NEW ZEALAND AND POLYNESIA.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4162, 23 July 1874, Page 3

NEW ZEALAND AND POLYNESIA.

MINISTERIAL MEMORANDA. Prom the memoranda, addresses, and despatches included in the papers which have been presented to Parliament, relating to the South Sea Islands, we quote the following signed by the Premier : —■ THE POLYNESIAN ISLANDS. Referring to a Memorandum (23, 1873) on the subject of the Navigator Islands, Ministers desire to further call His Excellency’s attention to the very grave considerations connected with the Polynesian Islands. It need scarcely be urged as an (excuse for Ministers touching upon the subject, that New Zealand, through its geographical position and its trade, is very much concerned in all that concerns the islands of the South Pacific. Ministers moved His Excellency, a few days since, to despatch a telearam to the Secretary of State on the subject of the Navigator group of islands, urging immediate action. Important as it is that the case of the Navigator group should receive immediate attention, it no less urgently requires recognition that more or less immediate action should be taken in respect to a very large number of the Pacific islands. It is stated, on apparently competent authority, that the Imperial Government at length entertain the idea of annexing the Piji group ; but the Piji group comprises islands similar to which there are numbers yet uncounted in the Pacific ; and it is desirable, in regard to them, not to allow the same delay that has made the treatment of the Piji group so difficult. It is respectfully submitted that a policy or line of conduct should be decided on, not alone in connection with one or two clusters of islands, but applicable to all Polynesia. In the absence of all machinery for governing, or controlling, or punishing for crime the white race, lawless communities will grow up in these islands. Then, when the necessity for control becomes imperative, it will be found, as in the case of Piji, that the delay has made it difficult to do that which, at an earlier stage, might with ease have been effected. Again, if Great Britain means to extend her dominion in Polynesia, it will be better, for abundantly evident reasons, for her to do so comprehensively, than to allow herself to be forced into it, the choicest islands being, in the meanwhile appropriated by Poreign Powers. Unless she agree with Poreign Powers —say, with Germany and the United States, and perhaps Prance and Holland —to jointly protect all Polynesia, and in that case it -is to be presumed Australasia would have to be included, she would find it easier to deal with the whole of the unappropriated islands herself, rather than to submit to taking the leavings of other powers, and to run the risk of having to deal with complicated international questions. It is respectfully urged that if the traditions of the nation-may be employed as an argument, it could be shown that they point to the glad prosecution by Great Britain of the work of reducing to civilisation the fertile islands of the Pacific ; and, moreover, it could be shown that, with the modern appliances which science has placed at the command of civilisation, and with the enormous wealth and immense naval power Great Britain is possessed of, the work is easy now, which in the past, with like reasons, would have been heroically carried out, whatever the sacrifice it entailed.

But if Great Britain decide upon colonising or civilising Polynesia, there is much to be said in favor of her leaving to the already-estab-lished colonies a considerable amount of the work and of the control. In the House of Commons, Mr. Gladstone referred to the “ experience of New Zealand as somewhat discouraging the annexation of Piji. Though this experience was not spoken of in disparaging terms, the surroundings left it open to such an interpretation. Ministers venture to urge that Great Britain, whatever the pecuniary cost it has entailed, may with justice bo proud of having reproduced herself in the “ Great Britain of tho South,” as New Zealand has been aptly called. Surely, a pecuniary sacrifice is not to be set against ’the fact that the Islands of New Zealand are open to the enterprise of all British subjects, and that they are already settled and colonised by British subjects who, whilst they preserve the best, characteristics of their race, are free, as a community, from widespread pauperism, and find. in the home of their adoption the means of educating their children, and of offering still further relief to their burdened countrymen in the thicklypopulated United Kingdom. But there is _ a lesson which New Zealand teaches, and that is, that local efforts to maintain peaceful relations with an uncivilised race are far more successful than those directed by distant power. It may be worth consideration whether, if Polynesia is not to bo abandoned to foreign nations, it would not be well to entrust to New Zealand, which possesses so much experience in dealing with the government of a mixed race, the task of aiding in extending the British sway to the islands of the Pacific. Of the terms under which this should be done,—whether by means of legal machinery applicable only to the white inhabitants ; by ’Resident Governors, or Magistrates, who would continue to recognise the right of the dark race to self-government; or by uniting the islands into Provinces, controlled under similar conditions, —it is not necessary now,to decide. Indeed, Ministers could not accept the responsibility of submitting details, without a reference to the Assembly. But when Ministers remember the enterprise of the colonists—their desire to extend their commerce to all parts of the Pacific —the maritime advantages the Colony enjoys, not only iu its extensive seaboard and hardy population, but in its facilities for shipbuilding—they cannot but come to the conclusion that the Parliament of New Zealand would cordially entertain proposals which had for their object to give to the Colony tho opportunity of assisting Great Britain in the great national work of extending tho British dominion throughout tho unappropriated islands of the South Pacific. Julios Vooil. Wellington, October 17th, 1873. SUGGESTED ACTION OF NEW ZEALAND IN RELATION TO POLYNESIA. I have never felt any desire to see New Zealand constituted an independent State. On tho contrary, it has been a hope I have long cherished, that tho British possessions would, iu course of time, ho consolidated into a mighty dominion, and tho British Colonies become, not dependencies, but integral and inseparable parts of an empire owning a naval force so irresistible as to practically afford to its outlying portions full and ample security from tho effects of any wars of other nations. Still, I have mot been able to disguise from myself, that wore Now Zealand independent,

she would not have stayed her hand from attempting to civilise, and to attach to her in peaceful connection, the islands of the Pacific. New Zealand’s natural relations to the islands may, to some extent, be gauged from the fact that the country was peopled from the islands adjacent to Australia; whilst, so far as I am aware, there is no trace of the islanders having established themselves in any part of the island continent. ip,yAHOUI It is remarkable how the prevailing winds make New Zealand and the islands mutually accessible. They proclaim New Zealand as the natural head-quarters of Polynesia, It is singular how Polynesia is being divided. It would seem to those who think of the enterprise of Great Britain in earlier days, when colonisation, in the absence of modern facilities, was infinitely more difficult than at that the country which 270 years ago acquired Barbadoes would not suffer the fertile islands of the Pacific to escape her. The late Admiral Washington, in a letter to the Colonial Office, in 1859, -wrote :—“I have been much struck by the entire want, by Great Britain, of any advanced position in the Pacific Ocean. We have valuable possessions on either side, as at Vancouver® and Sydney, but not an islet or a rock in the 7000 miles of ocean that separate them. The Panama and Sydney mail communication is likely to be established, yet we have no island on which to place a coaling station and where we could insure fresh supplies .... and it may hereafter be found very inconvenient that England should be shut out from any station in the Pacific, and that an enemy should have possession of Tongatabu, where there is a good harbor, within a few hundred miles of the track of our homeward-bound gold ships from Sydney and Melbourne. Neither forts nor batteries would be necessary to hold the ground. A single cruising ship would suffice for all the wants of the islands. Ooz-al reefs and the hearty good-will of the Natives would do the rest.” Meanwhile, the islands of [the Pacific have been objects of attraction to other countries, Holland, Spain, and Prance, and recently the United States and Germany, have not dis ; guised their interest in them. To these nations they have been attractive chiefly as convict and naval stations, excepting to Holland, which apparently regards them from a commercial point of view. Groat Britain, which might look upon them from four stand points, —lst. As naval stations. 2nd. As important to the preservation and safety of her Australian possessions. 3rd. In order to preserve them from becoming convict stations, 4th. On account of their commercial importancelias stood aloof. She Is now, probably, on the point of taking some responsibility in respect to Piji ; but it has, in many ways, been almost forced upon her. She is indifferent to the Navigator or Samoan Islands becoming an American dependency, although she knows they are being so constituted because of the excellent harbor they possess, their commanding position, and their splendid capabilities. On the other hand, Great Britain has entered on a herculean task, in undertaking the repression of slavery in the southern seas. This is a work which, under present conditions, will not grow less. The expense is not temporary. Let the Islands continue as at present, and the repression of slavery in the south seas means such an inducement to those who are successful in the trade as to couple -with the efforts to check slavery an encouragement to promote it, and make necessary larger means of repression. It is hopeless, however, to expect Great Britain to take possession of all unoccupied Polynesia ; and the problem which I have considered is—Can New Zealand do anything ? Politically, she cannot ; but she can do much if it be conceded that to such countries as these islands, the influences of civilisation and commerce will stand as substitutes, if not ultimately lead to the flag and the dominion. In fine, it seems to me that New Zealand may earn for reluctant Great Britain—'without committing her to responsbilities she fears —a grand Island Dominion ; may, in the meanwhile, save the Mother Country much trouble, and danger, and risk. I speak, of course, of the danger and risk of expenditure, which weigh so much with the rulers of Great Britain; and when the result is secured, and the commerce established, it may be recognised that New Zealand, the Colony, has done a useful work for Great Britain, the Empire. In this work, all aid and countenance, oxeven tacit permission, have been denied to New Zealand. The plan which I am about to develop arose in my mind in this way : Mr. Coleman Phillips, who had aided in arranging for the establishment of a bank in Fiji, addressed to me a communication, in which he Suggested the establishment of a company, Which, like the East India Company, should endeavor politically and commercially to gain ascendancy in the Pacific Islands. I was much struck -with the idea ; but when Mr. Phillips asked me if I would advise him to go home to endeavor to float the company, I felt that he would have great difficulty in raising the capital. It then occurred to me, from the New Zealand point of view, from which I felt bound to look at it, that Mr. Phillips’s project, supposing it matured, might or might not be worked in a manner calculated to bn of much benefit to New Zealand. I then asked myself, was it not worth the while of New Zealand to secure the charge of the great work, by enabling the capital to be raised. What I have already written will suggest the answer the query met with in my mind, I recognised that New Zealand should make the effort, and the following is the course I advise: — A company to be formed, on the share capital of which New Zealand to give a guarantee of 5 per cent, interest for fifty years. I estimate that this would secure the necessary capital with facility. The company to purchase, if procurable, the leading factories and estates already existent in [the chief islands, and to establish others of its own ; to acquire land, and assist suitable persons, with capital and means, on condition that the produce be sold to the company at agreed prices ; to aid the Missionaries to civilise, and endeavor to encourage native industry by agreements -with I need not hero more minutely particularise the nature of the company’s operations. I have described them in a Memorandum to His Excellency, which is attached. It will be sufficient now to add that I propose the company should, by its immense resources, do all it can to develop, and to absorb, the trade and produce of the Islands. I do not proioae that the company should be more than a commercial one, and, therefore, it is no part of my proposition that it should confine its operations to the Islands unannexed to foreign countries ; on the contrary, it seems to me, for example, that the company’s operations would be heartily welcomed by the French at Tahiti and New Caledonia. The returns I propose New Zealand should exact for its guarantee are certain conditions, such as— (a.) That the company should carry the produce of the Islands to New Zealand, and should ship from New Zealand its supplies to tho Islands. (J.) Royalty to bo paid on all produce procured by the company from the Islands ; and also a royalty on all supplies, other than those of New Zealand produco and manufacture, sent to the islands. ( c .) Tho establishment of manufactories in New Zealand, to utilise tho Island products, such as sugar refineries, cotton mills, paper mills, &c. (d.) Affording encouragement to Now Zealand productions and manufactures, by shipping to the Islands—live stock, and such articles, produced or prepared in the Colony, ns grain, flour, preserved meats, beer, rope, fabrics of various kinds, glass, reduced iron, coal, agricultural maoliinery, biscuits, boots and shoes, butter, cheese, hams and bacon, fish dried and pickled, candles, soap, cordage, sawn timber, doors and sashes, shingles, and cotton and woollen fabrics. (e.) The establishment of Steam communication constantly between tho different Islands and New Zealand ports from North to South. I allude to those conditions sparingly, and do not state tho relative importance I attach to them, because I am now dealing with tho matter from the twofold position of the two parties to tho bargain.

When a number of gentlemen place themselves in a position to negotiate, I shall be able to develop the view of the Government, as they will that of the company. As nearest to the work, I think the headquarters of the company should be in Auckland : but its works, and factories, and steamers should be in all parts of the Colony. It should have directors in all the Provinces, who should possess a certain power of local action. They should periodically meet at some central place—say Wellington. The managingdirector in the Colony and at home, should be appointed by the Government, to secure the fulfilment of the company’s obligations to the Colony. I may add, I consider that Mr. Philips’s share in the project entitles him to substantial compensation. I can hardly be more explicit until, as representing the Government, I am able to treat with those who represent the company ; and for obvious reasons I abstain from setting forth the many already established businesses, connections, lands, and factories which I believe the company might, without difficulty, at once secure on favorable terms. In conclusion, I may observe that I believe the company will be a great success ; and that the shareholders, secure of five per cent, as their minimum profit, may reasonably count on very much larger returns. On the other hand, it seems to me difficult to exaggerate the advantages to New Zealand, and through New Zealand to the empire, from this proposal. It will make New Zealand a great manufacturing and a great shipping country. It will stimulate the people of the Colony to the exercise of that hardy enterprise which has done bo much to build up the character of Great Britain and its people. The productions of the Islands, and. the demand from the Islands for manufactures and supplies from temperate climates, must be borne in mind when it is attempted to realise the results. The advantage to Great Britain of dealing with one powerful corporation, in lieu of with those who now ennoble or degrade the Island trade, is sufficiently apparent. Supposing the Government to make a satisfactory arrangement with a body of gentlemen determined to work out the concession, I think such arrangement might properly be submitted to Parliament for ratification. I attacli copy of a memorandum on the subject, addressed to His Excellency some mouths since. Julius Vogel. Wellington, February 5, 1574. I avail myself of your Excellency’s invitation to put into written shape the representation I have had the honor to personally make to you on the subject of the South Sea Islands. 1. The unsettled state of the South Sea Islands, especially the uncertainty which hangs over their future, is calculated to cause considerable uneasiness to the neighboring Colonies. 2. Intimately identified as the future of these Colonies will be with the Imperial country, of which I am of opinion it is their ambition to remain dependencies, they cannot regard without anxiety the disposition evinced by some foreign nations to establish a footing in their neighborhood, amongst the islands of the South Pacific. 3. In New Zealand there is a strong feeling that the geographical position of the Colony, the prevailing winds, the shipping facilities, and other causes, ought to euable its inhabitants to develop large commercial relations with the Islands. 4. The conditions to he met, appear to be, — (a.) To prevent, by anticipatory action, the establishment of European communities with lawless tendencies, such as have been displayed in Fiji, (i.) To develop the self-governing aptitudes of the Polynesian natives, (c.) To encourage them to labor, and to realise the advantages which labor confers. {cl.) To stimulate the production of the islands, (e.) Without bloodshed or embroilment with other nations, to gradually introduce a uniform Government organisation throughout Polynesia. 5. To stop the traffic in forced labor, more is required than mere force and vigilance. As long as Her Majesty’s vessels are engaged as at present, they no doubt offer a check to labor traffic ; but they also make the profits of the traffic larger, and thus evidently encourage it. To permanently stop forced labor, there must be opportunities available to free labor. 6. Your Excellency is aware that I have felt much interest in a proposal made by Mr. Phillips, that a Trading Company should be formed in England, with the view of absorbing by its commercial power a large share of political control in the Islands. The object proposed by Mr. Phillips, excepting that of a chartered labor traffic, I approved ; and your Excellency, I believe, communicated the substance of Mr. Phillips’s ideas to the Secretary of State. I have since thought very carefully over the matter, aud there are two points in respect to Mr. Phillips’s proposal which seem to me to require serious consideration, and without providing for which I am not certain the proposed company might not lend itself _ to retard, instead of to advance, the civilisation of the Islands. Those points are, —(1.) That in order to obtain the necessary capital, every consideration besides that of the mere acquirement of profit msglit have to be abandoned. (2.) That Mr. Phillips’s proposal docs not provide that amount of direct aud powerful Governmental control which in my opinion should be stipulated for, in the interest of the helpless Natives. Taking all these circumstances into consideration, and not forgetting that New Zealand, by assuming the large responsibilities proposed, would have the right to the contingent advantages the Island trade will confer, I am inclined to recommend, — (a.) That New Zealand should encourage the formation of a powerful company to colonise the Islands of the. South Pacific, by offering a guarantee of five per cent, for forty years on the share capital, (h.) That the Government of New Zealand should appoint the managing director and secretary here, and the managing director in London, (c.) The object of tho company to be to civilise and settle the South Sea Islands, by opening up profitable production and trade in connection with them. (cl-) The company to establish factories and plantations at different Islands, and to acquire by purchase some already established, fc.) To acquire lands, aud let the same on terms to promote production, (f.) To arrange with chiefs to cultivate produce, and to dispose of it on agreod terms. (;/.) To supply live stock and merchandise to the Islands. Oc.) To lend money and give assistance to settlers to establish plantations. (i.) To open up sfeam communication between the different Islands, and between them and New Zealand. (j.) To discourage the removal of Islanders from their homes for labor purposes, by affording them occupation on their own islands, or on Islands adjacent. The Government of New Zealand to stipulate, in return for guarantee :—(a.) That the company give facilities and reasonable pecuniary aicl to the missionaries, (h.) That whilst affording inducements to free labor, the company abstain from employing forced labor. (c.J The company to own at least six steamers between the Islands, and between the Islands and New Zealand; and to fix the time so that Now Zealand shall be in communication with ■ tho principol Islands at intervals of not more than a month, (d.) The company to establish in New Zealand at least one cotton-factory, at least one woollen-factory, and at least one sugar-refinery, (c.) That all the produce the company obtain at tho Islands, or which is obtained from the lands of the company, be forwarded to New Zealand. (f.) That all goods sent by the company to .tho Islands bo shipped from New Zealand. (y.) That on all produce tho company pay the Government of Now Zealand five per cent, royalty, (h.) That on all goods shipped to tho Islands, other than those tho product or manufacture of*New Zealand, the company pay a royalty of seven and a-half per cent. 7. Tho ultimate object which I have in view is, the establishment of tho Polynesian Islands as one Dominion, with New Zealand the centre of Government ; the Dominion, like Canada, to be a British dependency. 8. I venture to think that these proposals, if ■ carried out, would save Great large 1 expense in connection with the repression of

slavery, whilst the Imperial prestige in the South Pacific would be maintained. Julius Vogel. Christchurch, 22nd November, 1873. After conferring with several gentlemen on the subject of this Memorandum, I agreed with Mr. Whitaker that he should act with a few promoters, and draw up the heads of an agreement, to be put into shape by the Attor-ney-General, if approved by the Cabinet, and then to be subject to the ratification of Parliament. I conceded, after a long discussion, the condition imposing a royalty on the shipments of the company. I substituted for it a condition binding the company to repay, out of profits, any payments made by the Government, and impounding all profits for that purpose ; secondly, a power by which the Government can intervene in the case of the business of the company not being carried oh efficiently. I agreed to this change, because I found that everyone to whom I had spoken was of opinion that the royalty would shut out the company from much business which might otherwise be profitable ; and because I believe, irrespective of the contingent advantages the Colony will gain, that it is sufficiently secured against any loss arising from the guarantee, by the provision making such guarantees a lien on future profits. Julios Vogel. Wellington, February 28, 1871. Heads of an Agreement between the Government of New Zealand of the one part, and Frederick Whitaker on behalf of himself and the several other persons hereafter to be named (and herein called the promoters) of the other part. 1. The promoters undertake to form a Joint Stock Company, to be called “The New Zealand and Polynesian Company,” for the objects hereinafter mentioned. 2. The capital of the company to be £1,000,000, divided into 100,000 shares of £lO each, with power to increase the capital and to boirow £1,000,000. 3. The liability of the shareholders to be limited. 4. The head-quarters of the Company to be at Auckland, and directors resident in other parts of the Colony to act as Local Boards at such places as the business of the com],any may from time so time require. A meeting of all the Colonial Directors to be held once a year in Wellington. A Board of Directors shall also be constituted in London. 5. The objects of the company to he, —(1.) To carry on the business of merchants, shipowners, planters, producers, manufacturers, brokers, agents, insurers, bankers, and moneylenders, in the Islands of the Pacific, New Zealand, and Great Britain, and also elsewhere with the permission of the Government of New Zealand. 6. New Zealand to be made by the company the depot for the Island trade, and specially the company,—(l.) To bring to New Zealand all the produce it exports from the Islands, to he manufactured in or exported from New Zealand, unless permitted otherwise to deal with it by the Government. (2.) To ship from New Zealand all the merchandise and supplies imported by the company into the Islands, unless -otherwise authorised by the Government. (3.) To employ at least six steam vessels to carry on the trade between New Zealand and the Islands, and between the several Islands. The steam vessels running from the islands to New Zealand to call at Auckland, Manukau, Napier, Taranaki, Nelson, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Port Chalmers, as may from time to time be required by the Government, having due regard to the requirements of trade and the interests of the company. (1.).T0 establish manufactories in New Zealand to utilise the products of the islands, and to prepare supplies and merchandise for export to the islands, (o.) To establish within five years such a manufactory in Otago, Canterbury, Wellington, and Auckland in the order those several places are named. 7. In cousideratioe of the foregoing, the Government of New Zealand will guarantee interest after the rate of five pounds per centum per annum on the paid-up capital of the company, not exceeding £1,000,000, for fifty years, and will provide for the regular payment of such interest half-yearly, irrespective of the state of the accounts between the Government and the Company, and notwithstanding the Government and General Assembly may exercise the powers hereinafter provided for. 8. Such interest, and all sums paid by the Government in respect of the guarantee, shall he a first charge on the profits of the company, and no dividends shall be paid by the company until all sums advanced by the Government have been repaid. 9. If at any time the business of the company is not carried on, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, with sufficient vigor or prudence, or in accordance with the intentions of this agreement, or if at any time after the expiration of three years there shall be due by the company to the Government, in respect of the guarantee, a sum exceeding £IOO,OOO, it shall be lawful for the Government to suspend the powers and functions of the company and of the Directors, by notice to be published in the New Zealand Gazette. 10. In such case the business of the company shall, until the General Assembly shall otherwise provide, be managed by a Commissioner, to be appointed by the Government, who shall have and may exercise all the functions and powers vested in the Directors ; and 11. It shall be lawful for the General Assemhy to deal with the company and its business and property in such manner aa the General Assembly may think fit : Provided that nothing be done to prejudice the payment of the guaranteed interest, which, under any event, shall be duly and punctually paid by the Government at the times and for the term herein mentioned ; Provided also that any Bill affecting the powers, functions, or interests of the company, shall he reserved for the signification of Her Majesty’s pleasure thereon. 12. There shall be two Managing Directors, one in New Zealand and one in England, and those officers shall ho appointed and may be removed by the Government. 13. The amount of salary of each Managing Director shall be fixed by the Government, but shall not exceed £IBOO per annum for the first year, with an annual increase of £IOO, till a maximum of £2500 is reached. Such salaries to be paid by the company. 14. The especial duty of the Managing Director shall be to see that the agreement until the Government is faithfully carried out; to report all matters to the Government which they may deem of sufficient importance ; and to furnish from the company’s books, and otherwise, all such information as the Government may from time to time require ; and no business or plantation shall be purchased without the consent of the Managing Director in Now Zealand. 15. Subject to the foregoing, the Managing Directors to carry out the instructions of the company. l(i. The Directors, general and local, to be paid a reasonable remuneration for their services. . „ 17. The promoters shall not receive any promotion, money, or shares. 18. The agreement to be drawn up in ac-' cordanco with these heads, to be submitted to tho General Assembly for ratification, and to be of no force until such ratification is obtained. If it be refused, such refusal to form no ground for compensation on any account whatever.