A TIStTOR FROM TONGA.

Otago Witness, Issue 2661, 15 March 1905, Page 32

A TIStTOR FROM TONGA.

THE RECENT TROUBLES. - Mrs Willis, ±he wife of the Rev. Dr Willis, an Anglican bishop at present engaged in mission work in the Eastern Pacific, is at present on a visit to Dunedin. Chatting on Tongan affairs with a representative of this paper, Mrs Willis gave some interesting particulars of the rooting out of the old administration of the Tongan group - by the High Commissioner of Fiji, who on visiting the islands last year found that nothing short of the deportation of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer met the -. ease. ' Dr Willis was formerly stationed at Honolulu, but had to resign when America annexed Hawaii, and make room for representatives of some American church. Just about that time he received a petition . signed by -a number of Tongan people ask- " ing to found a mission of the Anglican -Church at Tongatabu. Regarding this as a _"oall," Dr "Willis went to Torjga t where he found the evil done by the Rev. Shirley Baker had lived after him. There had not | been time to communicate with the Home authorities; for the islands wore, and as a matter of faot-stiil are, under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London, and correspondence is now going on which it is hoped may result in the creation of a new . diocese embracing Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and' intervening islands, which might in due time be affiliated to the Anglican communion in New Zealand.. For the first few years of Dr and Mrs Willis's residence in Tonga work was very much uphill", chiefly on account of the evils incidental to the Government. But since the drastic action of the High Commissioner in Fiji, E. F. im Thurrn, th«re has " been a change for the •better, and with cleaner adrp.ini-.fr.'i-fcion mission work should be- materially facilitated. Under the old regime the King of Tonga was practically under the control cf the Prime Minister, Jid»ateki. j and the other officials. When the High Commissioner arrived there was 2d in the Treasury, and the country from £5000 to £10,000 in debt. It is estimated that it •will take at least five years to straighten .up Tongan finances; but it is cheering to learn from a letter Mrs Willis has received from her husband since she left that the new governmental machinery was working very smoothly, and great benefits were expected from it. As an instance of the hostittty"""Bishop Willis had to encounter on arriving at Tongatabu, Mrs Willis stated that the old Government flatly refused to allow him to acquire a piece of land for a church, although he was legally entitled " to it. One of the -first acts of the new Prime Minister was to give the land >re- . quired for a churoh and to Remove existing disabilities. Formerly members of the English ~ Church had to suffer on account of their faith, and were frequently denied Government employment, while it was - simply impossible for them to get justice if they took any matter into the courts. The Wesleyans did not fare very much better, as the only church having the approval of the Government was the Tanataima, or Free Church, which came into - existence owing to a split amongst the WesJeyans. Speaking of the inhabitants and trade of the Tongan group, Mrs Willis said that there were some 270 whites of different nationalities, who were mostly engaged in trading. The copra produced there nearly all went to Sydney, while the fruit was sent to Auckland.