MAORI MEMORIES

Wairarapa Times-Age, 25 July 1940, Page 11

MAORI MEMORIES

PROGRESS OF MAORI AND PAKEHA. (Recorded by J.H.S., o£ Palmerston North, for the “Times-Age.”) In 1854 a wide move was made by the Maori race, who saw with wonder and appreciation the peaceful union of the whites to appeal for English laws to be applied to themselves. Trial by jury, which had helped to civilise the ancient Saxon mobs, was planned for the Maoris by Mr Richmond. Regulations including trial by jury, and social economics for the Maoris were made available to them when asked for by a majority of any tribe. These acts and others relating to Native lands were discussed in the House of Representatives with an earnest desire for the welfare of the Maoris, during a period of four months. Though a relative of the Premier had been killed by the Maoris at Wairau a short time peviously, the discussions in Parliament were directed calmly for their welfare. The relative strength of Maori and British forces had for some years become a serious question. Maori estimates were regarded as being deliberately understated, until it was found that quite innocently their count included fighting men only. Like the ancient Israelites, women and children were regarded as mere accessories and were never counted. In 1858 an official census gave the total Maori population as 56,049 with a predominance of 57 males to 31 females, a condition regarded by science to be a threat of rapid extinction. The whites in 1851 numbered 26,711; 15,039 males, 11,672 females. In 1858 we had a total of 59.254: 33,585 males, 25,669 females. In 1857 only 62 adults in every 100 could read and write, a reflection on their country of origin.