MISSION WORK IN FIJI.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 85, 1 May 1901, Page 2

MISSION WORK IN FIJI.

ADDRESS BY REV. T. J. WALLIS. There was only a moderate attendance nt tho Whitely Memorial Church on Tuesday night, when the Eev. T, J. Wallis gave an addreFS on the subject of mission work in the Fiji Islands. After being introduced by the Rev. Mr. Serpell, Mr Wallis, in opening, paid he had nothing sensational to tell; simply a s'ory if the work of the m;ss'on among the natives during a period of ov t 60 years. The nativef weiv, on the advent of th» Missionaries, ennnibals, a*'d given to idola'ry ; but tha ! was a'l c'amged now, and thi Fijians, as a pe pie wera tbo m'st cV.ris'ian of 1 any who bad come undor the influence of missiouaiy work. Tin speaker then gave a most interesting descrip'ion of the principal i-landa composing the Fiji group, some 285 in ntimbir, of which about 80 a?e inhabited. The native population numbered 101,000, and there were on the islands about 20,000 Indian coolie?, enJagid on the sngir p'nniat'ons. Tlyjri of Sampans and Tongans there were ahout 15,000, acd 2;000 Europeans. The Fijiars wore of fine physique, bat intellectually tbey wer.j inferior t j th) Maoris and Tongane, Urd r mis-ionary itifiuorc3 they had become a most moral p-'op'e ; but inclined to be indolent, on# reason for chis being the ease with which they they could live, natural food products being plentiful and ready to hand. Some of th'ir old industrial products wera dip appearing, notably a p n ciliir and valuable kind of nitive clo'h, which the nitives do rot trouble to u ake, as thry c >uld secure cheap European prints forclithiog pin-poiis. Tha principal industries were now the prepuatioii mid export of <opra and sugar. The language of the F'jians, Mr. Wallis siid, wj's 6imihr in many respects to

t l ow cf the MiO-i s end Samoans liferring t> 'he religious chiracter of the peopl •, the reverend sp aker siid no o'her peiidfl compaied with the Fijians iD the'r univer.-al ob ervan;e < f t.he ch:istian laws, though (f ourfea large proporlim if thrm bad not yet embraced the faith in i's true religiaus aspect. But they were very strict observers < f the Sabbath, and their mor.il cliaractfr was of a vrry high stand-ird. Theft wnsrue,a fact all trie more lemarkab'e in viev of the com munistic r-ys'em under which they |lived beforo the missionaries settled among thom. Tha nitivcs d>d not use strong drii k in ony quant it", atid the Goveinm nt had ivcognis-'d the wisdom of prevent n? its introduction, and had provided a heivy fino for anyone convicted of supplying liquor to natives. Mi. Wiillij ilion went on to dossiibe tho manner in which the mission work

wan ca:r'od. on. A la'gj numb-r of i-ative ministers wa-i engaged, and these wera very thoroughly educated, Tho education of the whole of I ha children was iuthq hands of tho mis-ions, and this w&s not recognifed the Government. Ore of the principal difiku'ties n'iw in the way of missionary woikwasdu to its association with the Government, and tho speaker expU iml it thus : The missionaries cme and rstab'isl'od them'elvesam-mp th« p*opl", eai'tiing their >espect and ■iclisiiriiion. Then tho Government ■ sUb'ishid itse'f. The nutiv.s had

|ahva\s be n ru'ed ly force in old days, and now w! 011 they suv a Government. |o!licer nlle to comm ind any forje he j requited in < rder to quell a disturb mce, th y \v>i e imfres ed They said, the rnissi mm ins cannot do this; and thi misfiona ies influence consequently stiffen <1 a check. Tie present G vot-ri-oienfc administration lud in nnny ways ac'id to the detriment of mi • s'onary work. It had reduced the natives to a gtftte of slavery by

making them wirk on roads and bridges, etc., without pay. Tuey had only a little time to themselves which they had to devote to growirg cropfor their maintenance. In addition they had to piy amounting to .£40,000 per annum, and, being of an indolent nature, thfy did not like all this. The administration hid, however, done a kt of good, by providing irrigation works, improved sanita" ion, and erecting hospital?, e'c. He hea'' 1 the speech which the Goverco r , Si' Geo. O'Brien, made on the subject <;f fedei'jtion with New Zealand, ard which tbe New Zealand Press had commented upon bo saverely. Ha (Mr. Wallis) was struck with the injustice of the G jvcrnor'a remarks about the treatment of the Maoris by the New Zealand Government, especially now tbat he-had seen the conditions of life under which the Maoris lived. Referring to the Catholic missions (the only o'-her on the islands) Mi*. Wallis said they woro made self supporting by the establishment of ccpranut plantations, and he considered the W< s'eyunshould have done the same. A movement in that direction was now being started, «ut it should have betn done long ago. Another hindrance to Aim sion work among the Fijiana was th-< influence extreified by the ceolie popu lation, these people hricg very 1 immoral in character. Efforts would have to ba made to Christianise them as well. Referring.to the vital s'alis ties of Fiji, Mr. Wallis Slid that of the 1 1000 per year decrease which hid ob- ' tained during the ptst ten'years, a very large proportion was du« to Heath ' of cbildrep under one ye >r of age. Thmissions now had ladies who instructed | the native women in the care oi their ' infants, and already a ma'kod improvement was noted. ' Mr. Wallis answered some questions, and a hearty vote of thanks was ac- ' corded him on the motion' of Mr. s Whitaker, seconded by Mr. Jos. White, ' after which the meeting tics; d with the j singing of the Doxulogy.