MAORI BATTALION

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20957, 9 November 1939, Page 2

MAORI BATTALION

NGAPUHI S DISSATISFIED RECRUITING OFFICERS UNPAID (Special to Times) WHANG ARE I. Wednesday Dissatisfaction exists among the Maoris of North Auckland at the attitude of the Government toward Maori recruiting and the proposed officering of the Maori battalion with pakehas. This dissatisfaction came to a head when it was learned that a number of the recruiting officers in North Auckland were not receiving pay. Twelve recruiting officers were appointed, three of whom were officers of the Native Department, and so are -receiving their pay from that department. Of the remaining nine authority has been received for the payment of four only. The other five were told that they would not receive pay. and the men concerned, it is stated, can ill afford the time and expense that they have put into their jobs. Even for the four for whom authority for pay has been received this authority is only to October 21, when Maori recruiting was to have closed. No mention is made of the 10 days to October 31, to which date recruiting was extended, or to the subsequent indefinite extension. To discuss this position a meeting of some of the leading officers in the North was held at Whangarei this morning, when representatives from the Bay of Islands and Hokianga as well as Whangarei were present. Question of Officers

It was decided to call a full meeting of all recruiting officers and the elders of the Ngapuhis, to be held at Kaikohe on Friday. The whole position of Maori recruiting will then be considered, as well as the question of officering the Maori battalion and especially of the Ngapuhi company.

The Ngapuhis fully support the Arawas in their contention that Maori officers should be in charge of the Maori troops. As far as the Ngapuhis are concerned a petition signed by 206 of the leading men of the tribe, asking that Captain Harding Leaf, of Whirinaki, an officer with the Maoris in the last war, should be placed in charge of the

Ngapuhis, has already been forwarded to the Minister of Native Affairs for presentation to the Minister of Defence.

SOUTH ISLAND MAORIS

OWN OFFICERS WANTED (Special to Times) . CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday South Island Maoris are fully in accord with the views recently expressed regarding the resentment of North Island Maoris at the announcement that European officers are to be appointed as company commanders with the Maori battalion of the special force. One of the South Island registration officers, Lieutenant H. Pohio, said that there could be no room for disagreement among Maoris on this question. The men were entitled to be led by their own officers, and there were men registered eminently suitable for commissioned rank. “I am sure I speak for my colleague, Captain J. C. Tikao, also, when I say that we strongly support the Arawas in their protest,” declared Lieutenant Pohio. Recruiting among the Maoris had shown a higher proportion joining up than in recruiting among pakehas, he added, and that in itself was some justification of the Maori right to have their own officers.

A point that had to be kept in mind, if Maori officers were appointed, was the advisability of South Island Maoris being commanded by officers from the South Island. During the Great War three South Island Maoris had been commissioned, and it was hoped that this would be remembered. Lieutenant Pohio said that in the Great War the Maori force was one of the smartest to leave the country, and there was competition among members of the staff for appointments tc it.