TONGA.

Otago Witness, Issue 3522, 13 September 1921, Page 55

TONGA.

AX ISLAND KINGDOM. WHERE THE BROWN MAN RULES. By Ti: Paxa. The Tongans have a saying which accurately defines the Friendly Islanders’ outlook upon white humanity. “The Lord made the Tongans, then He made the rat; then, as a lasting monument to a worthy piece of work, He made the white man.” ‘‘Tagata vaimasima” is the Tongan’s own classification of himself—literally, very literally, ‘‘the salt of the earth.” On the walls of a native church a tattered old “beachcomber” in a lucid moment once carved “Tagata vaimasima,” and in inch-high letters added “Epsom.” Ah, well ! Ah, well 1 he little kingdom of a hundred isles is the one remaining nominally independent State in the Pacific—within the memory of many Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti, and Rarotonga have been independent,— and though under British protection it still flies its own flag. Its politics are the quaintest thing; its government a limited monarchy, with the British Consul the real power. The Parliament, huge in point of numbers and size of the representatives, is constituted of nobles or lords of 1 He districts and elected commoners. Time was when the Assembly gathered only once in three years, and steamship companies with vesse Is plying to J onga advertised the fact as a tourist attraction. And it was a show. George Tubou II was then on the throne; he was a man 6ft 7in in height, and weighing something over 20 stone. He was wont to open the triennial Parliament with great ceremony, the boom of brass saluting cannon and much gold braid. Attired in a scarlet coat, blue trousers, plumed helmet, with an ermine-trimmed plush cloak trailing from his shoulders and held by two velvet-clad pages. King George would march from his palace to Parliament Buildings. Guns popped at intervals, while the populace " stood around and bowed low in honour. Overall this imitation of British pomp the sun glared down in almost vertical fays, and the flies buzzed in dark clouds, while the onlookers, fanning themselves, perspired freely and felt very uncomfortable. But George the Second of Tonga has gone ; his daughter Salote now rules the destinies or otherwise of the. people, and Parliament meets once a year in less Gilbertian display. There is no poverty in Tonga . . . but there is no wealth. The tribal or communal system, which has prevailed from time immemorial, is altogether op- , posed to any member of the tribe accumulating property. Tonga presents an i instructive lesson to Socialists. There are to be seen in the kingdom exhibitions of both the strength and the weaknesses of j Socialism. The Tongans are a people without poverty, but a people also without individualism. There is no place in their scheme of things for a man who seeks to rise above his fellows. To those [ whose ideals of life are realised in short j hour's of labour, abundance of food, and neither poverty nor riches Tonga should be Utopia. Adults are subject to a poll : tax, and in return the Government grants ! an area of eight and a-quarter acres for plantation purposes. Financially the kingdom is sound, and Tonga is the only 1 country in the world without a national debt. Political economists may argue that this is unsound business; but so

long ns the Tongan Government has a bank balance it feels secure. And Tonga in the past had some bitter lessons in bookkeeping. There is always one cloud on the far horizon—annexation. The appearance of a grey gunboat in Tongan waters is a sign for wild conjecture and the hushed question, “Will the flag go up?” The Tongan believes that by proving his ability to conduct his own affairs he will be left in peace and independent status. Money in the bank is conclusive to his mind that all is well. The Reverend Shirley Waldemar Baker gave Tonga its constitution, and years ago attracted much attention in the South Seas. He is an interesting figure in late Tongan history, and ns Prime Minister to the first George he developed into a kind of Bismarck, whose control grew to be absolute as "the faculties of the old King weakened through age; After endless religious and financial troubles, he was deported from Tonga under an order of the High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, and lor many years resided in Auckland. Early missionary efforts in Tonga were marked by frequent strife. Shirley Baker, who was the storm centre of much of the trouble, got into a dispute with the Roman Catholic missionaries. The French sent a man-o’-war to the Islands, apologies were made, and friction in that quarter disappeared. Quarrels among the Wesleyan Methodists themselves did not end so happily. Baker and his co-woriters in the vineyard had secured a large number of converts in the group, and had made their branch of the Wesleyan Church rich in both lands and cash. Thousands of pounds were sent bv them from Tonga to the parent body in Sydney. \\ hen Baker asked for an accounting- it was refused, the Sydney Conference contending that the subscriptions from the Friendlies were for the use of missions generally. Baker thereupon set u-p an independent church known as the Tonga Free Church. Most of the people followed him to the new buildings, letting the old places of worship fall into disrepair. He had designed a National Ensign and a Royal Standard with three spears and a dove carrying an olive branch, but the symbol of peace had no soothing effect on the rival church factions. As Baker was driving home one night with his daughter lie was ambushed and fired upon by aparty of his enemies. He was unhurt, but Miss Baker, who shielded his body, was badly wounded. A number of men were arrested, and four of them were found guilty and executed. . . . Today, the Tongans are as devout as of yore; wonderfully built churches with highly ornate interior fittings are to be found in small villages boasting a mere handful of people. The Bible is the principal piece of Tongan literature: and the Tongan knows its pages from “In the beginning . . .” to “The End.” But Christianity has failed to eradicate a belief in witchcraft. Ti is common to find that strange surrender whereby a man who thinks himself possessed of “pourripourri,” will give up all hope of life and, taking to the mat, foretell correctly the hour of his death. When the perpetration of a crime is und recovered it- is common to summon the people of a village and require them to each swear upon the “Book” that he is not the guilty person. Sometimes the evildoer is discovered by the trembling of n hand, or bv falling sick from sheer fright, and making a confession. In this respect “ponrri pourri” has been strengthened by Christian influences. Europeans have provided a mass of general educational material in Tonga, which is relatively large. Yet actually it is small enough., and as it is confined to the mere necessitic - of a simple education, with strong emphasis on religion, it can give little guarantee of mental stimulus. But the Tongan is proud of his schools, and he boasts that every one of the 20,000 odd people in the kingdom can read and write their own language. The Tongan is proud of himself and proud of Tonga; he is a great Loyalist. If he fails as an architect or engineer or tradesman he can do one thing outside the scope of the white man : he can walk up a coconuttree. Building ships and locomotives and things is clever, yes; but can you husk a coconut with your teeth, or dive down five fathoms deep and spear a. fish? . . . That is real achievement, that is something to boast about. The Tongan is easily the intellectual genius of Pacific Island people. Left alone! he _ should manage to take care of himself. The alleged civilising process is a slow killer: but it- is sure and certain. Whenever the white comes in contact with and eventually dominates the brown, the latter is doomed. In Tonga the stork is, so far, beating the reaper. Each visit of the bird is an argument in favour of possession ; and it helps keep off the white man with his flags and things.