119

H.—3l

I regret to have to record the deaths of many people this year. On the West Coast alone some fifty old Natives went to the regions of Po, their average age being forty-six years. Influenza and pneumonia were the two most prevalent diseases. Tohu and Te Whiti have both died. It would now be advisable to encourage the younger people to settle on the land, when the present leases expire. The ranks of the eighty milkers in the Taranaki District would be augmented by at least another eighty if this were done. The compensation that would have to be paid for the unearned increment would be as nothing compared with the industrial results and moral good that would follow. Work will do more for the Maori than all the medicines and beautifal theories that we know. Get the Maori to work; all the other reforms will follow. The assistance of Dr. Buck in the north has been a great help during the past year. We have been able to give more attention to detailed work in the different districts. We are waiting for the time when we can have our own staff of Maori nurses. The Natives will not go to the hospitals. If we can get at them in their homes I am certain we shall be able to save many lives. The Maoris of the East Cape have given a site and £200 towards the erection of a Nurses' Home in their midst. It is thought best to have one European nurse with two Maori nurses in charge of these Homes. These will form the centres from which the nurse can go forth to care for the sick, to lecture, and to uplift humanity. The East Coast Maoris have shown a good example in giving land and money towards the project, and it is hoped that the Maoris in the different localities will do likewise. When Homes like these are established throughout the Dominion, the people being taught how to live, the mothers how to bring up infants, the maidens how to care for themselves, then half of the ailments which are now afflicting the race will disappear. TOHUNGAS. The Tohunga Suppression Act of last session has had good effect. While, however, it prohibits the Maori charlatan from practising upon the incredulity of his own kind, it does not prevent the pakeha from engaging in the same kind of business. Hence the existence of white tohungas in our midst. These necromancers go from pa to pa armed with familiar spirits, hoodwinking superstitious Maoris. Their harvests are golden. Poor Maori! as soon as the evil spirit is cast out, seven other devils enter in, much worse than the first. The Act should be amended to include pakehas. Conference of Sanitary Inspectors. During the year it was deemed necessary to hold a Conference of the Maori Sanitary Inspectors. This proved a great success. The Inspectors were most attentive and diligent in taking copious notes of the lectures and practical demonstrations that were given. I have to acknowledge the kindly services rendered by Drs. Purdy, Buck, and Sharman, together with Messrs. Busck, Dairy Expert; Haynes, Inspector of the City of Auckland; Grieve and Symonds, of the Health Department. The lectures embraced a large number of subjects which in the time at our disposal could not be exhaustively gone into. However, we aimed to get the pith of the subjects, and lam certain that by the end of the next Conference our Sanitary Inspectors will be completely fit to carry out their duties. The total amount of expenditure incurred was only £40. The following subjects were considered: — Subjects brought before the Native Health Inspectors, July 8-13, 1907. Settlements — Sites— Situation and aspect. Nature of soil. Water-supply— Surface pools. Subsoil water. Drainage— Laying out; house-space; roads. General sanitation. Keeping of animals—horses, pigs, fowls, rats. Cemeteries—Water; ground-air. Whares— Structure; materials; foundation; chimneys; flooring; roofing; kautas; meeting-houses. Ventilation; sick-rooms; cleanliness; overcrowding; spitting; sleeping on raised beds • cooking-houses; condemned houses; bad water. Food-supplies—Kinds— Pork (trichina). Cooking. Storage of milk. Tinned meats; jams. Water-supply —Surface wells; deep wells; streams; rainwater; contamination. Clothing-—Seasonal variation; underclothing; wet and damp; bare legs above socks; changing at night. General cleanliness— Of body—Bathing; skin-diseases; lice. Of clothing—Regular washing; changing; disposal of waste water. Of house—Scrubbing, &c.