CRUEL NATIVE CUSTOMS.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17419, 1 April 1922, Page 15

CRUEL NATIVE CUSTOMS.

(FROM OUB OWH COKBBSrONOSMS.) SYDNEY, March 25. Some disquieting statements with regard to the effects of the Condominium form of Government in tho New Hebrides have been made by Pastor A. G. Stewart, a Seventh Day'Adventist Missionary, who has been working for six years on Malekula and who is now visiting Australia. He declares that the dual control of tho islands is completely unsatisfactory; that parricide, infanticide, and tribal wars are prevalent, and that the cruellest practices aro allowed to continue unchecked, whilst firearms and strong drink are supplied to the natives by unscrupulous traders. The bulk ot tlio European residents were in favour of the proposed federation of tho islands, which would brill" all the British possessions in tlie Pacific under a central administration controlled by the Dominions office. •Mr Stewart said that under the protocol it was provided that there shoultl bo no interference with the social customs of the natives. That was deplorable, for some of their customs were unspeakably cruel, particularly where the women were concerned. On Malekula, ono of tho two big islands of the group, women wero nothing but slaves or chattels to be bought and sold at so much per head. The only marriage coremony amongst the heathens of these islands, who were regarded as the worst cannibals in the South Seas, was the payment by the bridegroom of fifteen pigs for his wife, who became the wood and water carrier of the home. She was treated in a brutal manner by her husband. Frequently girls were married when they wero young children. Mr Stewart produced tlio photograph of a wife, aged 14, who had run away from her husband, and had been caught and punished by him. His method of chastisement was to make a large stone rod hot and place it in tho bend of his bride's knee, meanwhile pressing back her foot, so that both the thigh nnd the calf would contact with the stone. In addition, he applied red-hot stones to tlio soles of her feet, and left her in a terrible stato of agony. Khe managed to crawl away in the night, and was taken bv canoe to the mission station, where her injuries required attention over a period of fourteen months. Even now she was permanently lame. These were the practices that he wanted to see stopped.

Another habit of Ihe natives was to bury female infants alive. He had in his household a small child whom he had rescued from a dreadful death of that nature. Despite the protestations of tli© authorities to the contrary, every grown native had his own rifle, and tribal warfare was now carried on with firearms, many of which were modern "Winchester repeaters. Unscrupulous traders and planters also found it much _ easier to secure recruits amongst intoxicated natives, and so strong drink was distributed in many of the recruiting places. Already there were signs that tho native population was dwindling, and, with the higher death-roll caused by tho general use of firearms, and by vices which had been introduced from elsewhere, the population was likely to decline at a rapid rate. Ho had lived in Fiji for eight years, and could not help noting the difference between the natives there under British control and those in the New Hebrides urider the condominium.

"At present," said Mr Stewart, ''<;verythintr is in duplicate—an absurd position. The money is mainly spent in maintaining Government offices, and tho real work is perforce neglected for lack of funds and lack of any definite code of native laws. The islands are most prolific, and the production of copra, cotton, and cocoa could be vastly increased. But with the subsidised steamer service, we are sadly neglected. Burns, Pliilp and Co.'s steamer Makambo calls every five weeks- at Vila, the port of entry, where it lands and ships passengers, mails, and cargo, but a resident of any other part of the New Hebrides either has to utilise the French steamer or send hia goods by little trading vessels to Vila, where they are transferred to the Makambo. The fact is that the company receives such a good subsidy that it does not bother much about the trade. t There is a great opening for trade with the islands, but it can never be developed until there is a better shipping service."