G.—lo.

aspect. The Maori of old met the situation by migrating to other lands. The Maori of to-day finds the earth fully occupied, and knows he must work out his destiny within New Zealand. Mot a century ago a West Coast tribe was compelled to leave Kawhia and to oust the tribes that formerly occupied Manawatu and Port Nicholson; but conquests of that sort are not now m the order of m The leaders of the race to-day are thus confronted with one of the most difficult situations in its history In the circumstances, they have regarded certain factors which may be claimed as advantages held by a large section of the Maori people. If the living-conditions are lower on the average than those of the Pakeha, the standard of living corresponds, the needs are simpler and more easily satisfied. As applied to the facts of land-settlement, to the operations involved in the preparation of land for farming, these considerations become of the first importance and must be envisaged in any scheme. With them should be grouped physical and moral factors, greater adaptation of both male and female to the inconvenience and hardships of camp life; a smaller sense of the loss of the amenities of civilization, such as good houses, proper educational facilities, good communications and proximity to towns ; and a temperament that under firm leadership is cheerfully resigned to the strains of the pioneering life. That life is in fact nearer to the life of the bulk of the Maori people m those districts where they still hold considerable areas of land. , The diet of the average Maori in the outer districts and the available supply of food relished by him also must be taken into consideration. His former regime compelled him to provide the whole of his food-supply, as far as natural resources availed, and what he lacked he obtained by exchange and barter His economic system had not developed to any great extent a division of labour in the production or collection of food. It is true that the more " civilized "of them are living the hand-to-mouth life of the pakeha, who grows little of what he consumes, depending on the butcher, the baker, the market-gardener, the milkman or the city milk-supply, and the grocer. His relishes may still be gathered from the beaches or the reefs, or the sea, or forest, lake, and river ; and he may supplement these with home-grown pork or poultry, and even beef and mutton. The Maori m a period of stress can still depend on these resources, a factor in the economics of land-development which must be borne in mind. Failings. So far we have considered the factors that should sustain a Maori community in the development of land; but against them we should set off many shortcomings and weaknesses, either inherent in the race or produced by the removal of incentives or sanctions, which formerly were present in its. social organization. , , _ , t . It has been said with much truth of the Maori that he is not capable of sustained effort, that m occupations which demand unremitting attention and discipline he finds the conditions irksome and restrictive. , Yet his past history shows him fulfilling the annual round of duties to the tune called by the sun, the moon, and the seasons ; persevering in the pursuit of an idea, a vendetta or a claim ot hospitality- He showed persistence and perseverance along the age-old lines of self-interest and ambition" The student may well ask whether it was not the removal of, or the substitution of, new for these primitive objectives that appeared to render Maori efforts spasmodic and ill-sustained ; and whether under the stress of economic necessity or with the lure of gam, which is almost fundamental in Western culture, the Maori will not recover the determination of his ancestors. Of the modern business element in a land-development scheme little need be said here. It is proposed to enlarge upon it in the consideration of the schemes that have been undertaken. It is sufficient to say that finance, the co-osdination of buying and selling, the specifications of seeds, manure, and building-materials, and the decision as to proper equipment and machinery are considerations Ot a modern kind, in which insufficient knowledge or experience may be expected. These may be supplied by pakeha supervisors or experts if the Maori community does not possess them. Mental Communication. TM* brings us to the final consideration preliminary to a discussion of the efforts now being made to assist the Maori to exploit his land resources the adequate communication between the Pakeha and the Maori mind, so that a complete understanding may be established. Maori public men have all experienced difficulty in communicating ideas and systems that are the stock-in-trade of one tribe or district to their countrymen and relatives of another tribe or district, using the Maori language as a medium and figures, expressions, and illustrations in the common language and experience to clarify the propaganda. It is not uncommon to meet with a complete mental barrier or with interpretations in practice quite different from what was intended. Where language fails, success is laboriously achieved by works, by the actual undertaking on a convincing scale of an experiment, wherein the essential features would publish themselves. If Maori public men, who may be credited with the knack of propagating their thoughts and schemes through channels familiar to their people, are liable to be misunderstood or misinterpreted, how much more difficult is the position for the pakeha instructor or organizer, who, besides his lack of the proper medium, has other standards or is insensibly influenced by other considerations ? The Basis of Experience. For our purpose this may be considered under three heads, as follows :— (a) Experience in the operations relating to development of land. The manhood of the Maori tribes has had as extensive an experience as any people which settled in New Zealand in all operations relating to the development of land, whether in providing access by road or rail; or in draining ; or in clearing forest, scrub, gorse, blackberry, or other surface impedimenta ;

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