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21

G.—lc

(b.) The specific recommendations of the Commission to have the effect of law, unless within thirty days of report beinglaid before Parliament a resolution to the contrary is passed by either House. General Remarks as to Industrial Training of Maoris and other Matters. If the Maori is to become an industrious citizen steps will have to be taken to provide for his education different from the steps that have been taken in the past. He may, in our opinion, become an efficient settler —just as efficient as the European settler. But it cannot be expected that he can equal a race that has been farming for thousands of years, whilst his race has only been engaged in what may be termed hunting and in the culture of small gardenpatches. Two things are necessary, in our opinion, to be done : — First, the primary education of the Maori should have what may be termed an agricultural bias. In the country districts of England and in France and in America this kind of education is being given. In fact, the Maori schools should have as an ideaJ what John Ruskin said should be proper trainingschools in England. In the preface to " Unto this Last "he said, — " There should be training-schools for youth, established at Government cost and under Government discipline, over the whole country —that every child born in the country should, at the parents' wish, be permitted (and in 3ertain cases be under penalty required) to pass through them; and that in these schools the child should (with other minor pieces of knowledge hereafter to be considered) imperatively be taught, with the best skill of teaching that the country could produce, the following three things : (a) The laws of health, and the exercises enjoined by them; (b) habits of gentleness and justice; and (c) the calling by which he is to live." In France, where in the rural districts peasant proprietorship is such a feature of the land-tenure, and the system of inheritance necessitates the splitting-up of the family land among the children in equal parts, measures have been taken for developing agricultural and horticultural knowledge in the normal schools, the communal schools, and the adult classes. The system is adapted as far as possible to the peculiar needs of the peasant class in the primary schools, with an advanced course in the secondary schools, accompanied by experimental and practical field or plot work. The main object of the programmes in vogue seems to be threefold : (1) To give the children an insight into the reasons underlying agricultural operations, in order to induce them later on to follow less blindly the routine which is still too much the rule with the French peasant; (2) to cultivate at the same time the knack of outward observation by means of experiments and object-lessons; (3) to increase in children the love for the country and for a country life. Such a course if applied to our Maori schools will only provide for the training of children, and it will take many years before they can become farmers. Meantime there is a large amount of good material going to waste for want of systematic guidance and efficient leadership. There are large numbers of youngMaoris who are working on farms or in the bush who are expert shearers, fencers, and good roadmen. They might be encouraged to become practical farmers, and their energies directed towards the cultivation of their own lands. These they have in many cases abandoned because of the unsatisfactory and unending attempts to obtain good titles. Secondly, the guidance and leadership should, in our opinion, be provided by the State. It is required in the primary Native schools, and should be extended to the secondary schools, which persist in maintaining an ordinary grammarschool course not adapted to the present needs of the Maori people. Then, there are the State experimental farms, where selected Maori youths may specialise in the forms of agriculture-—such as fruit-farming, poultry-keeping, and stock-breeding—most likely to be used in Maori districts. We think also that the Government should provide instructors of agriculture who should visit

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