Untitled

Otago Witness, Issue 918, 3 July 1869, Page 5

THE FIJIS.

Since i^laat wrote, the), wluie '/settlers have, by the /invitation, 'of Oako Bau, ? 'elected delegates,? and" a conference has, been held &i Bail. - 'The originator' of the" movement' wis M* Drew, t o£ 'whose 'appointment^aa secretary I have* already informed you, ,The invitation was responded to throughout .the island*, and the delegates comprised many of the best men among the settlers. The session lasted ten days,' and the minutes of their proceedings have been copied and circulated among the hotels and other public places, for general information. 3STo other mode of publication' is at present available in Fiji. The qjiestipna taken up were numerous and' important, J and the delegates must have worked hard to ' get through them. Of f ,tHose likely to interest your readers, the first was'the projected war on the Reway r jbo" punish the murdefers of the Bey.' Mr Baker. For this purpose the delegates decided on making ' a general call for subscriptions to provide arms and ammunition for Cako Bau. Trustees were also appointed to see that the funds so raised were properly applied. As to the American debt, the arrangement made between the Polynesian Company and the American Consul does not appear to be final. The Company have, paid to the Consul's credit in Melbourne the balance due on the first instalment, then overdue, by Cako Bau, and are to pay off the remainder 1 of the debt on or before the 24th June next. The' Consul refused to 1 bind his Government by giving a receipt; arid in event of the Company failing to complete their engagement, the siim paid to his credit will be refunded to them, less the interest on the whole debt" for 12 months. In that case, he will demand the full amount of the debt, or seize upon the islands of Nairi, Bufciki, and Moturiki— probably, however, not without prior reference to his Government. The Committee state that the Consul does not show any authority from his Government to receive payment or to foreclose the mortgage. They also give a short statement of the debt, which appears to me sufficiently curious to be worth transcription, and is as follows : — | Original demand, 45,000dols ; less pigs sold by Consul Williams, viz.,135*62d01a. The balance appears to have been struck, and a mortgage deed given by Cako Bau in June, 1867, for 43,564d01s 14cts; against which a payment was made to the Consul on March 12th, 1868, of 1,373d015, leaving a balance of 42,191'14d01s then to be paid, and which, with interest, would now be about L 9,000. Cako Bau adds that this debt weighed more on his mind than the proposed war, and that he was uneasy at leaving behind him so great a question unsettled, as if unsuccessful he would return home very poor in the possibility of the best of his lands being taken from him. The debt, however, once settled he considered himself perfectly able to finish ' the war alone. After thus communicating Mb views to s the Committee which waited unon him, he sent the following;message to the delegates : " 1 inform you of my mind, that it ia good for you to assist me to settle the American claim, and that it is good for some white men to accompany my fighting men to the in+erior. If the affair inland ia settled, you whites will live in quietness, and also myself will thereby live in peace; and if the American debt be settled I thereby shall live in peace as well aa yourselves : therefore let both these be accomplished, that we may all live in peace and commence planting cotton, buy and sell, and thus the riches of our kingdom be increased." In addition to the above, efforts haye been made to appoint a postmaster, and to obtain his recognition by the Post-master-General in Sydney. Various laws of local interest were amended, and considerable time spent on the land question, but that I presume to be one on which your readers hear quite enough at home, without being troubled with that of Fiji. What the result of the meeting may ultimately ba, it is impossible, in the complication of Fiji affairs, to guess, butthere can be no doubt that it is at least a step in the right 1 direction. Much will depend on Cako Bau, and on his ability to understand the restraints of the constitutional Government, which it is attempted to establish — a Government opposed to the instinots and habits of Fijimen, although familiar enough to ourselves. And now let me adverb to a question which will itir many of your readers much more deeply, and whioh has received a new impulse from the soizure in Levuka by H.M.S.S.' Roaario a few days ago, of the schooner Daphne, with 110 labourer* from the Islands on board. I should first state a Queensland adventurer had boon guilty of the * grossest brutality in kidnapping and ill-treating men whom ho had taken to Queensland, and that ho had in ooniequonce been compelled to fly from

*s^h~ot>nOT,feft%^ wftlTaH eSTmifc f from ' ffi^<s&eltftstfl *G(P •veriimenVio carrVßo. dfth£ Who' ''brought her 'to -Fiji isj-that ,iir Banks 3 Islands, ttf which thtsy wenfcfoVmen,, they' met Mt'RoseJ Lewih'^who offered, to. Procure! the 1 ,; riumber I 'required;'' They went' with him from island to island, 1 ,and 'filled up their yesserwitK men "engaged) for service in Fiji: ' They" add, .that they were induced 1 to chapge their destination because) these' 'men ; Would -not' go' ! 'tb' Queensland,' though ready enough to' go' to Fiji, The. Queensland Act requires that, engagement^ with these islanders should be certified by either a missionary; 1 , consul," or respectable merohattt.' . Neither' misisioiiary nor consul residing on the islands,! they, not knowing ;Mr Ross Lewitt, accepted him as ' a " " respectable merchant," and thbughtfthey Verb fully complying wrfch 'the Act 'in 1 obtaining his attestation.' Whether this f st6ry be true or not* time 'must show'; 'but' they state they wfeje' further 'induced to give 1 , Mr Ross Lewin an interest in tKe profits, by way of payment forfcia share' in obtaining thenien* To some lextehttheir story is' borne put by the attestation of Mr Ross Lew^n N to each engagement, arid the manner in which they allowed his name to appear without , concealment " or, alteration on their papers. ' The Rosario had "just arrived from"' a special mission to investigate' 1 ' the statements as to brutality and kidnapping, and with, it. is believed, full evidence ; that both had been practised at different times, and' by different individuals. 1 " To complete his' enquiries, Captain Palmer had ; conie to' Fiji with a view of ascertaining the'eoridition of the imported labourers in these islands.' I do' not know his' opinion, but will venture to state, without Hesita : tion, that I shall be very much surprised if the result of these enquiries must not have convinced him they are : , at least here, well fed, well cared fot, and thoroughly satisfied. To this, let me add that proposals have at various times been made by the Wealeyan missionaries to their Presbyterian brethren in the islands from which these men come, to send' over native teachers, or some one who understood their language, to see to their moral and religious welfare, and that the Wesleyan missionaries, in making the proposals, expressed their conviction that the teachers would receive all possible aid from the Fiji planters in carrying out their mission. No action whatever has been taken and the men are still without instruction. In thus throwing on the Presbyterian Missionaries the whole responsibi'ity of leaving these men without instructors, let me add • that I feel the full gravity of j the assertion. It ia not made without the most full enquiries, and in the full knowledge that, if incorrect, it will be easy for any of these gentlemen to disprove what I J have stated. To return, however, to Captain Pftlmer : He decided at once to 1 seize the Daphne, and sent her with a ! prize crew to Sydney. The natives were j landed, and placed in charge of the consul to be kept until the ultimate fate of : the vessel was decided. From^ Sydney you will, before this reaches you*,? have probably heard what legal proceedings are there taken, and it would be idle in me to advert to anything further in connection with the seizure. But it is due to the planters and white people in Fiji to state that the feeling of indignation with which they have heard of the brutalities practised in the Islands is aa deep and as etrong as it can be anywhere. Imported labour is a necessity with them, if cultivation is to be extended ; but there are numbers among them who would immediately abandon both their plantations and Fiji if they thought it requisite that brutality and kidnapping should be praotised on their behalf. As to the cry of " slavery," which has been raised against the importation of these labourers, it is too absurd to require notice, i There are none of the 'attxibutea of slavery about it. The men can neither be bought nor sold, they have a full right to claim the wages for whioh they work, and a passage back when their timo ia up." Only this day I saw 30 of them whose time had expired, proceeding to the schooner Barb, to be taken back to Tanna. They had been employed by the Messrs Hennings, of this place. Each man was supplied with a brightly painted box to hold the cloth and other artiolea he was taking with him, and proud and happy enough did they all Beem, when taking possession of what to them was wealth untold. Contrast this with their naked condition three[year*ago. Add to it that they have during the*tfme acquired ft smattering of English, and have been taught habits of industry and order. Then let any man say whether it is desirable that this should be roplnced by a cordon round the islands, and a stern prohibition that these men should not go forth to bettor thoir condition, and to visit that outside world whioh it is an instinct with all of us. both white and blaok, to long to see. That their spiritual condition luw not taen advanced in tho

nblanters, " "and 1* feel confident " that, on thi^fcrthe^^ k Wtoey'an mhaio&tinhaySmMnHfmii.^ * ■ ' Of bourse the 'seizure of "tkis>esjijel 'Has' produced a great" stir, 'a>d; is 'a!' source "of 'great Anxiety to alTof/us in' Fiji; 1 ''tt'will* prq^ably for a. time defer men from seeking,' however honestly^ to engage these 'men;,, and will thus' prevent cultivation from extending l so rapidly .. aa we had hoped; i But in 1 the face of tHe strong feeling '.which acts of brutality must create, we confidently rely on a sense of justice preventing the total '.prohibition "of immigration, because 'it is abused. Let 'the abuses be put down with a stern and prompt hand, by all means, .'but at the .same ;time let a 1 commission be appointed to enquire into the Condition of the 1 labourers' here. It w ould receive every assißtauce from the planters, who would still more gladly welcome a resident inspector in the islands. They have nothing 'to conceal,'but everything to gain, by the fullest'inquiry, and would be only\too glad' to seeVthe present difficulty, result in the ,effecfiV6 ' supervision necessary to place this immigration on a sound basis, and thus save those who employ the immigrants from the stigmas attached to it by 'conduct denounced by none more strongly than by themselves. " I 'have very little of general news to give:' "The Polynesian' Company have an agent here,' whd has been to Suva, and is tb'have possession of th& tract of land there ceded to the company^ as soon as the American 'debt ifl paid. It is to be hoped they will take. steps to introduce either Chinese or other labour, if the island labour be Stopped, bei 6re inducing inimigrants to come here. To rely on Fiji labour would be madness. Already the demand for' it ia greater than the supply. The Fijiman is just emerging from the sternest slavery. He has only lately ! acquired the right to hold property, rind is still easily cajoled out of, his earnings by the chiefs whom he has from childhood been taught to fear' and venerate. Consequently he has no ambition to earn, and the easier he gets' his few wants supplied the less time he devotes to the labour of getting them satisfied. The Visitations of the late hurricane are fast being forgotton. The Sea Island cotton has not sustained much damage, but the larger trees from which the common kinds are obtained, are blown down in all directions. This, however,! is' not so great a less, as they were beini? cut down everywhere, to be replaced by the superior kinds, which ore found to pay so much better. Houses blown down are being rebuilt, and— given the labourno one doubts of the gradual growth in wealth and prosperity of the country. On the Nandi Coast—the west side of Viti Levu — during the hurricane, a tidal wave swept over the land near the coast, destroying a good deal of property, although not doing much damage to the cotton." Among the property destroyed or buried under the sand, was a considerable quantity of trade and muskets which had been brought from Sydney and left on the coast, with a view to the completion of an extensive purchase of land made some time since near Nadroga, on behalf of gentlemen connected with your city. ' '