THE NEW FIJI.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 18, 16 October 1907, Page 11

THE NEW FIJI.

OUR ISLAND NEIGHBOURS AND THEIR .'-. : ■''''"": -NEEDS." ..•''.•. i The; visitor approaching .these islands cannot fail to be charmed with the beauty of tho scenery—especially,if" it bo his first visit to the- tropics. The ruthless" hand of .commorco has not touched'the wild grandeur of tho inounlains'nor;has4ts breath dulled the vivid greens, of. the-vegetation. ■, Nearer, and yet nearer-.the .'vessel approaches and■ adds to colour' , detail. Stately cocoanut palms lino the. shcjl-whjto beach and niount tho hillsides. Hero! and there a banana plantation or a few square miles of sugarcane afford the sunlight opportunity, play its. full .gamut;..of bar-. moriyU- But' more than these tho reef, only half aiVmile distant, .attracts the-attention: Alongside it,the ship is swiftly moving, and the ;watches with-something of. awe the htige, waVes.hur) themselves in the. wrath of pride at'thatimpregnablo-barrier, only to. be; changed: into seething breakers. .•. Soon buildings are visible on the coast, and a narrow- 'Creak in that long; writhing, i serpentine surf iiiarks an opening in. the reef. Through this -"tile vessel passes, with bow pointing towards ;the, white "guiding beacons 1 / far up on the'-hi11..... She .drops anchor in a splendid harbour,',• lyirib : calm in rfthq shelter: \of the en<Sircling:.hills and the coral breakwater. The capital wharf, with gas-lamps freely distributed: along; its sides, comes as a surprise to . the traveller. . He had visions pf a'surfboat and;-well-oiled.natives carrying;him 'ashore. While waiting for tho doctor to grant pratique and- the , gold-braided Customs officer with his hanks of' red tape to seal up the, ship, he feasts ?bimself-upon i the-beauty/of the. town of Suva: The red-oxide roofs of-English bun : galowe '■blend l artistically with'the multitu- ' dinous greens of the foliage.. Colours; that,' if laid upon canvas'in-more sober lands; would seem : f'prtFanity;'iie side "by- "side, iii perfect" amitjv'in these-' "breadths 'of tropic shade." ThVwharf and shore are crowded-with a moving throng of natives." These have an interest evon'teyond.that of beauty .for the sightseer. '&' Yet he cannot 'help confessing to' some disappointment that the'town is so large and ; so English in .appearance.-:- ■ :■ -'.-..'. ■!.-■:; i ,v;r; ; LOCKE9-up'iiAND;/ :.. ; . •.

Fiji,- commercially 'and industrially, has long' lain "fallow. : '' The -land has been practically locked up in native ownership, and the facilities for obtaining'it have, until recently, bebh-very few and devious. According to the Wud' f ßook'' of 1905Tonly-72,000 acres of land were urider'.cultivation .at that' time', >leaving a total.', acreage''Tintilled. of some, 4,880,000.. The pfeseirtiGbvernor, Sir Everard im Thurn, •K.C.M'.G.VhaS'initiated a'pblicy.whereby.un-' der "proper;>Testri'ctioris the.'native's _ of the colony'are'allowed', to lease or sell their wasto or unused-lands. In 1906 nearly 12,000 acres were ledsed'for^erma',,varying.from five to fifty'yek'ri; while over 60,000.acres not yet survestt'lser'e 'tajteh up either 'by the Crown for seraiyn'e'nt purposes; ;or by private indiviacres" were sold outright, at""ai r average , 'price of nearly, £1 per acre. The Crd^vn'has already siib-leased for'a ;term of/y9''years■,3o,o^o'■.acre S o f • land in blocks suitab'ie-forjcattle,'farming. '. . '. . . ./0ver.£1,0.0.9,000 annually is the sum of the exports ranfl.'iniports of the colony. Eightysix pe'rTcent:: of the total.trade is .with.the ■'Australasian''States, bvit; recently Canada has furnished,? a new, market, and the hope is fairly,.:.well, founded that..in. this -direction ■greatiincreasev.may.be expected; ..In 1906,, 601,000/imnches and 191,000 cases of bananas were 'exported,' i valued ,at nearly;. £100,000; while'the kernel, of the cocoa-nut in the form of '■"cbpra'r'brought '■ 150,000 ; golden sovereigns toitheseiislands..-Owing to a drought in 1906 tto amount; of sugar exported was leas', than usual, but the average, annual value .is about £500,000. 'Nearly 150 foreign-going vessels dropped! 'anchor .in the. harbours, of the colony,, registering, a .tonnage of a quarter, of a million j^whilo %an equal number: of smaller craft traded within.' the; limits ; of .the group itself. ..Leading on one side-the food',grown by/the 'Fijians for ..their pwn. use, the local needs'account for the, consumption; of 15,000 bnshels-'pf'm'a'izeV'lSOO.'tons'qf rice, 15001b. of' tob'a'cco,.; and .;40,0001b.' of .tea.. .On the fields; of the colony, are grazing some 5000 horses, -30,000 cattle, .20,000, goats,.and 2000. sneep..;'Fiji's prosperity has at length made a start. '•'■- ... . "... .. ■

Sugar Concessions. ' ■ ■ "Sugar" Vhas been responsible to a- largo extent for the industrial development of the group.;' Six large mills with wide plantations represent a capital .cost of, over £2,500,000— and havei a ; nominally daily output of 500 tohs of. sugar..' To serve the needs,of. this industry , , some 30,000 coolies have:been imported': from\ India. .It is of ten,. complained that "sugar" rules Fiji, but this, is only partially -true.; "Sugar" .has : opened, up .the country, and turned the unproductive. swamp into fertile fields, i Of course the companies are nolspbilanthropic' institutions, and they manage-to • make ■ handsome .profits, divided between T "reserves" and shareholders,'. the precise; amount , of which it is difficult to discover. ;..The Government cannot afford to neglect "so good and powerful a.friend, and hence'"concessions" are given :to this in-dustry-,which -are-;denied to-/other undertaking's.',:'■: The principal -interest , 'in -.Fiji is hfeia by; the Colonial Sugar Refining Company which has, its head offices in l Sydney. At-the end of-1906 it had in operationl69 miles , of permanent and seventy-four miles of portable tram-lino, : over which nineteen locomotives pulled '3500 trucks; miles' are nowunder construction: Not only by landdoes the-company-carry its freight, for the various rivers -contain four -powerful (tugs,, eight launches, fourteen huge lighters, and' sixtyaeveri 'cane'punts'■ of '■ tons each;'- To supply'its power 25,000 tons of.coaj are. con-Bumed.-'annually, in addition to the ; megas (pithof the.cano), which' is utilised for fuel. At. the' end of 1906 the company'was cultivating,26,ooo acres of land; while 4500 acres arenowin course of being brought into subjection.',' Five thousand/acres of mangrove swamp , are being reclaimed from_the sea, and therein are approximately 600 miles of drains to facilitate the;leaching of tho salt from the soil.' In addition to the above,' ll;500 acres are cultivated by. private planters,'who'sell' their cane-to the'mills. A Cold-Braid Government. .Thorf'is, of course, a Government in these islands'.which, next,to the tourist element' entertains the. community by its , . Vagaries. It is a ; tiny'.tpy concehi,. but it has machinery,'officialism, and. gold : braid .sufficient for a country, ten.,times the size of that it attempts td govern. Its success in preserving law and order has its chief'roots in the-pat-ienceand long-suffering of: its'.'subjects, and the country is prosperous iii spito of all, its blunders.- -"Certainly, , until recently it has lacked practicality'; and has been sirangely biind to the best interests, of the colony: Today ; there is some improvement registered, hut the out-of-dato methods and conservative spirit aro a serious clog upon any real progress. '; If,' instead of recruiting its officials from , theold land, and finding snug berths' ■for inexperienced youths whoso sole fitness for position lies in the fact that they aro sons or'nephows or grandchildren of certain influential .ppf'i'.'i.i''it wero to fill up. its ranks' from the'.sturdier, 'more 1 manly, and capable life'of vthe r progressive colonies! nearer at hand; there would be less room for criticism, New ideas have- to knock long and loudly at the'door of this lethargic Government before thoy/ are even admitted to consideration.-; .•'■' ',' ■i. ". " ,

,It is officialism that keeps alive tho "communal system," which has long outlived any usefulness it may , have once had, and which is now killing bit,the natives of Fiji. It is officialism which' perpetuates' a' system of revenue extraction that no,democratic country would suffer : for a year. ' But Fiji is not a democratic" country. It is in reality strictly autocratic., Nominally the Legislative-Coun-oil is composed of 12 members, nominated by the Governor (principally heads of departments), and six members, elected, under fearful and wonderful restrictions, by the oolonists. This means, of , course, that the official members "are the Government, and the elected members a sort of weak and harmless opposition. But even the official members, cannot vote as they like. The Governor controls them. The Governor remains for three or four years in the colony, and- just as he becomes acquainted with the real needs of the islands, he retires, and

another inexperienced one takes his place. Such a system plays into the hands of tho officials, who constitute themselves tho "advisors" of the Governor. Trie Political Problem. Gradually, it is to bo hoped, thoro will come about a moro -popular form of Government. Tho forming or such is not without difficulty, and. it has been feared that if the whito settler woro given solo governing •power on democratic linos, serious injustice :might bo done to the natives. At present anything liko self-government on tho part of the natives is not within cooeo. Tho Fijian, especially in matters of judgment and finance, is but a littlo child. Honco politically, the government! of Fiji, furnishes a problem. Thoro are .many who inclino to the belief ■that only when linked to one of the Australasian States can any real settlement of the present deplorablo condition of things bo arrived at. Others believe that wore the white residents placed on their honour and trusted with the powers of self-government, they would prove tliemsolves of tho samo blood as their ancestors, and not l-o behind them in bearing the "white man's burden." A Croat Future. There can be no doubt that Fiji hc.3 a great future commercially and industrially. It is in the lino of trade, and can thus readily find a , market for its oxports. It is in tho current of some significant race movements, and is not, therefore, likely to escape ■the competition necessary to healthy development. It is not improbable that this group will be one of the chief distributing and governing centres of the Pacific. It has a genial climate of the tropical order, but without tho scourge , of .malaria. Hence the European has less risk upon his life than -in most tropical lands.' It is favoured with an abundant rainfall. La;it year in the "wot zone" five yards fell. In \tho zone" only half this amount was vouchsafed. The soil is, for the'most part, exceedingly fertile, and capable of ■ growing all tropical products.' With tho exception of an occasional hurricane, there are no serious drawbacks to enterprise.' Unfortunatelj, in tho past, settlement has not been encouraged. The white population to-day is less than it was at annexation in- 1875. . Now, .however, the Government is making some effort to encourage white colonists to take up land, and the ■ present Governor deserves every praise for the initiation of this advance policy. Land for settlement purposes is becoming more and more 'available on account of the rapid.extinction of the native race. The Fijians are dying out at the rate of 1500 ,p'er annum. Fifty -years ago it is estimated that'there were 200,000' inhabitants of these islands. ■ There are now only 87,000. Fiji is not by any means a "working man's country." But with liberal land t laws and a sane revenue system, it may bo made a desirable place for the small capitalist and thrifty settler.—"H..W" in the ' "Sydney Morning Herald."