SOLOMON'S "JOKE"

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 47, 18 May 1927, Page 13

SOLOMON'S "JOKE"

ISLANDS GOVERNMENT ATTACK BY EX-OFFICIAL N.Z. WRITER’S OPINIONS “jB RmSH ru le in the Solomons is a joke perpetrated on the Helpless islanders, and it would be really funny if its results were not so tragic.” _So says Mr. Hector Macquarie, a New Zealand author, who among many adventures has been a district officer at Santa Cruz in the Solomons. After wandering over the globe and spending a good deal of time in the Pacific, Mr. Macquarie returned to help to found Fandora, which he declares is the Riviera of the Dominion. “News of the recent massacre of police in the Solomons is not surprising to anyone who knows the islands and their regime,” continued Mr. Macquarie. “The islands are governed from Fiji by the Governor there, who is also High Commissioner for the Western Pacific.

“He visits the Solomons, perhaps, once in three years, leaving the protectorate in the hands of well-inten-tioned enough, but not very clever and certainly inexperienced young officers.

“Recently the High Commissioner had occasion to investigate certain charges against the administration. He spent three weeks on the journey to the Solomons and less than a week in the protectorate. Naturally he had not time to investigate anything seriously; those responsible for the administration obviously said all was well and the commissioner believed them, coming away perfectly contented.

“If the charges had been investigated on that occasion, in my opinion, the recent massacre would not have occurred.”

Mr. Macquarie said that the Government had a big financial surplus each year from the administration of the Solomons and practically none of the money was spent on the people. Taxes amounted, in some places, to £1 a head each year. When he was district officer he collected £I,OOO and gave back 30s to the natives for medical supplies.

The Melanesian Mission was doing all the work of teaching the children and it was putting £SOO or £6OO into the islands.

His resignation from the position was more or less of a protest about the administration.

Sinco the war, Mr. Macquarie has lived in Tahiti, Paumotus and Marquisas, and in America. He was A.D.C. to Sir Cecil Rodwell at Fiji. His latest book, “N’maga’s Baby.” which will soon be published in New York, Century Co., and London, will make his fourth successful literary venture, the others being “How to Live at the Front” (Lippincott and Co.). “Over Here” (Lippincott and Co.), and “Tahiti Days” (Hodder and Stoughton, London, Doran, New York).

He is convinced that he has found the most delectable spot in New Zealand in Pandora.