THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1884.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 7000, 24 April 1884, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald. AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 1884.

A few months ago we gave an' outline of the recommendations contained in the report of the "Western Pacific Royal Commission,, which was presented in the month of October last. That, report has now been published, and as there is in the full text a good deal of what is both interesting and significant, it will not be amiss to advert to some of its more outstanding features. It may be remarked first of all, that though the Royal Commission consisted of three gentlemen, namely, Sir A. H. Gordon, Admiral A." H. Hoskins, and J. 0. "Wilson, the report bears unmistakeable evidence of being compiled by the first of these gentlemen. Anyone who has perused "Sir A. H. Gordon's despatches can; easily detect the Roman hand.. The style is gracefully laboured, but scarcely conceals the bitterness with which the autocratic temper of the writer inclines him to speak of men and things when these interfered in any way -with his plans and influence. The introductory portion is occupied with an examination, of the political condition of the various groups of islands coming under the jurisdiction of the High Commissioner's Court. German interests are said to predominate in Samoa, aiid in the New Britain and New Ireland Groups; while at Tonga all power is descrihed as being vested in the Rev. Mr. Baker, a Wesleyan clergyman, whose influence, as respects the causes to which it is due, and the mode of its exercise, are represented as closely resembling that of some political churchman of the Middle Ages. It looks as if the paramount sway of this gentleman had been viewed with envious eyes by the High Commissioner, and the effectiveness thereof appears, to have been sorrowfully brooded over as he remembered the comparative failure which he is forced to admit had marked the working of the Order-in-Council under which he held his own appointment. There is something like a lingering regret on the part of the High Commissioner that either the capacity or the opportunity was lacking to him of wielding the supreme influence of a middle age churchman,, and, in perusing this passage, one cannot help thinking that the High Commissioner might have found it worth his -while to try the experiment of changing his cloth. ! With regard to the causes which rendered the provisions of the Orderin Council almost wholly inoperative over the greater part of the area to which it referred, and in some respects more mischievous than beneficial, these are stated to have been various. Chief among them are the inadequacy of the administrative staff; the union of the offices of . Governor of Fiji and High Commissioner, which restricted the movements in the latter capacity of that official; the fact that the Order itself had been drawn by men who did not fully understand the conditions ■ of life in the Pacific; and- lastly, the inadequacy of the punitive powers conferred upon the Commissioner. " If these should be held by the Royal Commission as explaining the comparative failure of the machinery created to secure law and I order, there are many in these colonies who will be disposed to arrive at another conclusion.. The colonists of Fiji especially will not be slow to express the opinion that while the union of the offices of Governor and High Commissioner was decidedly objectionable, it was detrimental rather to .the efficiency of the duties of the former office than to; those of the latter. Their complaint was that their interests were sacrificed to those which the High Commissionership specially contein- , plated, and that, in so far as theirs were attended to, they were performed by Sir A. H. Gordon in the autocratic spirit of the High Commissioner rather than with the paternal considerateness of the Governor. As for the alleged inadequacy of the .punitive powers vested in the High Commissioner, most people will incline to the opinion that these, at least as interpreted and carried out by Sir A. H. Gordon, were both ample and arbitrary, as Mr. Hunt, of Samoa, and others can practically.testify. And if, as is confessed, the operation of the Order-in-Council tended to reduce the influence of the na.vy among, the white residents in i:he Islands and to tie its hands in its dealings with the . natives, that. could be due only to the too arbitrary exercise 'of the overriding power which it vested in the Conlmissioner.

In dealing with the question as to what more effective system should be substituted in room of that whose powerlessness has been admitted, the report passes in review* the proposal to transfer the powers of the High; Commissioner to the, naval authorities, and the idea of framing a treaty to which Germany, France, and the United States shall be parties, with a view to the better exercise of authority over the subjects of these nations residing in the Pacific. Both of these are, however, dismissed, the former on the ground that the white residents ' in the Islands would prefer that ; any regulations adopted should be administered by a civil officer, and ,the latter, for the reason that it would probably lead to future ..political misunderstandings. - Annexation to the Empire-is then considered and condemned, chiefly on the ground of the expense it would entail on the Imperial Treasury,, and the international, embarrassments it might lead to. - "In like manner, annexation, by the: colonies,

singly or collectively, is disposed of. The report is very emphatic in its contention against entrusting the colonists o£ "Queensland with control over native races, such as those of New Guinea, and more than insinuates that their selfishness and their creatment of their own aboriginal population unfitted them for the culture of that generous and dispassionate spirit in which the goyernmsnt of native races should be undertaken. And the same allegation, but couched in language still more offensive,is made in support of the opposition offered to the proposal to hand over to a federated Australasia the i responsibility of maintaining law and order among the native inhabitants.of the Pacific. The government of the several groups of islands would, it is said, virtually fall into the - hands of the-white residents, and these would always find a selfish support from the labour employers in the north of Australia and the shipping interests of Sydney and Auckland, whose influence would be sufficiently strong to sway any Government, even a federal • one, that might exist; so as to further their own advantage and prejudice those of the native population. It is very evident that the writer of this report has as little esteem for the colonists as they have for him. Groundless and sweeping charges are made against them on the complaisant assumption that under no possible • conditions can generosity equal to his be predicated of them; and that they can have no other thoughts about the native, races than that' of using ' them as" a means of acquiring land and money. He has no belief in their possession of any real, national aspirations, and the only explanation that he gave to himself or set forth to others of the cry for annexation which has suddenly, sprung up' in Australasia is that of greed and- the lust for powerV: It is fortunate, however, for these colonies that the' Imperial Government and the English people are not wholly dependent on the report which the Royal Commission, uader the inspiration of Sir A. H. Gordon, has submitted to them. Men such as Lord Rosebery can testify to the loyal and even generous spirit which animates them in •their desire to avert from themselves and the population of the Pacific evils which are not imaginary but immediate and formidable.', The testimony of •these witnesses will be accepted' in preference to the splenetic statements of'a report which has been written to justify a foregone conclusion, nob to meet a national emergency such as that which has arisen in Australasia.

It is scarcely necessary to add that the report concludes by recommending that the office of High Commissioner should be continued, that he should be an independent officer, that his rank and salary should be eqpal to those of an Australian Governor, that he should be invested with larger powers, that his residence should be in New Guinea and that five Deputy Commissioners should be located in different places throughout the Pacific, that the labour question should be wholly under his control, and that he should be empowered within certain limits to raise, from the British subjects in the Pacific, funds for the maintenance of law and order. There is only one other recommendation that the report should have had to make it unique, and that is that Sir. A. H. Gordon should be appointed to the office of High Commissioner. The scheme advised for adoption by the Imperial Government only needs this to secure its speedy failure, and even without this addition, it carries within it the elements of trouble and embarrassment, compared with which annexation even on the part of the colonies alone would be a reign of peace.