The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1905. THE TONGAN DEPORTATIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 29, 3 February 1905, Page 4

The Auckland Star: WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1905. THE TONGAN DEPORTATIONS.

■ • / 9mr the eaiue tiwt lacks nufefcuwv, For the wrong that needs rtttittmnrm, for the future in the dieUutoe, Ami the good that w« cam to.

The published accounts of Governor Im Thurn's proceedings at Tonga, subsequent to the deportation of !->ateki, the Prime Minister, and the King's Treasurer, are of a most astonishing character. It is stated, that at aa interview with the King, held on January 2nd, the High Commissioner, who had previously removed a number of Government officials, dictated the appointments of the Governors of Haapai and Vavau, and declared that these chiefs should not be removed without the consent of Mr Hunter, British Consul, and himself. He directed the dismissal of clerks, judges, police magistrates and tax-collector, and expressed the opinion that a lot of unnecessary money was spent on education; that the college and English school were not required, and that it was unnecessary to teach the children to speak English. When the King ventured to express dissent from some of these peremptory measures, he was told that he would have to be satisfied, or the English flag would be hoisted over the islands. The King is then reported to have said: "Since you disregard all that I say, and take such a high hand, entirely setting aside the treaty, because you know you are strong and we are weak, it is useless for mc to speak further. But we are not satisfied. 1 consider if you deem a change necessary, I, and the chiefs should have a voice in the selection of Ministers and

officials. The people you mention would never be chosen by the people or chiefs of Tonga."

At subsequent interviews, held on the 15th and 18th, the King appealed to the treaty entered into between the British Government and the King of Tonga, and protested against the manner in which the Tongan constitution had been arbitrarily set aside. He pointed out that the treaty distinctly states that the British Resident will not interfere with the domestic affairs of the kingdom, yet the High Commissioner now demanded the reference of everything to the Consul. When the High Commissioner asked the King to sign the papers confirming what had been done, King George refused, stating, very justly, that as the Governor had seen fit to do these things without consulting him, his signature was not necessary. The Governor then said if the King did not sign within five minutes he would be deported to Fiji and the British flag hoisted, whereupon King George, after some hesitation, said: ''Well, so far I am personally concerned, I care not whether my body lies in Fiji, America, Germany or any other country, but for the sake of my people, who love their flag and their independence, I shall sign, but I call upon all present to witness that I have been forced by (.he threat to deport mc and to deprive us of our country." If we are justified in accepting this version of the High Commissioner's recent action in Tonga —and it is entirely in keeping with the abominable treatment meted out to the aged Premier, Sateki, we do not hesitate to say that the sooner the Secretary of State for the Colonies interposes, the better it will be for the peace and good order of the Pacific Islands and the good reputation of the British nation for justice. In the whole history of British dealings with the Maori race, of which the natives of Tonga are a branch, we know of nothing to compare with these arbitrary jproceedings. It is true that in Fiji natives have been removed from one island to another in a summary and unwarrantable manner, but these were British subjects, and they had the option of appealing to British law. Moreover, the

Fijians, as a race, are very much inferior to the people of Tonga, and it was understood that the radical changes made by the Imperial Government in Fiji were indicative of the Secretary of State's disapproval of the methods of government that had been employed there. The deportation of the Rev. Shirley Baker from Tonga has been cited as a precedent, but in that case the removal was carried out under specific powers vested in the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, affecting British subjects resident in the Islands, and Governor Thurston also took care to fortify himself by obtaining the sanction of King George. Governor Im Thurn's measures, on the other hand, relate to the domestic affaiis of a Government which has been established under a treaty with the British Crown. Moreover, they were not justified by any local disturbance or breach of faith; on the contrary, the King of Tonga has always manifested a most laudable desire to preserve good relations with Great Britain.

The whole tone of Governor Im Thurn's transactions in this matter shows an utter failure to appreciate or understand the character of the Maori race. His ideas are apparently derived from observations of the low class black population of British Guiana, where he graduated for the colonial service. He fails to realise that the Maori in New Zealand is endowed with all the right* of the European colonists, that he

sits in the colonial Legislature and holds scats in the Ministry. Even sixty-five years ago, when Governor Hobson arrived for the purpose of obtaining the

recognition of British sovereignty over these islands, he did so by a treaty which has become the Magna Cbarta of the Maori population ever since, securing to the natives the ownership ■of the whole of the land, and guaranteeing them in return for submission the protection and good government of the British Crown.

2Jow the Tongans are not one whit less intelligent than the New Zealanders. As a people they are more highly educated and very much more strongly influenced by the principles of the Christian religion. What will be the effect of the outrageous treatment that has been meted out to their King and highest chiefs by a man whose acquaintance with Polynesians dates back only a few months? We say that it must prove most disastrous to that sense of good feeling and trust which has existed for so long a period between the two races, and which is essential to the progress and development of the islands. And could anything be less calculated to ensure good government than the inconceivably stupid attempt to maintain a King without authority and. Ministers who lack the confidence of the people in a country which for so long a period was accustomed to the strong rule of King George Tubou I.? To ensure peace, order and progress in Tong.\ there was no midway course between upholding the authority of the King and constitution or annexing the country and accepting full responsibility for its good government. With the King degraded, the ablest and most patriotic chiefs condemned without trial, and cruelly exiled, with natives placed in authority who neither possess the confidence nor goodwill of the masses of the people, the , affairs of Tonga will inevitably go from bad to worse. If the old warlike chief George Tubou the First had been alive and in his prime the natives would probably have taken up arms; happily, Christianity exercises such a powerful influence over the people that we believe their patience will not be exhausted, or their trust in the ultimate justice of Great Britain destroyed.

This is a question in which New Zealand has a direct concern. Apart from the fact that we have here the largest division of the Maori race, we have undertaken in Rarotonga the government of an important group in the South Pacific, inhabited by a branch of the same human family. The trade of Tonga is closely linked with that of this colony, and there is a considerable amount of New Zealand money invested there. These considerations fully justify our Government in making its voice heard on the subject, and we shall be very much surprised if Mr Seddon has overlooked its importance,