The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1904-12-23

SYDNEY, December 23.-TWO British
warships have sailed from here to an
mex the Tonga islands.
Tonga which Great Britain is about
to annex, has a special interest for the
people of Honolulu from the fact that
several persons who formerly lived here
are now resident there. Among these
are DR.. and Mrs. ID. McLennan who
left here to take up their residence
there about eight or nine years ago.
DR.. McLennan had practiced medicine
here for some time. In 1902 Bishop
and Mrs. Willis, after a residence of
thirty years i'm honolulu went to Tonga
i'm response to a call from a faction of
the Wesleyan church there who wanted
to become members of the Church of
England and threatened to relapse into
heathenism if they were not given the
opportunity. Bishop Willis took with
him Chinese who had been a helper
i'm his Iolani school and has continued
as a helper in his work there.
Wesleyan missionaries went to Tonga
in 1927, and We're very successful in
converting the natives to Christianity.
The most widely known of the mission
aries who labored there was the Rev.
Shirley Baker who died about a year
ago. After many years labor he asked
the Wesleyan conference i'm Australia
to allow the Wesleyan church in Tonga
to become a separate jurisdiction which
it declined to do. Thereupon he seeded
with a large following and established
| ceeded in making this the national
church of Tonga, and he himself be-
came prime minister, and practically
the entire government of the little king
| dom. His administration was so ex-
| traVagant and erratic that the British
| government, which exercised a protec-
| torate over the kingdom, exiled him
! from Tonga for two years. On his re-
| turn he was broken in health and in
| fluenCe and died about a year ago.
! Meanwhile he had been admitted to
| deacon's orders in the Church of Eng
land, in New Zealand. and had at
tempted to turn the Free Church of
Tonga over to the Church of England.
1t was as a result of his efforts, in part
at least, that the call to Bishop Willis
came.
The late King George, who died in
1898 at the age of 50, had ruled his
little kingdom almost from the first
years of contact with civilization. He
was a devoted Wesleyan, and a great
admirer of Queen Victoria. He offered
his kingdom to the British government
but the offer was not accepted, but q
protectorate was established. King
George We succeeded by King George
Tahoa l. He created sensation by
marrying the daughter of his chief OF
police in preference to a bride of much
higher native rank whom according tC
the traditions of his people, he ought tc
have married. The last two or three
years there has been a good deal OF
friction between the native government
and the British residents growing out
of an alleged disposition on the part oil
the native government to pile all the
taxes on the foreigners while giving
them no say in their expenditure The
British Commissioner for the Pacific
Islands, who is also governor of Fill
has several times had to interfere II
the past year or two. About yeal
ago lat the Kings order, the British
Commissioner on arriving there was
refused a landing on the ground o
quarantine regulations against thu
measles which existed in Fiji at thu
time.
1t is not true to say that Tonga il
the only group of Polynesian Islands
that until now has not come under tn
sway of some European or American
I power. The New Hebrides, are still
p independent, though both France ant
England are manoeuvreing for predo
minant influence there.
Tonga consists of three groups of isl
ands, called respectively, Tonga, Haa
pai and Vavau, and lies betewen l
degrees and 70 degree 80 minutes SoutI
and 173 degrees and III degrees West
it's western boundary being the easter
boundary of Fiji Its area is 800 squar
miles and the population, December 81
1900 was 1883 of which 1890 wer
! natives, 300 other Pacific Island Ohoat
ing population), $50 British subjects,
other foreigners and 12O half castles
The capital is Nukualofa. The rev
. enue, chiefly from customs, a poll ia
; and leases Ono land being sold) was
70 1903 estimated at about 100000