TROUBLE AT THE COOK ISLANDS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 26, 25 October 1919, Page 8

TROUBLE AT THE COOK ISLANDS

CHARGES AGAINST THE ADMINISTRATION ' THE COMMISSIONER CRITICISED (To the Editor.) Sir,—As a great deal of attention is being paid at present to Cook Island affairs- by the New Zealand Press, we should Ije obliged if you can give space to comment upon certain statements which havß been made by the Minister for the Islands and the Resident Commissioner. The Dominion of September 11 publisnecl extracts from the Commissioner's annual report dealing with the recent riots in Earotonga, wherein the Commissioner states inter alia that: "The causes of the outbreak were drink, the apparent absence of any force that could restrain the men, and the. alleged grievances of the soldiers against the traders." In the Auckland "Star" of September 11 tf\o. Minister (Dr. Pomare) is reported as having stated in Parliament that "when there was a riot there (Earotonga) a little while ago it was because the white traders were exploiting the natives."

In connection with the above, the Administration has seen lit to'ignore several very important particulars, and evidently wish, the New Zealand public to believe that the traders here were solely responsible for what took place.

It is well known in Earotonga that ■shese returned native soldiers were thoroughly out of- control before they arrived 1 here, that they threatened to throw their commanding officer overboard, and that Captain Bush openly stated that in his opinion it would bo necessary to maintain a garrison on Earotonga for several months if trouble was to be avoided. Why was tliis not dcue? It is true that the Commissioner sent out an S.O.S. on the wireless for a man-of-war after the trouble started, but wo feel that the public havo the right to inquire why. some preventive measures .were not taken, seeing the mutinous state these soldiers were known to be in. •

As regards the excessive drinking, the native soldiers camo ashore with tho idea that they had carte blanche liberty to do as they' pleased, and .that they were not amenable to the civil law until the expiration of. their term of service, and this attitude was apparently acquiesed in by the authorities, or they were powerless to stop the drinking that went, on from day to day previous to the outbreak. Encouraged "by tho inability and want of foresight on the part of tho authorities, the soldiers then proceeded to carry out the programme which had lieen decided upon on board the steamer. There is no doubt whatever that the whole thing was a premeditated scheme arrived at 'ong before; the soldiers reached Earotonga.

Mr. Platts makes 110 mention of the fact that these natives were openly threatening to deal' it out to the white residents, to rape every white woman cji the island and to haul down the flag. He says' nothing about the two unfortunate Europeans, one a planter and the other a trader, who were assaulted and half killed without provocation. He does not mention tin; fact that he himself vks menaced 'by scmio of these natives, who threatened to do for him "if their comrades were not liberated from ,tho gaol. Ilad it not been for the spoutaneousntjss' with which the European settlers rushed to tho assistance of the Administration the rioters would have obtained possession of the Government .rifles and ammunition and the white community have been wiped out, for the natives already had a supply of bombs and p:'stols. Thanks to this timely assistance, the damago done was not more than about J!2fl00, which, it is under-' stood, has been met by the New Zealand Defence Department. Thefts, housebreakings, still continue, as well as oilier minor depredations, and the houses of, two native constables were burned down quito recently, but the. danger of concerted action seems to. have been averted for the time being. residents of Rarotonga maintain that both the Minister and tho Commissioner, have given. tho New Zealand public a false impression regarding the causes of tho riots, but most people hero believe that a very strong contributing cause, if not the sole cause, wero tho unjust and unwise utterances of tho Minister to the returned soldiers previous to their leaving New Zealand. There is a strong combination of c:tcnmstances which cCearlv shows the antiEuiopean policy of the present Ministei for the Cook Islands, and this is reflected in the Administration here. It has already resulted in the lowering of British influence in tliie part of . the .Pacific, and we appeal to all patriotic Britishers to assist us in bringing about a change in this policy in order that confidenoo may be restored in British methods of administration.

Judging from the number of inspired communications which have recently Appeared in the Press, tho Cook Island authorities are extremely anxious to divert the attention of the public the reail issues bv attributing not only the recent riots, but also all the other evils of tho present Government to a difference between the natives and the traders regarding the price of fruit. It should here no mentioned that shortly after ths riots there was a general demand on tho part of all the Europeans and many of the leading natives for an inquiry 'into the methods of administration, 'industries, and commercial conditions of tho'.Wands, but the .Acting-Prime Minister did not seo fit to grant the request made. Such an inquiry has become imperative, in view of the Minister's statements in Parliament.—l am, etc,, . ■ IIOA. l'arotonga, September 28.

, A PLANTER'S POINT OF VIEW THE FRUIT TRADE WHY THINGS ARE GOING BADLY. (To the Editor.) Sir,—ln your issue of September 11. 1 notice extracts from the repurt of 'he Resident Commissioner of Parotonga. Some of the Commissioner's statements regarding the prices paid for fruit 'in Kiumonga arc very misleading, anil, with your kind permission, I would like to make a tow comments on same and. at the same time, deal with other communications whiuii have recently appeared in the Press on tno same subject. Without-m any way taking u\i the battle on behalf of _the traders 1 wish to point out many inaccuracies in ihe above communications. I'or instance, in a letter to the "Star" of September 2, Tinomjiio, D. lsaah, and a string ot other - natives statu that, last year tlis prices received by the natives for their fruit was Is. (id. and sometimes as .owns Is. per case. I have never Known as low a price as Is. per case to be paid for fruit under any circumstances. 'Jno shilling and sixpence per case has frequently been paid for iruit, but that was tor fruit on tho plantation, the. expense of carting to the wharf and other incidentals to be borne by tae buyer, these charges bringing the price on tbo wharf to is. (id. pel' case. When the cost of the case is added to this the price on the wharf is as. per case everything included. This is the lowest, price at which, during many years' experience, I have ever Known trint lo be bought in Harotung-i. These important details are left .>ut oi consideration by your cor-resp,'nuk-iits. 'Fruit bought on fie above basis would make it necessary, with ins added cost of carriage to j\W Zealand and selling commission in New Zealand, for :he buyer to realise 'Is. per ease in New Zealand bitore lie could recoil» his expenses; in other words, « net price ol Is. lid. per case in Karotonga means i-s. per case lauded ill J\'ew Zealand. On top of Litis the buyer risks the d'terioi-.v tiou and occasionally the complete loss of the fruit owing to steamers not arriving up to time, as well as the ordinary risks u'.l,idling to the shipment of perishable produce.

The .Resident Commissioner and your other ccrresiioiulent.s _ say that 2s. |M. per case was t ho price, offered by I lit* traders this year, which means Ills, per casi! in Auckland when everything lias been taken into account as pointed out above (more than 10s. in Chnstchurcii, where freight charges come to more.). To the l>est of my knowledge lis. per case ■was ;he lowest price paid, but taking, it

at the 2s. 6d. stated it appears to me, speaking as a grower shipping my own fruit, that the natives would havo been lucky had they been able to secure an average price of 2s. Gd. per case net in Earotonga. In looking over my nccount sales fiom January to August of this year I find that I havo shipped a total of 2913 cases fruit to Auckland and tho southern ports which realised in New Zealand a gross return of Bs. id., which after deducting all expenses with tho exception of growing, gathering and packing the fruit, left a net; result of .Mo-1 7s. 3d., which equals 3s. l}d. for a case of packed fruit at tho plantation, or 7M. per case more 'than was offeretlby the traders to the natives (according to the statements referred to). It must be remembered that fruit from European plantations shows a better average return of Is. and upwards per case as compared with that fruit sold by the natives to tho traders.

Now, Sir, I have quoted tho above figures, not in the traders' interest, but to show that the public are liable to be misled by only having a superficial view of tho question presented to theia whilst the real causes of the present situation are conveniently ignored; also to bring home to the authorities the eeriousncss--of the mess they have got the fruit industry into owing to their indifference and want of foresight. 1 cannot produce bananas at less than 4s. Gd. per case on the plantation, and that price would not permit of a wage being paid sufficient to enable the former standard of .living to 1)6 maintained.

It .would appear that the Resident Commissioner in diving into tho fruit business at the eleventh hour when the industry is on its last legs, is trying to do something to offset his past neglect, but ho has left the main difficulties untouched, and what he has attempted has been done- in an untactful manner without seeking the co-operation of the people and nt tho risk of stirring up racial antagonism. It will take a long tiino to restore the fruit industry to its former importance, for, whilst the Commissioner lias been tinkering with non-essen-tial undertakings, the mainstay of rhe population, i.e., the fruit industry, has gradually gone from bad to worse. So far as tho people here know '-he Commissioner has done nothing to lessen the enormous cost of marketing a case of fruit. Wo have never heard his voice raised in protest against tho continually increasing freight charges, or the 150 per cent, rise m tho price of fruit cases, when the cost of timber in New Zealand has only risen by 23 per cent, during the same period. He has done l-othing to bring about a reduction in the Auckland selling charges of 10 per cent, plus ad. per ease for cartage and wharfage where there is often no carting charge incurred. This selling charge is 2J per cent, higher than in Wellington and Christohurch, moreover at the latter port tho fruit is carried over the railway from Lyttelton to Christchurch and landed ill the auctioneers' rooms for an inclusive charge of "id. per caso. We have never heard him. protest against the unfair prefer, eneo of 24 per cent, given bv the Auckland brokers to the Fiji shippers as compared with the Cook Island shippers. The' Commissioner has been content to lift id. per cuse from our fruit as a wirebss maintenance tax, but neglected in return to keep tho growers posted with regard to shipping information. Very little, if any, attempt has been made to educate the native growers up to a batter standard in tho packing and general treatment of their fruit, without which the industry cannot expand. Instead of attending to these nll-im-nortant matters which must be tho basis of prosperity for the Cook Islands and incidentally of legitimate revenuo for the Administration, he has resorted to increased taxation on decreased production, the new taxation amounting to roughly i£2ooo per annum during the last two .veal's. In addition, the revenue from Customs has been swelled owing to the percentage basis upon which it is levied. For instance, a pair of denim pants were formerly sold to tho Natives at 4s. Gd. and paid an import duty of, say, 9d. per pair, ad valorem. At tho present time these pants pay a duty of something like 3s. to the Government. Other things on the same basis. Thus wo have an increased Administrative revenue, which no doubt looks woll on paper. At the same time the trade of the islands has decreased from .£220,221 in 1913 to i!182;310 in 1919 (year ending. March 31). This is a condition without parallel, for whilst taxation has undoubtedly increased in New Zealand, the trade figures likewiee show a propoi tiouiith increase. Tho present depression in tho Cook Islands taken in conjunction with the enormously increased cost of necessities, _ has compelled the people to adopt a'very low standard of living as compared with formerly. Tho evils, afflicting tho Cook Islands havo their root 3 in the autocratic method of administration, which excludes the people, (both native and white) from taking anv real part in the management of affairs, and prevents them bringing local experience to bear upon their own peculiar problems, and' dealing v/ith them in their own fashion.

Many of tho' people here saw what was cominsr. and 'thus an association was formed comprising both natives and whites, which endeavoured to remedy matters, and to put the island industries on. a sound basis. Had the Administration heeded tho suggestions put forward by this body the present situation would have been averted. Instead of accepting, the assistance held out, tho AdtninisIration, pursuing the old Eoman rule, "divido and. conquer," sought to split the community along racial lines, with a view to preventing n possible curtailment of their autocratic privileges. The natives were seared from their allegiance to their white colleagues by tno threat of deportation of some of tho leaders of the association, and in other wavs made to feel that they were acting against tho Government, and thus in bad odour, but the majority of them remained firm supporters of tho association in the endeavour to better conditions for all. These tactics of the Administration have dangerous possibilities, which have already been manifested.

We cannot hope for lading improvement until this question of local government has been settled in nccordnnce with t.he wishes of Ihe people. The Europeans do not want to got representation on the local council in- order to control tho affairs of the island, as one correspondent, (P,. Moore) stated. What they do want to <io is to seo that the island is run properly, and in the true intei* ests of the population, and not to suit the whims and freakish ideas of an auto, crat.

YTith regard to the annual issued bv the Administration, it is perhans as well to say that it is extremely difficult to get hold of a copy of them, and ihe same remark applies to tho laws which are brought into operation from time to time. These only appear in the New /.calami Gazette, and not in tho Cook. Islands Gazette, as former!). Since 1016. when the C.I.P.A._ criticir-f-.cl the annual rcDort of tho Administration—which criticism was suppressed bv the New Zealand Censor—these Star Chamber methods have become more pronounced, nnd it is practically impossible to obtain conies of these documents.—l am. etc., W. G.-TAYLOP, . Planter. Parotonga, October 5.