G—ll

1946 NEW ZEALAND

MAORI PURPOSES FUND BOARD ANNUAL REPORT FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH, 1946.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly pursuant to Section 14 of the Maori Purposes Fund Act, 1934-35

\ Meetings The statutory annual meeting of the Board was held on the 20th November, 1945. No other meetings were held during the year. Operations Education. —The Board again granted a sum of £5OO to the Education Department towards the costs of Maori Free Place Scholarships, and a further grant of £250 was made to assist deserving Maori students not eligible for scholarships. Ethnology.—The thanks of the Board are due to the beneficiaries in the estate of the late Mrs. Humphrey Haines for the presentation of a compendium of Maori proverbs from the collection of the late Dr. Humphrey Haines. These proverbs constitute a most useful addition to the Board's records. In January, 1946, the Secretary, on loan from the Native Department to the Internal Affairs Department, accompanied Mr. W. J. Phillipps of the Dominion Museum to Rotorua to gather .ethnological data relative to some of the old carved houses in the Rotorua and Bay of Plenty area. A considerable amount of useful and interesting information was obtained. As in previous years, a grant of £3OO was made to the Polynesian Society to assist in its ethnological publications. Requests were made during the year for assistance in publishing several manuscripts on Maori history, but it has been necessary to defer consideration of these requests owing to the present limited income of the Board. One manuscript submitted was in the Maori language and, if publication should be possible, this work should prove extremely useful to students of the language. Sales of the Board's publications amounted to 301 volumes, as compared, with 434 during the previous year. Grants from Maori Land Boards. —Grants totalling £750 were received from the various Maori Land Boards for specific purposes, including contributions to carved halls, a welcome home to the Maori Battalion, a water-supply for a Maori village, and river-protection work in a Maori settlement.