THE NEW GOVERNOR OF FIJI.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 4350, 27 February 1875, Page 2

THE NEW GOVERNOR OF FIJI.

(From the European Mail.) The appointment of the Hon. Sir Arthur Gordon as the first Governor of the new colony of Fiji has been announced, with special reference to his exertions on behalf of native races. It may be assumed that in Fiji, where there is no complicated immigration system to administer and supervise, he will be more successful in the discharge of his duties connected with native races than he was at Mauritius. Sir Arthur is an able, energetic, and accomplished man; but his proceedings have not always been characterised by that discretion which is one of the attributes of a thoroughly good Governor. He began his career 'as private secretary to his father—the Earl of Aberdeen —when the latter was First Lord of the Treasury from. 1852 to 1855 ; that is, during the troublous times of the Crimean war. He sat in Parliament for nearly three years between 185,4 and 1857. He accompanied Mr. Gladstone on his special mission to the lonian Islands in 1858.. In’lß6l, he was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, but received his first important colonial appointment,' when he was nominated Governor of Trinidad, intheWest Indies, in 1860. This office, he held for a little over three years and a half. It may be said that he was fairly successful in Trinidad, although ’ many things he did w r ere made the subject of controversy. His most important work while ,in that colony was the. consolidation of the Immigration Laws, the results of which are upon the whole satisfactory. In the address of the Legislative Council on his resignation of the Government of Trinidad, it is stated that “ your administration will long be remembered for its'fairness and impartiality, irrespective of creed and race, . and the recognition of native claims to public employment.” The address is a very full one, and especially refers to the efforts of the Governor in dealing with the education question, which presents, in a colony like Trinidad, exceptional difficulty. Amid mutual compliments, undoubtedly sincere, he left Trinidad for Mauritius. It this latter colony he has been intensely unpopular, and this accounts for the abrupt termination of his Government there. Soon after his arrival, complaints were made about the treatment of the coolies by employers, and he at once induced the Colonial Office, to send out a Royal Commission. , From that time he continued, in a state, of antagonism against the most influential part of the community. He says in his farewell address, which show's a rather ungracious spirit, that he had intended to resign shortly after he arrived in the colony. There might have been some things that required improvement in the immigration system, of Mauritius, but the Governor’s proceedings were marked by injudious haste. He was away from the colony, too, for a longtime on leave of absence, and this increased the dissatisfaction ; and in finally going away he tells the Mauritians,' in plain terms, that he does not (regret leaving them . and. rejoining his. family .at home. ; This is not the style in which a retiring Governor should speak; and it shows, too plainly the feeling of irritation he entertained. The -rule of Governor Gordon, therefore, in Mauritius, was short, broken and’ unsatisfactory. But there is no reason why he should not succeed in Fiji, especially if he is just to all parties as well as vigorous (he is sure to be the latter), in dealing with the labor, and land questions. He will there have to build up a new system of government, and to deal wfith quite a young community, instead of interfering, as some think, without just reason in a long-established order of things. There is no doubt he has a warm sympathy for native races, and will do his best to win the confidence of the islanders. Upon his success in this work depends, to a great extent, the prosperity of the new colony. Governor Gordon was made a K.C.M.G. in 1871. He is still comparatively a young man, having been born in 1829. He is a son of the fourth Earl of Aberdeen. He is well known in literary circles from his contributions to the Junius controversy, founded upon information he had acquired from the many distinguished guests at his father’s house. He married, in 1865, the eldest daughter of Sir John G. Shaw Lefevre.