The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1904-04-01
A STRIKING FIGURE
OF THE SOUTH SEAS


with regard to the Rev Shirley W.
Baker whose death Wls noticed iu
the Star some weeks ago. who was one
of the most piotur, suue figures iu the
history of the south Seas. and whose
energies touched Hawaii the London
Times of January . publishes the fol-
lowing
"The career of the Honorable and
Reverend Shirley Waldemar Baker"
as he styled himself ON his visiting
cards, is am example of what q man
without education or personal att
traction may achieve for himself If he
chooses the right stage. OF his early
career nothing is known but what he
chose to tell, and he would probably
have found it difficult to remember
which of the many variants of his own
story was true. The accepted version
was that he was born in England
about 1910; that he came out to
Sydney as a boy and was there EN-
ployed as a chemists assistant; that he
entered the Wesleyan ministry, which
at that time called for little training,
and was sent to Tonga as a missionary
| in the early sixties. There he found
! MS proper sphere.
THE, islands of Tonga contain 90
600 of the proudest people in the world.
| Their conceit is not of the self-satis-
fled sort that sees no defect i'm itself;
on the contrary, they are keenly alive
to the superiority Of civilized nations,
but they are persuaded that, If they
had had the same opportunities as the
white man, they would have made bet
| ter use of them, that man for man they
are superior as in physique they un-
doubtedly are. Upon these strings in
their character Mr.. Baker played most
skilfully. He pandered to their love
of display by converting the collection
of money into sort of annual carnival,
and when the cash in the island ran
short and the people began to con-
tribute the clothes they stood in he
entered into an unholy alliance with a
German firm to advance money to the
natives on the future crop of copra, so
that when the day of reckoning came
it should be a merchant and not the
Church who should apply for the
distress warrant. In 1875 the system
had become a public scandal. Moved
by the complaints of the British meT-
chants who were losing all their trade,
Sir Arthur Gordon Cnow Lord Stan
more), the High Commissioner, invited
the Wesleyan Conference in Australia
to hold an inquiry. Mr.. Baker thought
that he was on sure ground there be-
cause the conference could not afford
to forgo the large surplus which was
annually transmitted to Sydney. But
the scandal was too fragrant to be
hushed up, and Mr.. Baker was order
ed to a circuit in Australia,
HE was quite equal to the accession.
Little hy little he had been Increasing
his personal influence with King
George, who was absolute master of
his people. 1t happened that Unga,
the Kings eldest son, had died in
Auckland when a German ship of war
was in port Baker hurried on board
and showed the Captain what a
political advantage he might gain if he
conveyed the body to Tonga He now
began to play upon the Kings fears OF
annexation by a foreign Power, Eng.
land, he pointed out, had seized upor
Fiji, and the High Commissioner
Interference in Church affairs was
: proof Of his design upon Tonga. Lei
the King but make a treaty with hi.
new friends, the Germans, and the one
Power could be played off against the
other. True the price of such a treaty
was the alienation of land as a coaling
station, but by an ingenious cooking OF
, the translation (Mr. Baker being the
only interpreteD this difficulty was
overcome. The treaty was signed
the King had a full length equestrian
r portrait Of the Emperor to hang in his
palace, and Mr.. Baker the Order of the
Red Eagle to hang on his breast
) las far as missionary collections
were concerned the game was up, and
Mr.. Baker, with the versatility that
never failed him, showed the King the
iniquity Of sending to Sydney large
sums which ought to be spent in
+ Tonga and unfolded a scheme which
assailed the TOngan vanity at every
point The TOngans were as good as
/, white men. Why should they not
have a national church of their own?
Having secured the promise of the
Premiership in perpetuity with a
salary Of E60O year, Mr. Baker
launched the Wesleyan Conference an
ultimatum which he knew to be
impossible of acceptance, but without
waiting for reply he set up the Free
lChurch of Tonga and himself took
office as Premier. Unfortunately a
minority Of the people refused to follow
their King and Mr.. Baker then
descended to persecution. There fol-
lowed some stormy years for Tonga.
Wesleyans were beaten, imprisoned and
banished, several hundreds of them
subsisting for many months on the
charity Of the Fijian Government.
Meanwhile, since the TOngans like
outward show, Mr.. Baker gave them
all they wanted. The sea face of
Nukualofa was respondent with public
! buildings. A miniature railway was
! planned and partly built. The gov
eminent college was supplied with the
latest apparatus. There was a Privy
| Council, a House of Lords and an elect
ed Commons and all the officials wore
gorgeous uniforms Callers upon Mr..
Dol