G.—ll

4

The general health, of the Maoris in Otaki, Ohau, Foxton, and Wanganui was good, but the housing provided at Wanganui, and sanitary conditions, were in some cases similar to those pertaining to the Auckland districts. Question (3). —To ascertain as far as possible liow many female Maoris are living with Chinese or Hindus, vjhether lawfully married or not. The Committee realized from the commencement that this would be one of the most difficult and delicate questions to deal with. An endeavour was made to obtain information from the Registrar of Births, &c., Auckland ; the Registrar, Native Department, Auckland-; the Police ; the Government Statistician ; the RegistrarGeneral ; the Matron, St. Helens Hospital, the Salvation Army Home, and St. Mary's Homes, Otahuhu. The Registrar of Births, &c., Auckland, informed the Committee that only one marriage had been registered of Chinese males with Maori females. This Registrar only deals with quarter-caste Maoris and less than half-caste, and Europeans. Full-blooded Maoris, half-caste Maoris, and three-quarter-caste Maoris would be notified to the Registrar, Native Department, Auckland. Only two definite cases in Auckland and Pukekohe of registration of marriages of Maoris with Chinese could be obtained, one being obtained from the Registrar of Births, &c., and one the Committee met with at Pukekohe. In addition to the above, the Committee has authentic information concerning two cases where Hindus are married legally to Maori women, both at Te Kuiti, and that seven children have been born of these two marriages. One of these Hindus is a tailor and one a labourer. The Registrar-General replied that he regretted he was unable to supply information required as to marriages of Maoris with Chinese or Hindus. The Government Statistician replied that he regretted to state that no statistics exist as to the number of marriages between Chinese or Hindu males and Maori females. It is to be regretted that the Commissioner of Police refused to allow his officers to assist the Committee with information in their possession. Maori Women living with Chinamen. —One definite case was found of a woman named M. living with a Chinaman at Barrett Road, Panmure. M.'s daughter is also living with a Chinaman. One girl at Avondale (Ah Chee's garden) had a child by a Chinese, and was confined at St. Mary's Orphanage. The Matron of St. Mary's Orphanage states that she had a case (presumably this case), and that this girl was said to be living in a furnished house in Mount Albert with the Chinaman, and that she was under the impression that she was married to him. Soon after she became pregnant the Chinaman deserted her and has not been heard of since. (Confined at St. Mary's in March, 1928.) A young Native widow at Onehunga, whose husband was in the mental hospital and died, went to live with a Chinaman. Her father took her away, but later she returned to the Chinaman ag rinst the wish of her people. The latest report is that she is still with the Chinaman at Onehunga. The wife of a Maori named M. had six cliildren, and later went to work and live with a Chinaman at Onehunga. We saw the Chinese child of this woman at Pukekohe. The two daughters of T. lived with Chinese at Kohimarama. A girl called R. came from the north and was found later living in a Hindu fruit-shop in Victoria Street, and would not leave there in spite of her father's protest. L. H. (a Maori female) lived with a Chinese at Albert Street, Auckland, in a restaurant, had several children by Chinese, and was left destitute. The Akarana Maori Association produced figures showing that forty-five half-caste children had baen born to twenty-seven Maori girls by Chinese during the past three years, and that seventeen other girls had returned- to their homes in trouble. Although there are fairly authentic statements made that there are many Maori girls living with Asiatics, it is difficult for the Committee to obtain definite confirmation of these statements. The conditions under which they live while working, especially for Chinese, are such that lead the Committee to believe that the estimate of approximately a hundred cases during the last three years made by the Akarana Maori Association is probably not an excessive one. The difficulty of obtaining definite information is obvious. At Otaki a list of at least six Maori women who have borne children to Chinese fathers was given to the Committee. At Ohau the Committee could not obtain any indication that Maoris were living with Chinese. Although there are 110 known cases at Wanganui and Foxton, the indications are that there is a very distinct drift in that direction. In this connection the Committee feels constrained to state that during the course of the inquiry evidence was submitted to show that intercourse between white girls of a certain type and the Chinese on market gardens was fairly prevalent, and the indications were that overtures did not in every case emanate from the Chinese, but that both the white girls and the Maori girls were much to blame. Question (4). —Whether it is in the interests of public morality that the employment of Maori girls and women by Chinese and Hindus should be permitted to take place. From the evidence placed before the Committee and the opinions expressed by witnesses who have made a study of the Maori race and are in close touch with the question of miscegenation the Committee has no hesitation in finding that as a general principle it is not in the interests of public morality that the employment of Maori girls and women by Chinese and Hindus should be permitted to take place. A very important factor, however, has to be taken into consideration, this being an economic one.