'egs course as he was out' own student and tha college was in need of f ucds. Mr Skinner then foimally moved the ad iption of the report, which was seconded lqr Mr Stanley Shaw and carried aftjr one or two questions had been asked and answered. Archdeacon Cole expressed his pleaana at presiding over such ameetiog as he was greasy interested in the Maori work. He was, however, not all satisfied with the pen' ion rnd thought more centralisation wasneedid. This was also the feeling of the B si _>p and he had called the Maori miss'oo 17 into Auckland so as to have his a>!s c > and asiistacca regarding the M -ri work at headquarters. He thoi ;bt Something of this sort was needed herj as he must confess he did not understand the position of the Maori Mission in Taranaki. For ir>3tarce, he was Archdeacon of Taranaki, but he had no official standing or connection with the a'srioo. The fund also did not spp'ar to him to be in a satisfactory posiioj, and it Eeeincd absurd to him for the I money raised in Taranaki to have to bs ant to Auckland and then sent bick to Taranaki. While in Auckland ha had endeavoured to got this pat into a more satisfactory position with, he hoped, god results, fie than went on to eulogise the work I of Archdeacon Williams ia connection with the Maori mission, and hoped soon to aee h ' m in Tarauaki. He thought it wa« a matter for regret that the white clergy had no tim 9 to devote to Mwri work, bu 1 ; they had not time avan to do what was required in the matter of visiting their own countryman in the back blocks of Taranaki, nil he Jias quite shocked at the way in which the back blocks were neglected, and the people being allowed to go bask to psganiam. He had groat sympathy fer the work Mr Bennett was doing amongst his Maori eountrymen, bat ha was not able to do enough. He was continually being raken away, and asnt to other pa. *s of the colony, while mry minnte of his time was required tree. He would like also to get a man oat from Home to devote himself entirely to the Maori work. There were ' those at home anxious to devote then lives to mission wotk, and be thought «f snob an one could be got to go and im amongst the Maoris, learn their language, and devote his whole time to tba work the cause of Christ would be gnatly advanced in this district. Mr Stanley Shaw said the Archdsaoonhad not had the experience tbey had had of the Auckland committor For years the local committee had worked to get the Maori mission in this district placed on a different footing. Meeting after meeting had been hatd, Mr Arthur Standish and others bad taken a very active part in trying to gst tba Maori mission in this district ahead on a proper footing, with very Ltd* result. At last Archdeaoon Wfllioms had come forward »nd bought the Bell Biock property, placed the Bar. Bennett upon it, and generally pot the mission on a most satisfactory footing. As they all knew, the Rev. Mr Bennett had done excellent work amongst the Maoris, and was most highly appreciated by both Europeans aol Maoris alike. He believed a great deal ef good was being done, and he had great hopes of the future. He eulogised the work done by Mr Skinner, and the assistance he had given the BjT. F. A. Bennett, and moved a hearty vote vote of thanks to them for their exoellent work. Archdeacon Cole said their w»s no doubt criminal neglect on the part oi the Auckland conominee, but ha hoped tint was now a thing of the past. Mr C. Govett eaid thsy would never bar* any improvement so long as th«y w*'* tied to Auckland, and the only hope for the future was to strike out on their own anl form a Diocese ol Tanaaki. He differed entirely with the Archdeacon in reference to bringing a man out from Home, as the position of such a man would be that he would be useless for months till he had learned the language and Maori cu* toms. The great hope in the case ol th* Maoris was education. The pesi turn was quite different now to what ii was in the old Missionary days whet the Maoris lived in large cumbers ii big pahs and there were few whiti people. S'i"h a thing as a big pal oculd n-t b) found now. The Maori war* much fewer and all mixed uj with the Euro/ioans, and many of then ■poke English and had adopted En glißh habits. In fact in a tew yeats i would be hard to find a Maori wh ooaM not talk English. The nativ scheols were going to bring the native and the Europeans much closer tc geth&i, so that the Maori would b

within reach of the influence of the , white clergyman, In the meantime ; th<?y should g. v) Mr Bsnnett all the ftssisV ici in their power. The Rev. F. G. Evans seconded Mr Shaw's motion, and urged that Mr Bennett should be permanently stationed in New Plymouth and have three or f our men under him, to enable him to oope with the work of the district. The fie'd was too large for one or even two men, especially when Mr Bennett was so muoh called away. Mr W. H. Skinne* 1 sesented any indirect insinuation that the work of the mission had bean neglected through the absence of the Rev, F. A. Bennett, Mr Bennett had been called away to work of vast importance to the Maori race, but the work of the district had gone on and bean faithfully carried out. Archdeacon Cole said no reflections were intended, but they could not shut their eyes to the fact that while the Rev. F. A. Bennett was in other parts of the colony doing, he admitted, very valuable and important work, he was not in Taranaki, where, he was selfish enough to say, they wanted him most. Mr Shaw thought there were many advantages in Mr Bennett going round the colony. It did him good, and he was sure no man was so to arouse interest in the Maori Missioß cause as Mr Bennett, and wherever interest was arou-ed in the cause the whole colony benefitted. The Rev. F. G. Evans said the strong desire expressed to keep Mr Bennett here was the best proof of the high esteem in which he was held and appreciation of his services. Archdeacon Oole said the feeling everywhere along this coast was the same as that expressed by Mr Govett that tbey should form their own diocese with local control. In Hawera, where he went the other day to assist in opening the church, the same feeling was shown, and there was no doubt bu L > that the sooner tbey had a Bishopric of Taranaki the better. Mr Shaw's motion was then put and carried. The Rev. F. A. Bennett, who was very heartily received, said there was no doubt but that there was a strong feeling in the parish against his going outside, but surely those who put him' here and maintained him had the fist call on his services. Moreover, the work he was called upon to undertake was special work for which it was difficult to find a suitable man. They wanted a man who thoroughly understood the Maori r&c 3 , and, at tho same time, could adlress European congregations in their own language. He was chos in therefore as the only one who had these qualifications. He had no need to dwell on the importance of the workflhe was called upon to undertake, the advocacy of the school for Maori girls, but he said, without fear of contradiction, and without egotism, that there was no one so well qualified to undertake this work, and he believed the mw.ure of success which had attended bis efforts had proved that the right thing had been done. Rega r ding bis work here, it had net been in any way neglected during his absence from the district. His colleague, the Rev. Mr Ropere and his wife, wera here, and had done good work in his absence, and Uft no stone unturned so that the cause should not suffer. Mr Ropere had visited every part of the district, aad his reports on the interest being taken in the work of the mission were most encouragicg. Natives themselves were .coming forward and offering their services sb lay readers and catachists and generally the outlook was bright. It was true there was not muoh encouragement for the Maori to give himself to the work of the church. They talked of a Minister only getting XISO a year, but they expected the Maori ministers to lire on only .£25 a year and the Maori was not, as a few years ago, able to support himself on a few acres of land, as every mouthful of focd he ate now coat money. Yet many of these men were doing good wotk for Christ under the most unfavourable conditions. He had no sympathy with the idea of bringing a man out from Home for this work. How could he have the love of the Maori in his heart as he and his fellow-workei s had. His (the speaker's) love for the Maori was the strongest emotion of his heart next to his love for Christ. He believed he was more a Maori at boart than a white man and anyone coming from Home would hard so much to learn before he cou'd devote himself sjUly to this work that it was batter to work with the material thoy had at hand. He knew for some time there was

slumbering dissatisfaction at his absence from the district and to-night au come out. I was Will I hat it ha ?, rnd they could meet it fice to face, and he had no hesitation in saying that it was extremely selfish to want to keep him here whan he could do so much good in other places. The difficulty was, they had so faw man who, while heart to heart with the Maori, could preach a sermon in English. They had one Maori minister in Auckland who could do sc>, and next year they hoped to have three more young men, now at College. In the meantime they were unworthy their proft-ssioi s as a Christian people if they allowed any selfish feeling to hinder the good work which he felt he had been able to do. He hopsd he was not speaking too strongly (dries of No. No), but *he strongest feeliug in his heart was his desire to uplifo the Maori race, and he believed he had been privileged to do something in that direction. If thise present thought the interest in the Maori work was not growing he differed from them. As he went abou 1 ; the colony he saw indications that the interest in this great work was growing amongst the English congregations it had been hia privilege to address. Locally he need only point to the success of the late biziar; but better than all the Maoris themselves were opening their hearts to the word of God, and in places that a short time ago would not receive them, ttjsy low gave them an attentive hearing, and their work was beginning to bear fruit. Mr Ropere then gave a brief addie3s, interpreted by the Rev. Mr Bennett, in the courße of which he expressed his thanks for the interest taken in the woik by the Europsans present, and his gratitude for the assistance given him in his work. He spoke of the. difficulties he had had to contend with, and the visits he had paid to different parts cf the district. He was pleased to report a decided improvement in the habit") of the Maoris, and said in several places where it had bean difficult to get a hearing the chiefs had asked him to come back. Indulgence in alcohol at tangis was much lessened. He referred to the influence of the Maori doc' or or tohunga, who made no charge for his services in money, while the cost of getting an English doctor prevented the Maoris consulting them, He had been for a long time sowing seed, some of which he hoped would spring up and be.r good fruit. He hoped the interest now being shown in the mission work would grow. Archdeacon Oole referred to the pleasure with which all must have listened to Mr Bennett, and bis earnestness only made th3m realise the good he could do in the district if he, and such as he, could only devote his wbola time to it. If thsy could send Mr Bennett home to England he would come back with plenty of money for the mission fund. After another beautifully sung hymn by the Maoris the meeting closed with the Benediction.