THE CRUISE of the MOKOIA

Grey River Argus, 17 April 1920, Page 2

THE CRUISE of the MOKOIA

THROUGH THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

(By Mr H, B, Holland, M.P.)

Rarotonga Again. Wednesday, February 26.— The Mokoia was once more anchored off tho village of Avarau, and. immediately after breakfast all hands went ashore. Sir James Allen at onco proceeded to receive deputations. First came the Arikis and Taiapos, then the Native Growers' Association, then the Euro >peans on a matter ofeducation, and finally the planters and traders. Si. James Allen adopted the same line or "investigation" here as at Mangaia; and his methods on one occasion drew a^hcated objection from McCombs, fol lowed by an equally strong protest from Howard. It was quite clear to me personally that Sir James's determination to reserve unto himself the right to tell both natives and whites the nature of the investigations we desired to make, and also his determination to permit no viewpoint to be pre scntrd in reply to the various deputations other than that of the Government, was not likely to leave us in a position to secure the information we were entitled to get, and I therefore toot advantage of the final stages of the last deputation to intimate in effect that my fellow £,abour members and myself desired to secure every item of information from every source. This intimation was resented by Sir James Allen, who seemed fearful lest we should make inquiries out of his hearing. He said he wanted all in quirics made with the whole Party present; but, of course, the difficulties which arose out of the manner In which his collective inquiries were organised precluded the making of comprehensive investigations, and if it had not been for the individual pro bings of the Labour "members much valuable information would have beer, missed. For instance, no opportunity whatever was furnished by Sir James Allen at any of the islands for securing direct information from wageworkers re their conditions. Individual inquiries, however, showed thar there had been a number of strikes at the Cook Islands during recent months, and that by this means wages had been lifted to 4s a day.

Soldiers' Revolt.

No opportunity was given under Sir James's methods for ascertaining tho grievances of the returned soldiers. But independent inquiries showed thai profiteering is rife in the Cook Islands as it is all over the Pacific and for that matter all over the world; and that Saturday, March 7, of last yea*saw the beginnig of what might casilv have developed into a very serious revolt. Rarotonga sent quite a number of native soldiers to the war, a? did All the Cook Islands; many or them made the supreme sacrifice. When the survivors returned they expected to find a portion at least of their allotment money saved up by their Avivcs. But there Avas nothing saved, and tho women had a story to tell of how the cost of necessaries had risen and risen, again. The profiteers had gathered in the allotment money of -me natives Avho were fighting for them. The soldiers became incensed, and went out to wreck the shops. It was stated that drink played some part in the trouble . On the first night (Saturday) they smashed up the furniture of a tea shop and generally wrecked the' place. The following night (Sunday) about seventy return, cd soldiers "attacked one of the largest stores on the island" (vide official report). "They burst open the doors r-nd windows, smashed the shop fittings, ai.d \'Ottd or destroyed the conteut-3." TiK\7 followed this up Avith an uttacl. cm another store, and anuoi.rceo that they avouUl treat the remainder sin^.wJy. They also threatened to loot the spirit-bond. For 34 hours they had full control. In the meantime every white man on the island and a number of natives were sworn in as special constables, and the usual steps were taken "for the "suppression of disorder." Arrests Avcrc made and a special session of the High Court was held, wihen tAvcnty alleged offenders Avere charged, tAvclvc of them being sentenced. The official report says: -"In the outlying islands some of the soldiers have made threats .of violence towards the traders, but there has been no breach of the peace.'*

The Lost Mana,

I have already said that the first deputation consisted of the Arikis and Taiapos. These came representing the Islam! Council. The chiefs eulogised Jho work of the Resident Commissioner as also did the deputation from the Growers' Association, which came later. A most interesting phase of the first deputation was when the spokesman of £he Arikis dramatically demanded, on behalf of the princes and nobles, the restoration of their ' ' mana. »

It may be explained that when the whites first came to Rarotonga they found a system in operation that was not altogether dissimilar from the feudal system of the Middle Ages. Mr. Edward Trcgeor has outlined this feu- ' dal organisation. At its head stood the. Arikis (royalties, princes, etc.). Next in order came the Mataiapos (the noblj*), "fulfilling the idea of feudal nobles and deriving their posi.

[ tion from a tenure of land held from time immemorial. ' ' The third social order consisted of the Rangitiras (tenant nobles), "occupying a position of honour, but liable to a call for war or other public service from the lords AAihofie lands they occupied." The He-mono were the fourth social order; they were the cadets of great families I or their relatives — second sons of second wives, etc. The common people — the Uuga — were the fifth and lowest social order. They held their lands by sufferance, and over them the princes and nobles were able to hold the menace of dispossession. An Undemocratic Promise. The "mana" of the nobility rested therefore on their feudal OAA r nership of the land. If the tenant displeased tho noble, failed to obey whatever order v.as given, the lord held the power to give him notice to quit, an order tihat was capable or 'oeing put into force. If ±he commoner duly repented of his rashness and humiliated himself sufficiently, he might be restoredto his tenancy. Land titles have noAV been individualised, every member of the tribe is secure in his~occupation of the land, and the halcyon days of the nobility are gone for ever. In bygone days the word of the Ariki and tho Taiapo was laAv — all men hastened to do their bidding. Now, avc were sorrowfully told, Avhcn the Ariki gives an order it is almost invariably disobeyed, and, the noble is told that the people are as good as the princes — "they arc all landowners noAV." And so the only "mana" left to the nobility Avas that Avhich rested upon the Arikispower to nominate the members of the Council. This, as Avill be seen, it was now proposed to disturb. In reply to questions from the Labour members, tho Ariki spokesman freely admitted that what he wanted for the nobles was the restoration of the right to dispossess landowners avlio gave offence.

Not even Sir James Allen Avas prepared to promise in its entirety the restoration asked for — which, indeed, amounted to a demand for a reversal of historical processes; but he did jjfomise that "the Government would do all it could to preserve the 'mana of the. Arikis" — sentiment that could not possibly fit in Avith that principlo of democratic self-government antt freedom Avhich Sir James Avas never tired of declaring the soldiers (including, of course, the native soldiers) fought for on the battlefields of Europe.

The Island Council,

The Island Council is a most undemocratic form of government, and gives tli3 people practically no voice in the control o f their own affairs. In last session of Parliament, it may be remembered, when I suggested fliar tho -whiie« be accorded representation on whatever local governing body then; w.- r.t Cook Islands, I was attacked l % y the then Minister of Coo*? Islands, Dr Pomarc. The Island Council at Rarotonga has hitherto consisted of the Arikis and three native members nominated by the Government. Some time prior to our arriva: two of the nominee members had been replaced by two others. The displaced members alleged that their removal was due to the fact that they opposed the doings of the Resident Commissioner. The • whites supported the charge. The Commissioner's reply was that the nominee members wore appointed on the recommendation of the various villages, and that the replaced members had merely failed to secure -recommendation from their own villages for re-nomination. The whites dow made a demand for representation and the Arikis and Taiapis, in their first statement, declared they would never, under any circumstances, consent to white representatives on their Council. It appeared that when the Cook Islanders wero persuaded to agree to annexation, they were given a promise by Mr. Scddon that thoir system of government would.be maintained. Sir James Allen, w3io had not taken the Parliamentary Party into his confidence) announced that he proposed to arrange for two whites to sit as advisory counsellors to the Resident Commissioner in the event of tlic natives not agreeing to an alteration of the pact made by Mr Scddon. Later in the ' day, at another mcct^n* held at Queen Makea's Palace,^. x tho Arikis and Taiapos put forward a proposal which was a complete rcvorsal of their former attitude — a proposal in favour of an elective Council which Should include one European electee*, by the Europeans. They made it a condition that the European member must be a full-blooded white and not a half-caste, and further stipulated that the Europeans and the natives must come under the same laws relating to liquor and morality. At the present time all liquor is '{handled by the Customs Department, which supplies it to whites but not to natives. The natives insist that the whites must be prohibited as well as them, selves. It was also stipulated that all Bills relating to the Islanders must bo submitted to them before being passed into law by the N.Z. Parliament. All of these conditions were accepted by Sir .Tames Allen. To be Continued.