WHITE GIRLS AND POLYNESIANS.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume 1, Issue 13, 28 December 1872, Page 2 (Supplement)

WHITE GIRLS AND POLYNESIANS.

Mr. F. W. Carmichael writes to the Brisbane Courier on the subject of tho marriage of white girls to Polynesians as follows: —“ I write this letter on the subject which I would like to see treated by an abler pen than mine—it is concerning the marriage of white girls with natives of the Pacific Islands. Latterly I have been staying at Lifu, where I made the acquaintance of three white girls, who were married in Brisbane, a short time ago, to three Lifu men. I am certain if those people who had the audacity to defend the conduct of those girls in uniting themselves to black men were to see them in their present condition, they would be as bitter against those marriages as they are in favour of them. No reasonable person can for a moment suppose that these girls knew the life of misery they were condemning themselves to in marrying such men. For some time past the poor women have been deprived of the common necessaries of life—such as tea, sugar, and flour, which they have had to beg from the white settlers on the island. The Boman Catholic missionaries at Lifu have been kind enough to give each a small quantity of these articles ; but, as the missionary told me himself, he could not afford to be continually sending them what they required. What little money their husbands saved in Queensland was spent in paying the passages of themselves and wives to Lifu ; and it is well known amongst people who have had dealings with these natives, that however good they are working for other people at other places, on their own island they have no care for the morrow, and to work earnestly and regularly is the last thought that enters their heads. Since the arrival of these women at Lifu according to their own account, and their husbands’ also, they have been living on yams and cocoanuts, which, however suitable to natives, are hardly sufficient to sustain white people. Their husbands’ relations are complaining that they should have to support these white women, so that in a short time, if they remain on the island, they will have to do the same drudgery as the black women—such as go and dig the land and carry wood and water on their backs like beasts of burden. The black man is fond of novelty, but soon tires of it; and as a white woman, married to a black man, is something unusual with them, he will soon get tired of her too. These white women have been told by the representative of the French Government at Lifu, that they are at liberty to leave the is’and and their so-called husbands whenever they choose ; and, they themselves told me and the person who was with me, they are only seeking an opportunity to do so. There are several coasting vessels there who would gladly take them away amongst white people, only for fear of creating disturbances with the natives.