The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 1911. THE COOK ISLANDS TROUBLE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1215, 25 August 1911, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 1911. THE COOK ISLANDS TROUBLE.

TtiE discussion in Parliament yesterday on the report of the Chief Justice on tho charges levelled against the (Jook Islands Administration chould enable the public to form a very good idea of the weakness of tho caso for the Administration. Tho report was in many vital respects torn to tatters/ No attempt was made by tho Government to most of the really important charges, Sir. James Carroll, the Minister in charge, of the Cook Islands, striving" to discredit those making tho dllarges on the ground that they were malcontents who had grievances against the Resident Commissioner. It does not to hf.vc occurred to the Acting-Prime Minister that it is not a question of whether or not thoso making the 'charges arc men with grievances, but whether the charges aro true. It is perhaps desirable in tho circumstances that wo should briefly mention tho charges admittedly proved. According to the Chief Justice's classification of the allegations made they were nine in number. Further charges bad been prepared for presentation, but owing to the Chief Justice deciding to conduct the inquiry in secret with the witnesses not on oath, the additional charges were not laid before him, nor was any evidence given by the complain ants—with tho. exception of ExInspector Keynolds—on any of the matters investigated. To.show how strong the case against the Administration really was we are able to toko even the one-sided story obtained and acted on by the Chief Justice and prove the truth of the bulk of tho allegations made. OI tho nine charges dealt with by the Chief Justice no fewer than five were admittedly proved, namely: (1) Ignorance and illegality in the administration of justice; (2) failure of prison administration; (3) necessity for niorc strict administration of tho liquor laws; (4) neglect to provide for education; (5) improper appointment of auditor. It was impossible, even on the one-sided evidence upon which the Chief Justice based his findings, to ignore the plain facts relating to the above charges. All'that could be done was to attempt to minimise or to excuse them. It is not necessary to repeat hero our analysis of .the .Chief Justice's- report with its inaccuracies and absurdly-strained reasoning; but we would direct attention to the extreme feebleness of the ense put forward in defence of the report. The Acting-Prime Minister did not advance a single fact or argument worth tho name in reply to the very powerful and convincing review of the case presented by tho member for Wellington South, Mr. Wright. In the brief time at his disposal Mr. Wright placed before tho House a crushing indictment of tho Chief Justice's report and incidentally exposed the weaknesses of the Administration of the Cook Islands. Sir James Carroll's only answer was to attack the motives of "tho malcontents" as ho chose to call them and to advance unsupported assertions respecting the good work of the .Resident Commissioner, No one, wo think, lias suggested, or would desire to suggest, that Captain Smith, during his term of office has not done some satisfactorily. It would bo a quite as tounding thing if ho had not something to point to for which he could claim credit, but that does not mean that ho is qualified for tho office into which he was pitch-forked by the Government, nor is it any answer to the specific charges levelled against his administration. The unfortunate position in which the Chief Justico, Bib Kobert Stout, has allowed himself to bo placed by undertaking this secret investigation on behalf of the Government was well exemplified yesterday during the discussion of tho report. Members were forced in condemning the procedure followed, and the inaccuracies and the one-sided nature of the report, to reflect directly on the Chief Justice. The Government and the Chief Justice must accept the responsibility for this dragging of the Supreme Court Uendi into the turmoil of party politics. It was not to be, cxßcctcd in the ure-

s?nt state of party politics .that the mution to refer the report back to the Chief Justice would be carried. So far as Parliament is concerned Jin. Wright might just as well hava said nothing at all. He had no chance oE converting members who hud already made up their minds tint to condemn the Administration of the Cook Islands was to condemn tiie Government. But the public have now been enlightened as to the class of appointment which the Wahd Ministry is prepared to make. Captain Smith, whatever his qualities may be, was in no way fitted for the post of Kesident Commissioner. He knew nothing of Natives or Native affairs, yet he _ was appointed to adjudicate in intricate Native, land matters and practically to govern the Natives of the Cook Islands. He knew nothing of law or the administration of justice; yet he was appointed Chief and only Judge of the High Court and every other Court of the Cook Islands. Without any in the work of government, and with nothing more to guide him than the experience to be gained in the.Treasury and the Old Age Pensions Department of the Civil Service, in which ho had spent his whole life, he was thrust into what is practically a dictatorship of this isolated group of islands. It is ludicrous to expect that he should make a success of tho position. But because the Government appointed an inexperienced and unsuitable person to the office to serve their own ends they now find it necessary to attempt to smother up tho complaints made against the Administration under tiie cloak of a secret investigation. And they have failed.