The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 6, 1918. UNION OF PACIFIC ISLANDS.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 May 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, MAY 6, 1918. UNION OF PACIFIC ISLANDS.

One of the most knotty problems which the Imperial Conference will have to face is that of the future of the Pacific islands. The report of the Australian inter-State Commission on British and Australian trade in the South Pacific has brought this problem into prominence, and the more it is studied, the greater the difficulties appear. If it were only a question of trade the solution would be comparatively easy, but trade follows the flag and that involves the very vexed question of the Government of the islands. When trade and politics are mixed up even in the case of any particular country, there are bound to arise complications which require very careful handling; but When other nations are involved, each having its own interests to serve, the tangle doe 3 not lend itself readily to unravelling- In the case of the Pacific Islands not only are Britain, Australia, and New Zealand interested, but France and Japan are also largely concerned, while America will naturally desire a voice in the final allocation of the territory taken from th e Germans. It is necessary to assume that the German colonies seized will not be given back, but that question also will have to be settled by the Allies when peace terms are being formulated. The Australian Commission finds that the present control of the islands by Britain lacks cohesion and system. It would he surprising if it were otherwise, as the present arrangement is at best a temporary expedient; but it is very significant to find that the remedy proposed is federated control—the federation to be linked to Australia. This proposal is certainly one that might have been expected from an Australian commission set up by a Federal Government, so that it is not surprising to find that the central scat of this proposed control should I'e assigned to Sydney, on the ground that it is the natural rendezvous of Pacific trade and shipping. ] t i s evident however, that the commission was aware that »uok a proposal wouU Mt con>

mend itself to New Zealand, for il suggests a joint inquiry by representatives of Britain, Australia, and New Zealand—a scheme that has very much Hie appearance of arbitration. By measuring distances on Hie map, if will be found that Fiji is twice the steaming distance from Sydney that it ia from Auckland, the difference as regards Tonga and Samoa being still more pronounced. Australia has been most desirous for New Zealand t.o join the. Commonwealth, but the Dominion desires to retain its identity and not be absorbed in that of Australia, though it is only since the war that it has come to be well recognised overseas that New Zealand is actually no pail of Australia. Instead, therefore, of settling the question of control by the medium of federation, careful attention snould be given to the far more workable scheme of dividing the control of the islands on a plan governed by the zones of influence, so that to Australia mr.y be attached Melanesia, while to Now Zealand should be allotted Polynesia. Australia's difficulties in controlling the Islands would he much greater than Xew Zealand's, not only on account of the "White Australia" doctrine, but also by reason of the labor problem. The only point that appears to be absolutely clear is that Britain is too far away to undertake the control in these days of democratic government. Speaking at Sydney recently, the Japanese Consul-General, Mr. S. Shimizu, reminded bis audience that it was the combined forces of Japan, Australia, and New Zealand which captured the German colonies pf Kiao-Chao, German NewGuinea, the Marshall and Caroline Islands and Samoa, so that Japan may naturally claim to have a voice in the final disposition of these possessions, and it is quite evident that Japan will set her face against allowing Germany to receive back her lost colonies in the Pacific. The Imperial Conference will have to consider the problems in all possible aspects as well as the .welfare of the colonies concerned, so that unless the representatives immediately concerned are in a position to present their views fully before the Conference, there will be but a small chance of any satisfactory decision being arrived at. There can, at most, only at this juncture be recorded expressions of views as to the ultimate disposition and control of these possessions, for not until the peace terms are promulgated can any definite step be taken. AH the same it would be advisable, especially for the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, not to delay closely studying the many matters that will have to be arranged in connection with the settlement of Pacific problems, not the least of which is that of colored labor and its probable assertion of democratic rights. Australia has made a move in the direction of federation, and ■it is for New Zealand to put forward its views both on that and any alternative proposals that are likely to contribute towards the. solution of what will be in the best interests of all concerned.