THE SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC SITUATION OF HAURAKI MAORI AFTER COLONISATION
second the activity of a native school teacher; the third looks at government (and private) action to deal with famine; and the fourth gives an example of a local epidemic in which remedial action came after the outbreak was over. Together, these examples span the period from the 188os to the early 2oth century.
Native medical officers
5.21 A number of medical practitioners throughout the country were paid a small subsidy by the government to give free treatment to Maori patients. This was to cover the cost of medicines as well as consultations. (Some, it was reported in 1913, resented being obliged to give free treatment to well-off Maori (AJHR 1913 113I).) Only two of the five native medical officers in this region who treated Maori patients under subsidy during this period held the position for any length of time, Martin H. Payne at Thames and Charles H. Horrell at Coromandel (Payne's and Horrell's reports, upon which most of this section is based, are in MA 21/19).
5.22 Payne, on his own account, had held this position from 1874 to 1879 receiving a subsidy from the Native Department of £75 a year; no records from these years seem to have survived. Government retrenchment brought about his dismissal in 188o; he protested and was re-appointed in 1882. Around this time he was replaced temporarily by a Dr Huxtable at a reduced subsidy of £40 a year. Huxtable's relations with the Department were poor and he left in 1883, apparently under a cloud. In 1884 Payne was re-appointed, this time at Li5o a year, and held the position until 1888. Then he was again the victim of retrenchment and was not replaced. Huxtable's brief tenure brought out one interesting detail. He was reprimanded for visiting Maori at a distance from his residence, and told that if there were special cases needing his attention he should apply for authority
(MA 21/19).
5.23 The manner of Payne's second termination is instructive. In mid-1888 he was notified that his subsidy was to be reduced to £25 a year. Again he protested with vigour, claiming that his visits covered a wide area every week, and that he saw patients from Puriri, Ohinemuri, Hikutaia and occasionally from Waikato and Miranda. His reports indicate that he had treated nearly Soo patients in four years and that he visited some patients several times. The Department appreciated that Payne was a conscientious practitioner; it also anticipated that the reduction in his income would prompt his resignation. In effect he did not resign, but his letter of protest was treated as a resignation and 'accepted' in November 1888.
5.24 This produced, in May of the following year, a request for Payne's reinstatement from W.H. Taipari (whose family Payne had attended); 51 others also signed, including the celebrated traditional historian Hoani Nahe. The translation of their letter runs:
He was most attentive to his Maori patients. ... The old people now no longer have medical relief afforded them owing to the inability to go to the hospital.
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