G.—s.

96

W. W. BIED.

present needs of the Maori race.- —Faithfully yours, J. W T . Tibbs, Headmaster. —W. W. Bird, Esq., Inspector of Native Schools, Napier." Of course, as the Inspector-General says, Mr. Tibbs refers not to geniuses, but to the average boy. Now, it has been said too, with regard to these Maori boys who enter for the Matriculation Examination, that they have experienced some difficulty in English, and that, on the other hand, no concession has been made to them on the ground that they were Maori boys. Surely that is an argument why any Maori boy who is going up for matriculation should be placed exactly on the same footing and get the same kind of teaching as European boys attending the high schools and grammar schools. I doubt very much whether it would not be to the advantage of the best Maori boys, who may be selected for training in the higher professions and walks of life, that they should be educated at some place such as the Auckland Grammar School, the Wanganui College, or the Napier High School, because, although excellent work has been done by Mr. Thornton, and our records for twenty-five years will not show one discordant note between the Te Aute authorities and the Department, it seems to me that in a school like Te Aute, with its limited resources, they are unable to pay salaries to masters properly qualified for higher school-work. I am not referring to the headmaster; I refer, of course, to the other members of the staff. I think it would be very much to the interests of those boys who may be selected if they were to be sent to schools where the masters are each specialists in various subjects 127. May we sum up what you have said in this way: you are strongly in favour of the introduction into this school of what we may call "technical education "?—Yes, and I think the Maori boys as a whole support that view. I may claim to know nearly all the Maoris of the Maori centres in New Zealand, and I do not think you will find one who would not be willing to have his son trained in what he calls " mahi a ringaringa." They know exactly what that means, and the time now is ripe for a change It is the natural outcome of the new system. I should like to say, if I may, that the change in Hukarere, as Mr. Hogben has stated, has made a great difference in the efficiency of the school. They began there to teach Latin and other subjects, and, at the suggestion of the Department, they withdrew these from the time-table. Since then the English subjects iiave improved very much, and more time is given to needlework and domestic work of all kinds, and to cooking. So that the girls at Hukarere get a good education in English, and a practical instruction in all those arts which make up the qualities of good wives and mothers. When a Maori girl comes from Hukarere we are always glad, if we can find an opening, to give her a position in our schools as an assistant mistress. One of the best assistant mistresses we have in the whole service is a Hukarere girl, who is teaching with an old St. Stephen's boy at a school in the far north. 128. Have you any printed regulations with regard to compelling Maori boys or girls to go back to their own people after leaving school? —No. 129. Do they know that is the desire or wish of the Department?— They know that, 130. How is that desire expressed to them?— Well, I suppose it is a matter of precedent with them. They have seen their forebears go and return. There is nothing set out to them plainly. 131. And, in the ease of hospital nurses, you say you do not encourage them to go into European institutions? —We do not encourage them to remain. 132. Do you discourage them?— Yes. 133. In what way?—l have never had to do it yet, nor has the Department; but if I met a Maori boy working at his trade in Auckland, I should tell him it was his place to go back to his home and work there as soon as he could. I could not direct him to go; I could only try to persuade him to go. 134. Supposing a Maori-trained nurse wished to go into a European hospital, and she applied to the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board to be admitted, would your Department take any steps to influence the Board in refusing her application if you knew of it?— If it came before me personally, I should explain to the hospital authorities that this girl had received her training and had been assited by the Department with the idea that on the completion of her studies she should work amongst the Maoris. 135. Do you make that a condition when she starts her education? —Yes. 136. How is that condition expressed?—lt is a matter of faith, which means more to a young Maori than to a European. 137. What steps are taken to prevent Maoris who are fully qualified to take up positions as nurses in European hospitals from doing so?—lt is prevented indirectly in this way: in order to get admission for these particular candidates into the hospital, we have had to explain to them the principles of the .scheme of education of Maori nurses, and it is made clear to them what the whole intention is. 138. Is that scheme formulated and printe-d ?—No. 139. Has it been approved by the Minister?— Yes. 140. That young Maori girls trained as nurses should not be encouraged to go into European hospitals?— That Maori girls should be trained as nurses for work amongst the Maoris, and the Department in approaching the hospitals has made it clear that these girls should be trained for Maori work. If the hospital people had an idea that the girl afterwards was intended for European work they would refuse her admission. 141. Do you think that is fair?— That is for the hospital authorities to say. I may say that, so far as the scheme has gone, there is only one Maori girl, out of eight or nine, who has gone to work amongst Europeans. She is at the Pahiatua Hospital. 142. How many of these nurses have been assisted by the Government?— Eight. We assist as.many as can be taken by the hospitals. Of course, the scheme is only in its experimental stage. 143. Mr. Hogg.~\ You told us that some of the well-educated Maori girls made very good assistant teachers? — That is so.