FIJI POLITICS.

Auckland Star, Volume LI, Issue 206, 28 August 1920, Page 14

FIJI POLITICS.

ELECTION TIME. THE SHIPPING PROBLEM. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SUVA (Fiji), August 15. We are at present in the whirl of our , triennial elections for members of the Legislative Council. • i The one fact that stands out pro- I minently is the awakening to a new . order of things manifested throughout j the group. Hitherto' the European residents have had to be satisfied to live ! under conditions framed almost solely j iby Downing Street, or by the reigning Governor, who, as in all Crown colonies, i as an„autocrat. But tbe spirit of Demo- j cracy is abroad. VV. have not got to Socialism or Bolshevism yet; these may come later. Quien sabe! The people, ' supplemented by the returned soldiers | and new settlers from overseas, find the "iide J bound and ancient methods very irksome. In no case is this more felt tha.n in our land settlement conditions. To get land iiere an applicant has to first find an area to suit him, which i means expense of travelling around,] them he has to obtain the native consent, | which is made very tedious, and having gone througih all the preliminaries he i applies to the Lands Office for it. The land is then advertised for sale by auction. Other people notice that a good piece of land is open, and they attend t the sale and outbid the unfortunate man | who has spent perhaps £100 in getting ! the land made available. The candidates voice the popular, wish that this system Ibe at once abolished, and Mr. Scott, X.C, one of the candidates for Suva, last night stated that upon the representations of the elective members the Governor had sent Some for the authority of the Colonial Office to abolish the auction sales. This, if ratified, will ba» good news > to many people in Australia and New Zealand. We .have had many inquiries , from people of limited capital, say, £500 i to £3000, from these countries as to obtaining land, 'but the system in vogue "ins had much to do in keeping them away. This is essentially a white man's country, and there are quite big prospects ihere for farmers over on your side who are tired of Labour Governments or heavy taxation. We are promised main Toads shortly", and greatly increased water transport is now assured, so the opportunities of settlement will be much more accessible. ! Another matter advocated by most of the candidates is a Federation of the • South Pacific Islands, beginning with • Fiji, Samoa and the Gilbert and Ellice i colony, and later takintr in the Solomons and New Hebrides. The feeling in fa- j your of this is rapidly extending: through the islands. Tn the case of Samoa, it is greatly strengthened "by the lack of understanding of local needs and "wishes hy the Dominion Government. Fiji is out for a fulleT control by the people in their own Government. Other Crown Colonies such as Barbadoes, and only recently Ceylon, have been granted a very liberal franchise and represents- , tion, and Fiji wants to get her share of responsibility in helping herself more quickly to the prosperity which awaits •her and which has only been held in check by the conservatism of Downing i Street. 3