NZHistory, New Zealand history online - conscription

Te Kirihaehae Te Puea Hērangi (Princess Te Puea)

Te Puea Hērangi (1883–1952) was a granddaughter of Tāwhiao Te Wherowhero, the second Māori King. Her uncle Mahuta, who became King after Tāwhiao, singled her out in childhood as having special abilities. He spent many hours with her, passing on his knowledge. She was to become a crucial figure in reviving the Kīngitanga (King Movement) among Tainui people in the twentieth century.

Te Puea emerged as a leader during the First World War. She opposed the government’s policy of conscripting Māori for war service, at a time when Tainui still felt lingering bitterness about the invasion and confiscation of their lands. The government compounded Tainui feelings of injustice by responding with a general order for Māori conscription which applied only to the King Country-Maniapoto district.

After the war Te Puea helped set up a Tainui settlement at Ngāruawāhia, and a new marae called Tūrangawaewae. For the King Movement this was a new centre and a new focus, and the settlement gradually took on the flavour of a ‘national marae’. Te Puea hosted several European politicians and dignitaries there, helping to restore the national status of the Kīngitanga.

Te Puea then focused on improving economic conditions for Tainui. She persuaded her people to join in Āpirana Ngata’s ambitious Māori land development schemes. She supervised the scheme and worked hard for many years to achieve her goal of Māori economic and community revival.

In 1937 Te Puea was made a CBE (Dame Commander of the British Empire). This indicated better relations between the Kīngitanga and the government. But Tainui, angry that the government did not acknowledge their King’s mana (prestige), did not attend the Treaty centennial celebrations at Waitangi in 1940.

In 1926 the Sim Commission had investigated grievances over the land confiscations of the 1860s. Although its terms of reference were limited, it upheld many Māori grievances. The government made various offers, and in 1946 Te Puea played a part in Waikato accepting Prime Minister Peter Fraser’s offer of a £5000 annual payment in perpetuity, to be administered by a Trust Board. Although many Waikato Māori thought this sum was grossly inadequate, Te Puea felt it was the best that could be achieved in the circumstances.

Until her death in 1952 she remained active in the social and economic life of the Tainui people.

See also: biography of Princess Te Puea at DNZB website

Te Kirihaehae Te Puea Hērangi (Princess Te Puea)

Ka noho a Te Puea Hērangi (1883-1952) hei mokopuna nā Tāwhiao Te Wherowhero, te Kīngi Māori tuarua. Ka mate a Tāwhiao ka matika ko tana tama a Mahuta hei Kīngi Māori tuatoru. Ko ia te mea ka kite i ngā pūmanawa ake o Te Puea i a ia e tamariki tonu ana. Ka nui te wā ka noho a Mahuta ki te kōrero ki a ia, ki te tuku i ana mātauranga ki a Te Puea. Ā tōna wā ko ia tētahi ka whai wāhi nui ki te whakaora i te Kīngitanga i waenganui i ōna iwi o Waikato i te rautau rua tekau.

Ka hau te rongo mō Te Puea i te wā o te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao. Nāna i ārahi ngā mautohe e ātete ana ki te kaupapa māperetanga a te kāwanatanga. I taua wā, kei te pōuri tonu ngā iwi o Waikato mō te whakaekenga me te raupatunga o ō rātou whenua. I te whakataunga a te kāwanatanga i te māperetanga ki runga i ngā Māori anake o Te Rohe Pōtae me Waikato, kātahi ka pōuri rawa atu te iwi.

I te mutunga o te pakanga, ka āwhina a Te Puea i ngā mahi kia tū he kāinga mō ngā iwi o Tainui ki Ngāruawāhia. Ka whakatūria he marae hou ki reira, ko Tūrangawaewae. He pokapū hou, he arotahinga hou tēnei mō te Kīngitanga. Ka nui atu te awe o Tūrangawaewae, ki ētahi, ko tōna ritenga, hei "marae mō te motu". Ka pōwhiritia e ia ngā kaitōrangapū me ngā rangatira Pākehā ki reira. Ka kake haere te mana o te Kīngitanga.

Kātahi ka tahuri a Te Puea ki ngā kaupapa ōhanga hei whakapai ake i te noho a ngā iwi o Tainui. Nāna tōna iwi i kuhu ki ngā kaupapa ahuwhenua a Āpirana Ngata. Ko ia te kaiwhakahaere o ngā kaupapa ahuwhenua ki roto i tōna iwi, ka mutu, ka pau ngā tau e tutuki ai tōna whāinga, arā, kia ora anō te ōhanga me ngā hapori o te iwi Māori.

Nō te tau 1937 ka whakawhiwhia a Te Puea ki te tohu whakahōnore CBE, he tohu pea kua pai te titiro a te Kīngitanga me te kāwanatanga, tētahi ki tētahi. He aha hoki. I te pōuri tonu a Tainui i te kore whakaae o te kāwanatanga ki te mana o te Kīngi. I runga i tērā, kāore ngā iwi o Tainui i haere ki te hui whakanui i te rau tau o te Tiriti o Waitangi i Waitangi i te tau 1940.

I te tau 1926 ka rangahau te Kōmihana a Sims i ngā nawe i pupū ake i te raupatunga o ngā whenua Māori i te tekau tau atu i 1860. Ahakoa te whāiti o tana titiro, ka whakaae te Kōmihana ki te maha o ngā whakapae. Ka tāpaea e te kāwanatanga ētahi whakaritenga ki mua i te iwi. I te tau 1946 ko Te Puea tētahi ka tautoko i te tāpaetanga nā Te Pereiha (Peter Fraser) i whakatakoto ki mua i a Waikato. Mā tēnei whakaritenga ka whiwhi te iwi i te rima mano pāuna ia tau mō ake tonu atu, ka whakatūria he Poari Kaitiaki hei whakahaere. Ko te whakapae a ētahi o te iwi, he itiiti rawa te rima mano pāuna; hei tā Te Puea, koia nei te rahinga rawa atu ka tareka i raro i ngā āhuatanga o te wā.

Tae rawa ki tōna matenga i te tau 1952, ko Te Puea tērā i roto i ngā nekeneke katoa o ngā iwi o Tainui.

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Film: first ballot under the 1916 Military Service Act

Film of the first ballot under the 1916 Military Service Act, which introduced conscription during the First World War. Filmed on 16 November 1916 at Rouths Building, Brandon Street, Wellington.

The NZ Truth reported that the, 'first gamble in human life was commenced' by the Government Statistician and his staff. The Ballot was held to make up 1300 shortages in the 23rd and 24th Reinforcements. There was morning tea for the young ladies 'who it is quite possible will draw their sweetheart's cards'.

The Evening Post report on 16 November 1916 commented on the filming:

Nowadays everything is recorded for the moving pictures, and the first ballot under the Military Service Act was no exception. The cinema came and was clicking away busily as the Magistrate with pressmen and other spectators grouped around.

Video extract from Ballot at the Government Statistician’s Office, Syd Taylor (camera) for NZ Government, 1916. Extract courtesy of The New Zealand Film Archive / Nga Kaitiaki O Nga Taonga Whitiahua (Film Reference F9351).

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You will need Apple Quicktime plug-in to see this film

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Military Service Act 1916

This poster announces the requirement to enrol in the New Zealand Expeditionary Force and the consequences of failure to do so.

The Military Service Act 1916 introduced conscription, initially for Pakeha only. The act also made limited allowance for people who objected to serve. Only members of religious bodies that had, before the outbreak of war, declared military service 'contrary to divine revelation' could be exempted from service.

Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
Reference:Eph-D-WAR-WI-1916-01
Further information and copies of this image may be obtained from the Library through its Timeframes website,
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Future PM Fraser charged with sedition

Peter Fraser’s trial in the Wellington Magistrates’ Court was the sequel to a speech in which he had attacked the government’s policy of military conscription. A number of other union leaders were charged with the same crime. Fraser was convicted and served 12 months in gaol.

Enlistment had slowed after the initial rush to volunteer when the First World War broke out. The government responded with the Military Service Act, which became law on 1 August 1916. This introduced conscription, initially for Pākehā men only. Little allowance was made for objectors – only members of religious bodies that had, before the outbreak of war, declared military service ‘contrary to divine revelation’ could be exempted from service. Many socialists and labour activists had objected to fighting an ‘imperialist war’ and argued that ‘New Zealand workers had no quarrel with German workers’. The New Zealand Labour Party (founded in 1916) insisted that conscription of men should not be introduced unless it was accompanied by the conscription of wealth.

On 4 December 1916, two weeks after the first conscription ballot had taken place, the government issued new regulations to control dissent which contained a very broad definition of sedition. Fraser was arrested on 20 December and charged with having ‘published seditious words’ when speaking at a meeting on the 10th. His utterances were said to have been ‘likely to incite disaffection against the Government of New Zealand and to interfere with the recruiting of His Majesty’s forces.’ Fraser appeared before magistrate W.G. Riddell on 22 December. His lawyer, P.J. O’Regan, stormed from the court when a request for bail was declined. Now defending himself, Fraser argued that calling for the repeal of the law, rather than for disobedience or resistance to it, was perfectly legal. Riddell disagreed and sentenced the future prime minister to 12 months’ imprisonment.

Other Labour Party members were also punished for their opposition to the war and the Military Service Act. Bob Semple (described by the solicitor-general as ‘one of the most dangerous and mischievous men in New Zealand’), Tim Armstrong, Jim O’Brien and Paddy Webb – all future Cabinet ministers – also went to prison for expressing opposition to the war or to conscription.

Somewhat ironically, Peter Fraser was prime minister when conscription was reintroduced in 1940 to maintain New Zealand’s effort in the Second World War. The man photographed selecting the first marble in the first ballot (held in September) was Bob Semple. In the war against Nazism, earlier objections to the principle of conscription would be set aside.

Image: Peter Fraser

First World War census and conscription

About 120,000 New Zealanders enlisted during the First World War, of whom 103,000 served overseas. When the war broke out in 1914 men flocked in their thousands to answer the call to arms. By the end of the first week of the war 14,000 had enlisted.

Despite confident claims that it would be 'over by Christmas', by 1916 the war appeared no closer to a conclusion. The seemingly endless toll in lives and maimed men began to impact on public sentiment. As the Census and Statistics Office was tasked with the compilation of manpower registers, newspaper editorials urged the public to accept the necessity of greater sacrifices if the war was to be won. Intensive campaigns to encourage enlistment failed to meet their targets, with only 30 percent of men eligible for military service volunteering.

In 1916 conscription for military service was introduced to maintain New Zealand's supply of reinforcements. Only four MPs opposed its introduction. The Military Service Act 1916 initially imposed conscription on Pakeha only, but this was extended to Maori in June 1917. More than 30,000 conscripts had joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force by the end of the war.

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Alexander Turnbull Library,
Reference:Eph-D-WAR-WI-1915-01,

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

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Resistance to conscription - Maori and the First World War

For whose 'King and Country'?

In his recruitment waiata, 'Te ope tuatahi', Ngata made it clear that the replacement recruits that he and his colleagues had raised had come from Te Arawa and the East Coast tribes of Te Aitanga-a-Mahaki, Te Aitanga-a-Hauiti, Ngati Porou and Ngati Kahungunu. These were all tribes noted for their loyalty to the Crown. Their tribal elders were influenced by ideals of patriotic service and the obligations of citizenship inherent in their ancestors' signed commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi. Naming them was an expression of honour and also an implied criticism of those not mentioned.

Those Maori who had not responded to the call to fight for 'King and Country' were largely from Taranaki, Ngati Maniapoto and Tainui–Waikato. Their absence reflected the events of the 1860s when their land had been confiscated as punishment for being in so-called rebellion against the British Crown. The important Waikato leader Te Puea Herangi was guided by the words of her grandfather King Tawhiao. After he had finally made his peace with the Crown in 1881, he forbade Waikato to take up arms again:

Listen, listen, the sky above, the earth below, and all the people assembled here. The killing of men must stop; the destruction of land must stop. I shall bury my patu in the earth and it shall not rise again ... Waikato, lie down. Do not allow blood to flow from this time on.

Te Puea and others in the Waikato took this as an injunction never to fight again. Te Puea was also of the view that Waikato had 'its own King' and didn't need to 'fight for the British King'. If land that had been confiscated (when Waikato had fought for their king) in the 1860s was returned, then perhaps Waikato might reconsider its position.

In 1917 in response to questions about Maori involvement in the war, the Maori King, Te Rata, had adopted a position that it was a matter of individual choice and that no one should be forced to serve.

Attitudes like these deeply embarrassed Maui Pomare, the MP for Western Maori and chairman of the Native Contingent Committee, as these iwi were in his electorate.

Of the 314 recruits who sailed for Europe with the third draft of the native contingent in February 1916, only 111 were Maori. The rest were volunteers from Niue, Rarotonga, and the Gilbert and Ellice Islands. Pomare attempted to invoke the will of Tu-mata-uenga (the god of war) and appealed to a sense of utu in encouraging Maori to enlist. These attempts fell largely on deaf ears.

In 1916 conscription for military service was introduced to maintain New Zealand's supply of reinforcements. The Military Service Act 1916 initially imposed conscription on Pakeha only. Pomare wanted it applied to Maori. His wish was granted in June 1917 when the failure of the Native Contingent Committee to meet its reinforcement quotas (150 men every four weeks) saw the act extended to Maori. The conscription issue brought Maori opposition to participation in the war to a head.

Waikato resistance

As Waikato was seen as the centre of opposition to Maori participation, conscription was only imposed on Maori from Tainui–Waikato. It was also argued that other iwi had 'done their bit'. The Waikato leader, Te Puea Herangi, supported those men who resisted conscription by gathering them up at Te Paina, a pa she had rebuilt at Mangatawhiri. Her stance attracted a lot of hostility from other Maori and Pakeha who accused her of being a German sympathiser.

Those Waikato men who refused to report for training when balloted in 1918 were arrested and taken to Narrow Neck training camp at Auckland. Any who refused to wear the army uniform were subjected to severe military punishments, including 'dietary punishments' (being fed only bread and water) and being supplied with minimal bedding.

Only a handful of the Tainui conscripts were ever put into uniform and none were sent overseas. By 1919 only 74 Maori conscripts had gone to camp out of a total of 552 men called. The imposition of conscription on the Waikato and Ngati Maniapoto people had long-lasting effects, and the breach it caused was probably only restored with the Tainui Treaty settlement in 1995.