FIJI AS IT IS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XX, Issue 6816, 21 September 1883, Page 6

FIJI AS IT IS.

[cr OUR SPECIAL REPORTER.] 1 No. 11. THE LAND QUESTION. Previous to the cession of the Islands to the British Government in 1875, large blocks of: land in the group had been alienated by the natives and acquired by European settlers; These lands had, in the first instance; been' bought for what, at the time, was considered fair value. For a certain piece of land wliich was absolutely worthless to the native chief, . having no use whatever for it, he- received I .' something which, to him, wa3 of considerable value. Whether it was a gun, a pipe, a knife, or whatever else it might be, it was just what he wanted at the time, and, as upon the acquisitien of it might depend his life or death, he was only too glad to gat it in exchange for what was then and always I would be, as far as he kr.ew, perfectly valueless to him. We can only couclude, then; that these transactions were at the time strictly juot and fair, although the only title which the purchaser had was the word of the chief himself, when he declared that the land had been sold to so-and-so. Some of these land 9 so acquired were subsequently sold and resold, and passed through the hands of several individuals before the country became ancexed to the British Crown, the title always remaining the same, viz., the word of the chief from. w'nOin the laud had been bought. In this way things, went on uutil the cession by the natives of the group to the British Crowr. in 187.8. In accepting the cession of the Islands from the native chiefs the Govcrnmeut had first satisfied itself that they (the chiefs) were possessed of the power and right to cede the absolute proprietorship of all lands not previously alienated, and it was acting upon this c.'nvictiou thac the cession was accepted from the natives. The fourth clause of the " deed ol cession" provides "that the absolute proprietorship of all lands nob showu to be now alienated, so as to have become bona Jide the property of Europeans or other foreigners, or not now in the actual use or occupation of the. tribe, or not actually required for the probable support and maintenance of some ohief or tribe t shall be and is hereby dtclurtd to be vested in Her Majesty, her heirs, and successors." This clearly shows to what extent the Crown became possessor of the soil of Fiji, and as the absolute proprietor large sales, were afterwards effected, whilst at the same time Sir Arthur Gordon puulicly invited English capitalists to buy Fijian lands from the Giown.

The cession to the British Crown of all lands not previously alienated, then necessitated ail inquiry being made by the Government into the claims of those persons who had bought their lauds from the natives as above described, and as tu whether these lands had beeu acquired at a fair price, and whether they were legitimate transatious, and it was to rest upon tl;a result of this inquiry whether the person would receive a Crown grant or not. A commission was appointed, before which all of these cases were ordered to be brought, and whilst some —a good many—succeeded in establishing a right to their :auds, and consequently obtained their Crown grants, maiiy others were not so fortunate ; their claims were disallowed, and their lands reverted to the Crown.

The land of Fiji then may be classed under three heads :—lst, That held by Europeans by right of purchase previous to. the Cession, and for which they subsequently established their claim and obtained a Crown grant. 2nd, All lands in the actual occupation of and required for the maintenance of the natives, and of which the Government have accepted the position of trustee, and hold ouly in trust for them. And, 3rd, T'nat which became the absolute property of the Crown by virtue of the fourth clause of the " Deed of Cession."

PRODUCTS AND INDUSTRIES. The chief articles which the Islands are capable of producing are sugar, coffye, cotton, copra, cocoa, tobacco, spices of ail kinds,, pearl shell, candlenuts, maize, etc. Copra is at present the principal article of export, being valued in the year 1373 (the latest returns 1" havs been able to obtain) at £122,19-1, whilst the value of the fibre obtained from tiio husk of the cocoanut for the same ye.ir was £3133. As,, however, there has been,' and still exists, an increasing demand for the article on tho European market, the production has since 1878 been very largely increased. Cocoa,nuts are extensively grown, both by the natives in their ewn fashion, and by the Europeans in regular plantations ; and. nothing is more striking and beautiful-to the eye than to see a large plantation of the graceful cocoanut palm. When cultivated they are planted iu rows about 20 feet apart each way, and if care is ti.ken at the time of plauting to keep tho rows straight, and each tree tho exact distance apart, alternating the position of the rows, the alter effect when the trees are grown up is very beautiful. Such a plantation I saw on the Mango Island, and a finer sight of its kind I. have never witnessed. The trees will begin to bear at five years of age, and .by tho time they are ten will be producing from 50 to 80 nuts a tree each year, a,.d will contiuus to bear for 80 or 100 years. When the nuts are ripe for pulling, which is about the months of October to December, they are gathered and bid out in'the sun to dry for some time, then stripped of the husk (lyhich is afterwards bagged for exportation), broktn open, and the kernel i 3 taken ou:t, cut up into small pieces, and laid out on large frames in the drying shed until such time as it, is fit to put into bags ready for exportation. About 6000 nuts yield a ton of copra, aud about the same weight of fibte (the value of each being about £14 per ton in Fiji), and these quantities may be produced from an aero of plantation in a fairly good bearing condition. The cocoanut is a very safe thing to grow, not being subject to injury by draughts, or over-much rain. Hurricanes, which occasionally occur, are the only things which cause any damage to the trees, but, from that uvea they soon recover. Excepting m Viti Levu, the cocoanut palm thrives in all parts of the gfoup, but there the leaves of the trees seemsubject to the attacks of a sort of caterpillar, which injures them to such an extent as to prevent the tree from bearing.

Sugar is the next most important industry, and from the interest which is now being taken in its production there is no doubt it will soon occupy tho premier position on the list of export*. The following mills with the producing power of each are either now in operation or very shortly wi il bo, and the list will give some idea of the quantity of sugar which may very soon be produced in the Fijis. Tons per ™ „ . . . „ annum, Tho Colonial Sugar Co., Naau.rie Hill, Rqwa Elver, 2t> tons per day of 12 hours, or 40 tons day and night 8,000 Sharpe, Klotcher, and Co., Navua, 13 tons per day of 12 hours 4.00.0 Tlip Deuba Sugar Co., Navua, 10 tons fidr day of 12 hours .. 3^oo Blllyard and Co., Tavluna, 10 tons per day of 12 hours , .. 3,5Q(j Dr. Chalmers' Penang Estate, 5 tons par day or 12 hours ' I . .. 1,300 Walter Hunter, Taviuna.. .. ~ .. 900 Rbwa Plantation Co., 4 tons per day .. .. 1,000 Mango Island Co., 7 tons per day .. Stanlako, Leo, and Co., Kewa Eivor, 5 tons per day 1,350 Total .. .. aS.ooO Besides these above enumerated, it is also in contemplation by the Colonial Sugar Company to double its producing power by the erection of another 20-ton mill on the Bi River. Stanlako, Lee, and Co., also purpose erecting a 10-ton mill on the Navua River, and Mr. R. B. Leefo a three-ton mill at Raki Raki. When all these mill's ate in full operation—which they will be in the course of a y. ar or two from now—iu is not too much to expect that the report will reach fully 40,000 tons. At £30 a tOD, this represents a trade of £1,200,000 a year, a very respectable item for a country hitherto almost unknown. Th.e principal sugar plantations at present are on the' ReWa River, where there are very large areas under cultivation. In Bome oases the growers of cane have mills on their own plantations, and manufacture their own sugar. In other cases the cancs are grown by planters and sold to the mill-owners at prices ranging from 10s to 16s per ton delivered at the mill. Some twelve months ago an arrangement was come to between the Colonial Sugar Company and the planters on the Rewa whereby the latter agreed to supply the company for five years with all the cane they produced at 10a per ton. Subsequently, however, the price of labour went up. so much that the planters found themselves on' the wrong.side of a very.bad bargain, and had to make the best arrangement tiiey could ' with the company. One great, advantage in connection with the planting, of sugar canißS; is that a return is got quicker than 'frohri any

other produce. Twelve months from the' time of planting the canes, they are ready to out, and as they continue to grow all the year round, a constant succession of ripe cane-may be kept np, although, of course, the density Of jaice is much greater at some seasons of the year than, others, and consequently When cut at those on favourable Seasons a loss of fully one-third is sustained. Canes cut during the summer and autumn, when thoy are growing most, do not of course contain that density of saccharine matter that, those do cut during winter and spring, when t'aey are growing least. Land suitable for growing the sugar qane is v : ery |. dear, as it cannot be got in anything like a favourable position under less than £15 an acre, and as It would then take £10 an acre to clear and bring it into cultivation, it comes to be Very expensive, and a large outlay is necessary, although, as I have pointed out, one has not to wait long for a return. Good land will produce 40, and as high even as 50, tons of cane a-year, and as ib takes j.ust 12 to 14 tons' tp .produce a ton. of sugar worth £30, a very good return is obtained for the outlay.

la the cultivation of tho canes they are planted in rows about four feet apart, and at distances of from two feet to three feet from each other in the rows Three crops, are .taken off the ground, and then the i?oots are cleared out, but meantime new canes are planted in the spaces between the old rows, and so a constant succession of cane is produced on the same field:. Up to the present time nothing has been done by the planters ■ in the Way of renewing or manuring the land, and many of them are under the impression that the Soil is so fertile and rich that it will never require It, But this must surely be a mistaken notion, as it cannot be fiupposecl that land, however good it may be, ivill go on producing from 30 to 50 tons of cane a year and not in .time becomo exhausted. , A large sugar plantation, with the canes in Various stages of growth, is a fiqe sight. And if a mill is ia operation on the estate at the j same time it tends very much to enliven the scenu. A' central ,and convenient position is chosen for the mill, and i from thence tramways, for the purpose of bringing down the cane, radiate to all parts of the faun. During the day the scene is one of constant bustle, life, and activity, as the trucks, each accompanied by two or three natives, are for ever arriving and departing. At the same time a good d'-'al of skill is required on the part of the overseers and managers, in order to regu'atthe traffic and prevent accidents, which they ate not always able to do. Donkeys are now being imported on to some of the estates, for tho purpose of packing the cane* from tho more distant pacts of the plantation to the tramways, and should prove a very valuable acquisition.. As showing the amount Of capital required in the production of sugar in Fiji, it may be mentioned that the Colonial Sugar Company »lone have already expended something like a quarter of a million in the purchase of land and plant, and the erection of machinery, and a large sum will still have to be laid out before all their contemplated works are completed, and the whole thing is in full swing.. And this is only one, although of course the largest, of the many companies that are g 'ing into the industry. It is the Colonial Sugar Company that are now erecting the refining works at Birkenhead, near Auckland.

COFFEE, ' j ir-f-Coffee 13 another very important product of the group, add thrives remarkably well. It is estimated that there are some 2000 square miles of land in the Fiji Islands suitable for the growing of this plant. . It does well in all the. Islands, , especially in- Vvti Levu and Vanua Levn, Rabi, Ovalan, and Taviuna. The plant,' \wherever.cultivated, has ajvvays grown strong and healthy, and although the leaves are subject to attacks of disease, this does not seem to detract from thq producing power of the plants. Although that attention does not seem to have'befn paid to the growing of c«ffee that its importance would warrant/ 1 there is 110 doubt that before long it will prove a . very important item of export. . Coffee land can . bo bought at frjm £4 to £5 an acre, and it takes two years before the first crop, which of course would not be very heavy, can bo reaped. At five years old, the trees may be said to be in full bearing, and would continue to hoar Until they are 20 years Of age, when they Would require to be renewed. About S to lQcwt. per acre is a good yield ; under favourable circumstances, the average would be fflore like 6or 7cwt., worth lOd a lb. Different varieties are grown in the Islands, but that known pis the Liberian is the moat generally eulfivated, and, for many reasons, is considered the best. COTTON. . ' .

Qotton grown in the Fiji has become world renowned, having taken the highest awards at all the recent International Exhibitions;-. And certainly a finer sample it would ba iinpossibe.. to prodrtceif.it being long iD the staple, and almost as fine as silk in texture. During the time*' the i.'.mericau ports were clos<-d, owing to the civil war, a tremendous impetus was given 'to the cultivation of cotton in the Islands, and prices ranged from 33 to as high as 4s Gd per lb., and fortunes were beingrapidly made, but from 1572 the price has been steadily declining, until at the present time it is only worth 14d a lb. • As the cost of production, freights, commission, and other charges run up to something like Is a lb., very little margin of profit is left, and consequently little is being don;; in the way ot cultivating' it at present, except by the natives for the payment of their taxes. Were the manufacture of cotton materials to be commenced in either Australia or New* Zealand on anything like a liberal scale, cotton-growing would most likely be revived in Fiji. <■...■■ $:■'.* v •, TOBACCO. 1 - Tobacco grows well all ove.' the Islands, movo particularly' on the north and west coasts of the largo island of Viti Levu. Little or no attempt, hotvever, seems to have been paid hitherto to the preparation of it as an article of export. . The natives grow it for the purpose 1 of paying their taxes, and also for their own use. They cure the leaves by hanging them up t > dry in some shady place, and when ..wanted tor use they break off a portion of a leaf, dry it on a hot coal, and then rolling it up in a banana leaf, smoke it in the form of a cigarette. Now that the manufacture of tobacco has been started by a company in A uckland, it might be wortli their while to encourage the growth of it more down in the Islands, as a source from whence to draw their raw supplies. OTHER CROPS.

Tea has been grown on. a small scale, but not in sufficient quantities to enable me to give any particulars in reference to its cultivation. If hilly land is a necessary qualification of the soil, it ought to do well, as there are .plenty of those. Spice iof all sorts grow in the Islands to perfection. Wtttmegs, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, and popper all do well, aud if the attempts that have been made to cultivate some of -i them have provod a failure, it seems to have been owing to inferior plants having been introduced rather than to any faultof the soil or climate. I think mytelf that, for anyone who understands the business and would go into the thing properly, on pot too large a scale at first, there is a very good opening. Referring to the position qf Fiji in regard to a market for her produce, Horue, in his interesting w<?rk entitled "A Year in Fiji," says :—"Geographically, Fiji enjoys a moat enviable position in. regard to a market for her produce, snch as no .other British Colony does. Situated within the tropics, she is within 5 days of Auckland, 7 of Sydney, and 9 of Melbourne by steam. The climate of ths country is healthy, the soil fertile, rains abundant, and all are favourable in a high degree 'for the cultivation of tropical products—indeed, just what are most wanted : sugar, tea, Coffee, rice, &o\, in Australia and New Zealand. The demand or market in these colonies for these products is at present large, and wi'l increase with the population to an unlimited extent. No country is so favourably situated, in all respects, for supplying such products as Fiji." [To bo conticuod.l