THE COLOUR BAR
SIR,—As a New Zealander I was very interested in Mr. P. A. Rossiter's letter, "A World Lesson," in The Spectator of December 31st. Unfor- tunately, the example selected is not a good one for deciding the pros and cons of a colour bar. The Maoris are believed to be of Aryan descent, and certainly their characteristics bear this out. In appearance they are well built, with slightly flattened noses, brown eyes, crinkly hair, and lips slightly thicker than those of a European ; while in colour of skin they are no darker than many Spaniards. Intellectually, they are the equal of the European and in certain cultural characteristics they are often his superior. It is therefore not surprising that the offsprings of mixed marriages (even the first generation) are practically European, while in course of time it is obvious that the small native population will be completely absorbed. This is thus a vastly different problem than that faced by other countries with native populations ; for example, our neighbours the Australians have a much more difficult problem to face: intermarriage between Europeans and Abos (as the Australians call their natives) is, of course, a ghastly mistake. Your correspondent has cheer- fully simplified the problem by selecting a case where no problem
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