THE NEW HEBRIDES

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19136, 2 April 1924, Page 7

THE NEW HEBRIDES

EXPLOITATION BY FRENCH. DEGRADATION OF WOMEN. Pm* Aeeeeiatie* —Bj TalvgMph—CopyrifM MELBOURNE, April 1. A deputation from the Foreign Missions Committee of the Presbyterian Church waited on Mr Bruce regarding the necessity of a change in the administration of the New Hebrides. The speakers condemned the way in which native labour is allegedly being exploited under the Condominium, and remarked that after careful examination of the conditions said to bo existing in tho New Hebrides they had found that the position of the women on the French plantations was becoming intolerable. They were illegally recruited, and illegally kept beyond their time. They were used to decoy men .as recruits, and were married or divorced at the will of the planters, or given over to an open life of shame. Apparently The deliberate policy of the French in the New Hebrides was the extinction of the natives with a view to substituring foreign indentured labour from the French possessions. It was contended that tho Condominium had failed to maintain law and order in the group, to protect the natives from oppression, or to settle a single land dispute. This was due to the fact that the hrench had failed to carry out their part of the joint convention. It was contended that if the rapid acquisition of the whole group by the French was not wanted, the Condominium must be terminated immediately. The deputation suggested the establishment of sole British control, or, failing this, the partition of tho group in order that at least half of the New Hebrides should be under British control. \ The Prime Minister, in replying, said tho matter had been considered at the Imperial Conference, but, as negotiations were proceeding with France for changes in tho administration of tho islands, it was impossible for him at present to make a definite statement on the position.