The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1898-08-27

noted the falling off in the number of
marriages and the small size of the
/ families and found in them sufficient
/ token Of the decrease in the census.
/ There are Of course very different
! lines Of policy open to the Govern
ment. They may let things slide, 80
/ the result of which will be the dis
/ appearance, within a couple of gene
rations, of the aborigines, whilst the
/ Indian coolies in their tens of thou
/ sands will with the sugar-planters
! possess the lands. They may drop the
native policy altogether and gradually
/ place white men in the room Of the
| chiefs. They would then be happily
! quit Of that Wretched system Of the
| Lala purely Melansian in its nature,
| which gives a chief a large share in
| the belongings and persons of his peO-
pie, and which strikes at the root Of
all individual efforts Of improvement
The Fijian should be induced to learn
a trade and to save as we'll as make
money, things quite beyond hts reach
now. since that which his chief leaves
untouched his affectionate relatives
walk off with The system of com
munalism is deeply rooted in the lives
| of the people, and yet all this would
| have to be eradicated at the com
mencement Such a change in the
method of dealing with the natives
would probably be ushered in by up
risings and disturbances. A single re
bellious chief would be compelled to
navigate a very stormy sea before
they arrived at the haven.
There is another road open to the
rulers of this colony, and that is to
hand the native population over to the
missionaries, or, in other words, to es-
tablish a theOcracy where though the
chief may be the head the missionary
will pull the wires. 1t may be urged
that this would bring about dual
form of government, but there is suf-
ficient OF duality in the present ad-
ministratiOn Of the laws affecting the
coolie and the native. This policy is
not so impracticable as it may at first
appear In the only island in the Pa
cific where the abOrigines have mark
eddy increased since their contact with
the white man, the government is es-
sentially theOcratic. The Fathers of
the Society of Mary are the practical
rulers of Wallis Island, and although
there are a native King and a French
Resident, the former is guided by the
priests, whilst the latter finds his pO-
sitiOn a sinecure except in the matter
of imposing taxes on the white trad
ers. In Fiji all measures tending to
limit the freedom of action of the mis-
siOnaries should be rescinded, and
both for Wesleyan and Roman Cath
Ollie there should be a fair field and
no favor. They might receive half of
the revenue arising from the native
taxes, and indeed the collecting Of this
tax might be imposed upon them. This
appears to be the only way Of preserV-
ing the Fijian people; but whether
such a system would work smoothly
side by side with that concerned with
the sugar industry and the Indian
cOOlie is a problem that must be left
to the future.
Yet it is very easy for an outsider
like myself to sit down and prescribe
remedies, all of which are very difficult
to put into operation. At present one
rOams over these islands noting the
sites of abandoned towns and villages
and wondering whether the Fijians
are going the way of all their kin. Had
[ been a cartoOnist, it would be posi-
bic to make a suggestive picture illus
trating the situation. In the fore
ground would be a dying Fijian, with
Wesleyan minister and a Catholic
priest bending over him on either
side. Near by, and looking sadly on
would stand the little group of refined
English gentlemen whose reputation
was staked on the native policy. Keep
ing aloOf, we would observe, a small
number of white settlers, broken in
fortune and spirits, whose sufferings
may perhaps excuse their scOwIs. Tow
ering over all in Herculean dimensions
would raise the form of the Indian
coOlie backed by all the paraphernalia
of the sugar mill. Whilst beneath the
picture would be the inscription:
''Malua," or "The By-andBy.
H. B. GUPPY, NJ. 3.
February q, 1898: Banuva Leva, Fiji