NEW ERA IN THE PACIFIC.

Taranaki Daily News, 15 July 1918, Page 7

NEW ERA IN THE PACIFIC.

ADDRESS BY REV. J. W. BURTON. Tliere was a large gathering at Everybody's Theatre yesterday afternoon, when the Rev. J. WT Burton, of Melbourne, gave an address under the title of "The New Era in the Pacific." The Mayor (Mr. C- H. Burgess) presided. In introducing the speaker, the chairman, said lie was well known to New Plymouth audiences, and he voiced the sentiments of the citizens in saying they were pleased to see Mr. Burton again, and would always welcome him back to New Plymouth. The subject on which he was to speak was of vital interest to everyone, and owing to the war it had now become a world problem, and would be one of the burning questions for discussion at the Peace Conference.

• Mr. Burton, who was received'with applause, after expressing his pleasure at again being in New Plymouth, threw himself into the subject of his address wjth enthusiasm. The islands of tho Pacific, he said, .possessed greiit possihijities for high life or low, and the character of the life of the people of those islands was of immense interest and importance to Australasia. Before the war,, we became aware of the spread of German power in the Pacific. Through the thoroughness of her organisation, she-was penetrating deeply into the life and economics of the Pacific. The great problem of the Pacific was the labor problem, but whether from design or by accident, Germany had become possessed of the most populous portions of the islands, and consequently her difficulties in that connection would not be as great a s those in other parts. Of the one and a-half million people in the islands, 800,00 ft were under German domain. Mr. I Burton said he spoke, not as a politician, J hut as a missionary, and if Germany showed that after the war she had changed and was no longer the warlike Germany we had known, he did not think ahe could be ousted from the Pacific; but, unless she was changed, Bhe would undoubtedly not be allowed to repossess her islands. (Applause.) Continuing, the speaker said Germany, in carrying out her plans on her own lines amongst tho native races of the islands she possessed, had behaved no worse than anyone else. In contrast to the British, she had foreseen the labor difficulties, and had insisted that the natives should plant coeoanuts, so as to ensure a supply of copra, and by her process of penetration she had secured a, "big hold on the export trade of the islands. It was, therefore, little wonder that the dominating position she was gaining was beginning to be felt. The touch nf Western civilisation in these islands, however, said the speaker, was opening new and vast problems, and the British must be quick to. seize the new economic opportunities offering. Mr. Burton referred to the spiritual results from material inventions and economic developments, and then proceeded to state that the Western system of life could not be forced upon, the natives who lived in simplicity and, to «ome extent, in isolation. They, did not understand it, and would have to be taught. The problem of Governments and missionaries was to prepare these people for Western «ivili<>ation. ' He said the decadent tendencies among some of the races was not altogether the fault of the! white man, though in many, cases he had accelerated that tendency. Because they had lived in isolation, they had become victims to the results of in-breeding, and, in the speaker's opinion, the only hope for the Pacific lay in such a, mixing of the races as would produce a new Pacific people. It had been proved that the product of the union of peoples of different island races had been a better type of man than the originals. The question resolved itself into one nf education. He did not think it was fair or just to brand a man as lazy and shiftless who had never- been taught to work or lead an organised life. The natives lived largely on the rents received for their lands, and the speaker stressed the point that one of the most baneful influences in life was the living on an unearned income. The conditions of life for the native must be mended, by giving him a sound industrial education and teaching him to find his salvation through the work of his hands. Mr. Burton then detailed the work being done in the mission workshops, by means of which the natives were beiny fitted to take a real part in life, and by means of simple tasks, discipline was being instilled and the roots of ethical life given a deep hold. He instanced the eases of boy 3 who had passed through the workshops who had become men whose : work could ba relied upon and who felt that they had been given a sense of their own worth in the world. This process meant a new economic condition, and would mean increased production. Mr. Burton also related what was being done in the matter of giving te'h islanders training in agriculture. The work done by the missions in this connection was done for the gco-'I nf the natives themselves, and any that wpve made from their plantations went back to the natives in some way or other,, in order in improve their conditions. The matter, however, "was becoming more than a missionary enterprise, and must be taken up by Governments', who should fund all the moneys from the native lands for the education and civilisation of the natives selvesMr. Burton, in .'onclusion, merely hinted at what was being done for the uplifting of the native women, saying it was useless to raise one-half and not the other part of tho race. He hoped that when tlie time came that attention was turned to the development of the Pacific, it would not be undertaken solelv in the selfish interests of commerce.

Burin? the Afternoon a double quartette, "The Soldier's Farewell." was sung by members of the Male Olioir. and Mr, "R. L. Cooper sanrr the solo "Arm, Arm, Ye Brave." Mr. Ot. H. White playpd the accompaniments, and also for the hymn singing. A collection for the Methodist mission funds vrera taken up. The meeting concluded with the singing of the National Anthem.