TONGS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17337, 8 December 1919, Page 9

TONGS.

PROSPEROUS KUffCaUTM, BY GEOFFREY W- A. KOKDte... Hie Kingdom of Tonga, which takas Sla rajne from the principal islaM in {ho ;roop, Tong&tabn, or Holy Tonga, is surely the happiest little snadhramana in :he South Seas; First discovered by Tasman in 1643, Tongatabn was named Amsterdam Island; later Captain Caok gave the group the name of £ha SVientDy Islands. The adjective " holy* 1 prefixed to Tonga is not an attempt at nnccjiscaouß hainonr, as might well be imagined. In Captain Cook 8 day the King, at Tin Tonga, w&s supposed to be of divine descent, said Ma will i ll all matters was unquestioned and supreme. Nowadays everyone belongs to one or other of the contending Churches, but religion seldom cats deep into the Polynesian soul. The advent of the missionary and 'the trader with their separate points of view has changed bnt little the mental attitad., of the Tongans towards their system of Government. Some of the pomp attendant on royalty has been shorn away, bnt autocracy stall theoretically roles. Actually Fiji keeps a gniding hand on the wheel of State, and the result is that the Kingdom of Tonga, ruled by a very gracious and dignified personality, Quean Salote, is the only kingdom in the world at present where there is not only no discontent, bnt a gold surplus in the Treasury.

An -Object Lesson to the I^zrius. There is no alienated land, the Tongans are nationalists, and keep their country for themselves, and the people are universally prosperous. The Government lands recently put up for tender &rq all taken up— outsider has small hopes of success here, owing to the usual "difficulty, lack of labour. The Union Steam Ship Company carries its own Fijian labors® round the group for loading and discharging cargo. Local Tongan wharf labour costs from 8s to 10s a day, and, even if it can be obtained, is not of a strenuous variety. Although no cexs ontsde a lunatic asylum could argue convincingly in favour of absolute monarchy as a form of Government, yet this contented little place is an object lesson to the Lenins and Trotzky's erf the world of what sane Government, aided by natural resources,. can do. The British . Agent and Consul, Mr. cOwan, is largely responsible for this happy state of affairs, and Tonga is fortunate in having him to represent Great Britain, and as the real power- behind the Throne. Some time before the war the British residents in Tonga were sounded 'as to the advisability of Great Britain taking over the Kingdom they were unanimous in expressing a desire for the continu- , ance of the Tongan Government. Then came war and all our talk about the selfdetermination of small nationalities. Germany— then most serious - rival in the Pacifichas been beaten to the dust and there is no fear now of the harbour of Vavau (one of the finest in the world after Sydney and Bio) being used as a naval base against us. Consequently Qur-en Salote is firmly entrenched in her position and may well look forward to a long continuance of the present form of 1 Government.

Problems of the Pacific. Th student of Pacific political movements can bow dismiss as negligible the German menace, and turn his attention to the downward march of Japan. Honolulu ha® a bigger Japanese population than American; in New Caledonia the Japanese will soon outnumber the Preach; the fact of the Marshals and the Carolines now being administered by .Japan under a mandate from the League of Nations means that a hybrid nation will. soon oatnumber or oast the present. Malaysian native, and I have recently seen a Japanese in Tonga looking for possible commercial openings there. This is not meant as an argument for a continuance of militarism which ev«ry freedom-loving man most detest, lint a warning that we most not only look after ourselves but also those native - races whom we »re pledged „to protect. Japanese, traders will doubtless,' soon •be planted in the Tongan group c and we shall be faced with the competition, of cheaply produced goods against our own New Zealand products. . . , Also several Germans, are petitioning to be allowed to--return to .Tonga, and the cases are still under consideration. The Premier of Tonga has recently . very strongly expressed himself on - this matter, and it would he suicidal., to allow these men to return against the wishes of j the Tongans and against our own interests.

The British and Germans in Vavati recently came to blows, and if' some of the Huns now petitioning to return are allowed, to do so it 'will only accentuate the present bitterness of feeling and cause more trouble.

Holiday Possibilities. With the exception" of Neiafu, capital of Vavau, which is apt to be "oppressively hot, Tonga possesses a climate;., unsurpassed south of the Line. ' . Nukualofa, capital of Tongatabu, is a very well laid-out little township and of great natural beauty. Accommodation for visitors is, however, extremely- ' limited, which is a pity, for it could be made the ideal winter resort for New 'ZcaJanders it' only some enterprising company or individual would build a largej hotel or boardinghouse there. The present boardinghouse, excellent as it is, is too small to meet requirements, and, moreover, it has not the best of po~ ;+ '.ins. An excellent site would be on the . ' above the blow-holes ; there would always be sun - shiile, tempered by a breeze from the sea : the music of the surf beating on the reef and the sight of the fume-holes throwing up columns of Water continuously all down the coast.

For amusement, there is tennis in Nukualofa, and a first-class picture show has recently been established in the Town Hall. Relics of Antiquity. There are historic remains of .great ! antiquity to be visited —the Haamaunga, that great Trilithon, ornamented with symbols of the sun, whose builders a.ra before history and their origin a matter of surmise; and the Langgis or tombs of the old kings. Sadly overgrown and neglected, thesa priceless relics of antiquity, and th» "reater part of the road leading to theia a well-defined series of ruts and holes. Thd queen would be well advised Upreserve and care for these wonderful remains and make them accessible by r, - pairing the road, for they contain ira history of ancient Tonga, besides being of Treat archseological interest-, and are to Tonga what Rheims is to Franca. Modern Movements.

No longer is Tonga the hermit kingdom it was, for a wireless installation is now being erected at Nukualofa and promises to be in working order by January and also to provide a news-sliest to subscribers. So, very soon the residence will have accurate news of the world and will not have to rely on imaginative beach rumours of the world's happenings. Most English vegetables grow in this perfect climate, ana, if only Tonga hail it* own steamer, it could supply New Zealand with all kinds of out-of-the-season vegetables, besides shipments, of oranges and tomatoes. The subject is often mooted, but, after the usual Island custom, a scheme like this is often talked about but comes to maturity only after a. long time, if then. These kindly Polynesians, the Tongans, mav or may not deserve the epithet " holy," but, be that as it- may, it Is a pleasure to visit them, and hard to. leave such a happy little community. , j