ANNEXATION OF FIJI.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1801, 14 May 1874, Page 2

ANNEXATION OF FIJI.

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The latest files of the ify'i Gazette, are •f moretiban ordinary interest,, inasmuch as they,, contain intelligence of i the closing act in the drama oLthe. mongrel form of government that the King rand his ;Minis ters vainly endeavoured-to carry-' onj> The fall of this hybrid government is but another link to that -chain ; 6f testimony which:demonstrates:,that the ■ white and coloured races are not fitted 1 for' coexistence on equal terms. • .The poor old King surrendering his yoyal ; dign{fy; to, the Queen of Great Britain, not at the point of the sword or the bayonet, 'but Voluntarily, must have beeu-aq spectacle; that would deeply impress itself upon"- the mindsof those who ■witnessed itT But for whitehraen, settling in the Mjis he might have lived and died "monarch of all he survived.". But in his own large canoe, he was rowed to her Majesty's I ship the Pearl j where ihe • was received with a royal salute of twenty-one guns. On board he Bigned theletter in which he offered; tp cede the Kingdom of;, Fiji to her, Majesty, and this was _ received by Commodore Goodenough ana Mr '• Consul Layard. ■ The document + is now ; on its way to England, where it will be received by the Earl of Carnarvon, , Secretary of State for the Colonies, and by Lord Derby, Foreign Secretary, after' which it will be deliberated upon by the Qabinet, What will be the advice tendered C» the Queen :; there cannot] ;be ; : the slightest doubt. Until; the, cession has been aocepted the Fijis cannot be .considered British territory, but that' 'they will become so at an early date,there is hardly a queatjon.; Then, we/p'erenpie, the King will be pensioned, as the ruling families

in India have been, and the islands will be governed as that great and important dependency is. The King, it will be recollected, after intimating his intention to cede the islands, withdrew his consent, thus causing an agitation amongst the white portion of the population. This apparent vacillation is now easily explained. The King could not cede the Fijis without the consent of the powerful chiefs who rule under him. They, at first agreeable, subsequently dissented. They did not fully understand what was being given up. But when it was explained to them that not the land, the crops that were growing upon it, nor the people that owned it, were to bo conveyed, but simply the right of governing the country, they agreed, only making the stipulation that in the eye of the law all persons, coloured and white, should be equal. The Commodore and the Oonsul agreed, and there was left merely the formal part of the business to be gone through. After it had taken place a Council consisting of the Ministry — two white men and four natives — was formed to administer the affairs of the Government, the King retaining his rank until a properly accredited representative of her Majesty should arrive. In the Council the foreign consuls on the Island would have a voice. Meanwhile, arrangements were entered into with the Bank for retiring a quantity of Treasury notes, and the spirit duties were increased, as also were the ad valorem ones. The Council has power conferred upon it to effect such alterations in the laws as may be found necessary and desirable.

The prospect of the speedy annexation of these Fiji islands is one of peculiar interest to New Zealanders. We are importing population from the old world at a rapid rate, and in but a few years' time New Zealand will probably be the most thickly-populated territory in the Southern ocean, and the best qualified to undertake the extensive trade that must ensue with Polynesia. And, as the policy of annexation is on the eve of being commenced, we may rest certain it will be continued until over the, hundreds of Friendly Society, and other Islands of the Pacific the British flag shall float. Then the eloquent words respecting them of thoir discoverer, Captain Cook, may describe an accomplished fact, rather than remain a dream of the imagination. The Captain climbed to the top of a mountain on one of the islands, and, said lie^While I was surveying the delightf^PPospect, I could not help flattering myself with the pleasing idea that some future navigator may, from the same station, behold these meadows stocked with cattle brought to these islands by the ships of England ; and that the completion of this single benevolent purpose, inpendeot of all other considerations; would sufficiently mark to posterity that our voyages hud not been useless to the general interests of humanity." The Fijis, it may be considered certain, have now a great future before them. Land at present is acquired by the planters on easy terms. Labor can be obtained for but a slight renumeratiou. The clLnate, although hot, is tempered during a very considerable portion of the year by the trade winds. The islands are on the line of the powerful pteamers running between this Colony and San Francisco ; and the facilities upon them for the cultivation and growth of tropical products are immense. So fertile is the soil, and so admirably adapted is it for the production of the finest Sea Island cotton, that planters have chosen to reside upon it with, as it were, their lives in their hands, rather than remain under the shelter of the British flag in other parts of the world.