THE COOK ISLANDS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1177, 12 July 1911, Page 5

THE COOK ISLANDS.

—» FURTHER INTERVIEWS. THE COMMISSIONER AND LOCAL OPINION. (By Our Special Reporter.) During my stay at Rarotouga I interviewed a number of residents. They were in most cases .reluctant to come forward, as they regarded it as useless to ventilate their views unless opportunity was afforded for the full and open inquiry which they had expected. I append tho views of several of those who were willing to speak:— A SERIES OF COMPLAINTS. A rodent of the island.who expressed a that his name should not < bo us?d for various refi?ons, remarked that tilings wore not what they should be. There was ho doubt' that it was necessary to have a High Court and Land Titles Court Judge.coiubined, with thu position of Resident Commissioner entirely separate. Tlinrc were a goud many pcoplo in. the inland who held that if the postmaster (Mr. Stevenson) were made Resident Commissioner, and given a copable assistant he would iill the position of Resident Commissioner; admirably. With this appointment and the appointment of a fully qualified lnnn as Ju .. of the High Court and the Land Titles Court matters would immediately right themselves. -As tilings stood a man offended tho Resident Commissioner, and he was up n(;;ii;ist the Jitdg:! of the Land Titles Court and the Judge of the High Court. intend Hie High Court and Lund Court .1 udgo and you were up against the Resident Commissioner. One of the reasons the Natives would not speak of their complaints was the fear they had of the power of the Resident Commissioner. It was essential that the man who administered the law should bave a thorough knowledge of the law and !ts execution. Tho power and methods of the Native Council were unsatisfactory from the European paint of view. It used to be said in Karotonga that the placo was . not for tho Europeans and that, if they did not like it, they could clear out, but considering that the Europeans had brought commerce nnd prosperity to the It-lands, was it not reasonable that the old idea should be put on one side now ? The white men had made the place what it is, and they should surely have some voice in the making of the laws under which they lved.. At present the council was praclcally a secret Chamber to which no one but the Resident Commissioner and the members of the .council were admitted. Here again was the danger of investin" so much power in the hands of one man lho Europeans did not know how the aws were put through nor what was a lederal Council and what an Island Couni C j. , ,; CC:t,O1 > of tho Europeans, at least iel that they should have the right to know how the laws were made and the reason for posing them. It was also felt in some quarters that a BorotHi Council consisting, say,- of three-parts Europeans and one-part Native should be set up to manage road and ;■ it '''oh afcairs. As matters stood it waj. ...ie ui' it was possible that the Resident Commissioner would advise a Native or a European in his position as Commissioner ? ntl then have to adjudicate on the case in the Courts.

VIEWS OF A TRADER,

™?v ? Eh 5 c « o,u ' so of a conversation mth the head of a trading establishment, your .representative was informed that tno general .condition of affairs on the island was unsatisfactory, as a result of Hie administration. Giving to the good prices received for produce during the past hvo years. however, there was undoubted prosperity in (ho islands. The Uesident Commissioner fell short of reriuiremenfs, largely owing to his want of Wledse. ot the customs aud ideas of the Natives. -Again, many instances could be ppiutcd to of wasteful aud unnecessary expenditure on trifles where the money could have been spent to advantage. Instances could also be pointed to where the Resident Commissioner had allowed his personal feelings to run awav with him in the Court, and his general conduct towards the residents'was to say the least of it, not tactful. This was no doubt a difficult, matter in a small community, but they should surely look h™ h'Ti l nh \ { \ iu ° Commissioner than that he should regard as an enemy anyone who did not see eye to eve with his Bclminis ration. Another point which struck the trader was the fact that th» < ommissioner interfered too much with thei experts at the. head of the different JJepartnients. of which ho (Captain Smith) ?rii- u h i\ *¥> men ™- Bush l K «r nrinking by the Ivatires was certainly ]?Jt J* a result of the undue leniency of the Commissioner in dealing social life of the European residents had neier been at such a low ebb as it was firJS" fti btt T- and this w<l.l largely to the want of sociability on the part of Captain Smith. There was so.no excuse for his as the Commissioner °™ not a-married nun. and had no w[f e o act as hostess. Although they had been given to understand by the late Com Rive effect to a movement to secure Kuropean on the Nat III Council nothing had been done in t,;" connection, although representation" id l>cen made to Captain Smith. Mo t of he Planlr- er whl e T <, I from H, ° ™™ ™A Planter, who had some thousands of Pounds mvested in the island, an ,\ «„«! ly it was onlvjust that thev should naw some say in the expenditure of (he e t\Zl and the paai,,, of laws for the ROC <I Tf here At th l n * s stmfl af nf H, r °° • m - lch P 0 , "- in the hands nn lL P • Y hat ,nnne J" hs lifcfd withter •J n nS^'', % t0 ] a, W«.'>xcD n t the Minis. roJp of I ? r' 1 • F '- Irthnr the M TmW nf ti; u- and Chief Co ?t d d ?h i r °" rt nnd Inml TiH-s of i mn ;? t ri l ; om , b,ne , w e!l in the hands oi a ii'an »hn had, no lepn trainin<»' It Jl \t"K tom n»ssioner was ~]=o Tud-e nf he Hisrh Onnrt he should hnve " \IA] framing With the ,lunl porih'on, n« * r present ,t was possible tint the Ke4dcnt •Judge-of the High Court. "Por'ona feel stan T of the whole trouli ly" 'h've confidence. ,n Dr. Dawson and emnlov him medically to attend to yon or your family s. wants you ■ are. .immediately regarded in certain nnhrters as n,i enemy oi the Resident Commissioner " '

FAIR, BUT SLOW TO ACT,

According o a planter of f.tandin? inthe island. Mje Resident Commissioner ns far as Ins dealings.with him wont, wa* tair ami candid, bill, was slow to move in matters of importance. He cnuld nof agree with those parlies nlio raid (hit everything was awry in the admiuiftrntion ot tho Inland?, alfboush it could not 10 Mid even (ram hi> limited experience i »>at. things were all they. ini K ht he in a icral way. lor instance, the .Comniis'.or, perhaps under instructions ins flu- too easy-going with tho Native*. Pe'r-f-onall.y ho houghtth.it a gaol should be erected, and that the Natives who offend-, ed should be punished in a manner that would in a measure disgraco them in the eyes of the public. Asnin, there should be more huropean policemen-say one in each village instead of one for the whole 'flf, ?* 1 , /. P, r T l - Vfith the exception of Ifthiti, he had nrver seo'i Native? who w<-re more given lo drunkenness than the -Natives of Hurotonga, ami in this respect !eM! WC 'f D H ' I- VC '' y biul 0X:,1 "' ,,( ' ''J - a seel ion of the ■hiiropeans. The C-nini lnsSjoiier appeared to b<> afraid of offending tut, iNutiye.-. It appeared lo him that Hie Commissioner-might have used hi.s best, encleavoiirs to draw the Muvopean ponulaloii closer -toßether, and thai the Kuropcuiis should have rcjircscntnuion in the local government, say. by n form of municipal council with representation fioni each village Such a council could, ne urged, deal with such matters as sanitation, roads, etc., and in the event of general grievances- put them before (he tomniissloner and give him mi opportunity or replying to them fairly. In tho event of the rulings of tho Commissioner being unfair, it would be |j,, l 0 cnou-h to take steps-ti. refer | 0 „ higher authorlty. Jo his. mind there was-urgent needtor some-steps hMuif taken lo checli'llie various fruit pesls. TTiits. besides bcin" V in'enti'.-fl to tho lusiltli of siirh ;, ro m . in unity, were tho raiiie »f 5 real dim'agnarnoogst the coco-nutf. pic. and th» flying fes was another great pest. At prrisnt

3d. per lir-.ifl was offered by the Government for Hie flying t«x, Imi this was not enough. Me believed that if Ihe community as ,1 whole tombined in the direction;, he Imd indicated, more Rood would lie done than by the prc.-ent lactic;. AT THE PROPER TIME. "1 am prepared to coinp forward at the proper time, and say what J hnvc against the Administration," fniil auothcr wrllknown trader, who remarked that he was only courting trouble if ho said his pay just now; and, further, a number of his statements could only be proved f!irough persons who would only giro evidence on oath before a public inquiry. At the fame , time he could say that bu?h beer drinking was on Ihe increase since Captain Smith took nlfiee. The Resident Commissioner appeared to fear Ihe effect of strong measures wilh Ihe Natives, and would not be. firm with them. If some steps wore not taken lo stop this drinking, the Natives would become a menace to the. public. The C.immissioner could not, oral least had not shown that he could, deal with the land question. The. speaker went on to refer to the unsatisfactory prison system, the necessily for a return of how Ihe money paid as taxes was spent, and for white representation on the Council. Kevertiug to the prison syslem, the trader in question urged the necessity for thi> construction of a gaol, us the present penally—a couple of Jiours' work on the roads per day—was''only playing with Ihe Natives. A distinctive garb or badge lo denote prisoners would make the punishment more effective. A -fospital Board was also required to denl with matters vt hospital control. This, he urged, would do away with all the trouble they had had in the medical service. At present the public did not know how the hospital was being run, or anything about it. 'J'h? general policy appeared to be lo keep tho Kuiopcans out of_ everything, as they knew too much. What was wanted was a. man who would be firm and straight, and, moreover, one with « knowledge of legal matters. "I do not blame the Resident Commissioner altogether for the present troubled state of the island," concluded Ihe trader. "Hβ had no experience to fit him for tho position, and the Government must have known that when they appointed him."

DR. DAWSON'S VIEWS. Asked for his opinion of the administration of the islands from a medical standpoint, Dr. Dawson, late medical officer, said he considered that matters were in a most unsatisfactory state. There had been a disgraceful waste of public money, one direction in particular being in the importation of pigs. There wero already too many pigs in the island, many of them being diseased, and kept close to dwellings. Outside of the health aspect of 'the questions, the pigs did enormous damage to plantations, etej,' Another complaint was that 10 months after the opening of the hospital the authorities were unable to admit.a patient for an operation. Again, the hospital was used before it was put in a thoroughly sanitary condition and before it was passed by the medical officer as being ready for u>e. When Dr. Buck was relieving in the island he entered it under protest. The failure to have levels taken, etc., so .13 to enable work (0 be commenced on draining the Marnerenga lagoon when the money was available, and which work hud been recommended years ago, was another matter he had to complain abmit. The vote did not even appear on last years Estimates. The'general sanitation of the island was unsatisfactory, bnt this lagoon was a special source of danger in that it was a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and ran right into the centre of settlement. The neglect, of this impor-' tant work rendered the community liable to certain diseases which had been quite ' eradicated by the drainage of such swamps in other jilaees ho could mention. Last year the island had been visited by an epidemic of dengue fever, which raged for some considerable time, probablv 90 per cent, of ihe pomihtion being affected. He had liltle doubt as to its can??. The early missionaries had recognised the. necessity for draining this swamp. I hey had made n drain, but it had si'iko filled up. The civil administration had attempted to break the main of the Arikts and the missionaries in health and other matters, and had substituted nothing to take its place. In his opinion the movements of the present administration had been movements of retrogression. The island would probably be visited by another epidemic of dengue fever when tho hot weather returned, and at any time other diseases such as' malaria, 'yellow fever, and other serious tropical ' complaints, in which the mosquito played an important preliminary part, might make their appearance. By thpir neglect in sanitary and health matters the' Government was laying the. inhabitants of the island open to very grave risks. For several months he had noticed a great number of sick rats on tho island and a great number had died. As far as could be learned, the Government had taken no steps to ascertain the cause of this. Again, venereal disease was imported from the other islands, and this laid the population open to a very serious menace with which tho administration at present had no means to cope. There was absolutely no provision laade for medical attention to the population on the outlying islands. These islands■ were in a shocking state with disease: The northern islands wero n grave source of danger to tho islands closer in. becausa of the prevalence of leprosy there and the fact that the Penrhyn and Jlnnihika people travelled to Rarotonga. He personally hod sent tivn

suspicions cases back, oni> this ynar and one 12 months ago. He would suggest n proper inrdir.il inspection of every man, woman and child oil those islands by a medical officer. .As he had found oil a visit, relatives hid the lepers. On the surface thero did not appear to be any leprosy, but he. had taken the opportunity to go round when a dance was in progress, and ho found the lepers sunning .themselves. It was certainly a fact that the difficulties of communication wero great, but so was tho risk. A medical officer was supposed to go round the northern islands twice a year, but no Government medical officer had been there for four years. In the meantime tho resident agents . and tho missionaries did their best in an' amateur way. Until lately, soid Dr. Dnwson, the administration had provided no assistant medical officer in Itarotoiiga, and so the medical officer could not leave to go north, a* this would mean the loss of months of good work amongst the local natives. Inverting to the importation of disease, Dr. Dawson remarked that ships were allowed to call at the other islands of the group before being admitted to pratique at Karotonga. Even with two medical ofMors m.Rarotonga, he continued, no attempt has been made to visit ditutaki and the other islands, although a steam*called at one or other of these islands every month. "I- think," added Dr. Dawson, that I can, without egotism, claim to have the confidence of the Natives of this island, and the fact that so manv ot them pay me for services which the'v could get at the hospital for noiliin'f ■'peaks more strongly tlian anything 1 can fay. Phis in spite of intimirlatory rumours spread by at lens; one offir.ini that. I could mm*. Altogether." eourluded Dr. Dawson, "the Kpfident Commissioner? administration o£ tli» medical and health departments ha?, in my opinion, licen deplorably deficient."