THE POLYNESIAN SLAVE TRADE.

Press, Volume XVIII, Issue 2665, 14 November 1871, Page 3

THE POLYNESIAN SLAVE TRADE.

The following petition on this subject has been adopted by the General Assembly :— Most Gracious Sovereign,— We, your Majesty's faithful and loyal subjects, the Commons of New Zealand in Parliament assembled, beg to express the deep sorrow with which we have heard of the death of the Right Reverend John Coleridge Patteson, D.D., Bishop of Melanesia, and his Missionary companions, the Reverend Mr Atkin and an aboriginal Islander, who, on the 20th September last, were martyred by the inhabitants of the Island of Nukapu, in the Southern Pacific Ocean. We have reason to believe that the cruel deed originated in the exasperation of the natives at' ill-usage received by them from certain persons, subjects of your Majesty, who, under color of providing free labor for the Australian colonies, have been guilty of acts inconsistent with the law of nations and first principles of humanity. It is known that these persons have deceived the natives by false pretences, and kidnapped them from their homes ; and it i 3 believed that the murder of the Bishop and his companions was an act of blind retaliation for the injuries so inflicted. One of the latest utterances of the good Bishop was a solemn protest against this iniquity, which he addressed to the Synod of his church in this colony, with a prediction of such results as that of which, too soon, he was himself the victim—a copy whereof is herewith respectfully forwarded to your Most Gracious Majesty. We venture to submit to your Majesty that a grave duty rests on the British Government, that of protecting the islanders of the Pacifio against the infliction of wrongs by the hands of British subjects—wrongs little less grievous than those of the African slave trade. And we beg to assure your Most Gracious Majesty, that we. the Commons of New Zealand, will at all times be ready to assist your Majesty's Government, by every means within our reach, in suppressing the practice referred to. And we pray that your Majesty may long live as the protector of the weak and defenceless in every part of the world. We extract the following passages from the memorandum referred to above :—" We experience to some extent the evil effects of this traffic, which has been described in this last extract. In many islands where we were already on friendly terms with the people, we are now obliged to be very cautious. Unless we are so well known as to be thoroughly trusted, we have to begin to some extent the task of disabusing their minds of the natural suspicion and distrust which these ' nefarious practices ' excite. As for using our names and inventing any stories about us, which may induce natives to go ou board their vessels, that is the common tricK adopted by some traders. There are some — I trust very few — men sailing in these vessels who have taken a voyage in thc Southern Cross, aud the fact that they have been on board the mission vessel gives a plausibility to their story." Thc measures that should "be adopted to put an end to this traffic are referred to by the Bishop as follows : —" Imperial legislation is required to put an end to this miserable state of things. Stringent regulations ought to be made and enforced by heavy penalties as to the size and fittings of vessels licensed to convey natives to and from the South Sea Islands to Queensland and Fiji. All details should be specified j.nd vigilantly carried out, as to the number of natives that may be put ou board, their food, clothing, payment, term of labor, reconveyance to their homes. Two small men-of-war ought to cruise constantly in the islands, and especially in the neighborhood of Queensland and Fiji," to intercept vessels bringing natives to those parts, and to examine into the observance or non-observance, of the regulations."