Walsh. — The Passing of the Maori. 171 



miasma from the marshy ground, many of the people suffer 

 from pulmonary and enteric troubles ; dysentery kills off the 

 young children, and not infrequently an epidemic of typhoid 

 fever takes heavy toll of the camp. The same thing goes on 

 from year to year, for the Maori will never learn from experience, 

 and there is no doubt that the work on the gumfields is sapping 

 what is left of the vitality of the race throughout a very large 

 section of the Maori people. 



Native Schools. 



There is a very general belief that by a course of education 

 according to European standards the Maori will be enabled to 

 avail himself of the benefits of civilisation, and so raise himself 

 towards the level of the white population. To this end the 

 Government has established a system of Native schools all over 

 the country. These schools are, in fact, the forlorn hope of a 

 large section of the community who have the interests of the 

 Maori at heart. We shall see how this hope has been fulfilled. 



Tried by an examination test the system has been successful 

 enough. The attendance is generally satisfactory, and the 

 average of attainment is wonderfully good, especially when we 

 consider that — at the commencement, at least — the teaching has 

 to be imparted in a language imperfectly understood by the 

 pupils. In some subjects — e.g., drawing, mapping, singing, &c. 

 — the average of proficiency is usually quite above that of the 

 country district schools. Tried by another standard, however, 

 the Native-school system is not so satisfactory. In the first 

 place, the school is a " Native school " : the race-distinction is 

 emphasized from the start, and carried on all through. In the. 

 next place, there is a good deal of time wasted that might be 

 more profitably spent if a school career is to be considered as a 

 preparation for adult life. The teacher conscientiously tries to 

 keep up the attendance, and endeavours to attract the children 

 by means of treats, games, singing-classes, and so on, while 

 these, naturally preferring the excitement of the playground and 

 the society of their mates to the dreary monotony of the kainga, 

 have little or no opportunity of practising the duties of the house 

 or the cultivation. 



From a hygienic point of view, also, the Native school is 

 generally prejudicial to the welfare of its attendants. The 

 children are often only half-fed and imperfectly clothed, and 

 after walking perhaps a mile or two in the rain, or lounging about 

 on the wet grass of the playground, they have to sit for hours 

 shivering in their damp garments. As a natural consequence 

 the germs of pulmonary troubles are nursed into growth, their 

 general health is undermined, and when an epidemic of typhoid 



