TWO PROBLEMS.

Waikato Times, Volume 107, Issue 17979, 26 March 1930, Page 14

TWO PROBLEMS.

NATIVE MODE OF LIVING.

HIGHER STANDARD NEEDED.

HELP FROM THE SCHOOLS.

The problem of raising the standard of living of the Maoris of the Far North was the subject yesterday of some observations by the Director of Education (Mr T. B. Strong), who has just completed a three-weeks’ tour of inspection of the native schools in the North Auckland district. In an interview with a Dominion representative -Mr Strong said that the area visited had been for many years famous for its production of kauri gum—an industry which had not proved to be an unmixed blessing to the Maori people, as It had induced large numbers of them to endeavour to make a scanty living by gumdigging rather than by farming. “tium-digging yields a very poor return at the present time, and consequently large numbers of the natives are living in a state of poverty,” he proceeded. “The only hope for them is to avail themselves of such fertile areas as remain in their possession and to go in for intensive cultivation. This is already being done at Te Kao, where the Tokarau Land Board has succeeded in placing a.number of native families on small dairy farms. Industry Imperative. “Another obstacle to progress in this direction is the divided ownership of sucli land as remains to the natives, but under a consolidation of land scheme the Native Land Courts are gradually doing away with partownership and are arranging for every family to possess a little farm of its own. These schemes, however good in themselves, are not likely to succeed unless the natives can break away from the habit of working intermittently—a habit which is one of the results of work on the gum fields. If the native is to succeed as a farmer he must be prepared to work as industriously and as persistently as his pakeha brother. Life on .‘the gumfields, too, has accustomed the native to a very low standard of living. Schools Can Help. “The problem is How to raise the standard of living among the natives of the Far North,” Mr Strong continued. “This is a problem that the schools should do much to solve. The district nurses are already doing a splendid work in this direction, but it is very hard to wean people away from habits of life so long established. The native school tethers deserve the highest praise for the work they are

doing in the various native communities. The schools, which are administered directly by the Education Department, are a model of cleanliness, and every effort is made by the teachers to set before the children, both by example and precept, the desirability of improving the native mode of living.

“The church secondary schools for natives, such as those in Auckland, Napier and Marton, are doing splendid work to set before the girls better standards of living-; but in the North Auckland district, at all events, it is not unusual for such girls on returning home to find it impossible to alter tile habits of their parents. I have •beer, informed that if a native girl on returning from a secondary school tried to introduce comforts into her home she would be sneered at and regarded as apeing the pakeha. “I am of opinion that any change in the desired direction will take several generations to effect. There will have to be a change of heart on the part of the older Maoris and more sympathy with the aims and objects of the training given to girls in the native secondary schools.”

Applying the Lessons

The Director said that in various addresses he had given to tile natives he had emphasised the importance of the parents giving their children an opportunity to put into practice the lessons they learned in the schools. •He had told them that it was to their interest to encourage their girls, who had become quite good cooks and seamstresses as the result of their school training. There was no doubt that improvement depended largely on the natives securing a sufficient return from whatever industry they engaged in, and he considered that they should all aim to secure sufficient land to provide them with a small Income. “it appears to me,” added Mr Strong, “that the two great problems facing those who have any interest in the native race in the Far North are, firstly, how to provide every native family with sufficient lands for their modest needs, and, secondly, how to induce them to adopt a higher standard of comfort, in their homes. So long as the latives live, as so many of them do, in insanitary houses, so long may we expect the race to be reduced in strength by disease. The Director said it was very gratifying to find that the Church authorities who were controlling two secondary schools for Maori boys in the Auckland district —namely, St. Stephen’s, and Paerata —had decided to make instruction in farming an essential feature of their schools. Queen Victoria School, a secondary school for Maori girls in Auckland, was visited by the Director, who had been pleased to note the emphasis that was placed there on the household arts. There appeared no doubt at all, he said, that schools of that kind ought Lo do a very great deal in the direction of raising llie standard of living among the natives.