The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-03-14
THE MAORIS OFNEW ZEALAND

THE MAORIS OFNEW ZEALAND
THEY ARE PACIFiED INTO THE
CRAZE.
A CHAPTER In Benevolent Assimilation
by John Ball.
Always excepting the wholesale ex-
termination of the gentle Caribssof the
West Indies by the Spaniards, with the
aid of bloodhound and blunderbuss, no
single episode in the whole range of CO.
lonial history can show more of brutal
ity and pathos than the Wiping out Of
the superb native race OF New Zealand
by the sons of John Bull Without the
same surface cruelty and wanton ami
hilation which the Spaniard exhibited
in his conquest of America, there has
been in the English method carefully
studied and devilish line of procedure
equally merciless in general results
though not SO rapid In it's pace
Against the Maoris of New Zealand the
art of defamation has been reduced to a
science. In two generations from the
date Of the first English settlement at
Wellington, in 1910, native popula-
ton of one hundred and twenty thou
sand has been reduced to about forty
thousand, and one generation more Will
see the magnificent Maoris nothing but
a memory, their resting place marked
by headstone in John Bulls colonial
graveyard.
| In the matter of superb physique, I'M
daunted prowess in war, success In the
simple arts of agriculture, and keen
thinking capacity, these Maoris were q
most superior people. In every element
of manhood they were vastly ahead OF
any untutored branch Of the Malay
race. Light in complexion, 1.-THE in
movement, their men straight and mus
cular and courageous, their women eX-
tremely beautiful, with long, wavy
midnight hair and deep, lovely eyes
these native New Zealanders have al
WAYS been acknowledged the best de-
velopment Of so-called savage life In the
southern seas. Two crimes are laid to
their door. First and foremost, that
they had a royal patch of earth which
John Bull needed in his colonial bust
ness; and, second, that they defended
their assigned homestead against high
handed invasion, their best and bravest
falling in the struggle, till they were
crushed out by rum, gunpowder ana
overpowering numbers. To-day they
have the graves and the experience
and John Bull has their island nome
In order to render further conspiracy
and collision difficult they have been
widely scattered, in small native settle
ments, over the vast area Of the north
island. while a few thousands of the
more tanned and sluggish variety have
been planted, out of harms way, on the
middle island, safely separated from
their brethren by the waters of Cooks
strait.
A word as to their origin and then
short sermon on the art of extermina-
ltion. Undoubtedly Of Malay stock
they had enough knowledge of astron-
omy to steer by the stars. and they
knew the seasons for planting and
reaping by astronomical signs. These
seasons were ushered In by festivals
when certain conjunctions were seen
in the heavens. To-day so the obser-
vers tell us, nothing remains of their
crude astronomical culture but super
stition that promises success or failure
to war parties according to the relative
positions of the moon and q particular
star. Where did they come fronP
This is not positively known. Some
say from Sumatra, others Hawaii.
Their own tradition has 1t that many
generations ago very large migration
took place from, some island In the Pa
cific. to which the Maoris gave the
name OF Hawaiiki "A dtsgrunfled chief,
in a single canoe, had drifted with the
trade winds till he struck new, UNI
peopled land of fertility and scenic
grandeur. Returning to his old home,
he BOT up colonizing scheme, and %
aoodly number started forth for the
new land in a fleet of large double ca
noes Our Mayflower aristocracy will
he interested to know that the names of
these canoes are still perfectly remem-
bered, the various tribes tracing back
their ancestry to this or that canoe
To-day the grossest insult that can be
paid a New Zealander is to call him
'"tutua," or low born, for they are
proud as LucIfer of their straight and
remote descent Each native, even the
bumblest, carries his family pedigree in
his head They have no written lam
guage no records, but the amazing
memories that are bred by tradition.
Their priests keep genealogical sticks,
properly notched, to chronicle the
changes of time, and according to these
the original immigration toov place
about twenty generations ago, or about
the beginning of the fifteenth century
Here they lived and multiplied,
fought, fished and hunted, till the white
man came with The materials of "be-
nevolent assimilation" The first navi-
gator to discover the islands was the
Dutchman Van Tasnlan in 1912. With
out landing, he simply sailed around the
new domain leisurely, gave 1t the name
of New Zealand, and made a report of
his find to the enterprislng land hunters
of Europe. Strangely enough, Tasman
was so loose in his business methods
that he neglected to plant the flag of
Holland in his discovered territory and
claim it for his king, an oversight that
cost Holland the new land and left 1t an
omen prey to omniverous rivals For
over a century New Zealand lay undis-
turhed IT was not till 1869 that Cap
tain Cook. under the patronage OF
to-.