The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1885-03-15

cinc, matter Of Importance In view Of the
rapid growth Of war and merchant marines.
Some OF these groups already have con-
siderable and growing trade. Three Ger
man companies, for instance, In the Samoa
and Tonga groups, exported In 1888 cotton,
timber. tobacco. and rice to the value OF over
81, 00O, 900. and their imports arc increasing
over twenty per cent. year. The merchants
OF Australia and England have spent large
sums In developing their trade with the
South Sea Islands, and especially with Now
Guinea. Fleets OF Australian schooncrs
trafic In these seas. and have developed
special industries. like the pearl fisheries and
tho cedar and the sandal wood trado. Tho
Bank OF Queensland has established a branch
at Port Moresby. New Guinea, so great has
their business become with the merchants
md shippers engaged along that coast. The
last Queensland budget contained an esti-
mate for the extension OF It's telegraph line to
Thursday Island. near the New Guinea coast.
The islands that remain 10 be parcellod out
arc for the most part In the great groups OF
Papua and Polynesia. east OF New Guinea,
Australia, and New Zealand. and extending
about 5000 miles north and south and 5000
miles east and west. II tho British colonies
Ind had their way thoy would before this
have seized upon all tho unapproprlatcd
groups Of commercial importance In this
spacious part Of tho sen. But the English
policy has been not to permit the wishes OF
the colonsts to impair the friendly relations
between England and oth0r European pow
crs. 1t was for this reason that she did not
recognize Quccnsland's precipitate anneXn-
tion ~ New Guinea. and that sho forbade
the Now Zralandcrs to carry out their
scheme OF sending n fleet hundreds Of miles
to so!ze SAMOA. Geography. however, is
much indebted " tho English colonies for
the vgor with which they arc pushing their
surveys. Tho coast survey OF Australia Is
nearly completed. and several exploring
sohoonors are now employed IN the western
Pacific. where they nre doing good work
among tho numerous reefs and scattered
islands OF that sea.
AS tho white man and his enterprises null
tiply in these beautiful evergreen islands,
the gentle and simple-hoarted natives will
disappear They seem unable to live In the
presence Of tho wonderful Caucasian and his
bewidering civilization. Perhaps the stur-
der Papuan will survive the advancing
wave, but tho softer Polynesian will be On
quilted in IL, MS other races have been when
their lands have boon deluged by advancing
hordcs. The Tasmanians have departed. tho
Hawaiians are rapidly disappearing, and the
Samoans are following thcm. Enterprises
that are condemned by the laws and con-
science OF all civilized nations have done
much to hasten the fate OF these natives.
Only last year labor ships from Queensland
and Fiji kidnapped natives who came on
board to trade, fired at and killed those who
jumped overheard, and dragged scores Of
them into bondage to speedily die on sugar
plantations. A number OF these slave-dealers
have recently been condemned In Queens
land to death or imprisonment. Such retri-
button as this will probably be the future
policy Of tho Indignant colonists, and the ma
tives are likely hereafter to be spared one OF
the evils that have been DISCRIMINATING them