THE MAORI PEOPLE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3303, 23 August 1911, Page 3

THE MAORI PEOPLE.

RESULTS OF THE RECENT CENSUS. MAKING SATISFACTORY STRIDES. MORIORIS DYING OUT. [SPECIAL TO TIMES.] - WELLINGTON, August 22. Thoroughness is not claimed for\the Maori census, which was taken in March last. The total Maori population is said to be 40,550, an increase for the live years pf 1617 In addition there were 215 Maoris at the Chatham Islands. The Morioris, however, are dying out. The larger number of Morioris are half-castes with Maoris. It is a matter of difficulty to ascertain the number of lualf-castes living as Maoris. P'robably all the halfcastes and a large proportion of the Maoris as well in the South Island now live in European fashion.

The health of the Natives has been generally good. There have been occasional outbreaks of typhoid and other fevers, but there has been no epidemic of disease.' There has been a great advance in the observance of sanitary laws. The Maoris are beginning to realise that the excessive mortality against their children has been caused to a large extent by insanitary conditions prevalent in their settlements. The village schools are steadily improving the standard of knowledge among the Maori people as a whole. Suitable openings for Maoris in the public service are limited, but the Government has displayed a sympathetic regard for desiring Maori youths wherever nossible.

THE MAORI AND THEYTELEPHONE

The Maoris in the Bay of Islands have erected nearly 100 miles of, telephone, connecting up remote forest villages with the chief centres of the district. In this matter they have followed the lead of the Waiapu East Coast Maoris, who were the pioneers of the Maoriowned telephone system in the Dominion. THE MAORI AND CRIME. The report of the Under-Secretary for Native Affairs states that crime does not prevail in any marked degree amongst the Maoris. The Natives are becoming more and more temperate every year. The drunken orgies that were once common are in a great measure things of the past. They are also adopting the European style of living. Some are slieepfarmers, others cultivate their land, while others again engage in various forms of remunerative labor. Every year the spread of settlement brings them into closer touch with their pakeha neighbors, and subject them to the influence of European example.

ON THE EAST COAST.

SOME INTERESTING DETAILS.

The Maori census enumerator for Waihohu, Cook, Waiapu, and Wairoa Counties, says: “The Maori Councils have done good work, but the' sanitary conditions are, to a great extent, not yet coped with. Much, more diligence should be used if the Maoris are to be kept in a state of good health, and progress in the European ways. On the whole I found the Natives very temperate. Many who used to be of drunken habits have taken to farming and skilled labor. In my travels I noticed the children were attentive to their school duties, were kept tidy, and were obedient and respectful to their teachers. In most cases wooden cottages, of European style, have replaced the old time Maori raupo wliare, and at first glance one would think they were inhabited by Europeans There lias been, in the Wairoa County, an increase of 3i3 sheep, of sown grasses 22,0663- acres, of 727 acres in otiher crops, and of 7 acres in maize, whilst wheat, cattle and potatoes show a small decrease. In Cook and Waikohu combined there is an increase of 58 acres of potatoes, 74 acres in maize, and 11,2383 acres sown grasses. There are 2476 horses in these counties, and an increase of 5504 sheep, in cattle an increase of 529, and in pigs an increase of 95.