THE NEW HEBRIDES

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 19841, 16 May 1927, Page 11

THE NEW HEBRIDES

EVILS OF DUAL CONTROL DIFFICULT LABOUR PROBLEM (A. & N.Z.) SYDNEY, May 14. The report of the Foreign Missions Committee has been presented to the Presbyterian General Assembly. It states: 4 ‘The evil effects of the dual control of the New Hebrides are on the increase and there is a danger that Britain may lose her hold on these pearls of the South Seas. If France obtains full control over all or a portion of these islands there will arise a danger of a repetition of what happened in the Loyalty Islands, namely Protestant missionary societies, after all the long years of service to their credit, being forced to withdraw.” Dr. Gunn said. “We have for long fried to get the New Hebrides under British control, but wc have failed, owing to the difficulty of obtaining labour inside. Labour has to be introduced from outside and the French have brought in hundreds and thousands of Tonganese, and they pay to the British traders: “If you will become French subjects we will give you as much labour as you require. ’ Owing to this labour difficulty British traders have told the British Commissioner that unless they get labour from the outside world they will become French subjects. ’ ’