G.—lo.

element in providing leaders for Maori movements should be emphasized. In a large number of cases a happy combination of physical characteristics, mental ability, and acknowledged good birth has favoured several tribes or subtribes with men and women who have guided them to the best ends. History will have to record the happy accident that in New Zealand there has not been any discrimination by either European or Maori society against the men or women of mixed blood ; that, on the other hand, they have been allowed to fulfil a most valuable function as interpreters and adjusters of the cultures of the two races whose blood has commingled in their veins. On the Maori side, at least, some of the best blood in Polynesia has been contributed to the mixture, while on that of the white man some of the finest physical stock has attracted the aristocracy of Maoridom. There is abundant evidence to show that the institution of chieftainship has survived in a modified form the derangement caused by the influences of Western civilization. The student who is privileged to observe from the inside the constitution of Maori society to-day becomes aware of the existence of an influence permeating it, and to which a respectful deference is paid. He will find it running through a family group, through a subtribe, and so forth, until at some point he reaches its source. Whether its outward form is a group of elders or some person, its opinion or " word "is accepted for the guidance of what appears to be an organized community. Leaders of Maori movements who have gained their position through education or through experience and training in modern industry or business are found in frequent consultation with this hereditary element, which they acknowledge possesses a powerful appeal in all matters to the heart and mind of the Maori tribes. Although modified in form and reduced in status and in its appeal to the individual members of a family or subtribe or tribe, although overlaid by the cult of individual equality and freedom, it is one of the most persistent elements of the ancient regime, a factor always to be reckoned with by statesmen or administrators. Tribal Organization. Intimately connected with the factor of chieftainship and leadership is that of the tribal organization, tribal relationships, and esprit de corps. The geographical limits of the Maori tribes, their distribution and main characteristics, remain to-day much as they were when the Pakeha established himself in New Zealand. It is true that tribal movements which were commenced just as the earliest white men reached New Zealand were not completed until a few years before the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi. It is true also that some of these movements were promoted and accelerated by the introduction of firearms. Thus the conquest of the Manawatu and Port Nicholson areas and of parts of the South Island by Te Kauparaha and his confederates was so supported and assured. There was a geographical redistribution in consequence ; but the invaders have retained their identity in the new lands, and their tribal connection with the parent stems in Waikato, Maungatautari, or Taranaki. The tribal cohesion should be emphasized as a factor in relation to any Maori activity of the present day.. We find the appeal of tribal relationship striving at the hearts of the people, even of members long severed from its ties or of those who by their education and blood-dilution would be least expected to respond to the tribal call. Maori patriotism is not so much for a racial ideal as for the tribal name or honour. The sentiment may not have the manifestations that it had in former days, but it must not be disregarded in the policies of to-day. It should be noted that in the last three decades of legislation and administration the arrangement of Maori Council districts (which had to do with health matters), of Native Land Court and Maori Land Board districts (which concerned the adjudication of land-titles and the settlement of lands), followed closely on the boundaries of the main tribes. A certain amount of grouping was inevitable, but generally the tribal distribution was followed. The principle is similar to that followed in the case of pakeha districts, that as far as possible community of interest should be maintained. In tho case of the Maori districts centuries of development and adjustment have fixed the geographical distribution of related communities, and the modern administrative units follow them faithfully. Happily, the objection that with such deference to tribal arrangements the spirit- of tribal jealousies and bickerings may be kept alive can no longer be seriously regarded. It is being into a spirit of rivalry and emulation in the enterprises of peace. The adoption by one district or tribe of a, beneficent element of European culture does influence its neighbours to follow the example. An outstanding illustration to-day is that the success of some of the East Coast tribes in adapting elements of pakeha culture has influenced other tribes throughout Maoridom to emulate their achievements in education, social reorganization, land-settlement, and the preservation of the poetry and the arts and crafts of the race. The point may now be made that the diffusion of ideas, if it is to succeed, must proceed tribally —they must influence the tribal leaders in order to permeate the tribal organization. ' Living Standards. Space will not permit of a full discussion of the standard of living attained by the Maori people to-day after more than a century of contact with Western civilization. It is one of the most important elements in the consideration of the subject of Native land development and settlement. Briefly, it may be asserted that, although there has been an immense change in the externals of the living-conditions of the Maori people, they have not advanced in the same degree relatively to the living-conditions of the white man. An important fact is that Maori life to-day is not supported by the same resources as formerly ; it is confronted with more complicated problems, and more strenuous efforts under puzzling conditions are required to maintain it. It is in the living-conditions of to-day, surrounded as they are by the most difficult economic environment, that the Maori tribes are feeling a stress —the same kind of stress that drove them from the islands of Eastern Polynesia, but intenser in degree, wider in incidence, and more threatening in

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