ENTRE NOUS

Free Lance, Volume XVIII, Issue 957, 14 November 1918, Page 18

ENTRE NOUS

MR. S. Russell, who describes himself as "Hon. Secretary of the Cook Islands Progressive Association," sends us from Rarotonga under date October 21st a long typewritten letter attacking the present administration of affairs in the Cook Islands and giving reasons for the dissatisfaction of the residents with it. The letter is far too long for publication in our columns but we give the following extract to show its trend and gist: —

"Several articles dealing with Cook Islands affairs have appeared in New Zealand newspapers from time to time, and some of these would seem to have been written with the object of" preventing the true position of things here becoming known to the New Zealand public. The latest to come under our notice, entitled "A Race Adrift," appeared in the Wellington "Evening Post" of May 23rd, written by one Ch. C. Smith. This gentleman is not a resident of the Islands, neither, so far as is known, did he ever have any Islands experience with the exception •of a, two months' stay in Avarua, the principal settlement of Rarotonga, where he acted as a sort of secretary to the Resident Commissioner, a position that seems to have been made specially for him, as the R.C. has never found it necessary before Mr. Smith's arrival or since his departure to employ anyone in this capacity.

"The article in question contained several very good suggestions; the ■groundwork of these appears to be the same as have been put forward on different occasions by the Cook Islands Progressive Association, and no doubt Mr. Smith became conversant with them during his brief tenure of office, and then enlarged upon them, or twisted them to suit the purposes of hi 6 article.

' 'These would seem to be to bolster up the present Administration and to make it more d>f a one man show than

it is at present, if that were possible; to pave tlie way for an extension of the term of office of tlie present Resident Commissioner, Mi*. F. W. Platts, and to belittle the permanent residents of the Islands and their efforts to improve our local conditions by referring to them in his article as 'derelicts of the beach,' 'half kanakas.' and 'dregs of wliite 'humanity.' Abuse is 110 argument, but the Cook Islands Administration does not seem to realise this fact. It is their persistent policy to refer, to the Europeans he-re by such epithets as the foregoing, and even worse, for they have . quite recently been alluded to by a high administrative officials as •'pro-Germans,' 'sedi-tion-mongers and beach-combers' ; simply because they will not support the existing autocracy, or shut their eyes to its shortcomings.. Mr. Smith evidently overlooked the fact that in using the term 'half-kanaka' he was casting a reflection upon the people of these Islands, including the head of the Administration.

" As, to the suggestion that the term of office of the Resident Commissioner should be extended, it is an excellent one, provided that we get the right man in the position. Here it must be emphasised that the man who takes_ up this position must have had previous experience of natives and of the tropics. A man who has had nothing but New Zealand experience could not be expected to satisfactorily fill the position, for our conditions are not New Zealand conditions; they are as different as are those of Africa or India. The R.C. should have constructive ability, particularly 1 in the direction of the development of land, for the land is our only asset here.

"That the present R.C., Mr. F. W. Platts, should remain longer than his appointed time, however, which terminates, it is understood, in November y is not to be thought of for a moment. He is ' entirely un suited _to the position and has done nothing since his arrival here but make himself exceedingly xmpopular and distrusted by. both natives and Europeans'; the former quite recently petitioned Parliament for his recal. To allow him to remain here could only add to the present discontent. The root of the trouble in the Cook Islands may be found in the fact that the New Zealand Government has set up an autocracy here, and that the people of the Islands have no voice in the making of the laws under which they have to live, or any control over thei expenditure of the revenue they have to contribute."

Another has been added to the many records arising out of the war—an English officer has done his bit in record time. -He took an affectionate farewell of his family on Dover Pier at 10 o'clock-one evening. At 6 o'clock next morning; he was at the Front, at noon he was in the firing line, at 2 p.m. a machine gun bullet smashed his ankle, and that night he was again on the pier at Dover. We are rather sorry for that poor dear officer. His stock of war stories and! thrilling adventures in the field will not take long to tell.

"The late King Edward never went to bed withou teating two large Spanish onions." This valuable information is imparted by Sir Charles Bathuxst, M.P. This gentleman, as Secretary or the British Ministry of Pood, is seeking to induce the people of Great Britain to develop a more kindly attitude towards onions, and lie is cute) enough to understand that the prejudice against the fragrance of this esculent may be broken dowjL if the people can be made to believe that it is the atmosphere of the Court.,

A Free Lancer, who could get 110 satisfaction out of his 'phone, which persisted in remaining mute, took the trouble to walk down to the Exchange to interview the Officer-in-Charge. He was courteously received by Mr. Anderson and his able coadjutor, Miss Ixuckie. Although themselves going at top they snatched a few fleeting moments to make plain the position _of affairs. In fact, no verbal explanation was needed. A glance at the staff working desperately hard told the whole story in a flash.

There were on two sides of a square 58 girls and young women, each with a steel band spanning, her head and clamping her ears, working away at square switch-boards as if they were each and severally playing the upright keyboard of a. piano. There they stood shoulder to shoulder in two lines busy plugging the holes to give electric communication to 'phone callers while shutters kept falling down in half dozens and dozens, each one indicating a fresh call.

There wasn't decent breathing, time for any of these girls. Each and all of them were working away for dear life. No doubt many of the furious subscribers who were waiting for answers at the other end of the. wires were picturing the " Hello " girls as lolling out of the windows watching the passing crowds or lounging at tables sipping tea. and chatting over war news while the neglected 'phone bells were ringing theih clappers off.

about in front of lier switch-box as if slie weer seized with St. Vitus's dance. One had just fainted through sheer exhaustion before the Free. Lancer called, and every now and again one here and there who seemed / ready to drop was being withdrawn from the line to be .given a rest lest she should faint. Meanwhile, another girl took, her place.

Now this sort of thing had been, going on for several hours. It was physically • impossible for human nature to do more. The system cannot cope with, sudden emergencies like these/ And— until a better system is devised by some Edison or another—the public must just keep its hair on and make allowances for the system. At any rate the 'phone-girls and their officers do their level best. Rest assured of that. «*•*•£• * The following is posted on the door of a deserted cabin in Coos County, Oregon: — To whom it may concern : There's potatoes in the wood-shed, There's flour in the bin, There's beans a-plenty in the cupboard. To waste them is a sin. Go to it, neighbour, if you're hungry I - Fill up while you've a chance, For I'm going after the Kaiser, Somewhere over in France. —It. A. Johnson, Alias, Charley the Trapper. * * Dear Free Lance, —The following advertisement, translated . from the "Koepenik 'Zeitung," should be of interest to your readers at the present time. I forward it in the hope that it may prove so :

For sale, as a-, going concern, the business so successfully conducted by advertiser during the past thirty years as Kaiser of the German Empire. The owner is relinquishing business solely for; health reasons, he having been advised by that eminent special, Dr. Liebknecht, to seek a cooler climate. This is a unique opportunity for an ambitious and unscrupulous young man. In addition to the above, the following will be sold in separate lots, owner having no further use for same: —

Nothing could be further from the truth. There the girls stood shoulder to shoulder, each one jerking her arms

209 Volumes Speeches (all subjects). 300 Uniforms (a choice selection). 2 Pairs Stilts (steel shod). 1 High Horse (thoroughly broken). 1 Bible (somewhat worn in parts). Apply to William Hohenzollern, Potsdam. Yours, etc., R.J.P., Wellington. ' tt When the foolish dailies of Wellington on Friday last sent the public clean ■ off their heads by frantically posting up the mere rumour (supported by no official confirmation) that the war was over a good many things happened. The first was that the multitude who had wires laid to their homes or offices made a simultaneous frenzied rush to the 'phone. * ■» * # Then during the next half-hour if you had been Asmodeus, the infernal imp, whom Xie Sage or some other romancer, endowed 1 with the faculty of flyiug through people's roofs, you might have seen furious citizens ringing away like mad at their 'phones and making the air lurid with naughty language when they could not get a response. In that stressful half-hour the devoted Telephone Exchange of Wellington came in for some unmerciful slatings. The pity of it is that they were quite undeserved by the hardworking staff. Let us show why. -ic- -E5-So-called German efficiency, found its equal _in Allied ingenuity. When American prisoners, who were placed in the various forts throughout Germany, sought to write to relatives or friends in their native country, their messages had to undergo the rigid inspection of the "efficient" German censor, who often believed that he was permitting only "good news" to pass through. Real descriptions of the situation were affaced. A son of a wealthy Philadelphian, who had been captured, recently sent word home that conditions on the whole were very satisfactory and American prisoners were being treated well—but that he would much rather be back in liaurel * Hill. The young man's parents were able to understand his meaning, as Laurel Hill is a cemetery not far from his native town. Splendid treatment?