The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-07-23

RrOunut Tor the WnOle pOpuldllOn
played cricket from morning till
night. They played matches, one
village against another" with fifty to
seventy PLAYERS on a side. Finally,
cricket had to be regulated by law
and confined to Tuesdays and Thurs
days.
The history of Tonga is very inter
esting, but we have not room tor even
a sketch OF it.
The career of King George Tubou,
who united the islands under one strong
government and put an end to petty
civil wars, was strikingly like that OF
Kamehameha I. AS long as he lived
there was a stable government, for be
was almost worshipped by his subjects,
and was hardly considered as mere
mortal When at last he died, Feb
ruary 10, 1893, at the advanced age Of
90, as Thomson states, "All work
ceased. The cocoanuts lay unhusked
upon the ground for months. Trade
was at a standstill. The people went
to their plantations only to dig up and
carry away food for the great funeral
feasts. Their only labor was the cree
ton OF the great tomb i'm the Malae-
kula.U He was succeeded by his great
grandson, George Taufaabau, youth
of twenty, whose administration is
weak and corrupt. The inevitable re-
suit will be, sooner or later, a British
protectorate.
There was one discreditable period in
Tongan history, which clOEde1 the
declining years Of the old king. The
Rev. Shirley WaIdemar Baker had
shown from the first a fOndness and
talent for political intrigue 1t was
he who designed the national ensign
and the coat of arms and the great seal.
The Inscription on this last Is as fol-
lows: "KO JIoaji TubOu Ike Kelesi
(Grace) ae Otua, koe Kingi o Tonga"
He constituted himself the champion
of the independence of Tonga, and
tried to make capital out of the dis
trust OF England caused by the annex
alton of Fiji He also coquetted with
Germany, and brought about the ces-
sion of a coaling station to that power
in November, 1876. When Unger,
the kings son, who was also
premier, died at Auckland, Mr..
Baker brought back his body to
Tonga in a German man-of-w war and
induced the King to- appoint him
premier to fill his sons place. He had
for some years been at variance with
his missionary brethren, who had
recommended his recall, and he now
saw his opportunity for revenge
For several years the sums collected
at Tonga for church purposes had ex-
ceeded the local expenditures and the
surplus had been appropriated by the
Australian Conference to other more
needy missions. The TODgans do not
seem TO have had foreign missionaries
of their own to support King George
and his people felt that this money
ought to be expended at home and
had petiLioued that Tonga should be
constituted q separate conference, but
ceeded to reopen this old sore and per-
suaded the King to set up an indie
pendent State church Of his own. A
Rev. Watkins, chairman of the dis
trict, was induced to secede from the
mission and become president of the
new conference. A large majority OF
the people and of the native min
listers Joined the so-called Gree
Church OF Tonga" out of loyalty to
ity, who disliked Mr.. Baker and
were attached to the missionaries,
refused to sever their connection with
the Wesleyan Mission. Mr.. Baker
then resorted to petty prosecutions
and later on to gross outrages on the
"dissenters."
Relying on his Influence with the
King, he carried matters with high
hand, acting as his own treasurer and
AuuiLoIs pIomu gazing laws III ING
name of the King and debating to
the native judges until he made
enemies among the chiefs. He spent
much of his time in Auckland, n. H.,
where he " as a member OF the pTin-
cipal club and subsidized newspapers
and rowing scribblers at the expense of
the ToDgan tax payers. 1t cost his
Government ELI one year to pay his
travelling expenses. The customs
l.. L.
peans in drafts upon New Zealand and
Australian banks, which Mr.. Baker
deposited in the Union Bank of Auck-
land, subject to his order.
In 1857 Premier Baker in
sugurated n subscription for a
statue of King George, to be exc
euted by an Italian artist, and to be
erected in NukuaIofa. The sum of
E12y9, or nearly $500, was raised for
IT, but the statue has never "materi-
alized," although the money has
been traced into the Government
treasury.
In 1887 four escaped prisoners lay in
wait for Mr.. Baker one evening, as
he was driving home with his son
and daughter. They fired volley,
but missed him, severely wounding
the two children. Wholesale arrests
We're made, and four men were shot,
one of whom was probably innocent.
Other executions would have follow
ed, IL the resident Europeans had not
protested and appealed to the British
High Commissioner, Sir Charles
Mitchell, then residing in Fiji. Mr..
Baker affected to believe that the
Wesleyaus generally were guilty of
conspiracy, aud cruelty prosecuted all
who would not join the new State
Church. About two hundred of them
were huddled on board OF two small
schOoners, and shipped off to Fiji,
where the governor received them
kindly, and settled them temporarily
on the fertile isle of KOro.
AS time went on, the Tongans be-
came tired of their dictator, and in
1889 generally refused to- pay taxes, so
that q loan had to be floated in order
TO nav government salaries The ex-