TONGAN QUEEN

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23165, 11 October 1938, Page 8

TONGAN QUEEN

' % i ANNIVERSARY PLANS. 20 YEARB ON THRONE • Sfw enlightened native rule __- Several days of jubilation to eel*, brate the 20th anniversary of the accession of their ruler, Queen Salote Tubon, will be started to-day by the Tongan people. The main items include an agricultural show, regatta, sports meetings, native dancing and displays of homage. To mark the event more widely the Government has made arrangements for the special issue of Id, 2d and 2sd stamps, which will become available tomorrow. 1 Queen Salote, who is well known in the Dominion, having received her education at the Diocesan High School, Auckland, and being an occasional visitor to these shores, came to the throne of Tonga in 1918 at the age of 18. She had been married in 1917 to Prince Tugi, now Consort and Prime Minister. Since then, aided by patriotic native ministers and by the expert advice of British and New Zealand advisers, Queen Salote has enjoyed a reign which ■ has been notable for its enlightenment and for a genuine desire to keep the country intact and prosperous. Surplus Invested Abroad Difficulties consequent upon changing conditions due to closer contact with the outside world and also resulting from economic problems of the postwar period have been met courageously. Britain's help in these years has been invaluable and Queen Salote has always been quick to heed and pay tribute to the advice received from the British Agent and Consul. As a result Tonga now has a surplus invested abroad and has been freed from the possibility of bankruptcy, which might have involved the loss of its independence. Queen Salote's reign has also been marked by a growing spirit of unity in the nation and there has been a remarkable freedom from lawlessness and internal dissension. Although the people generally are still poor, there are possibilities that they will become more prosperous with the development of agricultural production and export. Banana exportation to New Zealand, begun in 1931, has been of considerable . assistance in this direction. Popalation Increasing

Another satisfactory feature of the reign has been a steady improvement in the population figures, now some* thing over 30,000. Education has pro- ° gressed throughout the country, Eng. lish being taught together with the vernacular in the higher schools. Tonga also has a high position among Pacific ' groups for the education of girls, while a point has been made by the Govern!* ment of sending selected students to Australia in an effort to secure qualified Tongans for the more responsible Government positions. It has always been the aim of the ' Queen and her advisers to retain the ibest Tongan customs and institutions, while blending with them the more Baitable features of*Eurppean culture. The purity of the race is also jealously - guarded, a fact which has made Tonga notable among Pacific groups. In 1932 Queen Salote's friendly relations with the Empire were signalised by the inclusion of her name in the New Year Honours as an Honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.