The Evening Star THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1873.

Evening Star, Issue 3104, 30 January 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, JANUARY 30, 1873.

Although the Fiji Islands were settled principally by emigrants from Victoria, the experiment does not thus far appear to have been successful. It does not exactly transpire in what respects Constitutional Government has been a failure, if it be one. The planters do not seem to have any serious grievance to complain of *, in fact, the Government, from all accounts, has been rather lenient in regard to their interests. They have been allowed, in the main, to do as they liked respecting the cultivation of their estates; they have had more than reasonable latitude allowed in the mode of obtaining laborers ; and, so far as wo can see, they have not been heavily taxed. The difference between them and the Government is of their own creation; and the strangest part of the matter is, that, assuming the ■accounts published in different journals to be correct, the dissentients are fostering a spirit that, in the end, can only result in their own ruin. Wo know of no circumstances in which unity of purpose is of more importance than when a handful of civilised men are not only surrounded by savage or semi-sayago tribes, but are hampered with the additional difficulty of depending upon the natural sovereign, and 'through him upon his people, for keeping their own slaves in order. To refuse to submit to a form of Government, which, even ia its most defective administration, is far better than anarchy, seems to us to, be a course of conduct bordering upon madiicsss. Yet this, apparently, is tbe state of affairs in F jJogabth, in one of his inimitable pictures, represents a man sitting gfc the extreme end of p> beam, busily engaged in cutting through the portion let into the wall of a house. Each strobe of the saw increases his peril; for the moment must come, if he persists, when the,beam on iiwhirh he sits must fall with him into the abyss above which lie is suspended. This seems very happily to illustrate the position of the opponents .of Government in Fiji. They arc destroying that which stands between them and anarchy. What the opposition party amongst the white*ss|c is. that the King snail withdraw the Consfitution, on the ground that self-government proved a failure. In what respect it has fedlod docs not appear; but as a proof of their earnestness, they ask the representative chosen by themselves to resign, and other districts appear to be following their example. The minister, slr TnuuflTOfr, in a very temperate reply to tpp petition to abolish the Constitution, informs the petitioners that the King absolutely declines to entertain the subject ; and he says, apparently with some truth, that the “ real cause of disaffection is the iacoasidesate conduct of

gentlemen possessed by a spirit of unrest.” That there is frequently a large number of such spirits in a Colony is no matter for surprise. Colonies are usually more or less made up of men not satisfied with things as they are in the land of theii birth, and anxious for wider fields inwhich to labor. Successful Colonists arc generally animated by a spirit of enterprise that leads them to set difficulties _at defiance, but unfortunately such a spirit has also a tendency to create difficulties. The dissentients do not always calculate upon the effect of their conduct upon others, and upon their own fortunes. Especially is this the case with mixed races. The Fijians are now associated with their superiors in the arts of life, with men to whom they have looked up as expositors of political truth. It is of the utmost importance to their ultimate success that this -prestige should be preserved. They know the advantages of order and good government. They ought to know that without it no interest is safe: that it is the foundation of wealth and prosperity: and that, however fixed its principles must ever be, because derived from the nature and constitution of man, time and a certain degree of self-subordi-nation are requisite to give stability to it. For a handful of whites, therefore, to differ about whether a Fijian Kin", or a Governor appointed hy the British Government shall rule, after having elected the former, very much reminds one of a civil war amongst shipwrecked men on a raft: the only difference is that the waves roared and hissed and waited for their prey in the one case, and in the other, tfiere are Fijians waiting to destroy them if they have the chance. The marvel is that, in accordance with their wish, there is no apparent sign whatever of the British Government accepting the Sovereignty of the Islands, nor of the King of Fiji being willing to accept such an alternative. Other results, however, are manifesting themselves: the natives, subjected to a form of government, and to restraints to which they have not been accustomed, are exhibiting symptoms of insubordination, and we in New Zealand know enough of the savage man to convince us that, when once he becomes unsettled, a long time elapses before he submits to civilised control again. It is to be hoped that Mr Thurston will succeed in convincing the malcontents of the folly of the course they have taken. Unfortunately there are some who will never realise they have been in error until its evil consequences visit them with misfortune. _