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Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 31, 13 March 1914, Page 6

The problem of the Condominium and the. New Hebrides continues to agitate the minds of the publicists.' The Condominium has been a persistent and consistent failure. The good influences of British law in the islands have been undermined by the la-xity of the French laxity shown only towards French subjeets guilty of illegal practices at the expense of . the helpless natives. A commentator in an English exchange; speaking with authority, states that the three separate courts of justice—a Joint Court, a "Nationals" Court, and a Joint Naval Commission — have become farcical. The composition of the Courts (which includes the King of Spain's nominee as president and public prosecutor of the Joint Court) has resulted in the utmost confusion, for the French judges, have but a limited acquaintance with the English language. and .jurisprudence, while the British judges suffer from the same liability with regard to French language arid legal practice. One result of all this pother, of mixed Courts and Administration is' that the unfortunate natives, whose 1 cases' come before the Joint Naval Commission, • have often to wait six and nine months, because their trial can' only take place during the yearly visit of French and British men-of-war. During this period of waiting they are detained in prison and treated iin every respect as criminals. In some cases the natives have died before they could be brought to trial. - A bitter discontent is being bred in the islands, and evidence of well-founded charges of outrageous cruelty, violation of the liquor laws, the frequent kidnapping of labourers, accumulates in the Foreign Offices. Probably the best solution of the whole trouble win be that Britain should take over certain of the forty islands, and France the rest. The Condominium, from any standpoint, is impossible.