A CONTENTED COUNTRY

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21809, 15 June 1936, Page 11

A CONTENTED COUNTRY

FIJI AND ITS TWO RACES ABSENCE OF DISEASE AND STRIFE “A happy and contented community,” said Mr W. L. Wallace, describing the inhabitants of Fiji, among whom he has spent 26 years of his life in attending to the medical requirements of the employees of the Colonial Sugar Company, Mr Wallace, who is at present spending a short period in New Zealand before returning to his duties in Fiji, when interviewed by a reporter from “The Press,” said that his adopted country knew practically nothing of the political and racial strife of other colonies. The average husbandman of Fiji was not interested in politics; only a few of the educated inhabitants sought for a knowledge of administrative affairs. Although, in the country there were too main races —the Fijians themselves and the Indians, there were no clashes between the two races. Mr Wallace said that there were 140,000 to 150,000 Fijians and 80,000 to 90,000 Indians. There were of course small numbers of many races in the tropical and Asiatic territories; but only in very small numbers. , The Fijians were “happy-go-lucky children of the sun.” At heavy work they were good, but they took nothing seriously, and were inclined to be unreliable. The Indians on the other hand with centuries of poverty behind them, had become industrious, and most of them were making a much better living in Fiji than they had , ever done in India. Indians Improved in Stature In build and stature they showed decided improvement. When they had first come to Fiji, they had been of small stature, but their sons were growing into much bigger men. Tins could largely be attributed to the introduction of organised European sports and physical exercises. The incentive for these was probably provided by the education that was now being given to a large percentage of the native community. The Fijians on the other hand were of magnificent build and had been so for many generations. Disease among the natives was vastly decreasing, continued Mr Wallace, and the natives were becoming healthier every year. Fiji could safely be termed the healthiest of tropical countries. Among the natives there was no malaria. The mosquitoes on the island were innocuous, and although there were swamps, no disease danger came from these. The only cases of malaria on the island came from the outside, brought by the Europeans and other races from such countries as New Guinea and the less lucky tropical lands. ThCTe was of course a little dysentery and typhoid, but taken as a whole the country was exeedingly healthy. Mosquitoes and sand flies were being combated by the scientists, and in this “war” they were being helped by the inhabitants, who saw that all refuse was promptly destroyed. A Very Clean Race There was a wrong impression among many Europeans that the Indians were not clean. This s was entirely wrong, as the Indians bathed* more frequently than many Europeans. What gave them a dirty appearance, however, was that after bathing they again wore their dirty working-clothes; but when they were not working they wore very neat clothes. The wages averaged from Is 9d to 2s a day, but the cost of living was fairly cheap as most of their food was locally produced, except one or two commodities which came from India. The educational facilities had been provided, to a large extent, by missionaries, and many promising students had been turned out. particularly among the Indians. There was one young Indian at Knox College in Dunedin who had come from Fiji, and was now in his fifth year studying medicine. In every way he was a fine figure of a man. The two races did not fraternise, concluded Mr Wallace. He had not heard of many cases of inter-marriage, but they attended to their own business. Consequently the land was a most contented one.