FIJIAN LEGISLATION.

Nelson Evening Mail, 21 February 1873, Page 4

FIJIAN LEGISLATION.

{Australasian). We have before us copies of the acts passed by the Fijian Parliament since the establishment of constitutional government in Cakobau's dominions. They are got up in accordance with tbe most approved pattern for documents of this description, and are issued "By authority; D. W. L. Murray, Government printer." They are headed almost in the same manner as English or Colonial acts, thus : — (" the Eoyal Arms) " Fiji. « CAKOBAU REX. « No. 19. " An Act to Amend the Administration of Justice Act of 1871. "Assented to 14th December, 1871. "Whereas it is inexpedient to make permanent appointments," &c, &c., "Be it enacted by the King and the Legislative Assembly of the kingdom of Fiji, as follows : — " And then follow the three clauses of which the act consists. There are the usual marginal notes, and no doubt the same confusion of ideas and inaccuracy of language, that are to be found in the legislative enactments of greater states. Perhaps these latter peculiarities, however, are of less consequence, inasmuch as the judges of the Supreme Court of Fiji, not having the fear of such a body as the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council before their eyes, can supply all trifling defects and omissions by putting their own interpretation on the intentions of the Legislature. Without expressing any opinion aB to the quality of the lawmaking tbat has been accomplished, tbere can be no doubt as to the quantity beiog highly respectable. The Constitution Statute is dated 18th August, 1871, but it was not until the 6th December in the same year that Act No. 1 of the first Assembly elected under it was presented for the King's assent. Since that time the bills which have become law are 38 in number. These refer to a great variety of matters, such as the burial of the dead, postal matters, preferable liens on yearly crops, the administration of justice, the imposition of stamp duties (here is an unmistakeable evidence of advancing civilisation), the hiring and seryiee of foreign ■' and native laborers, the incorporation of the inhabitants of Levuka, the regulation of shipping and harbors, the. conduct of elections, the audit of the public accounts, the organisation of the Executive department of the kingdom of Fiji, the imposition of customs duties], the definition of legal tender, the l establishment and main-,' tenance of military apd constabulary, the negotiation of a loan, the grant of a bank charter,;, ,the protection and relief of debtoirs^W dition toi those we have enumerated, there, are several amending, acts already,; so that! altogether '. itv will. :\be.'-;-seen,S,t^VFijian^ Parliament ;■ i-in '■". two. sessions;; has ..made .a r (very,- fair- Commencement^ -length, No. 17 occupying no less tban 51 I Jii||^|o^lwgßi ji^Ayyyy jyjJX [ Ix'fxXj

There is one 7 act of an .ex.ceptj.bnal character, which.shows that f CakobaulPe^* '* and his advisers do hot consider^theraselves in a position just at present to cope with its great pqiwers of the ea'tb. Or it may be that His Majesty is an admirer of' Mr Gladstone's plan for settling international difficulties by eating " humble pie." No. 26 is "An Act to carry, out an agreement made under protest, by His' Majesty's Government for the concession of certain privileges to Edward Bernard March, Esq, Her Britanic Majesty's consul at Fiji and Tonga, pending the settlement bf certain questions^ at issue between the said Governs ment and the Government of Her Britanic Majesty." The preamble reveals a pretty state of affairs. Edward Bernard March, Esq., must be a most truculent gentleman, and by no means impressed with a proper respect for the Majesty of Fiji. That inveterate prejudice which leads the British mind to regard all the growing states of the Pacific as the " cannibal islands" of its youth, may have something to do with this. Mr March has treated the Government with scant ceremony. Not only has he exercised his functions without being in possession of an exequatur, but he has said, moreover, that he didn't want one, and wouldn't take the document if it were offered him. Furthermore he claimed " personal inviolability and immunity as regards any judgment, order, or process, of any court of justice or other authority of the said kingdom of Fiji." Here was a nice man to deal with — a man who quietly constituted himself an imperium inimperio, and reiused to "move ou" on any conditions. No doubt the Government of his Fijian Mejesty would have made short work with this contumacious gentleman by sending him his passports in the most approved European fashion, but unfortunately "Richard Gordon Douglas, Esquire, a captain of Her Britannic Majesty's navy, commanding Her Majesty's ship of war Cossack," appeared on the scene, and threatened to make things unpleasant for the King's constitutional advisers if they did not let Consul March alone, and agree to his demands. There was nothing for it but to submit under protest, the naval forces of the kingdom being in an unsatisfactory state, and hence the necessity for act No 26. Everything is to be referred home, so after all the turbulent and haughty March may have to apply for the exequatur he formerly contemned, and to plead before a Fijian court. It is not often that a man has the whole of a long act of Parliament devoted to himself alone but this gentleman has achieved the prrud distinction which no doubt has caused him to be much beloved of the King's Ministers in consequence. Although no doubt it is wrong to : laugh at Royalty, considering the divinity which doth hedge it round about, one cannot think of " Cakobau Rex " being addressed by an assemblage of Englishmen as " Most Gracious Majesty " without a smile. Yet so he is in the Appropriation Act of 1871, the preamble of which very much resembles those attached to bur own. Supply having been " cheerfully granted," the Assembly bas determined to grant the money to make it good, and therefore its members " most humbly beseech your Majesty that it may be enacted," &c, &c. This sounds a little like a burlesque, we must confess. We have no wish to speak disrespectfully of Cakobau. He is, we believe, a very respectable old savage, who is to "Jive cleanly," as a monarch should. We know, moreover, that he is a man of considerable talent, by his speech to the European inhabitants of Levuka, when they refused to obey the laws they had assisted to raake.i There have been many European potentates before now who might have been proud to have delivered such an address. But for all this, the title of "Most' Gracious Majesty " does not appear to fit him well — it sits on him like a garment made for a much larger man. Whether. ** Cakobau Rexr" has hot been quite so " gracious " lately, or whether a sense of humour amongst members bas been created within the last 12 months, we cannot say, but in the: Appropriation Act of 1872, he is not styled " Most Gracious " nor is he !" most 'humbly '' besebched^ '-It ;is too soon to say if the experiment now going on in Fiji, will be successful or nqt}_.but we have evidence in the papers before' us of the wonderful ability possessed 4>y ; the methber's l [off j the; lAnglo'Skxoh race ''for i : 'm&nagin% i 'their:.Bw^!^ffatra,_ under shy 'circumstances; ':-h A^bverinmeht " WaV waited" in 1 Fijii ahd J "fbrthwitKone ; was - formed.; and •' a constitu tion • agreed? to. Other people would'' perhaps ' %ave' *oeen helplessjor at least have indulged in tall Jtalki .but ..burs countrymen ,: wgnt;- to,^ wof k naturally to provide- Jaws and the _a* chinery to administer!tbem.Theße enactments'may^^ but in that ithey^mcirely '', resemble'the legislatvieilabors J&ftij i^__i^_e_l *rth» ; ;gr^ ': -:■• y-y-T ■ ,„ • ■ ■•■

ISVEnMg -MAIL, FBIDAY; %EJSRIJ_VRY 21, 1873.