FIJI AND FEDERATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12404, 14 July 1902, Page 3

FIJI AND FEDERATION.

IMPRESSIONS OP A VISITOR. ] By Edith Skarlk Gkossmax, M.A. 1 It is impossible for anyone who lias not ■ been in Fiji to realise the state of affairs Wre. A fortnight h too short a time for personal observation, but it is quite, long enough to form an opinion, based on tho evidence of old residents who know the ' colony well. People in Fiji are only too ■ anxious to talk about their grievances, as; men always are when thcy-havo no legitimate means of vedres;:. Of course, <>no cannot believe everything that one hears. At the sa:ne tjmo it is quite, incredible that scores of -people, totally unconnected and living in different districts, should lie in a | conspiracy to tell exactly the same lies. ! We have been told that intercolonial co:irtesy forbids us to tell the truth about the injustice and oppression we know to he going on here. This argument is a common means of gagging eye-witnesses, whether; in public or private life. -But courtesy has its limits between nations and colonies, sis well as between individuals, and any British subject, who sees people misgoverned end glosses over all that he sees for lh« satis of politeness is simply tampering witii his conscience. New Zealandcrs do not appreciate the freedom they enjoy at home until they come to Fiji. As for the. people oi England, they are too far away to find out for Ihemselve;, and apparently they take all the information from the very olKcials who cuppori the wrongs complained of. That means that the accused and the accused alons are tho witnesses in their own trial.

During tbo time I was in Fiji 1 heard , the views of several settlers who have been there 30 years or more,—of a prominent lawyer, a Government official of high character, the captain of the ship which does tho greater part of the trade between Fiji and New Zealand and Australia; some AVcsley.m missionaries, a bank official, the editor of tho Fiji Times, himself an old resident, and several .other people, some in trade, some connected with tho Government and some not. Several others were anxious to supply tho information for the New Zealand papers, but Ihe Coronation celebration and ihe general confusion that followed the news of the King's illness made it impossible' to arrange interviews. I did not find one solitary independent person who upheld the present system. By independent, I mean one who was not an official or in Government! employ, or contracting to supply the Government, or receiving grants or any favour from it. If the dominant party could produce only two or threa such witnesses, free and unbiased men, with nothing to hope or fear from the authorities, it would bo worth the whole weight of official evidence.

Before going any further it may be as well to explain that the whole white community of. Fiji is divided into two partiesGovernment officials, with the Governor at their head, and all other non-official classes. This division .does not bear the slightest resemblance to the difference in New Zealand between Mr Seddon's party and the Opposition. In Fiji :fc is not a question of opinion at all, but of position. TI>R- officials are at once, the acting powers and the aristocracy. They seem to have precedence in every respect over outsiders. The Governor is supreme. Ho is practically responsible to no oue, and he lias no cheek on hi& will and discretion, unless l.y somo odd chance an outsider contrives to let any of Ins mistakes reach the. Colonial Office m London. He can, I am told, reverse decisions given in the courts in some cases; he fixes tiio pvico at which land can be leased; all news comes through him, and if he does not choose to make it public, Suva can be kept in a state of uncertainty for days together; lie can, punish, imprison, or banish practically at liis own discretion, has all offices and , positions amongst natives and whites within his own grant, and lias the letting out of all large commercial contracts. If he chooses to exceed his legal powers, it is difficult to see what is to stop him. except perhaps the voice of the pross, which, even in -Fiji, makes itself heard. His position is almost as autocratic as that of the Czar's is • in Russia. I shall have more to say about official power and influence when discussing iii detail the colonists' grievances.

Under this despotic officialdom are the settlers. Most" of these are old colonists of between 20 and 40 years' standing, or else native-born. Those who came later nparly all returned, either to New South Wales or New Zealand, and there, has been' no tali influx. These families have borne' the burdeif and heat of the day, but they have reaped the scantiest of rewards. They have no voice in their own government, and are continually subjected to galling restraints and potty annoyances, while at the same time they are seriously crippled in any attempts they make to develop the resources of the country and to increase their own scanty fortunes. Suva, and I Traliove the whole of Fiji, is seething with discontent. The friend who arranged several interviews for me remarked that I night to hear both sidee, but did not think ho would find anyone in Suva who did not want a change in government, except those who wore dependent on it. And even amongst the officials and.'employees there are some unselfish enough to wish for a change, though it ■ might injure , their present "proud pre-eminence" and curtail . their numerous privileges and perquisites. The Government official—to whom I have referred before—objected to federation, but wished to sec two elected members in a Council of Management. One or. two New Zealanders, who had only lately , come to Fiji, said that at'first they mpported the Government hero and opposed the incessant reviling of it that goes on, but that they had been converted to the colonists' views by what they personally witnessed.' Ministers of the Wealeyan Church spoke of the oppression of the natives with burning indignation. Their evidence is extremely important, because no other party in Fiji is in such close sympathy with the native race. The lower officials, if not the higher, hold the Fijians in open contempt. It seems to be supposed in England that the Government party, are engaged in. protecting the natives from the settlers, but, beyond a doubt, the natives now are in urgent need of protection from the Government. They are afraid to complain. "They daren't open their months," one colonist said. " They will not tell what they think except to a'few they can trust. If they did'they know they would become marked men." The greatest grievance among the natives is the tax. Its very existence is an obvious injustice. Fijians have to pay all the same dues as the rest of the population; but, besides this, a special capitation tax is levied on them; The 20,000 Indian coolies, the numerous Polynesians, and all the whites are, for some unknown reason, quite exempt. But the method of gathering the tax is even worse than the tax itself. It is all paid, not in money, but in kind. The Fijians are supposed to supply a large amount of produce, which the Government sells to the highest bidder, and any surplus, after deducting the fixed amount of the tax, is returned to the natives. This sounds fair enough, but in reality it is open to all manner of abuses. Sir Arthur Gordon devised this "plantation system" with the best of intentions, but now it has grown into a monstrous evil. Under the excuse of receiving dues in kind, the authorities, at their own discretion, order gangs of natives to work on the roads, without pay or even food; or they arc sent off to work on Government plantations, _ while their own fruit has to lie left rotting on the ground. Sometimes there is little or no surplus, and this may riot be the fault of the Fijians, but of the numerous accidents that befall planters. Sometimes the surplus is withheld fo suit the convenience of the district ollicial. I will repeat one incident, which happened in the district of the missionary who narrated it.' A certain official was put in charge over some thousands of the natives at JJamhasa to collect the produce and pay back the refund. Between the ripening of one crop and the first gathering of another there are often hard times, and it was so that year in Lambasa. One or two children died for want of proper food. Yet in this time of scarcity the official kept back the surplus money for three months. Some wretched Fijians came to bis piece to beg for their share, but were driven away like do<fe. At last the Mbuli's secretary wrote telling him that the people wore starving for want of their money, but for this impertinence he was promptly sent to gaol for six months. '

The state of justice—or. rather, injustice—is another crying evil. Men can be Eeized and imprisoned without any trial oh the vague charge of "making trouble,"

which'may mean any tiling an official ohooses to make it mean. Imagine for a moment irresponsible authorities having the right to imprison for "making trouble" ! It was under this charge that the chiefs were deported for getting up a petition that the King would lft ■ them federate with' New Zealand.

Yet another glaring abuse is that the judicial and civil functions nra not separated in Fiji, so that ths same man may be prosecutor and judge in a .case. This certainly needs no comment. One.very galling lculrietion is that which forbids a Fijian to travel about or leave bis o\vn village unless he gets a Government permit, and then he. may go only for a week, fortnight, or, at the most. 60 days. This law must interfere seriously with the education of the native?. Xo Fijian could send his children out of the colony to be educated. It interferes with their chances of finding Inbour at the place where it happeii8 > to be wanted, and, besides all this, it heaps them in the condition of children.

These, are the chief, but by no means all the grievances of Tijians. When we heal" them we seem to be listening to tales of German military regime, or even of Russian .bureaucracy. It is impossible to realise this is a British colony. It has none of the liberties of British subjects. The condition of the Transvaal was not so bad as this, unless Fijian colonists can console themselves with the reflection that their tyrants are at least their countrymen. The present system i.s intolerable. Officials try to scare people from making any change, lest the natives should be etirralup and torn on the white.;; but if they do so it will be a result of the present bad system of government, not of the efforts of reformers,. The natives largely reflect the temper of the whites, and where there is .violent discontent amongst the whites it is sure to arise amongst the coloured people. So far as I could hear, every non-official person desires a change, but, to be candid,

I did not find anything like the'sariie unanimous verdict in favour of federation either with New Zealand or with Australia. In fact, there is a certain amount of natural jealousy at the idea of (heir colony playing a subordinate part. I believe the majority would prefer independence if (hoy could overthrow the. present system o[ government: but because thev consider this impossible without federation .or annexation, il'.cre is a solid party ready to be joined to ?\cw Zealand as soon us an> scheme can be devised for doing so. The respective claims of the two colonies require separate consideration, Something must ho clone for Fiji, and the sooner the better. There is a good deal of gossip and scandal afloat nbout individuals, but that may just as likely be fake as true. The fault does not lie with individuals, but with the system. No man and no class of men can be found good enough to hold such irresponsible powers over other men. ■ This fact had been proved ir. every country underlie sun, and from time immemorial a governing class not in any way responsible to its subjects is exposed to continual temptations, and not one man in a hundred could avoid being corrupted. '~.''