INDIANS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1557, 28 September 1912, Page 6

INDIANS.

HOW THEY HAVE SWAMPED FIJI. THE IE WAYS AND CRIMES. (By TelcErapU.—Special Correspondent.) Auckland, September 28. Just how great a problem Fiji Has to solve in dealing ivitli its Indian population was recounted to a "Star" representative by Mr. T. D, Taylor, who arrived iu Auckland by the Jlakura. Mr. Taylor is an erstwhile New" Zealand journalist who has for some time been editing and managing the Fiji "Times, ( * and the control of the coolio is 0110 of tho problems ill Ihe Crown colony which has most closely engaged his attention. Swiftly Growing Indians. At the last census it was ascertained that the Indian population totalled 42,000, tho European population 1000, and tho l'ijian 90,000, Mr. Taylor admits, to begin with, that, without tho Indians, there would be no industrial Fiji, and, without the Colonial Sugar Co., | no commercial Fiji. Sisal, rubber, copra, and fruit are all industries with'possibilities, but sugar growing is tho main business proposition of the group. The natives are too lax and too lazy to man the industry, so that tho import of the Indian worker is imperative. They coino under indenture for a period of five years, but, after their contracts expire, they a'ro free, and it is only a very smair percentage that goes back to India. So it comes that thero are ten Indians to every white man iu this Crown colony. W'hen free of their indenture they tako up land, and it now happens that, for nine miles along the Nasinua Road from Suya, Indians have secured all tho best frontages. Those to whom they are indentured are compelled by law to provide good habitations during tho period of indenture, but, immediately they become free citizens, the Indians aro content to livo in wretched and insanitary; dwellings, which become a menace to health. The Indian as a Voter. • They are also entitled to the franchise, and, at tho last municipal election, a Chinaman was eleoted largely on the vote of the Indian populace. Tho modus operandi followed in such elections is declared by Mr. Taylor to be. absolutely unfair, and to constitute a violation of the secrecy of the ballot. Some Recent Indian Mur,ders. Most of the crime committed in Fiji is, Mr. Taylor says, traceable fa the Indian section of the community. This week's cablegrams indicate that two Indians, condemned to death, went back to their cells singing comic , songs. That, ho declares, is typical of the absolute placidity of the Indian criminal. Both murders (committed before Mr. Taylor left the Group) were terribly brutal. In the first ah Indian employed on road work at Suva was reprimanded by a superior for not having properly carried out his duties. Immediately after tho rebuke had been administered tho Indian borrowed his overseer's sharpening-stone, whetted his grass-cutting knife, and then coolly 6truck off the overseer's head. After doing so he .went on with his work.

In tho second case an Indian boy was reported to his mistress by an Indian girl for improper behaviour. The boy retaliated by hacking the girl to pieces. Yet another brutal murder, which recontly occurred, was ■ that at Momi, where the Indian lighthouse-keeper took an unauthorised holiday. ■ The light went out in his absence, and anothei keope* was appointed. .' The absentee returned to find his place filled, and the new keeper, refusing to'vacate the position, the Indian made him captive/ drenched him with kerosene, and burned him. The fatalism of the Indian, and itho belief in reincarnation is considered by Mr. Taylor to be the one reason why crimes of this description so frequently occur in the Group. The problem, therefore, is one which is seriou/.ly vexing the minds of. the white population of Fiji, already,; possessing 40,000 "Indians in tho Groujr, and. r^ceivin'g" 1 'additions ; at tho ■ ratcv oE, 2000 or inore per season, the posifioil' is one for some concern. ..It is estimated (hat not more than 20 per cent, return to India.

Asked whether the contract could not bo made to include the compulsory return at the completion of their term of' indenture, Mr. Taylor said that that was a. policy. which tho authorities in Samoa pursued in regard to the importation of Chinese labour, but just how Fiji would grapple with this—its greatest problemremained to be seen. , Leading Planters View of the Position. A well-known planter in the Fijian Group is Mr. Powell, who has resided there (on tho Lami River) for some fourteen years; and is extensively engaged in a rubber and banana plantation. He is the president of tho Planters' Association, and has given his views on the muchdiscussed question of the coolie in Fiji. At the outset Mr. Powell was very emphatic in declaring that the abolition of coolie labour in the "Islands of the Blessed" would spell ruination to tho planters there. The coolie, he said, was undoubtedly benefited by being able to obtain employment in I'iji. It was a recognised fact that the existence of tho coolie in his native land was a hand-to-mouth one. He wasnot always able to obtain enough , food to keep the breath of life in his body, and this was only to be expected in such a country as India, with its teeming millions of inhabitants. When he landed in Fiji, however, tho indenture system opened up a new era for him. Ho was provided with steady employment for five years at a far higher wage than he was able to command in his own. country; he was installed in comfortable accommodation, and was well fed. Not only that, but he received a free passage to the South Sea Islands on board a lino of steamers, the regulations governing which were very much stricter than those which pertained to the strainers carrying white immigrants. The quarters in which ho lived on tho islands were built under Government supervision, and, before he took up his residence there, they had to meet with the approbation of the Government inspector. His medical attention ho received free, and the sanitary conditions were the very best that could be devised for his benefit. At the expiration of his term of indenture of five years, lio was at perfect liberty to return home if he desired to do so, and a freo passage would bo provided for him. Generally, however, he recognised that to return to the old order of things would be utter folly, and ho preferred to remain where lie was and take up an area of land with the money j which he had saved, thus beooming an independent member of the community. Figures spoke for themselves, and the fact that barely 20 per cent, returned to the land of their birth was proof positive that tho coolie preferreel the new conditions to tho old. Mr. Powell strongly resented any interference on the part of Australia with the domestic policy of Fiji. Any suggestion for the abolition of the coolie had arisen ns the result of tho "Whito Australia policy." Fiji's internal affairs did not affect' Australia, however, and why should she attempt to interfere with Fiji when there was no attempt or desire on the part of the Crown colony to meddle with Australian affairs. "All this wild talk about slavery," continued Mr. Powell, "is downright rubbish. At regular intervals tho coolies are visited by a Government inspector, and, if they liavo any' complaints to malte, they are invited to do so. Complaints, .how- 1 ever, are comparatively few. Further, I would point out the fact that it would be utterly impossible for Fiji to compete with other countries and islands wliero tropical products are raised. If she were compelled to pay white labourers Bs. a day oven if they were available as against the Is. a day paid for black labour in those other places."