SOME NOTES ON FIJIAN RACE EXTINCTION.

Hokitika Guardian, 4 October 1923, Page 4

SOME NOTES ON FIJIAN RACE EXTINCTION.

PART 11. f Anoth. r re-ttlfc of the advent of ll while man to the Islands has been th selilemem ill the country of gror numbers m Indians. The Indian pnpt la! ion now exceeds tillJlOP, and even w here, in busuies-. in t lie Public ■' I t ice, and mi the land, one sees, m without iv.-.ret. how thoroughly thi alien ran i- 00-iing Ga* native I'iiia p ipulatie.il. Nearly all : linlnn- Iv. Coolie.-*—wetc brought to the l nice under the old Indenture Sy •:..*», b wliii-li. aili r live years' service. tiny u re I ii.i: to sellh* on tls land ot it Tv,, i n*ar- ago al I lie i ermiiia I ion tin* I "dent me .sy.-toiii these Indian mit ulna!ictiliy ceased working at tin chi rale of wage-, and demanded im po*.- 1 ■ ih* term-. The Sugar ( iimpaiiie* were ll.'e g! Oiliest interests (ollicl'l! (d. and iiiev eoithl not glal'l tindemands. Stlh .('.'|l!elll Iv. large 011111 her- of Indians elm ted to rei urn ti India, wlr-ie they lotiml coiidil inns sr

nim h woi'-e than iliev had imagined, llmt they clamoured to lie brought l ack to I iji. iiii e l In’ll they h:'n c never ceased to imitate for equality--i lector,d and su-iai, with ihe whiles and two month- ago, to rim regret id mo: t white people, (Jovermneiii agreed to the nominal ion of a second member 11* -.it on the legislative Council. Pivvioti ly there had been one Indian ami two Fiiiaii members; and it ml - tej L that ibis innovation was lull the thin eh,l of the uedge towards Indian supremacy in the Islands; besides b. in;: distinctly unfair to the Fijians who aie the real owner-, of the Iron!, and v, lie- e illten- i ■ -hoold be ennsidt red lieloie i lue e of the U.-lirpie Indlait. Tin ■ Indian nn naee is liable In he iimler-ostiumied by people at a distance: hm a grave future fronts net nib.- the Fijians, hut al-o the F.urop’.'iin- resident in the group. Dist riei I ,minii--Miners all I other (hiverntnenl dlieials have repeatedly mentioned to ;u- fact-, whieli, though iuiuiieal to lie best interests of the country, they ire powerless to prevent. Take lor ■sample the case of the rich alluvial hits on the hanks of the great Itewa liver in the Island of \ui l.cvu, ,In-re. as one J).C. assured me, Inians were obtaining by bribery, all I he host land with a frontage on the iver, thus olfectually hiocking the exloitaiion of the interior. The amount aid in bribes was in each ca-e far,' tore than any ordinary white settler mid afford to tray.

Throughout the group. wherever one sees rinv extent nt' rich flat land.

f ore is 'lire to he an Indian settlement engaged in the cullivation of

maize, rice and loliacro, most of which produce is sold to Fijians. The Indians are a hardy people, and increase rapidly even under adverse circumstance'-. and it is no wonder that the

Fijians hate them, looking upon them as usurpers, oil a par with the' other posts as mongoose. hornets and liiiavn introiliico*] by the white man. And even as the weeds and animals of the miter world are killing out the native Horn and fauna, so surely will the Fijian race go down before the invading hosts of India. Neither the (lovernment nor the .Missionaries have as yet encouraged I lie Fijians to grow their own rice and tobacco etc: and if. instead of trading on the native-' weaknesses with such institu- | ti.ms as Provincial racecourses and I trading steamers—the authorities did | the honourable thing, and helped instead of hindering, the Fijian race would find its salvation in the new energies and now interests of an agricultural and industrial life. During the present year, the Methodist- .Mission has instituted a department for

the teaching of modern agriculture to the natives: hut until the hopeless graft of the TJoko Ruli combination is pole-axed, little progress can !« expected in this direction. The shortage of food occasioned by lack of time in which to plant gardens. becomes more evident every year. Sometimes for months at a time, all the efficient male members of the population are kept, travelling backwards and forwards on the road to and from the provincial centres. They are engaged on road maintenance work, most of which is unpaid, and on any other work which the TJoko de-

mauds, such as thatching houses, building racecourses and wharves, and cutting sandalwood for presents to his personal friends—all of which labour is compulsory and of course not paid for —the men even having to provide their own food, which is often, carried forty and fifty miles, by land or sea. In reply in a request for a few days’ freedom in which to attend to their gardens, one chief is said to have toplied. "The moon is full, plant by moonlight I" Although really an im-

portant factor, it i- unnecessary to here note ill detail all the disadvantages accruing Iron*, the present system : but when we think what a wonderfully fertile* country Fiji is—where ilie merest scratching ol ilie soil produce.- abundant crop:—it -coins almost inconceivable that the native- .should at seme seasons he faced wit a a scarcity of too'l. In brief. with yams (i.e. Evi, Kavai, ISulo) maturing in 10 months; Dale in o—l2 months; Kumnlns, in 3—l months; Tapioca in 9 —l» month*-; bananas ami Plantains in j j | ■< ; Eapaws (Papaya C'nrica). in 12--1-V maize, peanut-, and ri**e in ;> . ! months, besides breadfruit and I o (I.iiiiit-, there should he no need lor the natives to forage in tin: bii-h ior w.l! provisions as Iva nuts lauitinn cla.st.nui, —I norni'fiu.- EluHs). wild roots and berries, as they do imw dining a pi-tie.-l ol .-vera I months. In-

liroi'iliil .* a i*i I. it -. even v.iihin sight ol ullage*, arc ~l'u-n destroyed by hordes of wild pigs; and ill the ab-.-ence oi continual care, weeds Ihmrish excoodinglv. There is (*ven the ex-

ample of the arrogant Roko Tui Rua. who in spiteful anger ordered and enforced the destruction ot a grove m breadfruit trees.

Thi- uneert ainty of loud supply- a: times ahutuianl and at others wholly deficient--alf*.*cls. in various ways, tin especially, suffer, although the adult*

Rut it is a-tiitii-hing Imw f**w ehihlreit

ever live to maturity. Epidemics of measles, colds, etc. are responsible for many inlaiil death-; while there are ma nv chronii* disease- which must

greatly weaken Die Lilian-' power of resistance again--.! siekne-s. ’I übercuhtr di-eit-es (e.g. "Sa-ala ’ -eroluia) an* hei edil ary and re-poitsihle Im mur!t deformity. Ring-worm ".Matattisoln" ■ in tin* form of scales toveriug tin* whole body, and yaws ("coko” or "deiia") breaking out on the -nles ol ihei.e: or eo ila* I'm e and body, are unit er-al!;. prcialenl ami inleci ions. The lall. r is deliberately pit-sed on io young cliildrcn. mi the grounds that if is better and easier ior a per-on Io ive-ivi r. in childhoo i. than when grown ip*. The former maianisulo) responds

:l I't *;». 1i! v‘ In ‘lk* K.t’M tlv * lid! I > ol 111*. s X. M . !» . vi s|p:i!,i., ill- pnl io nl > i i * -uiphu:' dioxide vapour: hm the treat 1 niiiii ..morally i- abandoned too soon S**tih*i. if 11 r> - iodine api I fuming earhnlii :- *i.*ll tlie la t r appht'd hv Die igimrau: ' chiidnn'* get, with l,m-i painful re--lilts. Aiming t; c adull - elephantiasis i* more or 1,.*-- Ir, qunul s seen. Apropo* to t'lis ii is interesting to noli that the chief object of the ill iilitoll Expedition to the Goitlh Sea- is !o -im.;. I eiepli.iii! ia-is and lilaria-i-. which lat til- is "believed to lie tin* chief eail.se of decline of Polynesian ponulai ion.” (Christ church "I’res-," Saturday. Sept. J-’lidi. This i, til* disease hit hert o believed to Im vc a m p;a;i*. e effect on humans), v.liich attack- dogs and eiii - In the l-lan.l-, and lor which the;'* i. ii" known remedy. Mo.-qtti-il i- -(at d, will a.i leinp: to exi rutin ate l'. mo -quite and nriaugc lor a pure water -apply. M'-morie- m ii.i ! live -a ni :ttl ion ami wa! er - up;;!;. I tmuliod** III! one . with indignation I all due In the n.iic > • I eiu : m-i iim D* : im ml ad mi ni -1 ra Imu to mil in l ?, v.g. Roko-. Hulls, N.Mand | N.S.M.'s), who lor their mutual ad-j \ Mill:’ *• r* play into one another'- hands, is proved l.y I he fact that l];e province ! it mlel* Ihe II ll! rnl of a w bite 11.( '.. , j wul ooul a Ri Jo Tin. i- the ii hi -1 pro*.- |

porous, and the people are the mo t : " eon ton i: d ill the whole : roup. 0 One liirlher example v. ill sullue, 'A hen I lie i rouble arose wit h the In- i 1 diau labour, the sugar conipaniei! ' llir.'aivm-d to clo-e down their mills. ! j place i heir la ml under Mauritius j '| keens, and withdraw from the colony. 1 i The (b,i intn.• 111 olfered assjstanee an 1 ' instruct,'(] !).(■"- in all districts to help j in the ieel’llil ing of Fiiian labour lea I ‘ l lie sugar plantations. The ('.s.o.i 1 t oy. tool; advantage of ibis and ohm- j nod thiii lor cvcrv native mho “eon-; 1 I, , ~ , . ii'mied lo Hurl.: lor t lie i ompany. Ino Puli of hi-, di-lriet was io receive -CT— | eon slant case, of hardship, provoking killer eoinnlaini-. when Ike nativefound t!:eir u.m <hi' i'- forcing them, n dens, vo'etts to indenture villi t!m j sugar (umpnny a -!ep involving lung ah-euce, at a distaie-e from home. Having glanced a! these results of misunderstanding on the pari ol the white people, we will coin Tilde these notes ly a brief rei'ei-. aee in 1 1.,-. |.‘j_ iiims’ own attitude toward-- life, as illustrated hy their adherence to old cit.-lonis and heathen beliefs and praeI ices, and (licit’ utter wan! of fnil.lt ei'lier in the Diiine Will in prevent sickness and death, or in their own power of endurance. iTo he eoniinued). lIAYA'M) FA Rl I AM. !