The Auckland Star. WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATE The Evening News, Morning News and The Echo. THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 1914. THE NEW HEBRIDES QUESTION

Auckland Star, Volume XLV, Issue 138, 11 June 1914, Page 4

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

THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 1914. THE NEW HEBRIDES QUESTION

—— a For the cause thai lacks assistance, For the wrong that needs resistance, .For the future; in the distanco, And the good that we can do.

Tt spF.is thif the British and French G-ovv.rnnient.s agree that, tire, present condition of the .New Hebrides is unsatisfactory, and i ha r something should be done in' improve jt. This we may reasona'aiy infer from the fact that a. conif re nee has hern arranged for, at which representatives of the two nations arc to discuss the whole question and presumably to suggest remedies for the f/riovances of the natives and tire defer;.; ,'n the present is vat em of adrniniMralion. I For it is now generally admitted that the Condominium, or system of joint control, which has. existed in the group since 1007 Ins failed to achieve its p-ur-'Ki-\ and thai something muf.t he done to improve the condition of'ihe Lsl.inds land to define more clearly the relative rights and duties of the natives and the French and British colonists and traders established there. But unfortunately there U no hope that merely adminUtrativß reforms vill meet, the difficulties of the rti.1 1 For c is mamjrained with grer,; forrr bjr various; more or less competent authorities that no I permanent- im-prorement in the con.lt- ■ tton of "the group is. possible tilitil the islands nrc either divided '"nf ween England and France or tramsferred wh-.lh to one Power or ihe o!lv?r. Against -either alternative serious objections ran be urged. Cuv : ie p,.-uion :. gravely . .impiic.UD-.i by the. fact ;h.i; the owner!ch:p of the islands is a ni3t'er of .-.TV-ial importance to Australia, and that ihe . Austral i;ir. • will n.'t be .atisficd with any form of settlement that either militates against British asrvndanc.* in the P.i'iric or ignores their own interest in ;:ic future of the group. Australia „ p. .t to be directly represented at t'nc coming conference, but the lmnerii! authorities, are pledged to consider lirr in t erf sts in the matter, and it is no; v .ill like]v that anj -p.Ulement will he reached without taking into ac unit Ai_: r.-li.in -prejudices and aspir ulnns. A.- regards the systcmi of administra lion tioay_ csia.bli_-.hed' in thy New Hebrides, there rooms to 'no no doub; that it hi., 'hern a failure. The latest evidence on tliia point, is a book ji_t I published iv Sydney by an .English barrister resident in tjie group dealinjjwith I the history and meihods of The Condominium. The author ijlr. Edward J a comb i has had wide personal cxprrience of the islands and their i_n._h:i_nts and a great deal of the evidence thai be cites in support of his views will carry conviction lo most, unprejudiced readers. The Condominium, he points, out. wa.-. based on a negation oi all historical cxperieitce; for history teac._?s t_> Lha". divided control is always.a failure The principle of the Condominium is tba: the : vo nations, j ranee and Kng land, shall be represented each by a Resident < ommissiotirr. and that, a Joint Court shall adminisfer the affairs of tlte islands. The two Powers retained individual authority over their own "nationals.'' but local laws, binding on the natives and ail the. European inhabitants of the group...were to be passed- and -enforced by the. .Joint Court alone. Mr. Jaeorrib corn-plains that the Joint Court has done practically nothing for the. bene_t -of the natives, nor has jit even .passed laws for them to obey. The consequence-is that "while the whole country is, from the legislative suind"point. in a s;a.tr of chaos, more especially in regard ti land a.nd labour, the two questions -which chiefly concern the anives. the judicial and penal functions of the Joint Court, have been, to a large c\te_;. usurped by an auxiliary body, the Joint Xaval Commission, which appears to c_erc_« summary jurisdi.tion over the-whole group, and deals with the naitves very moich as if they --■ere subject, to a permanent condition of martial Vara-. It would take more space than we jean afford to follow .Air. Jacomb's comprehensive indictment of the Condominium iv detail, and a few brief comments "must suffice. Older this joint system of administration this little group of islands, about half the size of ] Belgium, contains two Resident Commissioners, three .indues. two Assistant I Commissioners. a Public Prosecutor, and | a Native Advocate. Naturally. the | powers andidutics of these functionaries i nnstantly-clash. and there is always friction and lack of sympathy between the French aud British officials. The cause of ibis i:! not so much national antagonism as the fact that the French and the British officials appear to look at , their responsibilities toward the natives in different ways. To the average Frenchman a. .colony is simply a- place to be '"ci_plb?l__* for commercial purpose.. and the interests of the natives are strictly • übordV.nate.d to that end. Moreover, out : of between 50 and liO officials, of both j nationalities, over 40, according to Mr. ' Jiii'o'r.fiT.'are ignorant' of air.' language hut ticir Own. ami it 1.-, thus practically i intpoi sible to pstahJUh a common hisis of r tide rs land ing .nt I co-operation heiinci n them. T'nc Joint Court i- largely • | pro- French, for il is composed oi a I've isidinl and ..Public Prosecutor. both .Spaniards, anpointed by the King of Sf.ain; a Rritiih judge, a French judge, .-.id a registrar, who is a Dutchman; and . fie British,point of-riew; is t_ua wj

in-dequately represented in its decisions. But the Joint Court, defective as it is. seems to be a ranch more satisfactory tribunal than the Joint Naval Commis- ' .-ion. in which, according to Mr. Jacomb, | "we meet tyranny naked and iraashamed." This Commission, which was' n survival from the Convention of ISSS, and was not abolished by the Con- | dominium, has succeeded in usurping I most of the powers of the -loint Court. | It conducts its business "in camera." without allowing the accused natives to be represented by counsel, and without hearing witnesses, and bases its verdicts chiefly on the written reports of the officials of the two Residencies. Inevitably, such methods of administration will produce abu_es; and Mr. Jacomb's- hfjok supplies copious illustrations of t__e_e evils. "It, has not been the custom for th? Commission to hear either counsel or witnesses" is the official reply to all remons-trances; ami thr.-e summary m-ethods of procedure have naturally resulted in the denial or d-eJa}' of justice to the native., whenever their rights rome into conflict with the claims of the huroc.eans. Mr. Jacomb maintain.- that the natives have been robbed of their land wholesale, that the system of indentured labour permitted by the Convention of 1901} is practically slavery, and that ii is virtually impes-i-ible for t'nc natives to get redress for any grievances they may have to endure in regard to cither labour or land. Moreover, the aggressive attitude as- . sumed by the French officials, their determination tn treat the group as a purely French possession, and the d_inclination of the Cr:t'.i-'.i officials to interfere wtt'h them, have rp.rhtccd trie country generally to -i deplorable condition; and 'Mr. Jiccmb agrees iv:th the iman.'." r.th"r ccjnpetent authorities who I have already expressed the conviction that the whole system nf administration must be radically altered, and that the ownership of the islands must be finally settled before these wrong? cm be righted. Mr. Jacomb maintains that a division of iho group is prarticallv im-pc-ilblr. and he upholds l>." Australian vi.-.v of the case that British Imperial and Colonial intere_t_ alike demand that Australia should ultimately have .-._.- ---t__ion of _nr_c island.. Ho r_a_it-i__ with much force that the French have no natural aptttudp for colonisation. and that ihe !• s- of ihe.- interests in the New Hebrides could -be amply re-cr.mp.'-n-c.l elsewhere. There are. ohvious difficulties in the way of the compensation -chwiie. hut whatever be the decision ..I the diplomat* who arc about, to d.--u-s th- difficult prrblem. it Is certain that no settlement will be a-.cptr-d on mis. -de of the world a- final ~,...1 satisfactory winch would leave ihe destiny of 'he New HCondjs in the, hand- of a foreign rower. j