ONE PEOPLE

Te Ao Hou, June 1961, Page 31

ONE PEOPLE As each Maori chief appended his signature, Captain Hobson is reputed to have said: He iwi kotahi tatou We are now one people. Although we are indeed one people—which is of great significance in a world torn by differences between racial groups—yet we must not overlook certain differences that do exist between the Maori and the Pakeha. However close we have been in the past, we are destined to be much closer in the future. Only in very recent times has it been appreciated that the urbanisation of the Maori is inevitable. Farming will never support more than a handful. Even when all Maori land is developed, it will support fewer than 4,000 more Maori farmers. The rest of the Maori people will find work only in or near the towns. At present, on the one hand, there is one Maori in town for every three in the country: on the other hand, there are two Europeans in town for every one in the country. The distribution of European population represents the real distribution of available jobs. The urban migration of the Maori in search of work will go on till their distribution nearly coincides with that of the Pakeha. We cannot afford wastage of such a potential work force as the Maori people now constitute. So in the Maori interest and in the national interest, we must welcome, plan, and provide for a redistribution of Maori people.