The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 1887. TYRANNY IN TONGA.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1498, 4 March 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 1887. TYRANNY IN TONGA.

Although the press of this colony has generally accepted as true the version of Tongan affairs which represents the conduct of the Rev Shirley Baker as oppressive and cruel to a degree which justifies resistance on the part of the section of the native people whom he thus cruelly persecutes, we observe that the Auckland "Evening Bell" takes the opposite side, and attributes all the trouble to the disloyal conduct of the Wesleyan party, led by the Rev Mr Mouiton. Our contemporary looks upon the latter as malcontents, inspired with envy and hatred on account of the success of the State Church, founded by Baker, and hopes that Baker will not stay his hand until these disturbers of the peace are all dangling at the end of hempen ropes. It regards Baker as a statesman whose beneficent schemes are being opposed by a set of bloodthirsty reactionaries, and holding that opinion its views as to their proper treatment are logical, if anything but merciful. It is important to know which are m the wrong, those who look upon Baker as a persecutor or those who regaed him as persecuted, and this point will, we imagine, be clearly determined by the inquiry which is shortly to be instituted on the spot, under the directions of the Imperial Government, by the High Commissioner of the Pacific and the Governor of Fiji. Meantime we have no doubt upon the question ourselves, as it appears to us that there is an overwhelming weight of testimony m favor of the view that the conduct of the Tongan Premier has been most tyrannical and cruel, and that the Wesleyan section of | the people have been almost incredibly oppressed by his Government. In support of that view, we need only quote from the " Fiji Times," of the 9th of February, the following which appears m a letter written from Vavau, under date January 12. — "Last advices from Tonga informs us that. . . matters political and religious are m anything but a quiescent state, and the Premier is still m Tonga, every thing being m so unsettled a state that he dare not leave. The Tongan Government has just distinguished itself by another gross act of cruelty and injustice. The Sandfly brought twenty-four so-called prisoners from Tonga ; twelve were left on the way m the Haabai Group. When the others arrived here they were shut up with four others m the lock-up, a place calculated for three or four, or half-a-dozen at the most. Into this building they were cast, ironed for the night, and m the morning the gaoler thus addressed them : — " We all of us here m Vavau belong to the Free Church, you are all of you Fakaogos, a term of reproach applied to the Wesleyans ; but we will soon knock all the nonsense out of you. To commence with, you will all of you be thrashed with the cat, and have all your hair cut off, you will then quarry and carry stones for the new wharf, and you will be kept to hard labor for three years, and every month you will have a great flogging." There are some rumors that these men declined to take some oath which the Premier desired to impose upon them. After the above speech from the gaoler, the victims were most brutally flogged, one of the gaolers calling out at times. " Why do you flog them thus ! why on the back only! flog them across the face ; scratch their eyes out with the whip;" and then the poor lad whom they were thrashing at the time, had his hand nearly cut to pieces m the endeavour to save his eyes. After undergoing this barbarous flagellation, their hair was cut off, and this m a manner to inflict the greatest amount of torture. Only about twothirds of the tuft of hair nipped by the shears each time was cut through ; the rest of the tuft was torn out by the roots to the acute agony of the prisoners ; m this state they were sent to their task, three times as much work as is done by the ordinary prisoners here with the warning that if their imposition were not completed they would be flogged at night. The whole of the men are from the Wesleyan College m Tonga. The Tongan Government dare not proceed to these extremities m Tongatabu, but sent" these political prisoners down here away from their friend and relatives, and away from the sympathy and help of a larger European community than is to be found m Vavau, The head gaoler here, to his honor, interfered when the men were being lashed across

the- eyes ; he forbade it, and has been a friend to the men as far as he dare. Let those who doubt any of the statements made m this letter read a letter lately published m the "Sydney Morning Herald," and written by a thoroughly impartial and unbiassed gentleman, the Captain of the Kishon. In that epistle will be found statements, 1 harder to believe and yet perfectly true, than any statement made m this communication ; and will be as well to bear m mind that France has already interfered m this matter on behalf of her, the Catholic, Church and that the Tongan Government has been only too glad to give way on every matter." A postscript to the foregoing, dated two days later (January 14), adds : — "The s.s. Suva from Tonga has just arrived. The oath the students were required to take was a blind ore, they were not allowed to read or to have read to them the oath which they were required to take, and under these circumstances declined to swear," It need only be remarked that if the foregoing be true there can remain no doubt as to the I conduct of Baker's Government being so bad as to be altogether unendurable.