WHY NOT?

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 306, 20 May 1911, Page 4

WHY NOT?

The Maori has decayed because he, a fighting man, no longer has anything to physically fight about. In the old days he lived for fighting, and he generally died ''in harness." It was his greatest pride to be a warrior. All the Maori statesmen and leaders were so by right of prowess and genius in strategy. The spirit is not dead, it merely sleeps. Now and again we have selected contingents of fine Maori men to send to the Old Lanil and elsewhere. This is in order to deceive the Old Land into the belief that we have a 'Maori force in New Zealand. We haven't. The military authorities have forgotten that there are Maoris in New Zealand, and they are not being called upon with their pattella friends to take their place as national defenders. The majority of Maori young men are dying of atrophy. Nothing kills a race so quickly as leisure—and the Maoris are practically the only leisured class in Xew Zealand". The salvation of the Maoris lies in work, but as they generally refuse to work voluntarily, it is the duty of the State to make them savo themselves from mental and physical atrophy. There are numerous cases in Xew Zealand where Maoris have been spurred by ambition to undertake fruitful and successful work. We believe that every effort should be taken to inclAdc Maori men in the citizen army, been use it will spur emulation, will give many idle youths some object in life, and will be of inestimable disciplinary benefit, besides materially strengthening the forces. The point is that Xew Zealand is the land of the Maori, and that he is as interested in keeping its shores free from the marauder as the pakeha. It is inevitable, should the real defence of Xew Zealand be necessary, that the Maori would be bound to throw in his lot with the citizen army. While his instinctive genius for bush warfare would lie of great utility, even without preliminary training, such a training would make a much more valuable soldier of him. Compulsory service for the Maori might stir him to some kind of action, and help to save a splendid race of warriors from rusting to death.