THE LABOUR TRAFFIC IN THE PACIFIC.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 1071, 11 October 1883, Page 4

THE LABOUR TRAFFIC IN THE PACIFIC.

• fiir the most cogent and reasonable defence yet offered on behalf of the labor traffic ■in the Pacific is contained in a ‘ letter recently contributed to the Times by Mr Oarl A. Feilberg, of Melbourne. This gentleman doesnot deny that a good deal gf kidnapping was , practised in the When the islanders were entirely ignorant of the nature of a labor agreement, and the process of obtaining their consent was a mere farce, “as 'great a mockery ; in fact, as it would be to gain the intelligent assent of a child in a pinafore to a complicated legal document.” Bat ; - ; those days have long passed away. of the labor traffic,” Mr Feilberg points out, “ lessened by the regulations of the Queensland Govern- . meht’-and -the'’watchfulness of Her Majesty's’’ vessels' 1 in the Pacific, were still Hither‘dinpriished by'a natural process. Ah' ; bqdad‘ after squad of islanders who had served their three years in Queensland were landed in their native islands, the home-staying natives became better acquainted with plantation service. The labor vessels for many reasons confined their visits to these islands. There was always much danger and difficulty in I breaking • * freshground in reora. ting, while there was little difficulty in getting a full supply of laborers from ; ■ the islands previously visited. Indeed, of late years a large and growing proportion of Polynesians landed in Queensland have been ‘return’ islanders,’ i;e.» men who had after a short run ashore wished to return to the plantations to earn more money, and procure the means for another grand display of prodigality • among their fellow-tribesmen and neigh-/ ■ bon. These men of course knew exactly what {they were doing, and it is not conceivable that Jffie.others, who must have heard all about the colony from their in {ignorance concerning ] then*- Engagements. In fact, for many years before 1 left Queensland, some twelve months ago, anything that could be fairly called kidnapping had entirely ceased. That many.) Polynesians who landed in the colony found;; plantation life not quite what they expected I dd not deny ; and -1 hare no doubt that ths laborers included many men who had. left their families, many sons who had dmerted tnehr parents, dr bribeatfaen thrown off their allegiance to their chiefs. But it is not possible to have a system(o^(emigration 'which does not give rise to these painful incidents. Do we not see constantly ih'these colonies European immigrants thoroughly, .dissatisfied with the change they have made,-and ’ Ijfffiontjpgpthat ithay, haya ; spoiled their lives 4>y the fatal blander of leaving the Mother CqpntryMany a successful and contented .colonist passed, the.early years ' of'his residence here. in bitter repining agfdpet whet he called ; the. false representations which induced him to come to

Australia. What should we think of a eocclatnatioas, , with .virtually kidnapping British subjects to fill her empty .territory ? And yet some of the charges against theJabdrtraffic Queensland, as at present conducted, rest on no Mr feilbeCg goes on,. *‘that many painful acenea may be enacted on the beach of a South Sea island as the recruiting; boat pipihef ~frpnv; £he shore, .while.friands, and relations are lamenting the departure of their loved ones in all. the simple.

abandonment of savage grief v And yet does, such a scene imply blame to the < odlofiy which sends forth the labor vessel? There., is one way, I believe, in which violent scenes yet recur. Whenever white men contact With, barbarous races quarrels invariably „ariae about women ; and it unfortunately Jiappena that : Polynesian women nave some personal attractions, and are notoriously unchaste. Quarrels so produced, when every brutal passion is in the ascendant, are always dangerous, and I have no reasqrfito doubt that the men engaged in- -labor vessels ' play their part in creating them. But I deny that these unfortunate results are due to the labor tcada- ay .a labor trade. Quarrels over women will occur in the Sontb Seas as long as white traders, visit the islands for any purpose, and cannot be ma£ja fallr?y chargeable to the . special trafSc oh by Queensland and Fiji, jknd how are.,they, to bo avoided ? You cannot turn back the hands of the clock. You cannot; seal up the islands: and cause the& to revert to the condition of isolation in Which thisy existed, before white men vimtad'ijheii;,shores. And here: comes in wna£ may he called the kernel of the whole question. .1 can well understand the despairwith .which;the missionaries most relabor trade. By their patient, andr persistent efforts they have succeeded in planting the germs of civilisation in, some of these islands. The growth and development'or these'germs depended on maintaining their seclusion. The missionaries found the islanders very docile and ready to be taught by them ; but that very docility, arising, as it does, from'the ficklenessand want of,determinthe 'Polynesian' race, proved their greafeat bane. ' They said, ‘Be baptised, comp to aehpol,: build better houses,, and; of model Christian communr ?°d ,tbe,, islanders set willingly ahqqt .doing .what. they were.told. Then «amq thetrfGders, saying “ Come with us to Fiji apd Qneanßland, aud we will give you tibe-, means-,of: buying rifles and pqwdsr, .fine, clothes, sharp tools,and all manner of nice things;’, and the islanders just as readily left the church, sohoolhasSe; faddall behind them, to follow the new guides. 1 Nor : was this all the mis-* 1 chief. The departure of so many of the young and vigorous men had a most pernioions . effeetdh the social’ condition of thh.tribes/and their return, full of oew ideas —and’ T regret to say new vices—armed, rich' in '‘the estimation of the islanders, disposed to scoff at native authority*'* Advanced thinkers’ who had alljfseic.|*jth destroyed-by actual contact with:a Christian commuity, have. upset the benevolent Vi despotism., which the missionary teachenVaepghit to establish. But again I ashj: t‘ can’ be dope now 4a far: as my r iapefjeh|:e goes.it, would be better for if they,never saw white .qpce the poison which we Christians communicate by contact • Sfith /bar bariaii a as the Polynuitni naa homn to work. T fear itn

operation cannot be You can neyertXfea*, bring back the Polynesians even if you ahdphhblOdel Up every ialand and not permit another European to land on their y shores, ”- Mr Feilberg-concludes by urging V IhattheCnnaraisaionerß should take local evtAmfoin Queensland-and Fiji as well aa Jr .London; . ,