L I E) RARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 U N IVLRSITY 
 
 Of ILLI NOIS
 
 FIJI : 
 
 ITS POLITICAL ASPECT ; 
 
 FROM 
 
 7870 -= rs7s. 
 
 BY VINDEX. 
 
 DEDICATED TO THE 
 MEMBERS OF THE COMMISSION OF ENQUIRY 
 
 FROM 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 LEVUKA : 
 
 PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY G. L. GRIFFITHS, 
 
 BEACH-STREET. 
 
 18 7 3.
 
 DEDICATION. 
 
 TO THE MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL COMMISSION. 
 
 Gentlemen, — 
 
 It is felt that a work written in the interests of 
 those owing allegiance to Great Britain, cannot be dedicated 
 more worthily than to those gentlemen who enjoy the distin- 
 guished honor of having been selected by Her Most Gracioras * 
 Majesty to enquire into and report upon the grievances of 
 which her subjects complain. 
 
 In paying, therefore, this humble tribute to their 
 position, it is not sought to identify them with any political 
 aspect which this work may be supposed to assume, but it is 
 simply adopted as a means of an expression of that loyalty to 
 the British Crown, and of affection for the Sovereign, which 
 is the cherished birthright of every subject, no matter where 
 domiciled ; and it is in this spirit that this dedication is now 
 respectfully oflfered. 
 
 Lemka, 23rd December, 1873.
 
 CORREGIENDA AND ADDENDA. 
 
 In page 4, sixth line from bottom, for " Stafford " read Straffard. 
 
 In ]-age 8, seventh line from top, for " charges " read changes. 
 
 In page 43, third line from top, for '* provision" read prevision. 
 
 Same page, twentieth line from top, for " bought " read taught. 
 
 Same page, twenty. fourth line from top, for " two thousand" read two 
 hundred thousand' 
 
 In page 78, third line from top, for ** owing to " read owing by. 
 
 In page 82, ninth line from top, the word " tools " read at the begin- 
 ning instead of end of line. ! 
 
 ^ August 12, 1870. — Massacre of two hundred and sixty natives at 
 Nakorobalavu, an inland town of Viti Levu, by a neighboring tribe. 
 
 January 29, 18 7 L-— Cornelius, a Yaravudi chief, treacherously 
 murdered by Fijians on Ovalau, This was one of the leading events in 
 the Lovoni war. 
 
 July 9, 1871. — Messrs. Spiers and Mcintosh, two Ba River settlers, 
 murdered by the mountaineers of their district. 
 
 November 1, 1871. — Five white men and one Fijian murdered by 
 foreign laborers on board the cutter Meva, off Gau. 
 
 November 13, 1871. — Messrs. Pulford and Thorpe murdered by 
 foreign laborers on board the schooner Cambria, in Levuka harbor. 
 
 February 3, 1873. — The Burns* massacre by the mountaineers of 
 Yiti Levu. Mr. and Mrs. Burns, two children, and about twenty foreign 
 laborers, were the victims. 
 
 March 27, 1873.'—Naigunugunu massacre. One mountain town, 
 surprised by a neighboring tribe, and nearly three hundred people mur- 
 dered. This massacre was accompanied with caanibalism. 
 
 March 4, 1873. — The Nakorowaiwai massacre. The townspeople 
 had been asked to riye up a murderer, and refused. The Government 
 troops were therefore led against the town to demand its surrender, and 
 upon its refusal, the soldiers took the place by storm, when a fearful 
 massacre occurred. Upwards of four hundred people — men, women, 
 and children — were ruthlessly butchered, in and around the town. 
 
 ^ UfUC 1 
 
 \ /
 
 FIJI: FROM 1870 TO 18T3. 
 
 The many misrepresentations, which have been made from 
 interested sources, of the real feeling entertained by the white 
 residents in Fiji with respect to the institution and effective 
 carryino- out of a responsible constitutional government, has 
 rendered it a matter of advisability, if not absolute necessity, 
 that a full and impartial account of what has really taken 
 place in the kingdom, since Cakobau was proclaimed its 
 monarch, should be placed before those who have any mterest, 
 material or other, in this group. While, therefore we propose 
 to place before our readers a narrative, so succinct as possible, 
 of tlie proceedings of Ministers, Parliament and People— we 
 shall not confine ourselves to a description of the effect ot so- 
 called responsible government upon the white population only, 
 but endeavour to show how its influence and results have 
 worked upon the minds and habits of the aboriginal race ; 
 and to point out why the problem of self-rule has proved so 
 difficult of solution, and to whom the rise of any feelmg ot 
 antagonism which may exist in the breast of the native as 
 against the white race, is really owing. In domg this, we 
 shall earnestly endeavour to give a plain unvarnished state- 
 ment of facts, which will, from its truth and capability ot 
 proof be useful, as well in the future as in the present, alike 
 to the politician as to the mere reader of the history of the 
 passing age ; and perhaps serve by the light afforded by its 
 disclosures, to save our future legislators and rulers from 
 committing grave errors ; the result of inexperience, assump- 
 tion or ignorance. Approaching our task in this spirit, we 
 shall " naught extenuate or aught set down in malice " but, 
 relating absolute occurrences, quoting from publ shed speeches, 
 letters and articles,— which we shall do most impartially ;— 
 leave those into whose hands this brochure may fall to form 
 their own opinions as to whether our conclusions be correct, 
 our deductions natural. In the outset we wish it to be 
 distinctly understood that, altho' this pamphlet may be 
 ])rinted and published at the office of the Fiji Times ; and 
 we shall find it necessary to quote largely from that .lournai ; 
 yet it is a work in no way connected with that publication ;
 
 bat undertaken at the request and expense of some of the most 
 influential residents of the kingdom, whose interests being 
 materially identified with its progress or retrogression, are of 
 opinion that they cannot in justice to themselves, submit 
 longer to that tacit admission which silence is popularly 
 supposed to give, of the truth of assertions made recklessly, 
 and with unhallowed purpose by certain unscrupulous political 
 adventurers who, possessing little or no stake in the country, 
 aim only at their own aggrandizement and gain ; which they 
 would fain attain at the expense of the really honest pioneer 
 whose capital, experience, thew and sinew, are being, or have 
 been, freely expended in the work of civilization ; and of 
 redeeming the waste (^ wilderness to the riches and beauty 
 of smiling plenty. 
 
 It would naturally be imagined that a state possessing a 
 constitution granted by its king ; one which after it had been 
 drawn up and calmly deliberated upon by a body expressly 
 elected for the purpose ; and to maintain which in its 
 integrity the most solemn oath had been taken by the 
 Sovereign and his Ministers ; would at least be safe in its 
 government to the extent of the powers to be exercised on the 
 OLe part, and the privileges to be enjoyed upon the other -^ 
 and that the law, as laid down fundamentally therein, and in 
 the statutes passed in pursua»ce ot the powers it conferred,, 
 would be respected, and to the fullest extent upheld. The 
 more so when we find that in order to prevent anything like 
 hasty legislation with respect to radical changes it had been 
 specially provided by clause LXXVill that " Any amend- 
 ment or amendments to this Constitution may be proposed in 
 the Legislative Assembly, and if the same shall be 
 agreed to by a majority of the members thereof, such 
 proposed amendment or amendments shall be entered on 
 its journal, with the yeas and nays taken thereon, and referred 
 to the next session of the Legislative Assembly, which 
 proposed amendment or amendments, shall be published for 
 three months previous to the next election of Representatives ; 
 and if in the next session of the Legislative Assembly such 
 proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by two 
 thirds of all the members of the Legislative Assembly, and be 
 approved by the King, such an>endment or amendments shall 
 become part of the Constitution of this country." 
 
 *' The King can do no wrong," and it is therefore to his 
 advisers, and to them alone, that the odium of violating the 
 Constitution attaches ; and if they deliberately ignore the very 
 Act which called them into political existence and gave them 
 an executive status, — then pari passu they should, in the 
 estimation of the Law, cease to be, and become, as heretofore, 
 things of naught. Take one stone from that arch which 
 suj&tains legality, and the fabric totters j but remove the key-
 
 5toae and it at once falls ! So, violate a single clause of the 
 Constitution, and it becomes endangered ; but set at naught 
 that which is most important, insomuch as it vests the real, 
 tne working power, in the hands of the doly elected 
 representatives of the state; and the v^ry foundation, the 
 verv source of it 3 actual power is sapped and undermined. 
 The material guarantee for satisfactory government which is 
 given to those wlio, by finding the sinews of war, really 
 support the Kingdom, is that by clause XVI o{ the Act 
 quoted it is provided that '' No subsidy, duty, or tax ot any 
 description shall be established or levied, without the consent 
 of the Legislative Assembly ; nor shall any money be drawn 
 from the public Treasury without such consent, except when 
 between the sessions of the Legislative Assembly the 
 emergencies of war, invasion, rebellion, pestilence, or other 
 public disaster shall arise, and then not without the con- 
 currence of all the Cabinet ; and the Minister of Finance 
 shftU render a detailed accouat of such expenditure to the 
 Leo-islative Assembly, which, in case of war, invasion or 
 reb'enion shall be assembled without delay." We thus see 
 that by clause LXXVIIl, every precaution is taken to avoid 
 hasty legislation upon a point' so radically important, as that 
 which ?he alteration or amendment of any part of the 
 Constitution, naturally must be ; and, by parity of reasoning, 
 the sweeping away or nullification of that fundamental Act 
 in its entirety, must, unless it be accomplished ii^ accordance 
 with the provisions of the clause quoted, be not only illegal 
 in itself, but really resolves itself into a proceeding absolutely 
 treasonable, destroying as it does the origin of the very power 
 whence all kingly and ot her authority is derived. We see too 
 that no amendment is to be made save by a nwjorifij of the 
 Members of the Legislative Assembly ; not a merely ephemeral 
 majority of the House ; but one of the eutire body ol 
 representatives elected to tlie Parliament in which such 
 amendment may be proposed ; and then, after a record of the 
 way in which each member voted, and the publi.'ation, for a 
 period of tliree months previous to the next election, of the 
 suggested alteration or alterations, they must be submitted to 
 the fiat of the newlv returned members, who by the very privi- 
 lege accorded to them ol taking their seats, would convey the 
 feelings of their respective constituencies, and of the country 
 at large, with regard to the changes sought to be effected. 
 What^theu can be tiiought of the actions of those responsible 
 Mini-sters of the Crowu who, taking upon themselves the 
 guardianship of the King's conscience, not only induce His 
 Majesty to treat with contempt the most important clauses ot 
 the Constitution, but without reference to any save themselved 
 and the native chiefs, to proclaim a fresh basis upon which 
 the ruhng of the kingdom shall be founded. Although as
 
 yet, the favor of being infornied as to what changes the new 
 Act contemplates lias been confined to the civil servants of 
 the government and the native troops, we may reasonably 
 expect that befui:e this work be in the press, that unim- 
 portant element in the prosperity of Fiji, — the white 
 population, — may be graciously apprised thereof, and allowed, 
 after due acknowledgement of its appreciation of the fostering 
 protection so benignantly extended to it by the three tailors of 
 Tooley-street, humbly to conform thereto, and to kiss, with 
 meek gratitude the rod which scourges it. It is so notoriously 
 a matter of history that aboriginal inhabitants of savage 
 countries attain for themselves a high place in the family of 
 nations; and that the influx of religion, civilization, commerce, 
 education and capital tends to debase and lower their status 
 in the eyes of the world, that we can but admire those amiable 
 philanthropists who, in their purity and singlemindedness, 
 now do their best to eradicate and destroy the noxious elements 
 which have so tended to degrade such comparatively 
 unimportant sections of this globe as, say, for instance, 
 Europe and America ! "After me the deluge !" Let 
 industry, and enterprise, backed by knowledge and means 
 fail ; let the barque built by skill, freighted by experience 
 founder; Ministers will still float, if it be only on the 
 outrigger of that chef d'ceuvre of educated science, a Fijian 
 canoe ! 
 
 The effects and extent of the violation of the 78th 
 clause of the Constitution Act are still to be learnt ; and as 
 that destined to supersede it, has not yet been published, it is 
 possible, although scarcely probable, that that portion of the 
 Cabinet under whose auspices it has been drawn up, and upon 
 whose sole individual responsibility it is to be promulgated, 
 may still reflect, and while 'tis yet time, withhold their hand ; 
 atoning thereby, although tardily, for their hitherto illegal 
 proceedings in this respect. But what can be pleaded in 
 palliation of the deliberate exercise of despotic power involved 
 in the infringement of the various provisions of clause XVI ? 
 How can the fact of levying taxes without the consent of the 
 Legislative Assembly be justified? Clause XXII enacts that 
 "The government of the kingdom of Fiji is that of a Constitu- 
 tional Monarchy," and we fail to find in our researches in 
 Constitutional histor}^, where taxes have been levied without 
 the consent of Parliament first obtained. Attempts to over- 
 ride this, the palladium of a people's independence, have 
 indeed been made, and let the results bear testimony as to the 
 success of the experiment. The fate of Stafford should 
 induce reflections fraught with meaning ; and the 30th of 
 January, 1645, may be remembered with advantage by 
 designing Ministers, as showing what calamity may be heaped 
 upon a too confiding master. True those times have passed
 
 away ; but, natlielesa slioiild the lessons tliey convey not be 
 forgotten. Disgrace, now, only follows impeachment; antt the 
 headsman's axe, or the Ji;i\)het's cord no longer loom in the 
 distance; but to some, loss of place is loss of all; loss of 
 power, loss of existence. " You take my life, if you take the 
 means whereby I live." 
 
 Now npon what grounds can the compulsory payment of 
 taxes be reconciled with (Constitutional rule in faee of a 
 prorogued Assembly, and of the avowed intention not again 
 to call it together ? Ministers so far practically acknowledged 
 that none such existed, as to take a vote for temporary 
 supply, over the two months which they calculated would be 
 necessary for the purposes of a general election ; but these 
 two months and yet tws) more have passed; and) during 
 the latter period each oiiid every fraction of taxation which 
 has found its way into the Treasury, has been the result, not 
 of legislative and therefore legalised action^ but of extortion 
 and unscrupulous exaction ; which, as has been sufficiently 
 demonstrated,, in the eveiift of resistance, would be backed by 
 the bayonets of semi-savages, officered, alas ! that we should 
 have to- pen it, by white men, of British lineage and nurture. 
 Oh, worthy representatives of Pym and Hampden,, long may 
 you flourish under the Dove and CMive branch so emblemati- 
 cal of your avowed intentions ; but never may Britain's 
 Standard, or America's Eagle and Stars float o'er you ;; may 
 the stripes only, multiplied even by seventy times aeven, be 
 yours. 
 
 The second proviso in clause XVI is,, that no money 
 shall "be drawn from the public Treasury without such 
 consent," (that of the Legislature,,) except upon certain 
 emergencies to which we will presently refer. How far this 
 enactment has been respected is a matter of every day 
 notoriety. It may perhaps, be urged in extenuation that the 
 paper issued by the Government is not money ;. that it does 
 not represent coin ; and yet farther that even the so-called^ 
 Treasury note is, owing to the illegality of its mode of issue, 
 not that which it is proclaimed to be.. There may really be 
 a substratum of reason in this defence ;. as, most assuredly,, 
 not even the maddest andi most complete lunatic housed 
 within the walls of "Gla*ville" or the "Yarra Bend" 
 would regard a Treasury note as being equal to that value 
 which is printed on the face thereof;, and the well known 
 mode of placing this paper in circulation > of the reckless way 
 in which it has been signed and countersigned ; of tlie pecula- 
 tion of unsigned forms and the consequently numerous 
 forgeries thereon, would render it extremely difficult for any 
 one to say what is really even a Treasury note. The more 
 so, as from circumstances which are patent to but too many, 
 it is utterly impossible for Ministers or their officers to state
 
 accurately even the putative number or value (taking tlie iat^/er 
 at their own estimation) of Government notes in circulation ; 
 whether issued from the Treasury or not. But still. Ministers 
 fondly look upon the paper bearing their official signatures as 
 money ; and tliefefore are liable to answer for their palpable 
 infraction of this portion of the Act ; an infraction much 
 more serious, more fraught with danger to the liberties of the 
 subject than would, upon the first blush seem apparent. 
 While that which is supposed or asserted to represent a 
 tansible value can be manufactured and used without stint 
 and without scruple, there will always be found those who 
 will, in consideration of sharing the spoil, obey the 
 behests and carry out the desires of its possessors ; and 
 the aura sacra fames being as strongly developed 
 in this as in any other region of the world; tyranny 
 will never lack its minions ; nor usurpation its sap- 
 porters, while this power is so abused. Once remove or 
 disregard this constitutional check, and the community 
 degenerates into a class from which taxes are wrung, for the 
 mere purpose of enabling their autocratic rulers to rivet 
 still more firmly upon them the fetters of oppression and 
 coercion. It resolves itself simply to this : — The many pay, 
 that the few may thrive ; and while the illegal extortion, is 
 but one of the consquences of the disregard of the clause, 
 the illegal drawing and signing notes confers a mode of 
 perpetuating the means whereby this extortion, with all its 
 train of concomitant evils, is enabled to sap and drain the 
 very vitals of the country. 
 
 The occasions to which we alluded, when it would be 
 permissable to draw money from the Treasury without the 
 consent of the Legislature are " when between the sessions 
 of the Legislative Assembly the emergencies of war, invasion, 
 rebellion, pestilence, or other public disaster shall arise, and 
 then not without the concurrence of all the Cabinet ; and the 
 Minister of Finance shall render a detailed account of such 
 expenditure to the Legislative Assembly, which in case of 
 war, invasion, or rebellion shall be assembled without delay." 
 War has certainly arisen ; rebelHon, its motive power, has not 
 been wanting ; and expenditure far, far above any sanctioned 
 for that purpose by the late Parliament, has been incurred ; but 
 has the "concurrence of all the Cabinet" been obtained? 
 By clause XLIV* it is enacted that *' The King's Cabinet 
 shall consist of the Chief Secretary, the Minister of Trade 
 and Commerce, the Minister of Lands and Works, the 
 Minister of Finance, the Minister of Native Affairs." Why 
 then, have those in power chosen to practically abrogate 
 
 * We wish it to be understood that except where otherwise expressed, 
 the clauses quoted are from the -^ Constitution Act, 187i."'
 
 thia provision, and to govern without the component parts 
 of what constitutes them a *' Cabinet." No reason for 
 complaint on this score would arise if from resignation, 
 sickness, death or other unavoidable caus^j a temporary gap 
 were made in the Executive Body ; but very serious grounds 
 are to be found, when we sec one office, — rendered vacant by 
 the refusal of the Minister who formerly held it to connive 
 at the illegal acts of his confreres, and by his subsequent 
 resignation, — remain unfilled, and its duties discharged by 
 another Minister, who, being in charge of the Land and 
 Works Department, adds thereto en permanence, the res. 
 ponsibility of the portfolio named ; and on occasion ; and 
 very frequent occasion too ; those attaching to the offices of 
 the Chief Secretary, the Minister of Finance, and the 
 Minister of Native Affairs ; forming thus a kind of Cabinet 
 Encyclopedia, — without, however, possessing the amount of 
 useful information generally expected therefrom, — in himself. 
 In other words, he has constituted himself the sole ruler 
 and arbiter of the destinies and policy of the kingdom ; 
 cajoled its monarch, and set at naught its laws, and all those 
 safeguards with which it has been sought to environ the 
 landmarks which form the proper boundaries of legitimate 
 rule. Nor let it be thought that so many offices being 
 thus vested in one person is any pecuniary saving to the State. 
 "When they brought down the Estimates, Ministers placed 
 their salaries in globo ; the respective proportion attaching 
 to each office to be determined among themselves ; so that 
 it may prove a most convenient matter for one or even three 
 to monopolise the salaries of five ; although even in so doing, 
 they can scarcely hope that the people from whom they draw 
 the payment will consider themselves as well served, or 
 regard the Executive with as much confidence, as if the law 
 relating thereto were carried out in its integrity. 
 
 We now approach that section of the clause which 
 provides that *'the Minister of Finance shall render a detailed 
 account of such expenditure to the Legislative Assembly 
 which, in case of war, invasion, or rebellion shall be assembled 
 without delay;'* and again do we find that the precaution which 
 dictated this necessary and highly salutary provision lias, 
 as well in this as in other cases, been set at naught. It is 
 manifest that it was intended by the framers of the Constitu- 
 tion that the controlhng power, — that of the purse, — should 
 rest with the representatives of the people ; and that thereby 
 the dangers and expenses of war should be incurred or 
 avoided, and an opinion as to what constituted ** rebellion'* 
 obtained. But not only is no statement laid before the 
 Legislative Assembly, but that important body ; important, 
 as standing between despotic and constitutional government, 
 is abolished- and expenditure, reckless and uncontrolled.
 
 incurred upon the mere ipse dixit of one or two irresponsible 
 persons, irresponsible, insomuch as they have made themselves 
 so ; but still not so irresponsible but that, having so fla- 
 grantly violated the law, they can be made amenable thereto by 
 impeachment ; and that the office of Attorney-General, which 
 has wisely been rendered independent of the Executive, and of 
 political charges, can be promoted against them ! It may be 
 yet possible that the astute gentleman who now leads the bar, 
 may find but too good cause to have to exercise that power 
 which he felt himself, but very recently, impelled to use in a 
 a somewhat similar manner, with respect to certain Advocates 
 of the Supreme Court ; and that he will be obliged to say to 
 (lie individuals concerned, not " thus far shall thou go, and 
 no further," but thus far shouldst thou have gone, and 
 no further ! 
 
 We have thus found that two of the principal clauses of 
 the Constitution have been completely and openly disregarded 
 and treated as naught ; that with regard to each and every 
 particular relating thereto, those dressed in a (let us fervently 
 hope) little, brief authority, have over-ridden the deliberate 
 acts of the Legislature ; have induced the King to disregard 
 them ; and, with all respect to his Majesty be it spoken, to 
 violate his kingly obligation; have given but too ample 
 grounds for the indignation and well merited scorn with 
 which they are almost universally regarded ; and have 
 seriously jeopardised the . most important interests of a 
 kingdom which must yet, despite their selfish and most 
 contemptible aims, attain that position which, under good 
 government, it would now have been in a fair way of 
 reaching. 
 
 " The faithful performance of duty will not win universal 
 smiles, but it merits the support and approval of the law- 
 abiding and upright." Thus spake the Fiji Times in its issue 
 of the 4th December, 1869, in commenting upon an address 
 presented to Mr. J. B. Thurston, the present Chief Secretary, 
 upon his retirement from the office of Acting British Consul ; 
 in reply to which that gentleman ''confessed his endeavors 
 had been to advance the interests and welfare of British 
 subjects in a manner consistent with his own sense of 
 justice." Since those words were penned, either Mr. 
 Thurston's "sense of justice" must have altered very 
 materially, or the *' welfare of British subjects" be much less 
 dear to that which he, himself, very recently called his 
 ** philo-Fijian " mind. At the very time mentioned, eflforts, 
 in addition to those of ten years previous, were being made 
 to induce Great Britain to extend her protection to these 
 isles ; and mainly by whom ? By Cakobau and his Chiefs! 
 In a short sub-leader in its issue of the 19th March, 1870, 
 the Fiji Times says '' whether regaid for the public good will
 
 not permit of full publicity being given to a document, 
 purporting to be a memorial from Cakobau and his chiefs 
 (backed up by a few signatures from Britishers — whose 
 particular turn it is likely to serve) to Her Majesty's Govern- 
 ment, praying for protection, we cannot say, but we under- 
 stand the signatures of a few have been solicited to such a 
 memorial. Howbeit, we think the public good would have 
 been much better consulted had the aifair been made general 
 and pubhc." &c., &c. ; so that at least at this period, it was 
 the present King who renewed the solicitation, and not the 
 *' wicked white race'* who sought, by annexation, to deprive 
 the ruling power of its prestige and dignity. The following 
 extracts from a letter signed " Britannicus " in the issue of 
 April 2, 1870, of the Journal quoted, will show what was the 
 avowed opinion of at least one gentleman of some official 
 experience ; who may, however, as the passages are recalled 
 to his memory, be inclined to assert that the date should have 
 been the proverbial /r5^, instead of the second of the month. 
 The letter states, *' One of our present devices for keeping 
 the natives in check" is to supply them with arms and 
 ammunition, and so far from all experience proving the 
 whites can defend themselves, we have not with this fact 
 staring us in the face, proved ourselves acquainted with the 
 simplest rules of self-preservation. To say the arms vrhich 
 we are daily putting into the hands of the savages around us 
 are useless excepting among themselves, evinced a want of 
 information on the part of " Republican" not likely to mislead 
 
 a child "The majority of British settlers 
 
 in Fiji have not yet severed the ties of kindred which bind 
 them to their ancestral country, nor have they forgotten their 
 proud traditions, and I would willingly give the reasons of 
 those who with myself support the memorial of the Chiefs 
 for British Protection, were it not that I stand condemned, 
 unthinking and uneducated, on Messrs. "Wilson and L'Estage's 
 black list." " I will therefore confine myself to quoting 
 certain facts why we still hope in England's aid. The words 
 are those of a well-educated man, and therefore familiar to 
 * Republican.' " 
 
 " We support the petition because England, the great 
 chief of the commercial world posssesses a power that 
 enforces ; she has the force to civilize, she is the great 
 colonizer of the world. In the short space of three centuries 
 America sprung from her loins, has become a giant offspring. 
 Of later date, and still more rapid development, Australia 
 rises a triumphant proof of England's power to rescue wild 
 lands from barrenness, to wrest from utter savagedom mighty 
 tracts of the earth's surface. Regions hitherto counting as 
 nothing in the world's great total, have risen to take the lead 
 in the world' § great future/'
 
 10 
 
 "Thus England's seed cast upon the earth's surface 
 germinates upon soils destined to reproduce her race. The 
 energy and industry of the mother country become the 
 natural instincts of her descendants, and wherever nature has 
 endowed a land with agricultural capabilities and favorable 
 geographical position, slowly but surely that land will become 
 (under England's auspices) a centre of civilization." "Firmlv 
 believing in the above words, the gentlemen who attended the 
 public meeting in June last, and who in conjunction with the 
 head chiefs of Fiji signed the petition to H.M. Government, 
 call upon all British subjects, who have the honor of the flag 
 and their own interests at heart, to unite in securing for this 
 country the glorious inheritance to which the lineage of nine- 
 tenths of its settlers justly entitle it." " In a pamphlet, 
 from which I will quote, published, I think, under the 
 auspices of the Polynesian Company, it states the visit of the 
 Duke of Edinburgh to Fiji will afford an opportunity to the 
 Fijian authorities to make a second offer of cession to the 
 British Crown, and we sincerely hope the opportunity will be 
 embraced." " The former quotation was the expression of 
 facts by a great man, the latter is an expression of hope by a 
 great Company — both are encouraging to Fiji. H.R.H. did 
 not arrive, but about the date he was expected, a large, 
 influential, and well-conducted meeting was held, when a 
 petition to H.M. Government, for protection, was resolved 
 upon. Protection was earnestly desired by the Great Chiefs 
 of Westward and Eastward Fiji and their subordinates. It 
 may therefore be said to have emanated from every * hole and 
 corner' of the country, which upon the 'Lucus a non 
 lucendo' principle is perhaps the meaning your correspondent 
 wished to convey." 
 
 " If we are to have a Government, and every man must 
 see the boon it must be, let us have one and pay for it. Let 
 us have no playing at governments by men without authority, 
 no matter how well-intentioned and self-reliant they may be. 
 Neither let us encourage armed assemblies of men, when 
 there is not the slighest occasion for it. Mutual defence is a 
 duty, but when settlers in a foreign country are prevailed 
 upon to regard the natives of the soil as aliens, or enemies, 
 their self-reliance may easily lead to results the civilized 
 world will term amateur brigandage, if not something worse." 
 
 " We appear, so far as I can learn, united 
 
 in regarding native government as an impossibility." 
 
 " We require permission to govern ourselves, or at least 
 to have a great voice in the administration of our afl^airs. To 
 attain this in a regular manner, and to an efficient degree, I 
 believe we must acquire the protection of Englandj America, 
 or a joint protectorate of those nations,"
 
 n 
 
 *^ There are two ways of proceeding — one, recklessly, 
 and with a hurried course to the object, violating all sense ot 
 propriety and entailing humiliation and failure ; the other, 
 leading to success, by a course so strictly guarded that no 
 principle is violated, and no offence given either to the natives 
 of the country, or to the Governments that have the power 
 of calling us to account." 
 
 We have very good reason to know that at the time the 
 letter from which we have so largely quoted was written and 
 published, the majority of Ministers were residents in thi& 
 country ; we are not able to say, positively, whether any oi 
 them will recognise the pseudonym of ** Britannicus," altho' 
 we imagine that the Chief Secretary, as well from his 
 acknowledged acuteness, as from the fact that the letter 
 referred to appeared shortly after his having been relieved 
 from office as acting-consul, and expressed opinions similar to 
 those which he was wont proudly to enunciate, might then, 
 even as now, favor us with the name of the author. We 
 cannot ask the Editor of the Times to betray the secrets of 
 the prison house ; but would feel really obliged if Ministers 
 would and could, consistently always with their duty, so far 
 enhghten us. 
 
 Side by side with the production of *' Britannicus" we 
 find an advertisement convening a Public Meeting for the 
 consideration of certain rules for the control and guidance of 
 " The Fiji Planters' Protection Association ; '* the objects of 
 which, as set out under the head of its "Constitution," are 
 briefly stated to be first : the formation of a permanent fund 
 to be devoted to the advancement of Fiji, and to be expended 
 only in matters affecting its progress ; secondly : the 
 settlement of disputes between members of the Association 
 and aboriginals ; thirdly : to bring about an influence with 
 Cakobau, Tui Cakau, Maafu, and the other ruling Chiefs, so 
 that their assistance and support may be given in all matters 
 where the Association decides that punishment is to be 
 awarded to natives ; fourthly : to take measures for the 
 suppression of the sale of arms and ammunition to abori- 
 ginals and other dark-skinned races. 
 
 Such were the propositions of those who are now held 
 up to the outside world as men who, in their lust for gain 
 and greed for subjugation, would regard the native and 
 Polynesian races generally as mere slaves and beasts of 
 burden, and we find that at the meeting — ^which went over 
 three sittings, — it was resolved that the " members of the 
 Corporation should form themselves into districts, and elect a 
 magistrate or magistrates to adjudicate all cases which may 
 arise between whites and natives, in conjunction with a native 
 magistrate, appointed by the Fijian authorities ; " that 
 stringent measures should be taken to suppress the sale or
 
 12 
 
 supply of arms and ammunition to Fijians, existing contracts 
 between employers and their native laborers excepted ; and 
 that all other contracts of whatever nature where munitions 
 of war were concerned should be registered with the Secretary 
 of ihe Corporation. This represents the gist of the reso- 
 lutions ; and they scarcely convey the impression that, even 
 at that day, any desire existed either to oppress or take any 
 undue advantage of the native race ; but, on the contrary, we 
 find the planters, — the sole producing power of the country, 
 and therefore the source of its wealth, — voluntarily organizing 
 themselves into a corporate body, alike for their mutual 
 protection, as for that of the natives ; and resolving that all 
 disputes which may arise between the races shall be 
 adjudicated only **in conjunction with a native magistrate 
 appointed by the Fijian authorities." 
 
 Let it be borne in mind that at this time there was, so 
 far as the whites are concerned, no government, or any 
 semblance of one. *' Every man did that which was right in 
 his own eyes ; '* and the movement just noticed, must surely 
 have been approved by all. But it serves, as events have 
 culminated, far more than to have answered a purpose merely 
 temporary or necessary; it exhibited in the plainest and 
 most practical way, the spirit which animated those whom it 
 is now sought, from the basest of motives, that of clinging ta 
 a temporary political elevation, to brand as ruffians, who 
 would i^ possible stamp out the Fijian from the human 
 family ; or^ at best, treat him as an abject serf, unworthy the 
 name of man ! 
 
 How, and in what manner has the white degraded or 
 enslaved the native race? Does it not possess comforts, 
 civiUzation, education in a degree never imagined in the 
 wildest dreams of even its King, all, all the result of the 
 settlement and conduct of the Anglo-Saxon. Compare the 
 position of the Fijian of to-day, with that of the Kaisi under 
 native rule, when hundreds were commonly butchered to 
 "make a Fijian holiday ! " To what higher status might it 
 not attain, could the apparently ineradicable idleness, which 
 is its prevailing characteristic, be overcome. If the Fijian 
 could but be induced to apply steadily to labor, all necessity 
 for imported assistance would cease ; and, in reahty, Fiji 
 might through its own inherent fertility, and the efforts of 
 the children of its soil, become the Eden of the Southern 
 Hemisphere. 
 
 Does it, in view of the advantages • which would accrue 
 could local labor be obtained, stand to common reason, that 
 the settlers in this Kingdom would do aught to cause a breach 
 between themselves and its aboriginal inhabitants ; or is it 
 not more consistent with probability and common sense to 
 believe that they would gladly foster friendly relations ; and
 
 thus at once serve themselves and those by whom they are 
 surrounded. 
 
 The true enemy of the Fijian race is that which lies as a 
 canker-worm in its midst ; generated by its customs, its 
 traditions, and its daily usages, It is the demon of sloth, 
 of confirmed laziness, accompanied alternately bj abje<^t 
 cringing fear and servility, or by demoniac fury and savage 
 lust for blood. Let the chiefs who, all orders and institutions 
 of Government notwithstanding, still exercise their feudal 
 power, compel those whom they, not the whites, regard as 
 serfs, to work, and we shall hear no more of antagonistic 
 interests ; of absurd accusations of the settler wanting to 
 run the aboriginal to earth , and of all those thousand and 
 one suppositious evils which exist only in the diseased 
 imaginations of the detractors of the fair fame of those of 
 their own blood and clime ! 
 
 ••The Fijian Planters' Protection Association is a subject 
 that interests us all, and upon its success or failure, our 
 future weal or woe may depend. Other plana have been 
 mooted, but all of them more or less objectionable, if not 
 impracticable. In looking over the Constitution of the Protec- 
 tion Association we see at a glance that it is * practicable.' 
 It interferes with no international rights* It recognises 
 the rights of native chiefs, and proposes to obtain their 
 support and assistance. If carried out it would be a union 
 of the white residents of all nationalities in the Group, and 
 such a union would not only be a source of power and 
 influence and enable us to ' pull together ' but it will be 
 wisdom combined with power which will enable us to adopt 
 the best means, in order to accomplish the best ends. It is 
 * suitable.' We do not want anything elaborate. We have 
 not yet reached that high state of civilisation where large 
 supplies of • red tape ' are requisite. We want something 
 that will meet our circumstances for twelve months or till 
 such time as we obtain the protection of Great Britain or 
 America. Here is the very thing, its funds are to be expended 
 only in matters affecting our progress and its great olDJect is 
 the advancement of Fiji. In the various Districts the different 
 officers will be planning and working for the good of the 
 whole. It is comparatively ' inexpensive/ A paid Secretary 
 is not a luxury but a necessity if the work is to be dc^ne well 
 and promptly, and the payment of one pound annually to 
 constitute membership, is but a trifle in comparison with the 
 benefits which the Association proposes to bestow. If we 
 really want protection we must be prepared to pay for it, and 
 a direct yearly payment, is much better than taxes upon 
 everything we eat, and everything we driok, and everything 
 we smoke, and everything we wear. Taxes upon everything 
 in the heaven above, and everything in the earth beneath, aud
 
 14 
 
 everything in the waters uuder the earth. It won't do foff 
 us to sail in taxed boats, with taxed crews pulling taxed 
 ropes, and casting anchor in taxed harbors. Better will it 
 be by a small annual payment to become members of an 
 Association that will secure to us the protection which we 
 need/'— jP^}V Times, 9th April, 1870. 
 
 We here find 'displayed that desire for present 
 organization, with an expressed view to future government,, 
 ■which animates so strongly the Anglo- Saxon race; no 
 matter where their lot may be cast ; and, save it can be 
 shown that people, hitherto law-abiding and loyal to the 
 institutions under which they had lived, had become suddenly- 
 possessed by a rabid desire to outrage ihe very elements of 
 civilization, and had associated for that purpose under a 
 merely colorable pretext ; we imagine that we shall be deemed 
 correct in asserting that the Planter's Protection Association 
 really formed the nucleus of a proposed systematic and 
 organized government. It were the height of audacity and 
 unbridled assumption to assert that, its promoters had in 
 view aught but what its programme plainly set forth ; and 
 when we find with what precautions the rights of the native 
 and Polynesian races generally, had been guarded ; the care 
 exercised that native chiefs or magistrates should bear part 
 in all matters of adjudication where the interests of the two 
 great classes in Fiji might clash ; and the wholly temperate 
 tone of the manifesto and of its authors and supporters, and 
 their avowed wish and desire to place all matters between 
 themselves and their servants upon a footing at once both 
 reasonable and prudent, we feel that the only conclusion at 
 which an impartial examiner can arrive, is that the movement 
 in question was founded upon good sense, and gave evident 
 token that it was to be carried on with a sincere desire for 
 the welfare of all who could be aflfected by it. Does this 
 proceeding then partake of even the semblance of a desire to 
 live without rule, and to revel in the license of unrestrained 
 action, — or does it exhibit a wish for the formation of a 
 practical, and so far as the colored race be concerned, — 
 impartial code, to be administered in 'a spirit of fairness and 
 equity ? And in weighing this, let our readers bear in mind 
 the status of the Polynesian races generally, both mentally 
 and socially, as it existed prior to their being brought into 
 intimate contact with the white man, and then" decide as to 
 whether due consideration had or had not been shown for 
 their treatment and welfare. All information gained with 
 respect to the habits and usages of the denizens of the Islands 
 of the Southern Seas shows that, favored by nature in clime 
 and almost fabulous riches of soil, the indigenous productions 
 of which supply their almost primitive requirements, they 
 are essentially of an inert and sluggish disposition; their
 
 15 
 
 tionnal state of apathetic indolence bein-^ disturbed only 
 when the desire for revenge for some actual or supposed 
 injury inflicted upon them personally, or some insult offered 
 to their tribes or nation, awakens their warlike instincts. 
 Then, fierce as may be their wrath, they can and will 
 successfully conceal it, until opportunity for what they 
 consider retaliation, offers ; and of this, the fullest and moat 
 unscrupulous advantage is taken ; and in the desire and 
 attempt to glut their vengeance, all sense of benefits received, of 
 favors bestowed is lost, and the unreasoning, the blood- 
 thirsty savage only to be met, in the place of the mild and 
 yielding creature who, but so lately, seemed to breathe but 
 for the very sensual delight of mere existence. Except when 
 thus aroused, their physical torpidity would seem almost to 
 extend to their mental faculties ; and inertia to have destroyed, 
 alike their reasoning as their physical attributes. But where 
 revenge is a passion so dominant as to cause them to overcome 
 their natural apathy, and to revel in the gratification of their 
 passions more like demons than human beings, it is but a 
 matter of the most absolute necessity that all reasonable 
 precaution against these outbreaks should be taken ; and a 
 rule, mild but firm exercised ; and that naught more than 
 this' was intended or carried into effect by the Planters* 
 Association is patent to the entire group. In this then, the 
 first attempt at organization among the white residents, 
 surely nothing can be found of a nature injurious to the 
 rights or liberties of the native or imported laborers ; but, 
 when there be taken into consideration the almost slavish 
 state of subjection to which they are exposed when obeying 
 the behests of their hereditary chiefs, who exercise a power 
 over them so absolutely despotic that their very lives are 
 dependent upon caprice ; it can be but acknowledged that 
 their lot under their new masters presented a contrast as 
 favorable to them physically, as it might be made mentally ; 
 and that these advantages were cheaply attained at the mere 
 price of reasonable hours of light work replacing the almost 
 enforced idleness, and consequent passive indolence induced 
 by their natural state ; the more so when it be born in mind 
 that, at the expiration of their term of service they were 
 returned at the cost of their employers to the places whence 
 they had embarked for Fiji, with such substantial records of 
 their stay there, as boxes well stored with those articles 
 most precious to them could contain ; and with those 
 impressions of civilization, crude as they may have been, 
 which could but have been gathered from a sojourn, varying 
 in duration, from one to three years, amongst those so much 
 higher in the social scale. It may, and doubtless will, be 
 urged that these considerations did not enter into the 
 calculations of those who utihsed their services j but when
 
 115 
 
 we find that important body so solicitious for regulations of 
 an impartial character with respect to their servants, it is but 
 a fair assumption that kindness and consideration guided their 
 intercourse, and tended materially to favorably impress those 
 who, but a short time previously, were but abject slaves, 
 under an iron and thoroughly benighted rule. Nore were 
 the promoters of the Corporation backward in providing 
 against aggressions on the part of employers ; as a reference 
 to clause 9 of the rules will clearly manifest ; they making it 
 their especial province in such cases to see justice done, 
 through the Consuls ; and that, evidently, whether the 
 offenders were members of the association or not. In order 
 that our readers may be enabled to judge for themselves how 
 far the ** Leader" quoted and our remarks thereon be 
 justified, we append the rules alluded to, so far as they 
 aflPect the question. 
 
 Rule^ of the Corporation of Fiji Settlers* 
 
 1. "That the report of the public meeting held by the 
 white settlers, on 16th April, 1870, be translated and printed 
 in the Fijian language, and a copy of same be sent to each of 
 the Supreme native chiefs." 
 
 4. "That it be understood that the object of .this 
 Corporation is to establish friendly relations with the ruling 
 chiefs in Fiji, to act in concert with us, and to secure justice 
 between the white settlers and the natives of this country." 
 
 5. ** That each district do nominate their own magis- 
 trates as circumstances require, and that such appointments 
 be recognised by the ruling chief of the district ; also to 
 induce the ruling chief to appoint native magistrates competent 
 to work with the white magistrates." 
 
 7. *' That the existing laws with regard to Fijians be 
 adhered to, and that some very necessary revisions be made 
 by the ruling chiefs." 
 
 8. *' That in cases of serious import, such as revolt, &c. 
 appeal be made without delay, to the whole of the members 
 and chiefs in the district to assemble together to enforce the 
 decision of the magistrates." 
 
 9. " That in cases where the whites are the aggressors, 
 the members will see justice done through the Consuls." 
 
 10. "That such being the case, the supreme chiefs of 
 Fiji guarantee immediate and stringent enforcement of all 
 decisions given by the mixed courts against the natives." 
 
 12. " That the half-castes be invited to co-operate with 
 us, and enjoy our laws." 
 
 This last clause but tends further to prove the 
 solicitious care entertained by the Corporation for the 
 well-being of all classes of the community ; and that those 
 occupying the anomalous position of half-casteis were afforded
 
 17 
 
 the opportunity of at once attaining a recognised position 
 therein ; one which subsequent events have apparently failed 
 to find for them ; but which the members of the association 
 would have cheerfully acknowledged. So much for the first 
 attempt at common organization for the common good ; the 
 acts of its founders are before our readers ; we leave the 
 conclusions to be drawn therefrom to their iaipartial 
 judgment. 
 
 In its issue of the 13th May, 1871, the Fiji Times thus 
 comments on the matter : — " The subject of the establish- 
 ment of mixed courts for the settlement of matters in dispute 
 between natives and Europeans, as mooted at a meeting of 
 planters held recently at Wairiki, a report of the proceedings 
 of which we published in our last issue, is worthy of con- 
 sideration. No one can deny the existing necessity of some 
 Court of Appeal, so that disputes might be fairly and 
 amicably adjusted. Such disputes are in the nature of things 
 of too frequent occurrence, and only tend to cause feelings of 
 distrust and animosity to arise ; and, unless some plan can be 
 agreed upon for their settlement, might lead to serious 
 misunderstandings between the two races. Our position at 
 present is a very peculiar one, for we are in the situation of 
 aliens in a country whose' people have hardly emerged from 
 heathendom, are comparatively ignorant of any mode of 
 government other than despotic, and to whom th« intro- 
 duction of any system of law requiring taxation to uphold it, 
 must be almost incomprehensible. • Again, our relations with 
 them as regarding commerce are only in their infancy and as 
 the benefit to be reaped from our presence amongst them is 
 but dimly impressed upon their minds, and must be until we 
 teach them that other things, besides yams and and tap pa, 
 are, if not absolutely necessary, at any rate very desirable. 
 This knowledge is grovnng in their minds and there is au 
 evident desire on their part to do what is right as between man 
 and man, and some of the chiefs have evinced a wish to adopt 
 some of the white man's forms of government. ' So we have 
 the Lau confederation, which ia this respect may be con- 
 sidered the leading native government in Fiji and also 
 systems of police, and rules for the governance of the people. 
 But those apply mostly to the natives themselves. The white 
 man has shewn an aversion to submit to them ; and they 
 on the other hand, have shewn us the respect which is 
 generally accorded as the due of superiors, and of people who 
 on account of superiority are misunderstood. But this 
 feeling has not prevented the rise and growth of disputes 
 which require calm, dispassionate, and fair settlement, such 
 as could only be obtained from an impartial court. Now 
 the formation of mixed courts would be wise. The white 
 man could claim justice fiQm the native an4 vic<i v^ff^a ^ and
 
 18 
 
 tlie prejudices of race and of education would be softened 
 down by the union of both races with the one object in view 
 ■of enforcing law and order. The greatest difficulty in the way 
 that we can think of is the expense, and how it is to be met." 
 There are but few residents in this group who will 
 question the fact of the journal from which we have quoted 
 being the exponent of the sentiments of at least the great 
 majority of its inhabitants ; and the opinions here enunciated 
 may be confidently accepted as those entertained by the 
 reflecting portion of the population. In these there is nothing . 
 breathed to awaken the apprehensions of the most ultra 
 advocate for native rights and privileges ; but, on the 
 contrary ; the utmost satisfaction is evidently expressed at 
 the prospect held out of competent tribunals being formed 
 for the settlement of any dispute which might arise between 
 employers and their servants ; and of equal justice being 
 meted out to both classes. The most important question 
 seeming to be that of mere £ s. d., although it would 
 scarcely be a problem diffi.cult of solution, as to the shoulders 
 upon which that would eventually fall. The main object in 
 view, that of the union of the two races for the one common 
 purpose of uniting in the maintenance of law and order, is 
 hailed with gratification ; and the softening down of the 
 difference of feelings induced by distinction of education, 
 race, and and color confidently and hopefully looked forward 
 to. Nature cannot be forced, nor the natural obstacles it 
 presents be overcome save by the influence of time, accom- 
 panied by energetic and systematic endeavors to civilize and 
 elevate ; and that these were not to be wanting, is, we think, 
 palpable to any mind unwarped by prejudice, nor clouded by 
 party hatred. 
 
 Extract from the Fiji Times, 27th May, 1871. 
 
 ** In our issue of the 20th instant we published a copy 
 •of a memorial from a public meeting in Sydney, which 
 urged uporv the Government the advisability of extending 
 some sort of protection to the Fijis. "With respect to any 
 colonial government taking possession of, or giving pro- 
 tection to this group, that for the present is quite out of 
 the question, as they have not the power to do so. In reply 
 to the deputation which waited upon Earl Belmore, he 
 told them that : — " If any other island were to be taken 
 possession of, it would be necessary for the Imperial Govern- 
 ment to issue further letters patent to do it." .... "It 
 would be necessary that fresh action should be taken by her 
 Majesty's Government, whether that action were taken flirectly 
 by the Government, or through the Intervention of Parlia- 
 ment." . ..." It was perfectly clear that no country 
 yiMizYi was not a sovereign state could take possession of the
 
 » 19' 
 
 Fiji Islands. New South Wales could not do itj excepting 
 under an Act of the Imperial Parliament which would 
 virtually amount to the Imperial Government taking 
 possession of them itself, the colony being merely the 
 instrument in the transaction." 
 
 So by this we see plainly that there is no hope of any 
 protection for us from the Australian Colonies^ as not any of 
 tbem is yet a sovereign state. And there is still less hope we 
 think of any annexation of these islands by the home 
 Goverment; for Earl Belmore continued in his reply: — 
 •* they were not likely to take possession of them for it had? 
 been decided in the negative some years since." And now it 
 is rather the policy of England with regard to her colonies, 
 to cast them off, than to annex any new territory. The case 
 may be strongly put to the home Government, our circum- 
 stances may immensely improve, and Fiji become a wealthy and 
 prosperous country, but with all these contingencies the 
 colonial policy of Great Britain may not change ; and unless 
 we helped ourselves, we might find things, so far as concerned 
 a Government in our midst, in about as unsatisfactory a state 
 as they are now. We mention England particularly, because 
 the meeting which took place in Sydney was representing 
 British interests chiefly ; and the memorial was addressed to^ 
 a governor under British rule. But our remarks apply, 
 perhaps in a more limited sense, to America, and her reasons 
 for not annexing us to her possessions. But our connexion 
 with her may knit us closely together and at some ^future 
 time she might consider it to her interest to plant her colors 
 upon these shores. But nations, as individuals, live more 
 live more for the present than the future, and so while we 
 look forward to the protection which one day probably — 
 inevitably we might say — will be accorded us by one of the 
 great powers, we cannot do without some legislation of our 
 own. Looking at this matter as a pressing and absolute 
 necessity, the white residents in the Bau dominions obtained 
 from Cakobau a charter in which he authorised the white 
 settlers to adopt measures for their own Government. "With 
 repect to this we have only to refer to Earl Belmore's reply 
 a« published in the Sydney papers, to see that the charter is 
 comparatively useless. He said that he had consulted the 
 Attorney-General who was kind enough to give his views on 
 the matter, and he might shortly state them to be this t — 
 '* That whilst the aboriginal inhabitants of any country had 
 no doubt power to make laws for their own government, na 
 such charter as that referred to, granted by the chief of an 
 island or country not yet entered into the family of nations 
 could be binding on the white inhabitants there, and that in 
 the event of any white inhabitants refusing to be bound hy 
 the provisions of such a charter, and their persons being
 
 20 
 
 assaulted or imprisoned, or their goods seized by other 
 persons, under pretence of enforcing such law, the 
 persons so acting being British subjects, instead of being 
 supported by the law would lay themselves open to prose- 
 cution under the New South Wales Acts. Trifling exercises 
 of authority for the preservation of the public peace, might 
 not lead to nny interference ; but any serious injury to 
 individuals might lead to prosecution in one of the neigh- 
 bouring eolomes." 
 
 So heye again hope of assistance from the long cherished 
 charter of Cakobau has fallen through. But another 
 mode has been hit upon, by the union of the two races 
 with the one object in view. The step taken is only a short 
 step although in the right direction. It is the granting of a 
 charter to the Rev. J. Nettleton, Messrs. J. Turner, J. C. 
 Smith, S. C. Burt, and Gust. Hennings, representing the 
 white population, — and Tui Levuka, and Ratu Meli^ repre- 
 senting the natives. The charter only refers to Levuka and 
 provides for necessary improvements, to be made with native 
 and European funds. This is partly throwing the onus of 
 any steps which may be taken upon Cakobau who as sovereign 
 of the dominion has power to enforce his own laws which he 
 may make binding upon any people settling here, if he should 
 feel so inclined. But does the charter just granted remove 
 the obstacle, which existed in the previous one ? Hardly, we 
 think in the present state of things, for it is a delegation of 
 power to a certain body of men, the same as the other was. 
 If, however, Cakobau were to frame a few simple laws, and 
 acknowledge them as his, and then appoint a mixed com- 
 mission to carry them out, the whole responsibility would 
 rest upon him. He might be induced to do this, and would 
 be enabled to enforce them amongst the natives, whilst under 
 such a corporation^ and by its authority, a few white men 
 might be engaged to carry out the laws among the European 
 settlers. This would be carrying into effect the laws which 
 had been first of all framed by ourselves in the name of 
 Cakobau ;. and which laws he had a perfect and just right to 
 establish, both for his aboriginal subjects, and for any persons 
 who might come and reside in his dominions. This action 
 would strengthen him amongst the natives, and would give 
 him a much greater moral influence with his own people. If 
 the matter were laid before him, we think that he would 
 acquiesce, and meet us in our endeavours for the pubhc good. 
 Urged to action by the strongly expressed desire of the 
 white residents in Fiji, we find that the colonists of New 
 South Wales sufficiently interested themselves therein, as to 
 assemble in public meeting and memoralise their government 
 to aid the struggling efforts of their compatriots ; and futile 
 as the attempt proved, its results testify as to the really
 
 21 
 
 sincere and earnest wish entertaineit by those by whose 
 spontaneous motion it was prompted, for some form of 
 government which might be suitable lo the requirements of 
 all concerned. The reasons given by the Attorney- General 
 of the Colony why its Go-vemo? could not comply with the 
 prayer for annexation or a protectorate are, as would be 
 naturally expected, strictly cogent and in accordance with 
 international law. The charter from Cakobau could apply only 
 to his subjects ; and it must be remembered that even they 
 did not by any means comprise the whole, no? nearly the 
 whole of the aboriginal inhabitants. And if further evidence 
 were wanting of the law abidmg instincts^ a& we may fairly 
 term them, of its white foreign population, it may surely be 
 found in the fact that, altho' no local edicts promulgated by 
 the ruling power of any country " not yet entered into the 
 family of nations could be binding on the white inhabitants 
 there," yet the whole of what we will, for the sake of 
 avoiding confusion, call the *' Kingdom," was not only free 
 from excess, but absolutely distinguished for its almost total 
 absence of crime. Rare indeed was it to hear of any offences- 
 committed against the welfare of individuals, or of the state ; 
 and if any such became known, they were at once met by the 
 calm impartial justice of the denizens of the place in which 
 they occurred. Still the same yearning desire for combined 
 action under some authority was entertained ;. and rather than 
 be utterly without law, the thin end of the wedge was 
 introduced, by the obtaining of a charter in favor of five 
 European and two native residents, which, altho' Kmiting 
 their powers to municipal action, was really important as- 
 manifesting the desire of the civilised portion of the com- 
 munity to recognize Cakobnu as the supreme ruler of the 
 country ; and the wish expressed that he should frame a few 
 simple laws, suitable to both races ; which, by his own power 
 he could impose upon his own people ; while the whites 
 would recognise them, if carried into effect, so far as they 
 were concerned, by those of their own color and race. Ixt 
 short, a legalization was sought to be effected, so far as cir- 
 cumstances would permit, of the rules already drawn up by 
 those qualified for the task, but upon which the official stamp 
 of England's authority could not, for the reasons before 
 stated, be placed. Subsequent events have shown that the 
 seed thus sown germinated; and altho' the harvest was 
 scarcely that expected hy the laborers ; time, and but a short 
 time only, we sincerely hope and believe, is but wanted to 
 wdnnow the chaff from the wheat ; and to gather in and 
 gamer the wholesome results, in place of that dead-sea fruit, 
 which has hitherto been presented to our offended taste aa 
 the outgrowth of the crop sown with so much labor, with 
 such anxiety for the common good..
 
 Extract from Fiji Timex, 3rJ Jane, 1871. 
 
 "One thing must be borne in mind that no Government 
 of any kind whatever can legally be formed solely by the 
 white race, or without the consent of the dominant chief of 
 Fiji, and Cakobau or as he is generally known to his people 
 Na Vuni Valu, is the only chief entitled to this distinction, 
 and in fact is the only one known to the world as the King of 
 Fiji, or that has ever executed treaties and received the 
 recognition " of foreign powers, whatever the supporters of 
 minor chiefs may say notwithstanding. Should these islands 
 be taken possession of by any of the powers whose sympathies 
 as a rule are not to be found with the English speaking 
 peoples, we should look upon it as nothing less than a great 
 calamity, and our readers may not be aware that opinions are 
 entertained in well informed quarters that some movement of 
 this nature may be expected before long ; we are, however, 
 comforted by a statement that the establishment of a Liberal 
 Constitutional Government would frustrate such intention. 
 It would also enable us to contradict with authority many of 
 the malicious and absurd statements constantly appearing, 
 particularly in Colonial and frequently in English journals 
 respecting the lawlesness. and outrages committed in the 
 South Pacific, both by natives and whites, all of which are 
 credited to Fiji, thereby lowering us in the estimation of order 
 loving people: Fiji is to a great part of the world a perfect 
 " terra incognita " and pandemonium, fit only as the refuge 
 for the outcasts of society ; it therefore should be one of 
 our first duties to remove ; if not, at least to correct the 
 unfavorable impressions. So far had we written, when our 
 attention was arrested by the King's proclamation, which 
 appears in our columns, notifying an important assemblage of 
 his chiefs on Monday next in front of the Wesleyan Mission 
 house, and inviting the attendance of foreign residents. What 
 does this mean ? It is evident by the proclan::ation that the 
 King has determined upon some course of action, and we now 
 await with extreme anxiety the result, and trust that whatever 
 steps he may have thought proper to take may be of such a 
 nature as to command the hearty and cordial support of our 
 fellow settlers in these dominions." 
 
 Still keeping the necessity for some recognised govern- 
 ment before its readers, or, as is more probable, but expressing 
 their decided wishes, the Journal from from which we quote, 
 points out how far it is necessary to form a combined or 
 mixed government, to the end that a calamity then forseen, 
 may not overtake the group. It states, in so many words, 
 that the whites alone, are incompetent, legally, to assert 
 dominion ; and that it is to Cakobau only, as the '* dominant 
 chief of Fiji," to whom the foundation for legitimate organised 
 action must be owing. The prospect of a Liberal Constitu-
 
 23 
 
 tional Government is hailed witli something more than 
 satisfaction ; the more so, as its estabUshment would give the 
 lie to those slanders, the promulgation of which, had done so 
 much to degrade this country in the eyes of the world ; and 
 even while the words of hope and gratulation were being 
 penned, the announcement was made that the King had called 
 together his chiefs and the. white residents, and invited them 
 to meet him at an early specified date. Well indeed might 
 anxiety for the results be extreme ; and heartfelt the trust 
 that the steps to be taken might might command the "hearty 
 and cordial support of our fellow settlers in these dominions." 
 Little w'as it then suspected that cunning artifice had been at 
 work, — that the unsuspecting nature of the King had been 
 played upon ; that self-agrandizement was the aim of a selfish 
 few, to be accomplished by the comparative degration of the 
 many ; that the cry which had so lowered Fiji in the estima- 
 tion of the world was indeed to be encountered and silenced ; 
 but that in its place it had already been determined that there 
 should resound, if possible with trumpet-call, the bugbear 
 strain of " Fiji for the Fijians ;" and ** Confusion to their 
 oppressors, the whites !" 
 
 The following manifesto was the result of the machina- 
 tions of the King's advisers : — 
 
 Extract from Fiji Times, 7th June, 1871. 
 Royal Cotnmission. 
 
 " Whereas we did urxder the Great Seal of Bau, assent 
 to a Constitution, agreed to and presented to us by the 
 European residents of these our domininons : And whereas the 
 solemn oath of allegiance to such Constitution has been duly 
 subscribed to by all the chiefs of the respective islands within 
 our dominions and it has appeared to us desirable that no 
 further delay shall take place in appointing the Executive 
 Ministry granted to us under such Constitution. 
 
 Know ye therefore, and these presents witness, that we. 
 of our especial grace, by virtue of oar own authority, and 
 also of the powers granted to us by the laws of Bau, do 
 constitute and appoint — 
 
 "First — Sydney Charles Burt, Esq., a member of our 
 Executive Council, as Premier and Minister of Finance, who 
 shall see faithfully executed, in the respective islfinds, all the 
 duties assigned to the following bureaux, \\z. : — (1st) Of the 
 internal taxes ; (2nd) of currency and coins ; (3rd.) of 
 Departmental charges and commissions ; (4th) of fines, 
 penalties, and forfeitures ; (5th) of Government realisations ; 
 (6th) of the Great Seal and Stamps. 
 
 " Secondly — George Austin Woods, Esq., a member of 
 our Executive Council, as the Minister of Interior x\ffairs, 
 who shall see faithfully executed in the respective islands, all
 
 24 
 
 the duties assigned to the following bureaux, viz. : — (1st.) Of 
 the survey and Sale of lands and the land office ; (2nd.) of 
 internsl improvement ; (3rd.) of marine. 
 
 ** Thirdly — John Temple Sagar, Esq., a member of our 
 Executive Council, as the Minister of Trade and Commerce, 
 who shall see faithfully executed in the respective islands, all 
 the duties assigned to the following bureaux, viz. : — (1st,) Of 
 internal commerce ; (2nd.) of external commerce ; (3rd.) of 
 foreign relations ; (4th.) of foreign imposts ; (5th) of 
 jaaturalisation. 
 
 " Fourthly — Ratu Savanaca, a member of our Executive 
 Council, as the Minister of Native Affairs, v^ho shall see 
 faithfully executed in the respective islands, all the duties 
 assigned to the following bureaux, viz.: — (1st.) Of guber- 
 natorial or native chief transactions ; (2nd.) of native 
 education ; (3rd,) of native judicial matters. 
 
 " Fifthly — Ratu Timoci, a member .^f our Executive 
 Council, as the Minister of War and Police, who shall see 
 faithfully executed in the respective islands, all the duties 
 assigned to the following bureaux, viz. : — (1st.) Of internal 
 insurrections ; (2nd.) of the civil constabulary ; (3rd.) of 
 the military. 
 
 " Sixthly — James Cobham Smith, Esq., a member of our 
 Executive Council. 
 
 *^ Seventhly — Gustavus Hennings, Esq., a member of 
 our Exeutive Council. 
 
 "And each of you shall be solely accountable to us for 
 faithful and lawful execution of the duties assigned to you, 
 and for the official acts of all the officers under you in your 
 several departments. And for so doing this shall be your 
 commission. 
 
 " Given at our Council House in Levuka, on the Island 
 of Ovalau, Fiji, this twenty-ninth day of May, in the year of 
 our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and seventy-one. 
 
 '* Signed Cakobau. 
 "W. M. Moore, Interpeter. 
 " W. H. Drew, Private Secretary." 
 
 In accordance with the King's request the foreign 
 residents attended the meeting convened by him ; and the 
 following report of the proceedings thereat, and of the action 
 taken thereon will explain its purport, and the feelings with 
 which its results were hailed. 
 
 Meeting of Foreign Residents. 
 " In answer to an advertisement in our columns, calling 
 a meeting for Monday last of foreign residents in Fiji, in front 
 of the Wesleyan Mission House, a large coxicourse of people 
 assembled there at the time appointed to witness the pro- 
 ceedings. CakobaUj with Messrs. Moore,. jDrew, Burt,
 
 26 
 
 Woods, -Sagar, Smith, G. Henniugs, and the Kev. Father 
 Breheret occupied the platlurm. Mr. JJrew came forward 
 and read the following address by Tui Cakobau : — 
 
 "To my Subjects and Foreign Eesidents in Fiji: — 
 The daily increasing forei2;n population in my dominions 
 introducing the customs, habits, and commerce cf hio-hly 
 civilised nations has caused me serious consideration. Many 
 foreigners have acquired by purchase and lease considerable 
 areas of land, upon which they are expending much capital, 
 and exercising great skill and labor. It is therefore clearly 
 evident that to preserve that perfect harmony which should 
 exist between the two races, to facilitate the increasing 
 European commerce, to estabUsh foreign relations, a properly 
 constituted government has become an absolute necessity. I 
 have therefore accepted the services of the gentlemen named 
 in my proclamation to form an executive to administer the 
 government in accordance with the constitution adopted in 
 1867 at the earnest desire of foreign residents, and accepted 
 by my chiefs who have been ruled by those laws alone. This 
 constitution is similar in principle to the Hawaiian govern- 
 ment, which has been in successful operation (upon a very 
 moderate expenditure) nearly forty years ; it provides for a 
 House of Representatives, civil and religious liberty, simple 
 and inexpensive courts of justice, and equal rights. The 
 labor question both foreign and domestic, is one wl^ch will 
 demand the most serious consideration of my advisers. My 
 relations with the chiefs throughout my dominions are of 
 the most friendly nature, and such as to ensure their united 
 support to this measure. The attention of my government 
 will be at once directed : — 
 
 *M . To measures for the adjustment of titles and 
 claims to lands. 
 
 " 2. To the survey and inanagement of public lands. . 
 
 "^ 3. The protection of European residents and property. 
 
 "4. The appointment of magistrates. 
 
 '*5. An adequate postal system. 
 
 '^6. A bank of deposit and issue guaranteed by the 
 Crown, and secured on public lands and revenues. 
 
 '*7. Thefederalisation of the various chiefdoms, and 
 the gradual blending of their interests with those of my 
 government. 
 
 ** 8. The recognition of my government by the foreign 
 powers with whom 1 have hitherto not had any intercourse. 
 
 " To you I now confidently commend my government, 
 conscious of its deep importance to yourselves, and under 
 divine providence the great future which its careful and just 
 administration will open for Fiji. 
 
 (Signed) -''Cakobau."
 
 76 
 
 "After Mr. Drew had finished, Mr. Aloore came forward 
 Bnd delivered it in the Fiji language for the benefit of the 
 chiefs and natives at the meeting. 
 
 " Ratii Timoei rose and proposed that the white people 
 should accept what the King had said. 
 
 ** Rata Savanaca setionded, and was glad to see the step 
 the King had taken. 
 
 ** The King then came forward and (through Mr. Moore, 
 as interpreter) said he thanked them for their attendance 
 there, and hoped they would approve of the step he had 
 taken, and that the chiefs of the country had agreed with 
 him. 
 
 *' This terminated the proceedings. 
 
 *' After Cakobau left the platform a cry of dissatisfaction 
 arose among the audience, and Dr. Marshall got upon the 
 platform to address the meeting when it was attempted to put 
 him off the stage, Lieut. Woods remarking that it could not be 
 allowed; it was Fiji ground he was on. But Dr. Marshall kept 
 his place, and Woods seeing it impossible to suppress him 
 ordered the chairs to be removed from the platform and the 
 guard to be dismissed. Dr. Marshall then came forward, 
 when a loud cry for a chairman was made, and E. S. Smith 
 was elected to that office. To supply the place of chairs a 
 form was gallantly raised from the ground and placed upon 
 the platform with a loud hurrah. Mr. Smith took the chair 
 (a mere matter of form) and addressed the meeting. Mr. 
 Marshall and Mr. Morey also followed, when it was found 
 necessary to adjourn the meeting to the Heading Room to 
 half-past 7 that evening." 
 
 *' Meeting at the Reading Room, 
 "An adjourned meeting was held in the Reading Room on 
 Monday night, at half-past 7, to take into consideration the 
 proceeding that took place in front of the Mission House 
 that day. 
 
 "Mr. Turner, being voted to the chair, said : Gentlemen, 
 — You all know the object of this meeting is to protest 
 against the proceedings that took place in front of the 
 Mission House to-day ; they were of a character that should 
 be consideied by the white population and it is to be 
 considered by you whether you approve of the form of 
 government that Cakobau has made. (Loud cries of ' No, 
 no.') It is a matter for Consideration and those who have a 
 stake in Fiji will come fotward and state for or against the 
 proceedings which took place in front of the Mission House 
 to-day. 
 
 " Mr. Mercy s He had a resolution to propose, but 
 first are we to be ruled by Cakobau and his Executive? 
 (Cries of *No.*) In other places members are returned
 
 27 
 
 hy the people and Cakobau was trying to make a govern- 
 ment without first consulting the white settlers. He 
 then read the following resolution : — * That in the 
 opinion of this meeting Cakobau has been misguided^ with 
 reference to the feelings and opinions of the white residents 
 of Levuka, but with all due sympathy with ^ Cakobau thia 
 meeting is willing to acquiesce with the appointment of the 
 native officers to work with the white residents or their 
 representatives, but intimate their intention to have the 
 nomination of such representatives reserved to themselves.' 
 H^re we hare Cakooau making a government of men we never 
 hea^d of before, mere adventurers ; and was it to be thrust 
 down our throats -without our approval. 
 
 "Mr.Turner: Gentlemen, have you heard the resolution? 
 I shall read it once more. 
 
 ** Mr. Duppa seconded the resolution. 
 
 " Mr, Niemann said, having b?en absent fVom Fiji for 
 some time he would like to learn who the yarious members 
 of the so-called government were. 
 
 " Mr. St. John would Hke the chairman to wait before 
 putting the resolution. He was an old resident here, and 
 might, therefore, be enabled to give some enlightenment on 
 the subject. In i 867 there was great trouble up the Rewa 
 river, and it was necessary to get some protection. He went 
 to Bau, and a meeting of all the residents took plac«. The 
 laws were read, revised, and assented to, and Cakobau was 
 recognised King ot the Bau dominions. But the work 
 devolving upon him as prime mover in this matter was too 
 much for one mind to compass, and therefore he (Mr St. John) 
 was compelled, though reluctantly, to relinquish his efforts. 
 The laws in question (compiled in great measure by himself) 
 were still in existence, and had been, since the time named, 
 the laws of the native population. These were the laws to be 
 given to the people now. 
 
 *' The Chairman did not recognise Cakobau ao King. He 
 would call their attention to the important fact that if they 
 submitted to this law its mechanism would probably entail on 
 us the support of a large official staff. The gentlemen whose 
 names appeared on the printed document issued that day 
 were already trying to rule them — to rule them at the point 
 of the musketl Why were they there? Bau laws were 
 a delusion. They (the meeting) had the resolution before 
 them ; they could approve of it or otherwise. He (the 
 chairman) was quite wiUing, for his part, to remain there for 
 three hours longer if it would facilitate the discussion of the 
 matter the meeting had met to consider. 
 
 **After the resolution had been read again, for the benefit 
 of those who had newly entered the room,
 
 28 
 
 *' Mr, Fcnnessy said that however objectionable might be 
 t)ie modp of initiating the movement they Imd met together 
 that niglit to discuss ; that however ill-advised and apparently 
 
 'unfavorable might be the auspices under which it had be^n 
 
 :, launched, still he was bound to say that, after considering the 
 matter without partiality or prejudice ho had come to the 
 coaclusiou that it. was a step in the right direction, the 
 dawning of better things to rollbw^ a promise of soniething 
 more like security for the dismif residents. It was well for 
 the people of Levuka to say *we will npt recognise Cakobau 
 for a King/ and to insist ori certain views they might 
 entertain ; but it was also well for the outside planters to 
 consider who tney had to appeal to else than Cakobau. On 
 an oc^'asion fresh fn their memories it had appeared desirable 
 to the whites to recognise Cakobau as King for the object of 
 recovering from his people, through him, the payment of 
 certain damages claimed in compensation for injuries to 
 Europeans. He (Mr. Fenuessy) would read a paragraph 
 from that day's Fiji Gazette^ in relation to the successful 
 operation in Hawaii of a form of government similar to that 
 which it was proposed to' institute here. * This constitution 
 is similar in principle to that of the Hawaiian government, 
 which. has been in .successful operation (upon a very moderate 
 expenditure) nearly forty years ; it provides for a house of 
 representatives, civil and religious liberty, simple and inex- 
 
 - pensive. courts of justice and equal i^ights.* (Applause.) 
 
 "The Chairn;an saidit was time some united and effective 
 
 'action were , taken by the community to improve their 
 condition. He had attended many meetings for the forma- 
 tion of a government and laws. 
 
 " ]\Ir. . Fenijessy : , And ^hat 'has resulted from those 
 meetings?. ,^ -.^ ', . 
 
 g " Dr. J. R. .P^yley was as anxious as any for a government 
 
 "—llegally constituted — and to have proper laws enacied and 
 carried into force. They had had charters innumerable 
 made over bottles of champagne. He (the speaker) had 
 attended the meeting convened on the hill that day for the 
 purpose of gathering some information, but no information 
 could be got there. As for the so-called *King' Cakobau 
 forming laws for them, they all knev^ that such laws were not 
 binding upon Europeans, being made in a country and by a 
 power not received into the family of nations. (Hear, hear.) 
 He would read aii amendment : — ' That this' meeting 
 desires to" express its strongest disapprobation of the 
 attempt made at the meeting in front of the Wesleyan 
 Mission House to-day to enforce on the population of these 
 islands, without even asking' their concurrence, an absolute 
 form of government under one of the native chiefs ; and to 
 resist any such form of government/
 
 29 
 
 " Mr. E. S.Smith seconded the amendment. He would say 
 that a petty chief has no power to make laws ; see what great 
 disturbancas occurred at Tonga, by making a King George, 
 and it would be the same if Cakobau was made king here. 
 What he would propose was a good working committee 
 formed from amongst themselves. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 *'Mr. Smith then proposed a furihei- amendment :-— That 
 this meeting expresses its anxiety to concert measures to have 
 a form of government, to insure the well-being, peace, and 
 security of the white inhabitants of I^evuka ; and for that 
 purpose we appoint Messrs. J. C. Smith, G. Uennings, J. Tur- 
 ner, J. Manton, T. Warburton, Dr. Ryley, Messrs. Morey, T. 
 L'Estage, Rogalsky, Grover, sen., Dr. Brown, Messrs. Towson, 
 R. Bentley, and the mover; five to form a quorum ; with 
 power to add to their number, to form a sub- committee, and 
 to report to and submit for public approval any measures they 
 may recommend.* 
 
 *' Seconded by Mr. Niemann and carried. 
 
 " Here some conversation took place between Mr. Morey 
 and Mr. Fennessy, when Dr. Ryley was asked -to read his 
 amendment again, which was unanimously carried. 
 
 "Soon after the foiTowing resolution was proposed by Mr. 
 Leggatt and seconded by Mr. Cripps : — ' That the opinion 
 of this meeting is, that Cakobau has been misguided with 
 reference to the feelings and opinions of the white residents of 
 Fiji, but that this meeting htreby express their sympathy 
 with Cakobau, and that this resolution be translated and sent 
 to Cakobau'.' 
 
 " After some further conversation on the last resolution, 
 Mr. Nicholl moved : — * That the resolutions adopted by this 
 meeting, be registered at the British Consulate, for the 
 purpose of being a protest against the self-elected ministrv of 
 Cakobau, in any interference with the liberties and properties 
 of British residents in Fiji.' 
 
 *' Mr. Horwitz seccndec!' this resolution. 
 
 "This motion was unanimously carried when Mr. Turner, 
 Mr. E. S. Smith, and Mr, Morey spoke at some length on 
 the * Self-elected Ministry ; ' and of their intention to have 
 the nomination of such members reserved to themselves. 
 
 " After a vote of thanks to the chairman (Mr. Turner), 
 the proceedings terminated. 
 
 " The meeting was well attended, the place being filled to 
 excess." — Fiji Times, June 7, 1871. 
 
 Even here, upon the very first blush of the surprise and 
 indignation naturally felt at the evident advantage taken of 
 both King and people by the palpable wire-pulling evidenced, 
 by the proclamation and its consequent address, no word of 
 disrespect is uttered against the King, nor is any blame 
 attributed to him personally. The whole of the proceedings
 
 30 
 
 resulting thereon is marked throughout by the same strongly 
 expressed wish for a government ; and the dissatisfaction 
 exhibited is not with the native element, nor with its King, 
 but at the march stolen by a few men ; some comparatively, 
 some completely unknown to the public ; upon their fellow- 
 residents. The aim and intentions of these gentlemen were, 
 EH subsequent events have but too plainly proved, lo establish 
 undjr the shadow o*' a shade, that of the monarchical cha- 
 racter of C;ikobau, a despotism which vv^ould enable them to 
 lord it over those whose labors really ha(i resulted in rescuing 
 Fiji from 'he state of dease barbarism in which it hadof old been 
 plunged ; and of relieving its erstwhile unenviable reputation 
 from those stains by which it had been heretofore disfigured. 
 ^J hat this scheme was not accomplished at the oiitset was not 
 owins; to the want of desire on the part of its projectors that 
 it should be so ; but the same caution which had enabled 
 them to veil their designs so completely from the ken of their 
 fellow-settlers, induced them to be wary, at least for the then 
 present, and to quietly bide their time to throw off the but too 
 transparent mask, until, lulled into security by their apparent 
 fairness and moderation, the justly aroused anger of those 
 who were to be the victims of their* lust for rule and power, 
 should be somewhat appeased. And this course was followed 
 implicitly, until by their specious promises and plausible 
 representations, they had to some extent, mollified that 
 righteous indignation which met their first steps. But, the 
 blight of falsehood rested on their unblest success ; and, but 
 too soon for the complete fruition of their schemes, was the 
 cloven foot allowed to show itself. The results of this first 
 revelation will be found in its proper order in our narrative 
 of events ; but we may here briefly state that part of them 
 was the re-construction of this self-elected, if not heaven- 
 appoioted ministry ; and the absolute retirement therefrom of 
 not the least talented of one or more of its members. 
 
 The popular sentiment upon the subject is thoroughly 
 expressed by the second resolution carried at the public 
 gathering that : — " The opinion of this meeting is that 
 Cakobau has been misguided with reference to the feelings 
 and opinions of the white residents of Fiji, but that this 
 meeting hereby express their sympathy with Cakobau, and 
 that this resolution be translated and sent to Cakobau." 
 
 The unanimous wish which was also expressed "That 
 the resolutions adopted by the meeting, be registered at the 
 British Consulate," would scarcely convey the idea of its 
 supporters being the opponents of regularly constituted rule ; 
 however much they might object to the exercise of a power, 
 unmistakeably usurped, altho' ostensibly bestowed ; and we 
 venture to assert that in the orderly, dignified stand taken 
 herein by those whose dearest interests were at stake, there
 
 3! 
 
 was nothing to shame even older communities, used as they 
 may have been to complete organization, and to the utmost 
 license jf speech consistent with the paramount claims and 
 influence of enlightened and constitutional rule. 
 
 The thorough bathos of some of the points in the 
 address which the King was made to utter, is so palpable, as 
 to be almost beneath criticism ; but as a practical comment 
 thereon, we will state a few facts in connection with some of 
 the leading matters to which the attention of the King's 
 ** Government " was at once directed. We will commence 
 with the "Survey and management of Public Lands;" and 
 will undertake to prove from the report of the Parliamentary 
 proceedings of 1872, that it was stated by Mr. Woods from 
 his place in the House, and in his capacity therefore of leader 
 of the Government, that there were no **Public" or "Crown" 
 lands (properly so-called) in Fiji ; the whole of the lands 
 vested in the King, being simply his private property ; and, 
 upon the occasion reterred to, great stress was laid by the 
 honorable gentleman named upon the intense patriotism of 
 his Majesty, who, as stated by the same authority, was willing 
 to cede them to the country as security for a certain loan 
 then proposed ; and which was subsequently negotiated, or 
 attempted to be so, upon terms so singularly advantageous — 
 to the proposed loan contractors. Too much gratitude can 
 therefore be scarcely expressed for the care and forethought 
 so considerately to be bestowed upon this subject. 
 
 The second matter which claims our thanks is the 
 promised "protection of European residents and property.'* 
 The murder of Messrs. Spiers and M'Tntosh; of Mr.Underwood; 
 of the unfortunate Burns family ; and of other massacres since 
 the date upon which we were favored with the imposition of 
 this truly paternal government, are so fresh in the minds of, 
 at least, the residents of this Kingdom, that we wiil not, by 
 any corrment thereon, reawaken the feelmgs of horror and 
 indignation which they so universally elicited ; but the mode 
 in which the forces, trained at the expense of a jjeople 
 already groaning under excessive burdens, are concentrated ; 
 their exploits under the experienced officers by whom they 
 are commanded ; the glcrious and effective results of their 
 warlike cairpaigns ; are they uot written in the chronicles of 
 the journals of Fiji, and shall they not in their due order be 
 made known! From the "protectitn" thus afforded, may 
 Fiji, in that brighter future which assuredly awaits it, be 
 iree ; so far as it has hitherto extendi d, we may wiih all 
 earnestness, hope to be spared a continuance thereof. 
 
 The protection which property has received is another 
 instance of the effective power of this puissant government. 
 The best and most practical proof thereof will oe found by 
 the publication of the ainount an^ nature of the claims made
 
 32 
 
 upon the Treasury as compensation for homesteads destroyed ; 
 cultivations laid waste ; stores ransackt'd ; and depredation, 
 accompanied not unfrequently by wholesale devastation, upon 
 •the plantations of peaceful and but too- confiding settlers. So 
 far as the means at our command will admit, we will furnish 
 an approxirnate list of these in the addenda to this work. 
 
 " The appointment of magistrates " has been carried oiit 
 to an extent and in a manner so thoroughly appreciated that 
 it is now generally considered that the *' post of honor is a 
 private station." There are certainly some good men on the 
 roll ; but they serve but to mark the glaring incapacity and 
 gross ignorance of the others. . Undeterred by the warnings 
 of other small communities, our rulers have made political 
 support the test of fitness for the roster ; and it may be fairly 
 allowed to them that, in the great majority of instances they 
 have succeeded in placing thereon as great a set of incapables, 
 men as destitute of the knowledge of the common principles 
 of law and justice, as ever delighted a Dogberry or a Justice 
 Shallow. 
 
 " A Bank of deposit and issue, guaranteed by the Crown, 
 and secured on PulDlic Lands and Revenues." Words of 
 pleasant promise ; but oh! of what delusive hope 1 A Bank 
 ef deposit and issue ! Deposit—of what ? Such coin as those 
 who recognizing the stability of the government guarantee 
 would at once hasten to deposit? And — issue of, we suppose, 
 the far-famed Fiji Treasury note! guaranteed by the sub- 
 stantial security of the '* Crown," upon the "Public Lands" 
 ' — there not being any ; and the "revenues to be wrung from 
 the depositors. But that this contains a matter too serious to 
 he dealt with lightly; and upon which we shall at once 
 remark ; we might indeed treat with well-merited scorn that 
 which at once bears upon it the stamp of ridiculous and 
 exaggerated assumption, and of a deliberate violation of faith 
 publicly pledged, and ruthlessly broken, as but too many 
 ruined victims know to their sad, sad cost ! 
 
 When the Government of the United States, with that 
 promptness which ever marks its action when the legitimate 
 interests of its subjects demand it, or the dignity of its flag 
 be insulted, imposed upon Cakobau afine of forty-five thousand 
 dollars, as a compensation for injuries inflicted upon some 
 American citizens ; and when, in consequence thereof great 
 apprehension existed as to the results likely to follow non- 
 compliance with the demands thus made, a number of enter- 
 prising business men, residing .in Victoria, conceived the idea 
 of at once benefitting themselves and the then comparatively 
 unknown islands of Fiji, by forming a company to pay the 
 claim, provided that, in consideration of so doing, they should 
 receive special advantages in the shape of a cession of certain 
 tracts of land, the riyht of a monopoly of Banking Instiiu-
 
 33 
 
 tions, &Co, &c., in that territory. As just slated, at this time 
 the country was comparatively unknown, and consequently 
 the value of the quid pro quo demanded, really insignificant 5 
 while the material advantages to be derived by the country 
 itself from the influx of population and consequent introduction 
 of cp.pital with all its inevitable results were, although pros- 
 pective, immense. As may naturally be imagined, Cakobau 
 was but too eager to meet the propositions tendered, with a 
 prompt and cheerful acquiesence ; and readily signed the 
 charter to the company, formed under these auspices, and 
 destined to relieve him from a situation so fraught with 
 disastrous consequences. On the one hand, there was naught 
 but absolute ruin and subjugation presented to his alarmed 
 gaze ; on the other, was immediate relief therefrom with a 
 prospect of raising the country to an eminence which, other- 
 wise, it could scarcely hope to attain for at least another 
 century. Allured by the hope of building up new homes in 
 a new state, and of sowing the seeds of an inheritance therein, 
 the harvest of which might be reaped by their descendants, 
 numbers of comparatively humble people in the Australian 
 colonies invested their little all iu this promising undertaking 
 and the " Polynesian Company " became a fact, and Cakobau 
 was, by its means, again a iree man. 
 
 We shall now proceed to point out how far the promises,, 
 solemnly made and subscribed to, were observed ; and with 
 what consideration the responsible ministry of Fiji Treated 
 those, but for whose implicit reliance on the treaty alluded to, 
 they could have never had a political existence, from the 
 simple reason that there would have been no King to have 
 called them into being, and no kingdom to have governed ; and 
 we conceive that we can scarcely effect this in a better way than 
 to lay before our readers the debate upon the matter which 
 ensued upon the notice of the Legislative Assembly having 
 been called thereto. The following report of the proceedings 
 will we hope, tend to ventilate this most grievous wrong ; 
 perpetrated so coolly and with so much effroatry at the coat 
 of unheard of suffering on the part of but too many of those 
 whose reliance upon the faith of Kings, has been practically 
 derided by the constitutional advisers of his majesty, 
 
 "Polynesian Coinpany Petition. 
 
 *' Mr. Sagar presented a petition from the chairman of 
 the Polynesian Company with respect to the proposal of 
 granting a charter to persons desiring to establish a National 
 Bank or other Banking institutions in the Kingdom of Fiji, 
 objecting to such charter being granted, on the ground that it 
 would be in violation of the contract entered into between the 
 King (before he was recognised as such), and the Company 
 mentioned, and moved that the petition be printed.
 
 34 
 
 " Colonel White seconded the motion. 
 
 " The hon. Mr. Woods objected to the motion, on the 
 ground that, in his private capacity, a public officer had 
 assailed the ministers, and made unwarrantable assertions as 
 to their actions. It was then proposed that the House should 
 fo into committee to discuss the question, and a division called 
 for which en bemg taken was as follows : 
 
 •• Ayes, G ; Noes, 6. 
 
 " The Speaker gave his casting vote with the noes. 
 
 *• The hon. Mr. Woods wished to know if it was per- 
 mitted for honorable members pecuniarily interested in & 
 question to vote on the same. 
 
 "The Speaker stated that according to the standing 
 orders, this was not allowed. 
 
 ** Mr. Sagar would move that a Select Committee be 
 appointed to take into consideration the allegations contained 
 in the petition just read, such coipmittee to consist of hon. 
 G. A. Woods, hon. H. C. Clarkson, Messrs. Bentley, Glenny, 
 Surphce, Ryder, and the mover. 
 
 "Mr. Scott wished to know if the standing orders had 
 been suspended, or if they had not been whether the motion 
 just read could be put to the House. 
 
 *' The Speaker ruled that to enable the question to be 
 put, the standing orders must be suspended. 
 
 " Mr. Sagar moved the suspension of the standing orders. 
 
 " The hon. Mr* Woods opposed, on the ground that the 
 appointment of a Select Committee to consider the petition, 
 would be a stultification of the Acts of the House, and that 
 the matter should be referred to the Koyal Commission which 
 was a tribunal competent to entertain and decide the matter, 
 and one that could do so more speedily and satisfactorily than 
 any Select Committee. 
 
 " Mr. Surplice voted for the motion in order that the 
 matter might be investigated, and on the grounds of the 
 necessity of justice being done to a large section of the 
 community. 
 
 " Mr. Tempest pointed out that this question must be 
 discussed to-day, as it was necessary that it should be settled 
 before the Bill relating to the Bank Charter could be 
 considered. 
 
 •* Some discussion in which Mr. Sagar, Mr. Wecker, Mr, 
 Burt, and Mr. Thurston took part, then ensued, and a 
 division was called for, and subsequently withdrawn. The 
 - motion was therefore negatived. 
 
 Charter for Bank. 
 
 " The hon. H. C* Clarkson moved the second reading 
 of a Bill to empower the King's Cabinet to grant a Charteif 
 or Charters uncler certain gouditions, tg person?, companies^
 
 or corporations, desiring to establish a National Bank or other 
 Banking Institutions in the Kingdom of Fiji, and gave a short 
 synopsis of its intended effect. 
 
 " Mr. SurpHce moved, as an amendment, that the second 
 reading of the Bill he postponed until Thursday, so that time 
 might be afforded to consider the position of the Polynesian 
 Company with respect to certain Banking privileges promised 
 to the Company by the King. 
 
 "Mr. Sagar seconded the amendment and the debate 
 was adjourned until the evening sitting. 
 
 "The Speaker took the chair at 6-30 p.m. 
 
 " Present : — Twenty-one members. 
 
 **Mr. Wecker thought that the second reading ot 
 this Bill should be postponed in order to allow honorable 
 members to consider the position of the Polynesian 
 Company. The preamble of the proposed Bill set forth that 
 the Company named had failed to carry out their engage- 
 ments, and that it was insolvent. He denied those statements 
 in toto and wished much to know who was the father of the 
 Bill, so that these statements might be traced to their source. 
 
 " Mr. Bentley contended that the agreement made with 
 the Company could extend only as far as Bau, as, at the time 
 the contract was made, Bau was only under the jurisdiction 
 of the King. There was no doubt that the Company was 
 entitled to a certain quantity of land, and no doubt the Govern- 
 ment would be ready to give a favorable consideration to their 
 claim. (Hear, hear, from Mr. Woods). He did not consider 
 the Company entitled to the privilege demanded — amongst 
 others that of exemption from taxes — which would tend 
 almost to make them an independent State. He should 
 oppose any postponement of the Bill now sought to be read. 
 
 " Mr. F. Hennings asserted that the Polynesian Com- 
 pany had effected a considerable amount of good ; and that 
 in rommon justice, every consideraticm should be extended 
 to them. 
 
 '* Mr. Eastgate did not beHeve that the Company was 
 prepared to carry out their own proposition, and thought it 
 would b«» absurd to expect they could establish a Bank. He 
 should, therefore, vote to go on with the Bill. 
 
 "Mr. Sagar thought that great injustice was being done 
 as well to the Polynesian Company as to others, who, 
 although not shareholders, bad become interested in its 
 operation. He would move that the hon. C. R. Forwood be 
 now heard at the bar of the House in support of the claims 
 of the Company. 
 
 " The hon. Mr. Woods could scarcely find words with 
 which to express his indignant surprise that a Judge of the 
 Supreme Court should be requested to appear as pn advocate 
 at the bar of that House. To show the disposition of the
 
 36- 
 
 Government, lie vroiild" read to the House certain documents^ 
 received from Mr. Forvvood extracted from the minute book 
 of the Company — with the Directors of which he, (Mr. 
 Woods) had, immediately on his arrival in Melbourne sought 
 an interview — which extracts would shaw the bona fides of 
 the Government. (The hon. the Minister here read the 
 extracts in question). He pointed out that the Supreme 
 Court was the tribunal before which this question could fairly 
 come and suggested that if the opposition could not believe- 
 the Government, they should advise the Company, whose 
 claims they were urging, to come before that jurisdiction. 
 He again assured the House that the Government was anxious 
 to satisfy these claims, and hoped that former acts taken in 
 reference to this matter would not be stultified by any present 
 proceedings. He believed, however, that the opposition was 
 factious and directed chiefly against him personally.. 
 
 " Mr. Glenny did not believe that the Company had ever 
 had a fair cliance of being paid their just dues. If the 
 Company had their claim favorably settled, they could obtain 
 365000 for their Banking privileges alone. The Government 
 had stated that they were desirous of settling this mattter on 
 a just basis. Why, then, d.d they not at once convey the 
 land without reference either to the Supreme Court or the 
 Royal Commission. The matter should be allowed to stand 
 over for a week, in which time the land now promised could be 
 conveyed ? The King— and he supposed the Ministry — had 
 been pledged to this ; and it should at once be performed. 
 Let this be done, and the stigma which now rested upon the 
 King and Government would be at once removed. 
 
 *'Mr. Burt was proud to say he had framed the Bill 
 which seemed so obnoxious, and had done so with a full 
 knowledge of all the circumstances. The Polynesian Com- 
 pany had until now, allowed their privileges ta lie dormant, 
 and now only sought that they should be granted because 
 this had become a white Government, and under its 
 rule the value of those privileges had become enhanced 
 to an extent which, at the time of such privileges 
 having been granted, could not by any means have been, 
 anticipated. It was only now, when a Banking Company 
 was prepared to start, that those advantages which had been 
 looked upon as worthless were sought. He was sure the 
 government were prepared to grant this land, and to give all 
 the facilities to the Company. He knew this as a member of 
 a former ministry^ and as being well acquainted with the 
 views taken by that at present in power upon the question at 
 issue. He believed that the whole question had been so 
 thoroughly ventilated, that it was now well understood. The 
 ireal question was as to whether the House should resuscitate 
 itbis defunct Company which was now no more able to carry
 
 . out its proposed privileges than it had been years back. The- 
 secret had been let out by the honorable member for Dreketi^ 
 by his own confesssion that the Banking right would now be 
 worth 585000 to this Company. Let that Company shew 
 they were in a position to cany out their promises, and if so 
 let the privileges sought for be granted. What good would 
 arise to the country or to the house by hearing a gentleman 
 who had already appeared during the last session, and failed 
 to prove to the satisfaction of honorable members that these 
 defunct privileges should be revived. He hoped these con- 
 siderations would have some weight with the House, and that 
 they would not allow the Bill now sought to be read to be 
 thrown out. 
 
 " Mr. Surplice failed to see how the charter of the 
 Company had become defunct, when it was to last for twenty- 
 one years. He wished to know what wrong had been done 
 to the country ? So far from that being the case the Com- 
 pany had been wronged, and grossly wronged, by the 
 treatment it had received. He contended that the Govern- 
 ment had its origin at Suva, where a meeting of which he was 
 chairman had been held, and in accordance with resolutions 
 there arrived at, he wrote to the King through the Private 
 Secretary, on the subject, some two months before any 
 government had been formed. He thought that the lively 
 interest which the Premier had felt in the affairs of the 
 Company while in Melbourne had cooled greatly since he had 
 left that colony. He hoped that Mr. Forwood — he so called 
 him now, because for the nonce he would be divesting himself 
 of his official position — would be heard at the bar of the 
 House in defence of the claims of the Company. 
 
 " Mr. Murray should Tote for the motion believing tha^ 
 there was nothing derogatory to the judicial position of Mr. 
 Forwood in his coming forward to vindicate the rights of 
 those whose interests had been entrusted to him. He would 
 support the motion for hearing Mr. Forwood, and then 
 exercise his own judgment as to his eventual agreement or 
 otherwise with what he urged. 
 
 " Mr. Otway although suffering from severe indisposition, 
 yet wished to place his opinion in this matter on record. He 
 thought it derogatory to the position of a Judge to come to 
 the bar of the House in advocacy of a cause which might 
 eventually come before him in his official capacity. He 
 disagreed altogether with the motion, and would vote 
 against it. 
 
 " Mr. Scott agreed with the last speaker, and though* 
 that when Mr. Justice Forwood was gazetted to the bench he 
 should have divested himself of any other character. The 
 prosperity of the country should not be allowed to be retarded
 
 3» 
 
 by the action of the Company, which had been the first 
 defaulter in the matter. 
 
 '•The hon. Mr. Thurston regretted that Mr. Justice 
 Forwood should have been invited to the bar of the House, 
 as he did not believe that gentleman had volunteered his 
 services. He deprecated the idea that any gentleman should 
 receive pay from the Government, and at the same lime from 
 other partiesl He endorsed the statement that the Govern- 
 ment was prepared to do all in its power to carry out the 
 engagements with the Company, with the original shareholders 
 of which he had considerable sympathy. Fiji, as such, was 
 certainly not liable to the Company, which had not done for 
 the country that which was asserted, and which could 
 scarcely said lo be defunct as, in his opinion it had never had 
 vitality . 
 
 " Mr. McConnell thought that the Ministry had beeu 
 unjust in assailing Mr. Justice Forwood in his private 
 capacity. (No, from Mr. Woods.) He thought that out of 
 courtesy to that gentleman he should be heard. 
 
 " Mr. Sagar in reply said that when he made the motion 
 just discussed, he did so in order that action might be taken in 
 support of the petition presented to the House that day. Mr. 
 Justice Forwood took office upon the distinct understanding 
 that his position with respect to the Polynesian Company 
 should not be affected thereby. (The hon. member here read 
 an extract from a copy of a letter addressed to the late Chief 
 Secretary, Mr. Burt, to that effect). He considered that Mr. 
 Forwood had been most unjustifiably assailed, and the com- 
 monest justice demanded that he should be heard. (Hear, 
 hear). 
 
 " The question * that Mr. Forv^ood be now heard at the 
 bar ot this House, in support of that petition presented by 
 him '* was then put and a division called for thereon. 
 "The result was — Ayes, 11 ; Noes, 10. 
 " Ayes, " Noes, 
 
 " J. B. Sagar •* R. S. Swanston 
 
 '♦ J. Glenny •• S. C. Burt 
 
 " T. W, White " C. H. Clarksoa 
 
 " F. W. Hennings " W. Scott 
 
 " D. W. L. Murray *' H. Eastgate 
 
 " T. King "A. Barrack 
 
 " O. Cudlip " H. Bentley 
 
 •* A. Tempest " G. A. Wood* 
 
 " E. Wecker " J. B. Thurston 
 
 " W. H. Surplice '• J. C. Smith. 
 
 " J. McConnell. 
 
 " The question was therefore carried in the affirmatlveo 
 " Mr. Forwood was then introduced by the Sergeant-at- 
 Arms, and took his seat within the bar of the House. 
 
 "The Speaker informed his honor of the resolution 
 arrived at, and
 
 39 
 
 " Mr. Justice Forwocd stated, that he regretted that the 
 petition presented by h.ai should have caused so much 
 ■discussion, or any inconvenience to the House. He thought 
 it .due to the position he held as a Judge of this Kingdom to 
 state his reason for thus appearing before the House ; while 
 he had every regard for the high dignity conferred upon him, 
 he had a greater regard for his personal honor, and he should 
 consider that he was unworthy of the position h? held, if he 
 allowed his private interests to interfere with those intrusted 
 to him in full confidence in his honor and integrity. Those 
 who could not protect themselves had selected him to do so, 
 and with God's help he would be true to them, no matter 
 with what result to himself personally. When he accepted 
 the office of Judge, it was upon the express condition, as well 
 written as verbal, that his connection with the Polynesian 
 Company should continue, and while the constitution provided 
 that no Judge should sit in that capacity where his private 
 interests were concerned, yet by acceptance of office he did 
 not abrogate nor divest himself of the privileges of a citizen. 
 While on the justice seat, he would do all that in him lay to 
 maintain its dignity and integrity, and he would not hold his 
 position for one single instant longer than he could do so 
 with self-respect ; and if it was thought that by taking the 
 course he had adopted he had done anything to affect his 
 judicial position, he was ready at any one moment to place his 
 resignation in the hands of the King. He was not One who 
 would take money of the King, and work against him, but 
 he looked upon his Majesty as a representative power, and he 
 well knew that without the consent of his advisers, the King 
 could not act. He contended that, whatever contracts were 
 made by the King of Bau, were equally binding upon him as 
 King of Fiji, and that in depriving him of the power to carry 
 out engagements made in the first named capacity, they were 
 bound to carry them out now, when the Royal territories had 
 been made the property of the Kingdom, the more so as it 
 was distinctly stipulated at the time the Government was first 
 formed, that all contracts and stipulations made by the King, 
 prior to that event, should be observed in their integrity. 
 The first Government in pursuance of this, had confirmed the 
 Charter to the Polynesian Company, and so far acknowledged 
 its validity. The Company had never broken its contract, 
 and had a perfect right to all privileges conveyed by its 
 charter, which consisted of two sections. The Company had 
 never undertaken to establish a Bank at any given time, but 
 simply had the right reserved to them of Banking privileges. 
 He held a certificate from the American Consul that the 
 money which had to be paid to the American Government 
 had been paid ; and when the 200,000 acres of land were 
 given to the Company, it would glftdly^ acid at once e^tabli&h
 
 40 
 
 a "bank, but it would have been the height of madness for any 
 Company to have sent down ^630,000 or ^640,000 to start 
 Banking operations in a place where no law whatever existed. 
 Had such an endeavor been made, the Courts of Victoria 
 would have stopped the outflow of money for such a purpose, 
 as the Directors of any Company, in their position of trustees 
 of the property of others, dared not jeopardise that trust 
 confided to them ; but such was the position of the Company 
 and its component members, that many of them could readily 
 pay the money advanced by the Company as a whole, and up 
 to the last moment of leaving for Fiji, a gentleman was to 
 have accompanied him who would have been prepared from 
 his own capital, to have started the Bank spoken of. It had 
 been stated that the contract had been broken by the non- 
 payment of the King's annuity, but let the Government carry 
 out the agreement made by the King, and that done, any 
 amount found to be due upon any claim whatever, could be 
 paid at once and five times over. If substantial justice was 
 to be done, it was quite prepared to carry out its contract, 
 and would not hesitate to give up extraordinary privileges if its 
 substantial rights were obtained. This was not a question of 
 disputed title to be referred to the Royal Commission ; it was 
 simply a claim to rights granted by the King. He thought 
 it was a new phase in the settlement of disputed matters for 
 a defendant to select his own Judge. That individual should 
 be perfectly impartial as between the parties, and should not 
 be selected by either of them. All officers or Companies are 
 amenable to a high tribunal, — that of public opinion, — and 
 whether it be the Government or the Company, they were 
 equally at the bar of that tribunal. He had no wish to claim 
 any monopoly of Banking for the Company, and only 
 demanded that justice should be done. It had been asserted 
 that the Company had been paid. This was not so and he 
 was prepared to prove what he stated. Until the powers 
 vested in him were repealed, he should act in defence of the 
 interests entrusted to him, and he should decline to go before 
 any tribunal appointed, like the Royal Commission, by one 
 side. That was an irresponsible body with appointment on 
 one side only, and having no referee or umpire to decide upon 
 matters in dispute. In the Banking Bill before the House, it 
 stated, in the recitals, that the Polynesian Company were 
 defaulters. For the information of the House, he stated that 
 this was not founded on fact, but was merely an ipse dixit, 
 and should not be accepted without enquiry first made, and 
 if the Select committee he asked for were granted, he would 
 be prepared to prove this. He considered the preamble of 
 the Bill before the House a direct attack upon the Company, 
 which, as its representative in this group, he had felt himself 
 bound to refute by the petition he had presented. It had
 
 41 
 
 •been slated that the Company was in debt to it-s own 
 -shareholders. This, he respectfully submitted, had nothing 
 to do with the House, whose plain duty it was to keep faith 
 with the Company itself, and let that body deal with its own 
 :affairs. If this contract were satisfied, then, and not till 
 then, would the Government be in a position to extend 
 fprivilege to others, such as was now proposed to be done, as 
 they were promised and confined to the Company he 
 represented. He was sure that it would be to the advantage 
 of the country if perfect faith were kept with surrounding 
 communities ; and if this were not done no reliance would be 
 placed in fiiture contracts. He thought the present position 
 of Fiji, so far as having a Constitutional King and Govern- 
 ment were concerned, was mainly owing to the good effected 
 by the Company, and it was not because instead of being 
 Chief of Bau he was now King of Fiji, that his Majesty was to 
 take advantage of his improved position t© repudiate his 
 contracts. All contracts to be executed in the future were 
 entered into with a view to advantages not present, but 
 prospective; and it was not because an improved aspect of 
 matters was presented,: that now the Company should be 
 prevented from carrying out its contract by the hiche of the 
 other contracting party. The Company had spared no 
 trouble nor expense in endeavouring to settle this matter. 
 Having sent down agent after agent for that purpose — but to 
 no effect. He had, last session, been heard at the bar of the 
 House in support of one portion of this subject, andHhanked 
 the House for the courtesy with which it had now listened to 
 his further explananation. His honor then withdrew. 
 
 " Mr. Murray moved that the standing orders be 
 suspended with the object of passing a vote of thanks to Mr. 
 Justice Forwood for the lucid explanation given by him 
 before the House. 
 
 " Mr. Sagar seconded tlie motion stating, in so doing, 
 that lie regretted that the Ministerial benches should have 
 been deserted while the learned Judge was addressing the 
 House. 
 
 *' Mr. Surplice, jNIr. McConnell, and Mr. King supported 
 the motion. 
 
 ''The hon. Mr. Woods would oppose the motion if be 
 stood alone in doing so. It had been decided that the Judge 
 should be heard as a private individual^ and now it was sought 
 to treat him as a Judge. 
 
 "Mr. Scott would also oppose the motion on the same 
 grounds.. 
 
 '*The hon. Mr. Clarkson could not sec why the House 
 should be called on to thank a gentleman who, upon his own 
 petition had been allowed (o plead at the bar of the House in, 
 support of his own client;?* One Minister Jiad been in the
 
 42 
 
 House the whole time, as » matter of courtesy, and others 
 had been doing the work of the country. (Here some hon. 
 members rising to points of order Mr. Clarkson stated he was 
 talking against time, and that other gentlenjen were prepared 
 to do the same). The hon. gentleman then went into some 
 matters of detail, and was followed by 
 
 "The hon, Mr. Thurston who stated it to be his 
 intention to vote against the motion. 
 
 *' Mr. Burt followed with the same intention. 
 
 *'Mr. Otway, Mr. Eastgate, Mr. Bentley, and Mr. 
 Murray, further addressed the House. 
 
 *^ The question was then put and a division taken with 
 the I'oSlowing result : — 
 
 "Ayes, 10; Noes, 11. 
 
 "It was therefore negatived." — Fiji Times, 2^Xh ivXy , 
 1872. 
 
 We believe that the history of legislation has never 
 depicted a state of matters more glaringly criminal than the 
 foregoing. It is but too common to find lalse steps being 
 taken through undue haste or <;arelessne3S ; but that upon the 
 very threshold of the institsiation of responsible constitutional 
 government, a deliberate and wilful violation of public faith 
 should be openly announced, not only covers those who 
 coianselied \\. with deserved ignomony, but, at once, classes 
 them as unfit to take the helm of public affairs. To wse 
 the Napoleonic maxim " it was worse than a crimey it was a 
 Mutjder,*^ What reliance could be reposed in those who, 
 undertaking the polical "education of a monarch unversed in 
 state-craft, could show themselves so ignorant of its very 
 elementary principles, as to cause their pupil to stray from 
 its merely alphabetical axiom f " Fiat justitia mat ccelum," 
 should be the watchword by which the honor, as well political 
 as personal, of the head of every State should be protected ; 
 and, if no consideration higher than that of mere expediency 
 were to be consulted, still is the error no less glaring. Here 
 we have found the King's faith pledged, and through his, 
 that of the Kingdom, to the bestowal of certain privileges, in 
 return for equally valuable requitals ; and at the very outset 
 of the exercise of his power as a constitutional ruler, he is 
 deliberately made to. ignore the most solemn obligations, 
 undertaken, it is true, before he assumed the regal diadem, 
 but none the less binding, upon or after that event. 
 Gratuitously stupid and useless, the ;innouncement of the 
 intention of the advisers of the King to establish "Banking 
 Institutions" could only be viewed as explanatory of their 
 determination to disregard all contracts entered into prior to 
 their assumption of place and authority, and consequently, 
 to cause their motives and actions to be regarded with distrust 
 and suspicion. Feeling, no doubt, that they had to deal with
 
 but a few iuaigiiificant coloulsts, they mer^^ed in the mere- 
 calculation of expediency, all ideas of ordinary justice, all 
 intention of right-doing. The merest provision of the 
 consequences of this most glaring wrong, would have sltown 
 them that its result could but raise a host of enemies, who. 
 would never cease demanding justice until they had succeeded? 
 in securing it ; and that the oufcry raised, would not be 
 confined merely to their conduct herein, but would, with 
 trumpet-blast call the world to witness the depth of 
 degradation to which statesmanship (heaven save the mark !) 
 could be lowered. In political as in private matters care 
 must be taken that the first principles of honesty form the 
 foundation upon which the superstructure of confidence and 
 consequent permanent success may be fairly hoped to be built; 
 and any disregard of that most important precaution, 
 endangers to a fatal extent the solidity of the most stately 
 structure, no matter with what architectural beauties it may 
 be adorned. But this manifest truth was completely below 
 the notice of such Lycurgii as the first responsible ministry ;. 
 experience having perhaps bought them that such old-world 
 notions were exploded ; and that skill and assurance had 
 completely dethroned the once cherished belief in integrity 
 and high-mindedness. 
 
 Of the two thousand acres of land to be ceded 
 to the Polynesian Company, but ninety thousand have 
 been granted ; and subsequent legislation tends to show that, 
 as. all lands for which Crown Grants have not been, issued are 
 to be vested in the King. There is no intention to keep 
 faith or make terms with the Company even for the very 
 land, to obtain possession of and settle on which, hundreds of 
 unfortunates broke up their homes and ventured their little 
 all, to the utter destruction in many cases of their prospects 
 present and future. Some of these have> after years of toil, 
 suffering and sacrifice, perhaps succeeded in nearly reaching 
 the position which they enjoyed before they heard of Fiji ; 
 but who shall say in how many instances, ruin, darker and 
 deeper than these pages may tell has befallen withers of these 
 unfortunates ! Blighted hopes, blasted prospects coimt for 
 little in the calculations of ministerial chances ; and the glory 
 and gain to be derived from having attained the dignified 
 position of Cal)inet Ministers in a semi-civilized state, more 
 than suffice to quiet any qualms to which the reflection of 
 desolation and misery caused by the attainment of such 
 distingushed political eminence may give rise. 
 
 One of two positions must be accepted ; either that the^ 
 Banking privileges granted for a period of twenty-one years ta 
 the Company in question were regarded both by the grantor 
 and grantees as being of material value ; or that the particular 
 announcement of which we are treating was tnade for the
 
 44- 
 
 purpose of mere grandiloquence and of adding weiglit to the 
 magnificent position of its authors ; such privileges being ii* 
 effect worthless ^ and, in their eyes, of no effective import- 
 ance. But, mighty as these gentlemen might or may he in 
 the estimation oi' a race whose ideas of wealth are, in the 
 great majority of histauces limited to the possession of u 
 spare sulu ;' there nuiy be others whose experience audi; 
 education having lifted them a little above the position 
 attained by the aboriginal inhabitants of these isles, may be 
 fairly considered in the matter; and to whose loudly 
 expressed remonstrances at a shameless violation of faith, some 
 little weight might attach ; the more so, wlien, no matter with 
 what questionable taste, they really do seem to feel aggrieved . 
 at the disregard of a compact, entered into upon their part with 
 perfect good faith. Their -aim so far as bringing Fiji into a 
 position of importance be concerned is obvious from their 
 stipulating for these very advantages ; as without material 
 commercial prosperity, the institution of a Bank would be 
 ■worse than useless ; but a cerfeain amount of capital and 
 educated enterprise having by their means been introduced, 
 their King released horn the apprehension of the country 
 being seized to satisfy a claim which except for outside aid it 
 could never have discharged, and matters therefore pro- 
 mising fairly ; what easier method of discharging obligations 
 than that of repudiating them ; what better mode of getting- 
 rid of importunate ei'editors than that of quietly ignoring 
 their claims ? Stamp out the commonest sentiments of 
 honesty ; pooh-pooh the idea jf contracts oeing binding ; 
 transgi-ess the most ordinary principles of truth and mutual 
 trust, and call it "statesmanship,'* and that word will justify 
 all 1 However, in the debate quoted, we find that the Premier 
 stated the Government did not intend to break faith with the 
 Polynesian Company ; so that apparently all the Company 
 has to do, is to quietly await the pleasure or convenience of 
 ministers to place them in possession of their rights ; and that 
 this will be shortly accomplished there can be but little 
 doubt ; the more so when we find that a sham charter has 
 been granted to aiiother Company, giving or affecting to give 
 much the same rights thereto,, as were to have been enjoyed 
 by that whose wrongs, seem in the minds of some to have 
 created ministerial rights ^ sueh rights as are exercised' b}'^ the 
 disregard of solemn compacts ;. by the substitution of a 
 despotism for that of legitimate rule ; by actions such && 
 those of September last, which by the very deed of Ministers 
 themselves put Fiji out of such. place in the scale of recognised 
 nations which it had ever occupied f But of this anon. 
 
 The great objection to the completion of the contract 
 with this Company seems to have been that, it was not until 
 the Banking, Bill, alluded to in the debate, was before the
 
 4:r 
 
 Assembly, that any steps were taken to bring the grievanees 
 complained of before that body. Those who supported the^ 
 Government upon this occasion seem to have lost sight of the 
 fact that Mr. Forwood had appealed to and addressed the 
 House upon the same subject during the previous session ; 
 and that the matter had therefore been left in abeyance, not 
 through any supineness on the part of those interested in its 
 equitable settlement, but from the carelessness or design of 
 those whose busineSvS it was to see that no delay should take 
 place where the good faith of the King was pledged ; 
 particularly when anything which might be fairly construed 
 into deliberate tardiness in the carrying out of a specific 
 contract, could but be fraught with danger to the reputation 
 of a community but so newly organized. The arguments of 
 those opposed to maintaining the agreement in its integrity 
 were of the weakest possible description, and needed only 
 the barest statement of facts to refute them. That which 
 either bore with it the impress of a most palpable absurdity, 
 or was in itself an argument fatal to the King's supremacy 
 was, that the contract was made by the " Chief of Bau " and 
 not by the King. Now, as the supporters of his Majesty's 
 position " by the grace of God," have always held, Cakobau 
 was the real and lawful monarch of Fiji, by right, and not 
 merely by consent. By the latter, he could not have assumed 
 the sovereignty, the allegiance of the powerful chiefs, saying 
 nothing of that of their people, not having been tendered or 
 demanded ; but as it was hotly contended, he was King. 
 King de facto if not de jure ; and that his recognition ag 
 such had merely to be required to ensure cheerful acknow- 
 ledgement. At any rate it was in that capacity that he 
 treated with the American Government ; and it was also from 
 that position that he negotiated with the Polynesian Company, 
 and graciously allowed them to become his creditors to the 
 amount of forty-five thousand dollars ; and it was therefore 
 to hhn and to his dominions — not to his title whether of Chief 
 or King that those interested, naturally looked for the return 
 agreed upon. Enough had surely been done on the one side 
 to prove its bona fides, and it was scarcely to have been 
 expected that more should be accomplished until their land at 
 least, was assured. Granting ninety thousand acres instead of 
 the two hundred thousand contracted for, would hardly tend 
 to cause implicit confidence to be reposed in the prospect of a 
 due completion of the arrangement entered into ; and on the 
 premises we fail to see any ground for complaint upon the 
 score of the non-payment of the King's annuity, &c. To use 
 a homely proverb *'fair play is bonnie play," and as had 
 been over and over again asserted and proved, the Company 
 was perfectly willing and prepared and indeed most anxious to 
 have the contract completed. The lache was all on the side
 
 46 
 
 of Fiji, and sucli being the case, the cool attenopt made to 
 deprive the other contracting party of oae of its nw)st vahied 
 considerations is only to be equalled by the miserable sophism^ 
 that it was only when the Company found that its rights were 
 being ignored, (for that is really the substance of the 
 so-called argument) that it brought forward its protest. It 
 may be that the gentleman charged with the conduct of it& 
 affairs, had been in the habit of regarding solemn promises as 
 binding under any circumstances ; and could not therefore 
 readily recognise the plea that a rise in position, admitting 
 that any such took place, should be allowed to bar the 
 execution or to violate the terms of a mutual pact ; and had 
 therefore no idea that its provisions would be ignored, save 
 that by constant agitation their completion would be ensured. 
 The effect of the course of action pursued herein, has been 
 more severely felt by the Kingdom than is generally supposed^ 
 as well in its moral as its fiscal position ; and the reception 
 accorded to the proposals for public loans by the respectable 
 monetary institutions of the colonies, and the floating of some 
 portion of them at a rate of interest which but too plainly 
 testified as to the estimation in which the security was held,, 
 sufficiently indicate the appreciation which the public faith 
 and credit of the Kingdom enjoys. 
 
 Circumstanced as Fiji is, just emerging from the depths 
 of barbarism to the confines of civilization, any failure to 
 move in an onward course, is and must be typical of 
 retrogression ; and if this apply to the Stcttey how much 
 more must it attach to its native inhabitants. How then 
 will those who seek to retain their political position upon the 
 grounds that they, and they only, can properly guard the 
 interests of the Fijians, justify their having retarded the 
 material progress alike of country and people by this double- 
 dealing policy, unless indeed they rely on the scriptural text 
 of **that which is sown in corruption shall rise in incor- 
 ruption ; " and gladly as they would doubtless like to see 
 their wrong-doing buried as a means to the end, they would 
 scarcely care any more than would those who estimate their 
 acts at their real worth, to cry — Kesurgam ! 
 
 To elevate the Fijian, Fiji itself must first be raised in 
 the scale of nations. If reckless assertion, unbounded 
 assumption, and a desire to exercise unlimited aespotie sway 
 can effect this, then indeed may this Kingdom confidently 
 take its position amcngst thos^ most mighty on earth ; but 
 the experience and traditions of ages are rather against this 
 experimental mode of calling a people into a recognised 
 poUtical existence. The forced hot-house fruit or flower may 
 exhibit its attractive scent or hue more quickly than that 
 produced by nature ; but premature decay and loss of beauty 
 but too speedily bear evidence of its ephemeral existence*
 
 47 
 
 ^0, a natron in tlie true sense of the word is not to be created 
 by proclamation aiid obstinate persistance in mere declaration. 
 It must "owe its rise to steady growth, to the effects of 
 ■education alike political as mental; and must be founded 
 upon the inculcation and assurance of the principles of 
 inviolate and inviolable truth being the sole sure foundation 
 upon which it can hope to attain any degree of eminence ; 
 and we contend that by having departed from this but too 
 apparent truism, those in authority have inflicted more real 
 injury upon the Fijian, have done more to retard his real, his 
 sub^antial progress, than has even his normal condition of 
 tmmitigated barbarism. His rescue from this was simply the 
 work of time and example ; his abihty to rid himself from the 
 practical lessons afforded by his instructors, grafted upon and 
 partaking as they do of his natural proclivities, is another 
 question ; the solution of which is, as yet, a Gordian knot, 
 scarcely to be unravelled in our day. 
 
 Of course the time is approaching, and with rapid 
 stride, when the selfish views of a few men will no longer be 
 allowed to stem the force of inevitable civilization and 
 enlightenment ; and when the real Hght does shine upon the 
 hitherto benighted beings who have been made the puppets 
 and stalking horses of those who, by the aid of their name, 
 have sought to satisfy the lust and greed foi power, the 
 revulsion of feeling jnay be imagined ; it can scarcely be 
 anticipated. The native element will soon see that it was not 
 against their rights that the war was waged ; but tliat ita 
 efforts were directed against the machinations of those by 
 whom really they had been deluded ; and who have vainly 
 endeavored to build up power on the ever shifting quicksands 
 of political dishonesty, intrigue and chicane ; and let those 
 who have thus acted be assured that their professions are 
 taken at their real value, — that their motives are and have 
 been tested by men as shrewd and practical as they ; by men 
 whom their sophistry cannot blind, nor their threats deter ; 
 and by whom their every act is weighed with scrupulous 
 exactness, and measured by the unerring gauge of probity and 
 experience. 
 
 ** The federahsation of the various chiefdoms, and the 
 gradual blending of their interests with those of my govern- 
 ment," is the seventh clause in the proclamation, and 
 conveys to the reflecting mind very serious Inatter for 
 consideration. If Cakobau were in very truth the King, 
 exercising an undisputed sway, whence does the necessity 
 for '* federahsation'* arise.'' Does not this announcement 
 at once proclaim that the chiefs of the various districts had 
 to be consulted upon, and their assent gained to, the publication 
 of authority ; and interests which might be adverse to 
 the rule of King and Ministers recouciled ? la fact
 
 thai a premature declaration had been made of tlie possession 
 of a power which had, really, no existence ; and the assertion 
 of which might lead to internecine war between the King and 
 those who would, as we see they have, in snch case be styled 
 rebels. There is at once ?, confession, not only that there 
 are various chiefdoms to be conciliated, but also that their 
 interests are not coincident with those of the new 
 government ; so that it is at once apparent that but very 
 little more care had been exercised to ascertain the wishes of 
 the native rulers, than had been shown with respect to the 
 white residents. It is but comparatively a short time since 
 the government were at all easy in their minds as to the 
 adherence of some of the most powerful chiefs ; and whether 
 their present affected belief therein be sincere, is, as is well- 
 known, a matter of grave question. Of the mode in which 
 some of them have given their allegiance, we shall treat in due 
 course ; but the fact that the persuasive effects of bullet and 
 steel have been brought to bear in at least one instance, is a 
 matter of too much notoriety to need comment. The white 
 population may be well excused if they stood aghast at the 
 announcement that Fiji possessed a King ; when even its most 
 powerful chiefs had not been apprised thereof ! 
 
 "The recognition of my government by the foreign 
 powers with whom I have hitherto not had any intercourse," 
 the concluding matter to which "the attention of my 
 government will be at once directed," is almost too good. 
 So far as Fijian history shows, the foreign powers with which 
 the King had enjoyed intercourse, were those of the shot and 
 shell liberally offered by America upon the occasion of the 
 Polynesian Company having come to the rescue ; the other 
 " foreign powers " only comprised the rest of the civilized 
 world ; a mere bagatelle to the " government," with whom 
 to proclaim was to be obeyed ; to express a wish, and, lo ! it 
 would become an accomplished fact. 
 
 Well, recognition was sought; was in a measure obtained ; 
 but, as we shall show in its due order, has ceased to hey 
 through the suicidal act of Ministers themselves. Drunken 
 with power, they have, in their yearning after absolute 
 despotism, overthrown and toppled from its high estate the 
 very Kingdom of Fiji ; and they have succeeded in reducing 
 it, so far as its absolute political status be concerned, *almost 
 to its normal position. They have abrogated one Constitution ; 
 we think they will fnid it difficult to point out how they have ^ 
 replaced it ; or by what tenure they exercise authority over 
 other than the Fijian race. The course laid down for our 
 guidance will not allovp us to anticipate the historical order of 
 events ; but we shall shortly proceed to show the truth of 
 that which we have now stated ; and the manifest facts, will, 
 we believe, ^ati^fy the mo^t sceptical of our readers.
 
 43 
 
 The last paragraph of the address should, if they evet 
 read it, bring a blush to the faces of even Ministers. It is, 
 *' To you I now confidently commend my government, 
 conscious of its deep importance to yourselves, and under 
 tiiyine providence the great future which its careful and just 
 administration will open for Fiji." Of the wording of this 
 peroration we shall say nothing ; speeches from the throne 
 being rather distinguished for that absence of grammatical 
 construction by which less dignified productions are 
 trammelled ; but how has the hope expressed therein been 
 realised ; and where is the " careful and just administration " 
 upon which the great future of Fiji depended? The 
 government has proved of *' vast importance to" — Ministers; 
 — to them, it is of vast importance still ; it 7nay prove of 
 vast importance to all, if those of whom it may be formed 
 \vill be guided by some of the ordinary principles by which 
 civilized states are ruled. That great future, might have 
 been in a fair way of being realized, had a careful and just 
 administration been exercised ; but the means taken in the 
 endeavor to perpetuate a system of wrong- doing and a 
 thorough want of those liberal and enlightened ideas which 
 form the only true basis of satisfactory government, have 
 resulted, as might have been foreseen, in having secured for 
 Fiji a dissatisfied King, a justly discontented and indignant 
 people, and in righteous scorn and contempt for those who 
 have thus paltered right, and shamelessly glorified the wrong, 
 merely for their own aggrandizement and benefit ; as \rill be 
 most thoroughly shown as their proceedings, with the 
 consequences thereof, become further developed. 
 
 Having thus followed another step in the political 
 history of Fiji, we shall proceed to further show what was 
 the public voice on the matter at the time of its occurrence ; 
 and to do so, will again quote from the journal to the columns 
 of which we are already so much indebted. 
 
 " The present state of Fiji politics is a subject fraught 
 with peculiar importance to the country, and interest to its 
 inhabitants. On the one hand we have a King and people 
 lately emerged from barbarism. To them despotism is a 
 normal institution. On the other we have an intelligent 
 and energetic white population, accustomed to freedom, yet 
 desirous of law and order. To them government is a normal 
 institution. To unite these extremes under one constitution, 
 is the problem at present occupying public attention. 
 
 "That a large Anglo-Saxon population should wake up 
 one fine morning and find itself under a system of government, 
 of which nothing was known except the names of the 
 Executive, was to say the least startling ; and the fact very 
 naturally provoked irritation and hostile criticism both of the ' 
 measure and of the men fjo prominently brought forward.
 
 50 
 
 The explanation somewhat tardily afforded by the King and 
 his advisers, has it is true, somewhat allayed the extreme 
 hostility with which the coup d'etat was first met. The 
 pledge given that no important measures would be introduced 
 till delegates from the different districts had considered and 
 assented to a form of constitution, satisfied the people that 
 every man would have his fair share in the making of the 
 laws by which he would be governed. 
 
 "An important question arises, which of the various 
 districts will send their delegates, thereby recognising the 
 step taken by the King. That the whites in the known Bau 
 dominions will do so is almost certain. That those in 
 dominions governed by other chieftains, who have forgotten 
 or ignored the old Bau constitution (which has lapsed by 
 effluxion of time), should send with the idea of joining a 
 government which at present has no power in their district, 
 is hardly to be expected. The great object needed is first to 
 consolidate the parts of Fiji over which Cakobau has 
 undisputed sway ; when this is done, there is little doubt the 
 other chiefs will ally themselves with the strong mixed 
 government of King, chiefs, and whites, which can be formed 
 from the districts responding to the King's call. 
 
 *'That delegates from the other parts of Fiji should 
 acquaint themselves with the proposed constitution is 
 but reasonable, but their presence should not be taken 
 as necessarily implying the allegiance of their distrjcts. 
 Even when the delegates meet, there is by no means 
 plain saihng before them — many seem disposed to ignore 
 the King's action with regard to his choice of ministers, and 
 desire a commencement de novo. The machinery however 
 is started and we think it would be wiser to reserve opposition 
 till the constitution is before us. To predict a future would 
 be premature. The chief lesson to inculcate at present 
 is for each party to beware of allowing political rancour or 
 even political self-seeking to thwart any efforts whether 
 started by one section or another, which may tend in the 
 formation of a state — which wisely and prudently governed — 
 should have a brilliant and lasting future before it "—Fiji 
 Times, 17th June, 1871. 
 
 Had the writer of the paragraph above quoted published 
 his remarks in September, 1§73, instead of at the date 
 appended to the extract, he might have been deemed as being 
 a prophet after the event. How thoroughly has the course 
 of recent occurrences borne out his ideas. To the King of 
 Fiji and his people, " c?e^o^t«m is a normal institution.^' If 
 the facts of the then present and the experience of the past 
 were not sufficient to fully justify his words, the results of 
 oyer two years of government under constitutional rule, 
 culminating aa they eyentually did in the eager ^cc^ptanee of
 
 what was virtually a despotism, have fluffioiently testified to 
 the truth of his observation, and of the natural bias of the 
 native mind. If we could believe that the willingness with 
 which the nuriification of the constitution was received by the 
 King and his subjects, was the result of any exercise of the 
 reasoning faculties, we could then readily understand that, to 
 their minds, the prospect of ani/ mode of government tending 
 to supersede that which, through mal- ad ministration ana 
 guilty disregard, had proved so fruitful a source of dis- 
 3atisfaction> would be hailed with readiness and content ; but, 
 failing that hypothesis, the matter can be viewed but from 
 one point ; and that is that the ministry, or rather those 
 gentlemen who do duty as, and aifect to represent that body, 
 finding that they could not govern constitutionally, with any 
 satisfaction to themselves, fortunately hit upon the notabli 
 plan of substituting for that which had been accepted by the 
 inhabitants of the group as a government, a scheme which, 
 while it would pander to the desires of the former rulers of 
 Fiji, inasmuch as it affected to restore to them a modicum of 
 the power they were wont to exercise, would also securely 
 place his Majesty's advisers upon a pinacle of might whence, 
 unassailable by the sharp pointed barb of responsibility, 
 they might look down upon and rule, even as they deemed 
 best, those unruly spirits who, ignoring their infallibility, had 
 hitherto presumed to come 'twixt the wind and their 
 nobility. Despotism, pure and simple, was, and doubtless 
 still is, their aim. Despotism, suiting the experience of King 
 and people ; and to the exercise of which, distasteful, as of 
 course it would be, to the liberal and high minded Messrs, 
 Woods, Thurston and Co., they would consent to reconcile 
 themselves ; in order that their heaven directed mission 
 might be carried out in its integrity. But, to the "intelligcilt 
 and energetic white population, accustomed to freedom, yet 
 desirous of law and order, government is a normal institution." 
 This, implying the necessity of a governing power being 
 trammelled by law, does not, apparently, meet with such 
 ready acquiesence from these gentlemen. A wholly irrespon- 
 sible power, unfettered by aught that could by any possibility 
 interfere with such Utopian visions as an absolute sway would 
 naturally evoke, was better suited to the ministerial mind ; 
 and the "extremes^* which formed the " problem occupying 
 public attention" were eventually to be reconciled by the 
 simple remedy of a despotic government ^ which appealing to 
 the sympathies of both races ; — despotism, to those of the 
 native, — government, to the proclivities of the while inhabi- 
 tants; — V70uld happily tend to heal all sores, and to ensure 
 the prevalence of a thoroughly harmonious feeling among all 
 classes. Unfortunately for these Solons, they found that the 
 attempt to graft a Draconian code upon that tree of liberty.
 
 r-O- 
 
 ■Hilder the shadow of which the biFthright of fFeedom or 
 thought and action had fructified and flourished, gave but a 
 meagre result ; and but aridity and barrenness presented 
 themselves in place of the fruitful crop they had fondly hoped 
 to gather. That blood which, e'en before the mighty Caesar 
 had established his sway, had been poured out as water to 
 maintain intact, liberties and rights dearer than life itself, and' 
 which ever since that time has needed hut the whisper of 
 .tyranny to raise it to. fever heat, was found to run in na 
 sluggish stream, nor to have degenerated from the purity of 
 the parent source ; and the would-be oligarchs found that 
 their safety lay in temporising and affected compliance with 
 the wishes of those whom they would fain have ruled with an 
 iron rod ; and tardily and unwillingly enough was the pledge 
 given that the people, through their duly elected delegates,, 
 should consider and assent to a constitution; by the 
 provisions of which, whatever they might be, they were 
 wilHng enough to be bound. 
 
 Although some reasonable douht was expressed as to the- 
 probability of the residents of districts, in which the 
 sovereignty of the newly proclaimed monarch was not yet recog- 
 nised, sending delegates to represent them, and to aid in the 
 formation of the proposed constitution, it was found that the 
 suggestion that they should do so met with a ready and 
 cordial response; and the published hope that a "strong 
 i mixed government of King:, chiefs and whites " would be 
 formed, seemed to be in a fair way of being realized ; andi 
 special stress was laid upon the advisability of not permitting 
 political or party feeling to interfere with any scheme having 
 for its object " the formation of a state — which wisely and. 
 prudently governed — should have a brilliant and lasting 
 future before it," 
 
 We need scarcely point enit the moderate and reasonable 
 tone which marked the reception accorded to the unexpected 
 • proclamation of the intention of Cakobau to assume sovereign 
 state. The only fault found was with his ministry, and the 
 secrecy of their doings. They had, in fact, been too clever 
 for their own eventual success; but had they have acted 
 openly, and so placed their motives above the suspicion of 
 double dealing and seeking only their own aggrandizement to 
 the prejudice of their fellow settlers, they would have mcit 
 with cordial co-operation and support ; the justly founded 
 exceptions taken, to their conduct would have never been 
 heard, and they might have inaugurated a peaceful and 
 harmonious rule. But this was not to be ; and the record of 
 their ulterior proceedings will provs with how much justice 
 they were regarded with suspicion. The following article,, 
 written at the time, will best serve to show the populac- 
 feehng on the subject •-■ —
 
 "The meeting held on Thursday night is one worthy of 
 fiomment. It was held for the purpose of receiving the 
 report of the committee appointed some time back with 
 reference to the formation of a government. The position of 
 parties is this :. — Several gentlemen put themselves into com- 
 munication with Cakobau, to endeavor to induce him to form 
 a government, in which the two races were to form a part ; it 
 was to be a mixed government. They succeeded in their 
 endeavors, and Cakobau named his ministers — Europeans and 
 natives. The matter, however^ was kept close, so that at a 
 .pageant the whole transaction might burst upon the settlers 
 
 • with startling suddenness. The proceedings) however, were 
 not happy. Whatever the effect may have been upon the 
 
 , native mind, the European looked upon the whole transaction 
 with, disdain, and felt insulted that a few merv should have 
 taken upon themselves the initiation of a movement of such 
 
 • vital importance without consulting their fellow settlers, or 
 asking their co-operation in any way. Indignation meetings 
 were at once held, and the result was a committee to prepare 
 the repoit which was adopted last Thursday night. 
 
 "The question was not, will we or will we not have a 
 government : but how, upon what basis is it to be founded. 
 Not one gentleman present but who was ready to admit the 
 desirability and necessity of one, but all were of opinion that 
 the general public should hear and have a right to speak 
 , upon the subject, without its being, as it were thrust upon 
 them. The same action as that taken by the government, in 
 calling for the election of deputies, who are to meet in Levuka, 
 was advocated in the report ; so that virtually it was nothing 
 ' more than a public censure upon the ministers for the manner 
 . in which they had acted. A good deal was said about their 
 having acted illegally, and unconstitutionally, but this is 
 not correct, for where there are neither laws nor a con- 
 stitution, a person, or a corporate body cannot do either;, 
 the illegality only exists in the mind and is the result of 
 circumstance. Although, without laws, and not possessing a 
 constitution, we can, as one of the speakers remarked, make 
 both for ourselves, and the first duty of our representatives 
 will be to do so. We do not know what action the committee 
 intend taking noyr that their report has been adopted. Will 
 they advertise the elections of members, as the government has 
 already done, or now that they have shewn the state of public 
 feeling to those away from Levuka will they let the matter 
 remain in abeyance, and allow the present ministers to carry 
 out the elections, watchful however against any innovation.? 
 For what is the present government more than a body 
 organised for making the mere preliminary arrangements 
 for the formation of a representative government? As 
 at present organised it is a nominee one, but althoughu
 
 54 
 
 nomineeism or despotism may go down with the natives, who 
 from time immemorial have submitted to the will of their 
 chiefs as law, the time for such rule over our race has long 
 past. And the members of the present organisation under 
 Cakobau have no right or power to impose dues or rates of 
 any kind until at least an assembly and a constitution grant 
 it them. If they are allowed now to arrogate powers to 
 themselves, not only will it be a bad precedent, but may also 
 he fraught with danger to ourselves, it might cause a collision 
 even between the two races, for no British population will 
 submit to anvthing they may consider ns infringements on 
 their liberty. For measures of pressing importance such as are 
 necessary for the public well-being — sanitary ones for instance 
 where an outlay is most necessary — even for this the ministers 
 would have to give an account, and might either stand or fall 
 by their action. These men must not be nominees, we must 
 have our own ministers, — the peoples choice — and this in a 
 manner that must be zealously watched. Whoever acts in 
 promoting the elections, we would urge upon them the 
 necessity for promptness, to have the returns in to the time 
 now stated. We would wish to impress upon all the districts 
 the vital -importance of the question at issue, and the 
 desirability of their being represented. And on all, for union 
 towards gaining the desired object of a goveniment/' — Fiji 
 Times, 24tb June, 1871. 
 
 The proclivities of those who had thus seized the rein§ 
 of power, seem, even at this early stage of their political 
 existence to have been well understood. It was but the 
 natural result of reflection to believe that men who had thus 
 grasped at authority, would not be too nice as to the mode 
 by which they would perpetuate their hold thereon ; and the 
 fear expressed that their unscrupulous determination would 
 eventually be fraught with danger to the liberties of the 
 people, was, as events have proved, but too well founded. 
 To utilize an old saying, which we will for the nonce venture 
 to adapt to the circumstances, their motto seems to have 
 been " Govern, honestly if you can ; but, at any rate, 
 govern,'* but that this fixed intention might be attended with 
 as httle danger as possible, an urgent appeal was made to the 
 districts to take the steps necessary to enable them to send 
 delegates by whom their interests might be watched and 
 guarded ; but above all, it was sought to impress upon the 
 minds of all, the necessity of a harmonious co-operation, so 
 that the •* desired object of a government" might be 
 attained. 
 
 When so much anxietv was shown for the institution of 
 recognised authority ; when, despite the dissatisfaction so 
 loudly expressed at the King's nominees ; the people, and by 
 this term we do not mean the mere inhabitants in Fiji, bat
 
 55 
 
 those "who V>v experience and education were enabled to form 
 some judgment on the>e matters ; were so ready to give their 
 cheerful adherence to any plan having for its object the 
 mstitution of a stable government, what groimds can be 
 found for the wretchedly false representations that they are 
 averse to all rule ? That they have entered their decided 
 protest against an assumption of power wholly unwarranted ; 
 that they have objected to the illegal acts of two or three 
 men whose only right is the brute force they can bring to 
 bear, is undoubtedly true; but that they object to a 
 constitutional government is as untrue as are the minds from 
 which the assertion emanated. 
 
 It is no doubt lamentable and to be deeply deplored, but 
 it is no less a melancholy fact, that the great bulk of people 
 here, can see nothing in the antecedents or present career of 
 the Fijian ministers, — we can scarcely call them the ministers 
 for Fiji, — but, what to avoid. So far they have been useful, 
 and when others utterly opposed to them as well in mind a3 
 m politics assume the reins of power, we may have a Cabinet 
 ^'ho may consider that honesty is the best policy, and who 
 will consent to walk in the paths of moderation and consider- 
 ation, and not lose themselves and those who trust to their 
 guidance, in the devious and crooked track of sophisticated 
 falsehood and chicanery. 
 
 Previously to this proclamation of Cakobau, some endeavor 
 to place themselves under a constituted authority, had been 
 made by the residents in Loma Loma, governed by Maafu ; a 
 most astute and powerful chief, although not a Fijian by birth ; 
 and this personage readily gave all his assistance towards the 
 formation of rules by which the relative position of the two 
 races would be defined, and the bounds, beyond which neither 
 should step, be marked. But, some time subsequently to 
 that date upon which we were informed that Cakobau had 
 assumed the sovereignty, we find Maafu speaking and acting 
 as if the Windward Islands could not be affected by any 
 matter which might arise in Ovalau.; and the following extract 
 from a speech delivered by him to the natives at a meeting of 
 both races, held on the 1 6th June, will serve to show how 
 little he was aware of the important movement taking place 
 80 near to him, and therefore, how improbable it is that 
 his adherence or consent thereto had been soUcited : — 
 
 •* Maa/us Speech. 
 •• There are many of you whose unauthorised acts and 
 words impUcate me. If one of you by act or speech annoys and 
 troubles a white man, it is I who have to bear the blame, and as 
 I know that many of you have repeatedly been guilty of that 
 about which I am now speaking, so I have been repeatedly 
 blamed for acts of which I am innocent. There is a feeling
 
 56 
 
 abroad t'hat 1 am the cause of the dissatisfaction of the whites 
 ^nerally with my government and my interests in Fiji, but I 
 tell you the cause of such dissatisfaction can be traced to 
 some of you ; those minor acts and petty offences especially 
 with regard to interfering with buying and selling, and of 
 -which many of you have been guilty, are the source of much 
 of that ill-will so many white men bear me. I have suflPered 
 for this long enough, and I now command you to mend your 
 -ways. The first complaint which reaches me from a white 
 man about any one of you, whether chief or not, whether 
 Fijian or Tongan, shall be redressed in such a manner that 
 few of you will dare to be guilty another time. I want to be 
 •on terms of friendship with the whites, and I will shelter 
 them from those evils which sprijig from your ignorance and 
 would be cleverness. Those amongst you -v^ho are so clever 
 that they can advise others as to the .principles of trade let 
 them show me their cleverness in exhibiting good houses, 
 large plantations and decent apparel. I have noticed that the 
 clever ones amongst you are idlers, nor have they anything 
 about them to justify their giving advice to others, I want 
 no advice from any of you, and I repeat that each man shall 
 please himself as to his buying and selling." — Fiji Times j 5 th 
 July, 1871. 
 
 We can but admire the sound sense of the address thus 
 delivered to the subjects of Maafu, but must believe that it 
 is the declaration of one who feels himself in the position of 
 an independent chief; and not in that of a vassal or subject. 
 His present position, that of Viceroy, sufficiently testifies as 
 to the value set upon him by the government, and it is more 
 than whispered that the love with which they regard him is 
 not of that perfect kind which casteth out all fear. He is 
 certainly the most popular and beloved chief in Fiji ; and hi3 
 great natural ability not unmixed with a certain dash of 
 Machia'velism, renders it decidedly more politic to concilate 
 than to thwart him. We shall have to dilate at a somewhat 
 greater length upon the position occupied by the great heads 
 of the Windward Isles as we proceed with this work ; and 
 have merely introduced Maafu incidentally at this stage, to 
 show how far from being general was the supposed allegiance 
 of the tribal rulers to the newly-proclaimed King. 
 
 We here append a report of part of the proceedings at a 
 meeting held at Nadroga at about the same time, merely 
 premising that the tone thereof was perfectly in accordance 
 with the Chairman's speech. 
 
 " Meeting at Nadroga. 
 ** The chairman in stating the objects of the meeting, 
 among other things said a large majority, if indeed not all the 
 settlers of the district (perhapsj he had better ^ay the group)
 
 0. 
 
 would he felt certain agree with him. in the opinion that a 
 stable and a liberal form of government ought of right to be 
 organised in the Fijis, Several efforts have been made on 
 former occasions, and an effort was now being made to 
 accomplish this object, and the parties at the head of the 
 movement had invited the settlers of the different districts in 
 the islands to send up delegates to amend the old or form a 
 new constitution. For his own part he was anxious that a 
 government should be formed, but he confessed he disliked the 
 men whom Cakoban had selected as his advisers ; lie disliked 
 the course of action those men had pursued, and he disliked 
 Cakobau himself, and farther, he believed that in giving utter- 
 ance to these views, he was but expressing the almost unanimous 
 opinion of the Nadroga planters, and a majority of the 
 thinking men of the group. Again he did not in any way 
 recognise the authority of Cakobau, neither did Rata Kine, 
 the chief of Nadroga, in any way recognise the authority 
 of Cakobau. It had been a question in his mind whether it 
 was the duty of the settlers to take any notice of what had 
 recently been done at Levuka in this regard. It was a grave 
 question, one in which all felt an equal interest, and it would 
 be proper for all to express their opinion on the question. 
 Shall we send a delegate to the convention or not ? " — Fiji 
 Times, 12th July, 1871. 
 
 The subjoined article which comments on the above may 
 be taken as expressive of the feelings by which the intelligent 
 residents in the whole of Fiji were animated. We, of course, 
 except those who, sharing the ministerial loaves and fishes 
 were scarcely likely to quarrel with their distributors, no 
 matter how questionable the source whence the supply was 
 obtained ; but the moderation and good sense displayed in 
 this, as in all other criticisms upon the acts of the King, 
 serve to display in its true light the tone of public sentiment 
 thereon. 
 
 "On Monday, the 3rd instant, a public meeting was held at 
 Cuve, Nadroga district, for the purpose of electing a delegate 
 to the constitutional convention. A condensed report of the 
 proceedings of that meeting will be found in another column. 
 The third resolution is particularly deserving of notice. It 
 reads thus: — Resolved, 'That this meeting highly deprecate 
 the selfish, illiberal, and undignified course of policy thus far 
 pursued by the few gentlemen claiming to reside at Levuka, 
 and who have so unceremoniously attempted to thrust them- 
 selves upon an unwilling public* This is a clear exposition 
 of opinion on the part of the Nadroga planters, and if the 
 same resolutions were put to a public meeting composed of 
 the entire population of the group, would it not be passed 
 with as much unamity and enthusia5>m as it wd^ by the district 
 meeting of Nadroga,
 
 58 
 
 "It IS generally ackowledged that the planters of the 
 South Coast of Viti Levu are a superior class of settlers. 
 Colonel Hamilton^ the delegate elect, in returning thanks for 
 his election, said : — * In repres'enting the planters of Nadroga I 
 feel that I represent a body of men, who in point of education, 
 in point of general intelligence and information, in point of 
 integrity of industry and wealth, are second to none in the 
 group/ In view of all the circumstances this is perhaps the 
 true doctrine, we want a government, and although we want 
 good men at the head of it, and although we are not so 
 fortunate as to have them there now, though we quite agree 
 with the sentiment expressed in the Nadroga resolutions ; to 
 ignore the men and all that they have done, at one broad 
 jBweep would scarcely be so wise as to take hold, help the 
 movement along for the present, and as soon as may be wash 
 our hands clean from the men who have thrust themselves 
 forward unsought, and have proved themsel^^es unfit and 
 unworthy for the places they would fain occupy. Men do not 
 always express their opinions as frankly as did Mr. Thompson 
 at the Nadroga meeting, though such frankness is much to be 
 admired. His dislike to Cakobau however, rather arises, wc 
 take it, from the dislike he bears to the men whom Cakobau 
 has selected as his council than from any dislike to the chief 
 himself. If these men, the present quasi ministry were set 
 aside and good men substituted, much of the objectionable 
 character, much of the opposition to the formation of a 
 government, would no doubt with Mr. Thompson, as with 
 others disappear. 
 
 " A blunder is a blunder, Kings and Queens have com- 
 mitted them before, and yet the nations over which they 
 ruled did not perish. The blunder of Cakobau is not an 
 irretrievable one, good may come out of evil. When the 
 convention shall meet, the wise men come up from the east 
 and the west, the north and the south, the old constitution 
 may be amended or a new one formed, these obnoxious men 
 displaced, gentlemen who enjoy the public confidence given 
 their portfolios, and the new nation born under difficulties 
 grow up to maturity and become a stalwart and brave member 
 of the family."— F/;7 Times, 12th July, 1871. 
 
 The policy of Cakobau' s advisers was truly described at 
 the meeting as being *' selfish, illiberal, and undignified ; ** 
 and now that two years and a half have elapsed since that 
 policy was enunciated, and ample time has therefore been 
 allowed to soften the acerbity of any feelings of disgust to 
 which so violent an assumption of power might have given 
 rise, and opportunity has been afforded to test the fact as to 
 whether those feelings were or were not well-founded, we feel 
 assured that were the entire group polled, a verdict adverse 
 to ministers and thoroughly endorging the statement herein
 
 59 
 
 put forth, would be the inevitable result. Neither do we 
 desire to exclude the native vote on this question. Could the 
 Fljians be made to understand that, upon this subject, they 
 were expected to give their real impressions, uninfluenced by 
 any fear of their chiefs ; and could the latter also be induced 
 to believe that they might do so without any apprehension of 
 accusations of treason, &c., following the enunciation of their 
 genuine sentiments, it would be found that an almost 
 unanimous opinion, that the rule of those now in power had 
 been productive of injury to Fiji, would be elicited. Now, as 
 then, there is no disaffection towards Cakobau; but his 
 advisers have certainly succeeded in strengthening the rooted 
 dislike and suspicion with which their action from the very 
 first, has been regarded. 
 
 We here append a letter which appeared on the 29th 
 July, 1571, and considering that it is from the pen of Mr. 
 G. L. GiiflSths, the proprietor of the Fiji TimeSy and that his 
 signature is attached thereto, we imagine that it may serve 
 somewhat to modify the effects of the reckless assertion so 
 frequently made, that the policy advocated by that journal 
 and its supporters, is one of subjugating the native race, and 
 utterly ignoring its interests in any matters of political 
 import. The letter will speak for itself : — 
 
 " Sir, — One of my chief reasons of advocacy of a con- 
 federate or republican form of government is not so much that 
 it would be more congenial to the European population, as 
 that it would tend to keep up the native institutions that are 
 hereditary and therefore the more dearly prized.' The 
 establishment of a monarchy as proposed by the present 
 so-called government would go far to break up these 
 institutions ; which means that we agitate aild upset a whole 
 race of people ; and as a natural consequence dissatisfaction 
 will be followed by revolt, which will have to be put down by 
 the authorities. And this will not be done until homesteads 
 have lit up the heavens and much blood been spilt. I 
 contend that the native race should be as little interferred 
 with as possible; that we cannot emancipate these poor 
 ignorant savages, and that were we to do so, we should entail 
 an amount of trouble upon us that would ultimately drive the 
 white race out of the country. Dissatisfaction will be sure 
 to creep in, and before the new state of things can be realised 
 by the various petty chiefs, great trouble w^U ensue, which 
 will result in their displacement, and thus the whole network 
 of the native race will be disarranged, which will ultimately 
 result by a handful of whites having to deal with the 
 multitude of dissatisfied and evil disposed natives, who will 
 not lack mischievous Hau-hau leaders. 
 
 " Whatever form of government the convention of dele- 
 gates may decide upon, the native institutions of the country
 
 60 
 
 nhonid be allovt'ed to remain intact — or the ine-ritable 
 conseouence will be the disasters of New Zealand re-enacted in 
 Fiji. But, hark, New Zealand possesses a white population of 
 250,000, with an aboriginal population of 40,000 men, women^ 
 and children, and although at onetime 10,000 British troops,^ 
 supplemented with 1 000 cavalry aild 2000 infantry raised in 
 the colony were engaged in a war to hub due the rebellious 
 tribes, they were unable to quench the flame which every now 
 and again threatens to burst out with renewed force. But 
 what chance would the Europeans have in this country — some 
 2000 against a native population of 150,000. In laying down 
 the foundation of a legislature in this country, our watch- 
 words should be to preserve the native and his institutions, 
 or otherwise he will be disorganised and hence unmanageable 
 — which means fire and blood. 
 
 " I wonder whether the present self-constituted ministers 
 who are exerting themselves to an unwarrantable extent, in 
 native matters, whose mettle promises to be dangerous in the 
 absence of discretion, whose nonchalance of the public good- 
 will in their various undertakings, is positively disgusting, are 
 equal to the task they have undertaken. I fear not or they 
 would have paused ere this, and have sought wisdom from 
 the delegation now on the eve of meeting. However "as 
 measures, not men " are to be looked for, their labors must 
 cease on the meeting of the delegates, and it will be for that 
 body to decide the future policy of the white population in 
 this gtoup. The indecent haste displayed by these so-called 
 ministers in all their actions, after their promise that " until 
 a house ot representatives be assembled, no matters except of 
 urgent public necessity will be initiated" is deserving of 
 severe censure on the part of the delegation, and Levuka 
 spoke out plainly in the last election although several 
 ministerial candidates were nominated. 
 
 " The native chiefs should be " made mmch of '^ and" 
 their prerogatives nursed with care. As we cannot leave the 
 natives behind us, we must hook them on to us, and as we 
 progress they will do so likewise. The chiefs may be taught 
 to possess productive properties, as a compensation for their 
 lands ; the serf may be allowed to possess the fruit of labor 
 •which he earns by the sweat of his brow. Much can be done to 
 improve the condition of the chief and the slave' — but it must 
 naturally be a slow process ; we must not try to revolutionise 
 that which time will much more successfully acccomplish." — 
 Fiji Times, 29th July, 1871. 
 
 The persistance displayed in endeavoring to paint the 
 white resident in this archipelago as being consistently and 
 invariably opposed to the elevation and progress of the 
 natives, should, we think, diminish somewhat before these 
 repeated evidences of the spirit which really animates an^
 
 61 
 
 guides those tsho'=;e experience has taught them the best 
 mode of effectually advancing ihe aboriginal in the scale of 
 civilization. 
 
 In the various proposals mooted, and having for their 
 end this most important object, we fail to find [aught that 
 breathes of the desire to degrade, or even to allow the 
 ** untaught child of nature " to remain in his pristine position. 
 "Were the decadence of the race the aim of those whose 
 exertions are destined to reclaim and elevate these isles in 
 the eyes of the world, all that would be necessary would be 
 to leave them to their own devices ; and, as has invariably been 
 the case with aboriginal races, they would surely, although 
 perhaps slowly, perish before the advance of the white man^ 
 But, as is shown in every particular in which the interests of 
 the Fijian have been in question, the utmost consideration haa 
 been extended to them, and they have, so far as the difference 
 of education and antecedents would admit, been placed on a 
 footing of equality with those by whom the real work of the 
 country has, is, and still will be, undertaken. It were worse 
 than preposterous to imagine that a benificent providence has 
 ordained that these fertile isles should remain occupied only 
 by a sensuous and naturally indolent people ; and that their 
 natural riches should not be called forth to reward the 
 industry of the hardy pioneer, and to rescue those whose own 
 unaided efforts were unequal to the task, from the depths of 
 barbarism. In the effort for his own success, the immigrant 
 must advance the interest of the native ; all the advantages 
 which'experience and industry can bestow are available to them ; 
 and if their inborn apathetic laziness can but be eradicated, a 
 future of enlightened prosperity is before them and easily 
 attainable, not by government proclamations, but by cordial 
 co-operation vnih those whose practical example will point 
 out and help them in the work. 
 
 "The Fijis seem in some degree entering upon that stage 
 of natural life which will make it necessary to blend the 
 native and European authority. It has not the difficulties 
 referred to as threatening Hawaii. The governments of 
 Europe seem to have no desire to accept the burden or to 
 possess the prize. The contrast is striking between the 
 resolute rejection of the scef)tre and the previous apparent 
 anxiety to forestall and anticipate by a violent and summary 
 annexation. But another class of difficulties must arise. The 
 internal anarchy will not be prevented by a paper constitution. 
 The authority of Cakobau will require establishment by arms. 
 The assistance of Europeans will be necessary to found his 
 dynasty and give currency to his laws, There has not been 
 time to penetrate the native mind with the principles of 
 civilisation, or to give them the consciousness of right, which 
 resists aggression because it is unjust. Besides, the establish-
 
 62 
 
 ment of plantations, and the constant importation of foreign 
 laborers has created an interest which it will be difficult to 
 preserve except by force. The numbers already collected will 
 submit with impatience to a half savage ruler. 
 
 " The exhibition which followed the proclamation of the 
 new government shows that a large hostile party are disposed 
 to treat Cakobau's pretensions with scorn. The account given 
 is remarkable for the absence of important classes. The 
 names do not represent a large representative character. It 
 is not perhaps any great objection that the officials have 
 been undistinguished by a statesmanlike reputation. "We are 
 accustomed in the colonies to see men mount to lofty stations 
 by a sudden spring. An unwashed ministry would, therefore 
 be no innovation, and might, indeed, by showing the grime 
 of industry, come nearer the color of the chief. It is good 
 practical sense that is most essential in so small an affair. 
 If the new ministry are accepted by the new sovereign, they, 
 perhaps, ought to be allowed to try their hands. There is no 
 large treasury to manipulate, and before a considerable 
 revenue can be collected they may prove their capacity for 
 its equitable distribution. The prospect however was not 
 very cheering. No sooner had they set up a government^ 
 than there appeared a strong party with a revolution, fortu- 
 nately not supported by firearms, but in the English way, 
 by a chairman, a motion, and three cheers for the Queen. 
 Unfortunately the Queen could not help them. The loyalty 
 vhich dictated those acclamations finds no response in 
 Bowning-street. Cast off as subjects of the British Crown 
 they must take their share in the risks and duties of a new 
 government. The colonies, although they will not undertake 
 a sovereignty which England h?»8 rejected, will be sympathetic 
 in efforts to establish law and consolidate the elements of 
 power which circumstances may yield them. It will take 
 time to give confidence, and this will depend much on the 
 personal character of those who guide the chief. .... 
 The people of the Fijis, however have undertaken a task 
 which many communities have found in their path before 
 them. Government is only another word for order, and the 
 maintenance of order ought to define and Umit the scope of 
 government. The founders of America were indeed a different 
 class of people ; and were inspired by other motives ; but 
 they had the same difficulties to overcome. The first 
 government they established was chiefly municipal. It was 
 external danger which led them into confederated action. 
 But tne expansion of their government was dictated and 
 measured by the necessity of their position. Their chief 
 object was to cultivate the earth and enjoy securely its fruits. 
 The settlers of Fiji may find advantage in following their 
 example, by making government subservient to it^ main
 
 ■design — then securing the benefits of society without the 
 "burdens of political ambition." — Sydney Morning Herald, 
 July 1 3th, 1871. 
 
 We feel that we cannot better serve our present purpose 
 than in republishing the sentiments expressed by those who, 
 ^eing completely outside the arena in which the party fight 
 is being carried on, can view circumstances and judge their 
 probable results with all that impartiality which coolness, and, 
 probably, but little interest therein, confers. The Sydney 
 Morning Herald is distinguished for the moderation of its 
 tone in matters political ; and its editorials may therefore be 
 well regarded as being likely to convey the impression ot 
 truth, founded on reason, to the minds of its readers. As 
 was foreshadowed in the foregoing article, the attempt to 
 do too much at the outset, has resulted in failure. Those 
 who guided the movement which was to culminate in 
 the effectual estabhshment of a firm, if not popular 
 government, evidently committed one great blunder. They 
 forgot, or seem to have forgotten, that their proposed 
 legislation, suitable as it might have been for those accus- 
 tomed to constitutional guidance, was eminently unfitted 
 to the requirements of the uneducated aboriginal. Before 
 this class could be awakened to the importance, and recognise 
 the benefits of representative government, their deeply 
 grounded impressions, the growth of centuries were . to be 
 eradicated ; and the noxious weeds of ignorance, superstition, 
 Bnd slavish fear to be rooted out. But no regard was given 
 to this, but too apparent, truth. In their very haste to rule, 
 the "Warwicks of Fiji neglected to look to the foundation of 
 the superstructure. They forgot that vox populi vox dei is a 
 fact, and not a mere aphorism. They commenced their edifice 
 at the roof; and have, consequently, found it extremely 
 difficult to build downwards. There can be no doubt that, 
 since the advent of government, the Fijian is in a much 
 worse position than he was prior to that blessing having been 
 bestowed upon him. The proclamation that "all men are 
 equal," has failed, at least in his case, to realise all that its 
 terse, and eloquent grandeur is doubtless intended to convey 
 to the mind. Subjected by the new regime to the necessity 
 of paying taxes, his obligations to his native or hereditary 
 rulers, if anything, increased ; certainly not diminished, 
 it can scarcely be said of him that his lines have 
 fallen in pleasant places. Of the benefits of government 
 he receives nothing; all that he is to reap therefrom 
 still lies in the future ; while, in the present, he is . 
 graciously allowed to serve his Majesty in the wars, to which 
 the very statecraft of which he is merely the victim, have 
 given rise ; in addition, to give his enforced labor, if he fails 
 to pay his govermental tax j and, finally, to obey with the
 
 ()4 
 
 ^lnqaestlomllg docility of old, the behests of his immediate 
 feudal lord. This is the result of the attempt to" force a rule 
 upon a people unprepared by tradition, experience, know- 
 ledge, or habits to accept it. Unquestioning apathy is the 
 most favorable construction which can be put upon the mode 
 with which the native has received this inestimable boon ; we 
 wonder what would be the result of a plebiscite amongst them, 
 if informed that under British rule, they would remain 
 untaxed! Would ministers care to take their votes after 
 they ha-d been made acquainted with this fact ? We deem it 
 scarcely probable. 
 
 We now approach that interesting epoch in our political 
 history which is to be found in the assembly and acts of the 
 first elected representative body of the white residents in 
 Fiji; and will commence the detail of its more important 
 proceedings with an extract from the King's speech upon the 
 occasion of his opening the House : — 
 
 " I say to you, the white gentlemen, that I am glad that 
 we are gathered together, and that good may come of it. 
 You kn©w the position of Fiji ; and this now is your age— 
 the white man's. It is my desire that we should work for 
 good. 1 am glad that Jemisi and other. Lau chiefs are here. 
 Maafu is sick. I am glad we are all gathered together, that 
 one government may be established in Fiji and that the whites 
 have bomnd us together, Lau and Bau, and that we should be 
 one. I have not much to say ; I merely speak to say how 
 glad I am that we are now united for this end." — Fiji Times ^ 
 2nd August, 187i- 
 
 We do not suppose that this expression of the King's 
 sentiments was written for him ; but he had doubtless been 
 prompted by his advisers as to the tenor of his remarks. We 
 shall now see the reception which met his Majesty's 
 declaration, and endeavor to show how far it has, to the 
 present, been borne out by results. 
 
 "An important subject in the constitution of the 
 house of delegates, is the disposition of the native element. 
 We need not point out to our readers that it is at 
 present a powerful one, and that when provision shall 
 have been made for full representation of both races, it 
 will be sufficiently strong, if associated with the white 
 representatives, and having the power to vote with 
 them, to carry any measure no matter how inimical to the 
 interests of the country, or to our race. We need no other 
 illustration of what we mean than the division last Thursday 
 morning, on the question "that this house do now adjoura 
 until Saturday next at 2 p.m." Upon the division taking 
 place the whole of the natives who were in in the House went 
 over to the ministerial side and voted with the government. 
 Oa that occasion it did not much matter, a,^ the question was
 
 '65 
 
 only a simple one and it was necessary in the absence of any 
 other business to lay before the house, that an adjournment 
 should take place. But the vote of the natives on that 
 occasion showed that there was a power in the house, which 
 might in the hands of unscrupulous and designing men, be 
 used for time serving purposes and to the injury possibly of 
 the interests of the whole community both of whites and 
 natives. How easy it would be for anyone who possessed the 
 confidence of the King, suppose either a minister or a member 
 of the opposition, to get the King to order the native chiefs 
 to follow this or that man when the division bell rang ; and 
 so to carry perhaps a most obnoxious measure. We only 
 suppose such cases, and put them forward to show not 
 existing danger, that we know of; but probable danger which 
 might arise in the rise and fall of ministries^ We dare say the 
 native delegates on Thursday morning knew what they were 
 voting for ; but it will be a different thing when difficult and 
 nice legislation is being discussed ; such for instance, as to 
 whether Fiji shall be a monarchy or a republic ; an electoral 
 bill ; treaties with foreign powers ; the collection of revenue ; 
 and innumerable other points. They might have the acts 
 laid before them for their consideration, but they would still 
 sit in the house as dummies — unconsciously the tools of others 
 perhaps— and unable to express what ideas they might have 
 upon any question ; and if holding erroneous ones, then from^ 
 their want of knowledge of the EngUsh tongue, hopeless of 
 being convinced. But how can these men be dispoeed of 
 if we have a mixed government ? We maintain that such 
 a government is necessary, for our mutual protection, and 
 mutual interests, and that we have not any power to form one 
 independently of the natives. The only way we can see out 
 of the difficulty is by excluding them from the assembly of 
 the whites; that is to exclude them from a vote in that 
 assembly. We must give them some voice in the legislation 
 of the country, to refuse that would be unfair ; but could not 
 a second house of delegates be formed; one to consist 
 exclusively of natives, and the other exclusively of white 
 men. Either to put them into the position of a lower house, 
 and all business to come before them, and after they had 
 passed measures, to send the acts before the house of white 
 men for their sanction or alteration. Or else to form the 
 lower house of white men, and from them to send the 
 measures before the house of natives for their amendment or 
 sanction. But the power to be conferred upon the natives 
 must not be too full, and this view of the question is one 
 requiring careful deliberation." — Fiji Times, 1 2th August, 
 1871. 
 
 This article, as its context plainly shows, was written 
 durhig the proceedingfj of the Hou^e of delegates, at the
 
 66 
 
 assembling of which., the Eing had made the speech in which 
 he GO emphatically (declared that ''this h now your ap^e — the 
 white man's." Yet, scarcely had the echo of that 
 expression had time to die away, when we find that grave 
 apprehensions were entertained as to the influence which 
 ministers intended to exeA-ise, through the action taken by 
 them with regard to the moral coercion of the native 
 representatives. Early as it was for this course of proceed- 
 iU;?, no hesitation was exhibited in the effort to obtain 
 majorities by coutroHing the unreasoning nominee element, 
 associated with the elected representatives of the 
 people ; unreasoning, not from want of the faculty 
 of consideration, but because it was evidently lelt by 
 those exercisina; the privilege of voting, that their voices 
 were to be at the command and under the control of the 
 advisers of his Majesty, and not to be influenced by the 
 arguments of their brother-senators. As fully desirous as any 
 of the proclaimed, champions for the preservation of" native 
 privileges could by any possibility be, that the fullest rational 
 opportunity should be accorded for the candid expression of 
 opinion upon the proceedings of the embryo legislature, from 
 the supposed conservators of Fijian rights and landmarks, we 
 find the exponents of public opinion naturally alarmed at the 
 manifest intention to treat the native, as a merely voting 
 power ; and thus to neutralise, if not utterly defeat, the efforts 
 of the representatives of the intellect and wealth of the 
 Kingdom. More recent occurrences have shown how well- 
 founded was this very natural fear. The apprehension that 
 this power might, in the hands of ** unscrupulous and design- 
 ing men" be so used as to militate against the truest interests 
 of the whole country, and made available for the purpose of 
 wresting, from what should be the very source of power, the 
 means of controlling and directing the energies of the state, 
 was, unfortunately, but too well based ; and the Cabinet have 
 shown by its ulterior acts, how far they had, from the first, 
 calculated upon virtually swamping and reducing to total 
 msignificance the justly dominant legislating influence, and 
 of substituting theretbr a virtual despotism, by which they 
 should be the sole rulers, through the means of a colorable 
 pretext of the authority of a deliberative body. But, danger- 
 ous as might be this questionable mode of enacting laws under 
 which the mixed population of" Fiji was to live, we do not find 
 that any disapprobation was expressed al the acts of the native 
 representatives, ^o far as they were personally concerned. 
 Public attention was certainly directed to the peril attendant 
 upon this mode of procedure, but in the suggestions made to 
 avert its probable results, there is no desire shown to exclude 
 the original owner of the soil from exercising a decided 
 influence upon the couxjss ol" jiece^sftry legiijlation, The
 
 nccosilty for havlnp; a mixed gorernment i?, plainly set ouf, 
 and the only question mooted is as to the form it should take ; 
 and, whether in anticipation of the intentions of the ministry, 
 •or really gi'^ing them the cue as to the most advisable course 
 to be p-arsued, the suggestion upon which they Gubsequently 
 acted, — that of forming two distinct Houses of legislature, — 
 was throT/n out and acted upon ; and, as the proceedings of 
 the Parliament of 1872 fairly showed, accompanied T^-iih that 
 average amount of success which could be expected from a 
 proceeding, surrounded with more than the usual difficulties 
 of experimental legislation. But it was also pointed out that 
 it was necessary to limit the powers to be . exercised by the 
 natives ; although it was evideiit that there was no wish that 
 they should be less than those of their co-senators. The 
 question as to which Chamber should initiate and send up 
 bills, and which should subsequently deliberate and propose 
 amendments thereupon, was left open ; but, as will have been 
 seen, no doubt was entertained as to the advisability of both 
 races having an equal voice in ruling the country ; the only 
 precaution,, and the necessity for that was too palpable to be 
 overlooked, being, that the assembly of chiefs should be able 
 to dehberate at length and with calmness, upon measures 
 submitted to them, without, from their mere strength of 
 numbers, being enabled at the nod of a minister to over-ride 
 the deliberate opinions of the elected members • and thus, 
 virtually to stultify their well considered action. 
 
 But the King's constitutional advisers could not thus 
 readily part with the chance of exercising a dominant influence 
 over his native subjects ; and so we find them reserving to 
 themselves the right of sitting and deliberating with those 
 gentlemen ; not of course, with the faintest idea or intention ot 
 swaying their votes, far less of dictating to them ; but simply, 
 we suppose to enhghten them upon the abstruse principles of 
 law making, and of presenting them with a species of quasi- 
 judicial observation upon the tenor and probable effect of all 
 measures submitted for their consideration, from such point 
 of view as they might present themselves to the official mind. 
 By this simple expedient, ministers contrived to preserve the 
 full effects of the pliable majority which they had secured in 
 the House of representatives ; and, had not the lust for power 
 grown with that it fed upon ; might have still continued to 
 guide the chariot of state, without having subjected it to the 
 dangers inevitable to its progress, from obstacles, the result 
 of the righteous indignation evoked by their arbitrary and 
 unjustifiable proceedings. 
 
 Place the Parliament, composed as it was in 1872, in 
 juxta-position with that proposed under the new Constitution; 
 the deliberate expression of opinions uttered with the con- 
 sciousness of responsibility, and with at least the hope that
 
 o8 
 
 « 
 
 they might carry weight and tend to a material and useful 
 end, with those likely to be heard in that assembly to be, or 
 rather to have been, composed of eight white representatives, 
 and twenty natives ''not necessarily chiefs,'* and let any 
 reflecting being ask himself whether, in this most monstrous 
 proposal, the ministry have not exhibited their determined 
 intention to completely ignore the very first principles of 
 responsibility, and in so doing, acted the traitor s part, not 
 alone to those of their own clime, but to the King, who in his 
 inexperience relied trustingly upon their guidance, and to hi& 
 people who, their part being played in pandering to that 
 ambition which has, truly, o'erleaped itself, find themselves 
 worse ruled, really less considered, all protestations, all 
 proclamations to the contrary notwithstanding, than they 
 have been since first the light of civilization dawned upon 
 their erstwhile benighted minds. The question of representa- 
 tion and the basis upon which it should be fixed very naturally 
 occupied the serious consideration of the House of delegates , 
 and the proceedings in the last assembly, tend to show the 
 deeply important character of the subject. The points to be 
 resolved were as to the number of representatives, and the 
 status of the electors ; and as ministers seem to have conve- 
 niently forgotten that this la&t term was resolved to apply 
 only to the white residents, we will venture to refresh their 
 memories on the subject. We find in the debate of 14th 
 August, 1871, upon the Constitution Act, that — 
 
 ** In clause LIX Mr. Burt moved alterations to the 
 effect that the Legislative Assembly be not less in number 
 than twenty or more than thirty, and shall be elected 
 triennially. That the representation of the people be based 
 on the principle of equality amongst white inhabitants. 
 
 " Mr, Woods said the government wished by their 
 amendment to open out the whole question of representation, 
 whether the government was to be one of the whites or not. 
 
 " CoL Hamilton said that it had been decided that the 
 natives sho^ild not occupy seats on the floor of the House. 
 
 " The clause as proposed by Mr. Burt was then adopted, 
 with the alteration of the maximum number of representa- 
 tives to forty." — Fiji Times, 16th August, 1871. 
 
 It should be home in mind that the expression of Mr, 
 Burt was to be taken as that of the Cabinet ; and we would fain 
 learn upon what principle of reason or justice it is now 
 sought, in the face of this declaration, to allow the natives 
 to vote in the election of members. It is here distinctly laid 
 down *' that the representation of the people he based on the 
 principle of equalityi amongst white inhabitants ;^^ and the 
 fact of a debate having taken place on the subject, completely 
 precludes any idea that the question of the exercise of the 
 franchise by the native, was either forgotten or shelved. So
 
 59 
 
 far trom this being the case, we find Mr. Woods stating 
 emphatically that it was the desire of the government to have 
 it decided "whether the government was to be one of the 
 whites or not," and that a resolution to that effect, so far at 
 least as the elective principle was concerned, was carried. 
 There is no loop-hole or misunderstanding in this. Ministers 
 took the deliberate ruling of the delegates upon the matter, 
 and found it to be that most consistent with common sense 
 and precedent, and apparently gave a cheerful acquiescence 
 thereto. We mention this here, so that we may follow the 
 regular order of events, but shall dwell at greater length on 
 the matter, in our comments upon the proceedings in the last 
 Assembly. In pursuing this subject, we learn that in further 
 debate thereon upon the 16th August, 1871, and niore 
 particularly upon the constitution of the Privy Council,— 
 
 " Mr. Woods informed the House that the chiefs had 
 postponed the consideration of the XVI clause. For clause 
 XLIII they had proposed to substitute the following : — 'The 
 Privy Council shall consist of the native chiefs, and one other 
 chief from each district to be appointed by the governor of 
 such district and they shall have power to recommend to the 
 Assembly such measures, claims and amendments as they 
 thought necessary, and they should sit while the Assembly 
 was in session.' 
 
 " The Chairman pointed out that this would necessitate 
 either defining the number of provinces or leavii^ tKe 
 number of the Privy Council an open question. 
 
 "After a long discussion it was agreed to leave the 
 number of the Privy Council open and the Government 
 promised to bring up a clause after the recess which would 
 suit the views of the House." — Fiji Times, 19th August, 
 1871. 
 
 It is thus evident that in the whble question of repre- 
 sentation, whether elective or nominated, regard was specially 
 to be had to the expressed wishes of the white community ; 
 and that the principle of nomineeisra was expressly accorded 
 for the benefit of the native race. The assertion that the 
 natives should, in addition to the privileges conferred upon 
 them through the Privy Council, be accorded the power 
 through the hustings, of controlling the representation of the 
 whites, is too monstrous to need refutation. As well have a 
 government composed altogether of Fijians as to entertain 
 this idea ; and, that granted, what necessity would there be 
 to go to the Tote at all. It is thoroughly patent that the 
 chiefs could and can exercise the most unbounded influence 
 over their people ; and the merest expression of a wish on 
 their part, would, of course, result in the return of their 
 nominees at (he head of the poll. Under such circumstances 
 it would be worse than a farce ; it would be a disgrace, for
 
 70 
 
 S5:av man cf -white lineage to go to the busting? ; and althongk 
 ithere would doubtless be found a few cravens vvho vrould seek 
 the sweet voices of the electors under these circamstances, we 
 imaarine that neither their feelings nor reputation need be 
 en-vied. The po-^^'ers to be exercised by the chiefs are thus 
 defined, and the term and times of the sittings of the assembly 
 pointed out. 
 
 "The Council will receive all bills passed by the 
 Assembly, and will have the power of suggesting additions, 
 alterations, or amendments and then returning the bills to 
 the assembly for their consideration. It will be perceived 
 that this council so far performs the functions of an Upper 
 House, the object has been by its formation to obviate the 
 necessity of the two races mingling in the assembly and 
 voting together upon such questions as might be brought 
 forward ; a state of things open to great objections and which 
 
 possibly might have led to great abuse We 
 
 are supposing an extreme case perhaps, but only with the 
 view of showing the necessity of making the clause more 
 definite, so as to prevent such a ' contretemps ' ever taking 
 
 place The assembly is a triennial one, and 
 
 the annual meeting has to commence in the month of May 
 each year." — Fiji Times, 26th August, 1871. 
 
 " Any order however tyrannical if issued by the ministers 
 in the Council has all the force of Constitutional law. As 
 Dr. Macartney remarked most consistently '* those who did 
 not Uke it might leave the country." We do not apprehend 
 they will do anything of the sort. They will in many cases 
 prefer to leave the government. White men happily can yet 
 find a refuge in the Lau confederation, in Taviuni, or under 
 Ratu Kini, if the Cakobau ministry proceed to extremes. 
 Nothing will be found easier than to separate the native 
 chiefs from their psuedo allegiance and to smash up the 
 whole government movement, and then indeed the so-called 
 ministers and King of Fiji may be ministers and King of Bau 
 and Levuka, and those who like can live under their rule. 
 The Premier will then be the rival of a mayor, and the 
 government of a corporation. The influence, the position, 
 and the revenues derivable from such a petty principaHty will 
 not be worth the attention or the efforts of ambitious men. 
 In a word we shall return to the old state of non-government, 
 and the prosperity of these islands be most materially 
 injured. Such will be the result of the present policy of 
 the ministers if persevered in. But we believe they will not 
 persevere in it. The pubUc give the present agents of 
 Cakobau credit for much they have done. Had they only 
 shown the tact and forbearance that may be justly looked for 
 in men who claim to be responsible ministers their position 
 would have been impregnable. But by their precipitate and
 
 11 
 
 indecent haste th=y have jeopardiGcd the success of a move- 
 ment which has met with universal sympathy throughout 
 the group, and have most certainly, as regards themselves 
 individually, lost the confidence of the country. 
 
 " The people of Levuka and Fiji generally are too 
 anxious to have a fixed government in these islands to throw 
 any unnecessary obstacle in the way. But when those great 
 constitutional principles for which Hampden fought and died, 
 and for which the Commons of England have contended for' 
 centuries, and not unsuccessfully, are tlireatened, there is but 
 one course of action open. Either vindicate the principles or 
 abandon them. If we are for vind'cathig them, let it be done 
 with all moderation but with all fn-mness. And if any- 
 so-called ministry or other powers interfere let the country- 
 be the judge. As it is we believe the country has no 
 confidence in the present advisers of Cakobau. They have 
 yielded to the immense pressure of public opinion whicJi 
 through all classess of the community has been brought to 
 bear on them. But they have yielded with no good grace. 
 The public will scarcely be pleased at their high handed 
 action since the dissolution of the house of delegates, who 
 gave them power to establish a police court, to coin money, 
 to seize vessels, to issue warrants for the arrest of indivitliials. 
 Like mushrooms some of these men have grown up in a 
 single night, and they will perish just as quickly. Men to 
 fill their places are not waiiting. Even now individuals are 
 4inown and pointed at as suitable for the various offio^s that 
 will become vacant on the resignation of the present ministry. 
 For when the House meets they certainly must resign ; and 
 when the country can elect able men in whom they have 
 confidence, and who will be able to give the country a really 
 good government, on a really firm basis." — Fiji TimeSj, 
 21st October, 18/1. 
 
 That it was the aim of ministers to rule despotically, and 
 to retain the reins of government utterly regardless of the 
 most obvious interests of the Kingdom, is thoroughly palpa- 
 ble. As put forth by one of their partizans, and subsequently 
 in the Assembly itself by the Premier, those who disapproved 
 of their proceedings might "leave the country." Had the 
 government been taken at its word, this emigration would 
 have included nearly all the white men in Fiji ; but it well 
 knew that the hona-fide settlers, the men who had devoted 
 tlieir capital and time to the development of the riches of the 
 place, were in no position to give up, at this most imperious 
 dogma, the fruits of their enterprise and labor ; and fortunate 
 indeed was it for those who gave utterance to this insolent 
 and heartless expression, that those whom they thus affected 
 to treat with such scorn, were not the lawless beings they 
 hciYc painted them* We will not jjtop uor ,^loop to consider
 
 /-' 
 
 the probable fate of tbose, who, thus coolly bade men, M'hose 
 a,U had been devoted to the advancement of Fiji, to yield, at 
 their mandate, the hard won results of their expenditure of 
 capital and labor, had the foreign population of the Kingdom 
 allowed their feelings of natural indignation to have run riot ; 
 but, more fortunate that their deserts merited, those who 
 <iecried and treated with contempt the honest efforts of the 
 sturdy pioneers of civilization, were met with scorn in place of 
 reprisal; although they succeeded in implanting in the breasts 
 of the white residents, the most bitter, even if silent, indigna- 
 tion at their proceedings. 
 
 But, what would have been the position of the native 
 race if the alternative presented by ministers had been 
 accepted ? As a matter of course, these mock heroics were 
 regarded as empty mouthings; but those who uttered them 
 would fain have had the public believe in their sincerity. 
 As was pointed out in the preceding extract, there 
 were other places, presenting advantages at least equal 
 to Bau and Levuka, to which the whites could repair with 
 the certainty of a welcome, and to the inevitable dis- 
 ruption of the Kingdom ; and the mere migration from these 
 two places, did not involve the absolute necessity of quitting 
 Fiji. But, if that object which the ministry affected to have 
 so sincerely at heart, the advancement and prosperity of the 
 native — was to be the test of this portion of their proclaimed 
 policy, we need but to look at those parts of the islands 
 which are but sparsely populated by the whites, to be enabled 
 to form a pretty accurate judgement as to the result thereof. 
 Deprived of the humanizing influences which are inseparable 
 from the immigration of those accustomed to the restraints of 
 social life in organized communities, the aboriginal inhabitant 
 of Fiji would, from the mere force of events, again sink into 
 those depths of barbarism from which he is but just rescued. 
 Does it require the recapitulation of hideous massacres, of 
 cruelties too revolting to be recalled without that shudder, 
 inevitable from outraged nature, to prove that the work of 
 civilization is almost yet in its infancy in but too many parts 
 of this group, and to give yet additional testimony to the 
 over-bearing arrogance of these pseudo champions of the 
 native race ? What becomes of their boasted anxiety for its 
 welfare and progression in the scale of nations, in the face of 
 their cool declaration that all who do not agree with them can 
 leave the country ? But that they knew the emptiness of 
 their bombastic deliverances, and the ridicule and scorn with 
 which they would be met, they would, indeed have laid 
 themselves open to the accusation of seeking to injure to the 
 most vital degree, the budding fortunes of these isles ; but 
 they have suflficiently displayed their real aim, and shown 
 beyond a doubt, that theii: ulterior design was the attainment
 
 73 
 
 »df Tincontroned power, to arrive at which they were prepateA 
 to sacrifice with equal readiness the truest interests aUke of 
 white and native. 
 
 The suhjoined manifesto will point out with some clear- 
 ness the opinion formed of the actions and intentions of these 
 gentlemen :— 
 
 ** Constitutional Platform. 
 
 *' The following political platform of principles enunciated 
 by the party from whom it emanates has been handed to us 
 for publication. It has been signed 'by many members of the 
 present Assembly, many of the delegates to the former 
 convention, and a large number of the most respectable 
 inhabitants of the group. The tone of the document appears 
 to be firm and consistent. We are glad to see a healthy and 
 well organised opposition started, as it will conduce to the 
 establishment of just laws, and the well-being of Fiji. 
 
 " 1. The convention of August 1st, 1871, did not meet 
 Mr. Burt and his colleagues as a properly constituted ministry 
 but as the agents of Cakobau, better designated as ' Commit- 
 tee of Arrangement.' 
 
 "2. The contention did not meet to amend the old 
 constitution but to frame a new one, which they did, and this 
 constitution Cakobau assented to. 
 
 " 3. The draft submitted to the convention by Cakobau's 
 committee was not accepted but rejected. It was not a liberal 
 one, nor did it provide for responsible government. . 
 
 "4. There is no properly constituted government in 
 Fiji, with jurisdiction over the population as a whole, nor will 
 there be until Parliament meets and endorses the acts of the 
 convention. 
 
 " 5. The white population as a body recognise the 
 necessity and importance of establishing some form of govern- 
 ment suited to the needs of the country. 
 
 ** 6. The public are not responsible for the doings of 
 Cakobau's agents or ' conmiittee.' 
 
 " 7. Parliament will have power to reimburse all 
 advances made by private gentlemen for the necessities of the 
 state, but needless and unnecessary outlay can and ought to 
 be repudiated. 
 
 " 8. All so-called orders in Council, under the existing 
 state of affairs, are not legal or binding on the country. 
 
 ** 9. The constitutional government when fully inaugu- 
 rated, ought and must be conducted promptly, justly, and 
 economically. 
 
 " 10. Monopolies are dangerous in all countries, but 
 destructive to good government and to the general welfare ot 
 the people of new and small countries hke this. Particularly 
 does this remark ^pply to Bank inonopoliesj.
 
 7< 
 
 ** 1 1. A liberal system of laws which will operate to the 
 mutual advantage of employer and employed, ought and muat 
 be enacted for the benefit of the people in Fiji. 
 
 "12. An equitable system of taxation is of paramount 
 necessity to all classes. 
 
 *' 13. It was promised on behalf of Cakobau that the 
 elections should take place before the 1st of October on 
 which day it was understood that the House should meet, it 
 being the day when the constitution as assented to by Cakobau 
 was to be submitted to tjie representatives of the people in 
 Parliament assembled. In breaking this pledge Cakobau's 
 committee have betrayed the confidence of the House of 
 delegates, and have disregarded the best interests of Fiji. 
 
 " 14. In performing the duties entrusted to them by 
 Cakobau, his committee have assumed a position and arrogated 
 powers to themselves which are utterly contrary to and 
 subversive of all constitutional government ; they have acted 
 throughout as though the entire interests of the community 
 were their private property, and the whole group an estate 
 over which they had the sole and exclusive control. 
 
 '* 15. The unauthorized issue of paper money as a legal 
 tender is an unwarranted assumption of power, and a fraud 
 upon the people. 
 
 ** 16. The necessities of the country require the estab- 
 lishment cf an efficient postal system. 
 
 " 17. Our rapidly increasing commercial interests 
 demand an immediate enactment of a simple, liberal and 
 comprehensive code of laws, and that they be administered 
 in a prompt and inexpensive manner by upright and compe- 
 tent men."-— i^«>* TimeSy 28th October, 1871. 
 
 This manifesto expresses, with all moderation, the feelings 
 of the general public upon the acts of the government. Beyond 
 the assertion of opinion that there was not, nor had there been, 
 a properly constituted ministry, the first twelve paragraphs 
 may be said to contain but so many truisms ; and we therefore 
 direct our attention, more particularly, to those which follow. 
 
 It is a matter for grave regret, but it is undoubtedly the 
 fact, that the King's advisers should have commenced at so 
 early a stage of their political existence, to have tampered 
 with their solemn promises to the people. It could but have 
 the effect, as surely might have been foreseen, of inducing 
 distrust and suspicion, in place of rehance and confidence. 
 The evident task of the ministry was to show that they had 
 really taken office with the sole object they had so loudly 
 proclaimed : that of the welfare of the nation at large ; and 
 that no idea of exercising uncontrolled power animated them- 
 Yet, when the important measure of placing the constitution; 
 before the representatives of the people upon a certain pro- 
 mised date, wag, or should have been, their fir^t buginegg if
 
 they cared to stand well witlt the countiy ; it is found that 
 for a considerable period beyond the day named, no provision 
 had been made, even for the necessary elections. The true 
 policy of governing peaceably is, to give no cause to the 
 governed to carp vt^ith any degree of reason, at the action or 
 apathy of their rulers. It is, of course, an established fact, 
 that in all communities will be found a certain proportion of 
 troubled spirits, to whom all proceedings are distasteful ; but 
 it can be readily believed that, when so important a step as 
 the very initiation of a government had been taken, the minds 
 of all interested therein would be more or less agitated, and 
 the steps of those directing the movement, watched with 
 legitimate care. With an anxiety to assist and aid in the 
 advancement of all calculated to promote a rule consistent 
 with the circumstances, those most interested naturally felt 
 aggrieved at a violation ot a pledge,, given in apparent good! 
 faith, and accepted in all such, and which embraced a 
 subject of so much vital interest. If instead of using all 
 diligence to redeem their promises, ministers showed them- 
 selves careless and indifferent, it cannot he a matter of 
 astonishment if those who were aggrieved, grumbled thereat. 
 The country was in a transition state ; the throes of political 
 parturition were being undergone by the public^ and deep 
 anxiety was felt for the result. The government seemed to. 
 have lost sight of the fact that the whole of their political 
 measures were but in embryo, and sought to treat Fiji as if it 
 were being ruled under a constitution which had stood the 
 test of time and experience ; and hence the dissatisfaction and 
 unrest displayed at their proceedings. They gave but too much 
 reason for the assertion that they were acting arrogantly, and 
 with a regard only to their own views ; in short, their minds, 
 narrowed in all probability to the extent of their political 
 experience, did not seem to fee sufficiently capacious to be 
 enabled to grasp the fact that they had to deal with the 
 destinies of a nation, and not with the interests of a mere 
 pocket borough. It was not that which was most beneficial to. 
 Fiji that seemed to attract their attention, but what would suit 
 their own peculiar views ; and in following these, they lost 
 sight of the fact that they were but in the position of trustees 
 of the great Fijian political estate, and seemed but too much 
 inclined to treat it as though it were their own peculiar and 
 private property. In illustration of this, we need only to point 
 to the fifteenth paragraph of the " Constitutional platform," 
 and to recall the effect of the unauthorized act of which it 
 treats. The issue of a paper currency, with no assets upon 
 which to fall back for its redemption, was not only a gross 
 financial blunder, but a serious pohtical crime. For the 
 information of those outside this community, who may not be 
 aware of its effects^ we may simply state that the government
 
 76 
 
 five dbllpr note circulated at an actual average discount of 
 thirty per cent for cash ; that its being payable on. diemand, 
 was a miserable sham ; and that, throughits having been made 
 a legal tender to the full amount of its nominal value, it 
 afforded a ready means for recalcitrant debtors to settle claims 
 against them by a modie w;hicli at once effectually eased their 
 consciences, and^ — the pockets of their unfortunate creditors. 
 At the same time it raifsed! an universal outcry against Uiose 
 wiseacres who had initiated the movement; caused the coin,, 
 which had until that time been pretty plentiful in the country,, 
 to mysteriously disappear;; proved' a prolific source of profit 
 to a certain: few who^ by an occult understandings with the 
 treasury, contrived to deal adHrantageously in the purchase of 
 the notes ; and caused the paper currency issued by the- 
 local merchants to be estimated; by at least twenty-five per 
 cent, as a preferable security. Most of the leading business 
 houses, refused to take this paper at any rate of discount ;; 
 while those who did so^ compensated! themselves, by the- 
 increased prices they charged for their goods, for the risk 
 which they undoubtedly ran.. This modie of issue served, very 
 effectually, to increase the mistrust entertained of the country 
 in the supplying markets, wht?re bankers and merchants alike 
 treated iKith contempt any proposal to negotiate, or in any way 
 deal with, the so-called government money ; while the difficulty 
 experienced in Fiji of obtaining anything like representative- 
 value for remittance, tended most materially to lower its 
 mereantile status in the commercial world. We have already 
 tou'che(J\ upon) the mode of issue; of the absence of all 
 necessary check thereon,, and of the numerous forgeries 
 conseqiient upon the entire system, or, rather, the want of 
 one. It was deemed; a great day for ministers,, and a trium- 
 phant refutation of the fault found with their financial policy^ 
 when it was^^ announced that they would give drafts on the 
 colonies> to the extent of tenper> eent. of the amount present edf 
 in government Tzo^e,?; and; they really did thi&we believe to the- 
 almost fabulous extent of some two or three hundlred pounds, — 
 when the office was declared to be closed against any further 
 issue,: — of draftSi- not notes,^ — and the fortunate holders of the 
 latter were left to gase at them hopelessly, or to exchange 
 them with those whose compact with the government enabled 
 them to take them, for a "con-sid-e-ra-tion/* But still> under 
 all these- circumstances> the people so benificently cared for, 
 were exhorted to repose unbroken confidence in the ministry : 
 and to kiss witb meekness the rod! which scourged them. To» 
 complain, were to be guilty of **^ disaffection ;" to animadvert' 
 upon the acts of the government were constructive treason -y: 
 and when forbearance ceased to be a virtue, the bayonets af 
 semi-savages, could be brought into action and enforced an 
 acquiescence in all the doing^s of those in power ; and an
 
 / / 
 
 organized body, trained and equipped at the expense of those 
 "whoi were to be delivered up to them, add physical to moral 
 persuasion. Experience has surely justified the assertions 
 put forth. in< the dieclaration upon whichi we have thus com- 
 mented ; would, for the sake of all concerned^ that warning 
 had been, taken of its grounds for complaint at the time it was 
 issued. As a peroration to these remarks we will! append the 
 Treasurer's Financial Budget, and venture to compare its 
 statements with ascertained results. 
 
 "The following are the leading items of the Budget 
 which has been brought before the House. It was calculated" 
 in American currency, but we have reduced it to the English 
 in round numbers, thinking that it wouldi be a more familiar 
 way of putting it before our readers, 
 
 Sgtimeted Revenue for the financial year ending 30th June» 1872 t— 
 
 & 
 
 Excise .. 637 
 
 Territorial 18,400 
 
 Ports and Harbors .. .. .. 742' 
 
 Postage .. 1,331 
 
 Fees , 1^538 
 
 Fines and' Forfeitures .. .. .. 150 
 
 Miscellaneous .. .. .. .. 795 
 
 Xatimated Expenditure for the same term is in round' numbert aft 
 
 follows: — 
 
 Salaries^ Contingencies. 
 £ £ 
 
 Civil List .. .. .. 3,150 .. . 
 
 Legislative Assembly .. 787 .. 374* 
 
 Land and Works .. ,. 733 .. 1,033 
 
 €hief Secretary .. .. 3,420 ,. li,897 
 
 Treasurer .. .. .. 581i .. 150" 
 
 Trade and Commerce . . 701 . . 782 
 
 Native Affairs . . . . 5^990^ . . 633 
 
 " Some more general particulars of the Expenditure are 
 SB follows : — 
 
 £ 
 
 The King's Prii^ Purse .. ., .. 1,500» 
 Private Secretary . . .. .. .. 200 
 
 Speaker of the House .« •• .. 500 
 
 MinisteFB « .. 2,500 
 
 Chief Secretary — Postal .. .. ., 480 
 
 Chief Secretary. — Judicial .. .. 3,430- 
 
 Native Affairs — Police 2,232 
 
 "Amongst special appropriations is 26200' for a Levuka: 
 MoepitaL 
 
 " The totals estimated revenue is about 3623,593 and the 
 estimated expenditure 3620^231, shewing a surplus in the 
 treasurer's favor of nearly 363,400*" — Fiji Ttmest November 
 16th, 1871. 
 
 The best practical corollary on the above statement, 
 ■which shows a surplus of seventeen thousand dollars, will be
 
 to glance at the report of the Auditor-General at the end of 
 May, 1873- We find there a d'ebit balance of <8'284,31t7 
 6 1 cents ; and the debt owing to the country, as shown by 
 ministers own. figure?, to be ^312,165 95 cents, a glorious 
 and most practical endorsement of the financial policy and! 
 foresight of the controllers of the Fijian exchequer. 
 
 Sight must not be lost of the fact that this amount of 
 indebtedness represents not only a want of financial acumen, 
 but an expenditure wholly unauthorised by parliamentary 
 sanction. This in itself would not constitute the ground 
 for any serious charge against ministers, were it not for 
 their subsequent action. It is a matter of no extraordinary 
 occurrence for expenditure to be in excess of the appro- 
 priation voted ; but in such case a resolution of the House, 
 tantamount to a vote of indemnity, is invariably taken.; 
 and can, of course, only be carried by the majority of 
 members being satisfied as to the legitimate necessity 
 for the extra outlay. But the Executive have thought it 
 beneath their position to solicit, much less obtain, the sanc- 
 tion of the people's representatives to this expenditure of the 
 people's money ; and in this course of conduct have certainly 
 proved themselves true to the standard which they had set up. 
 As will be seen in its proper place, the re-assembling of Parlia- 
 ment was left to the latest possible day, and when ministers 
 found that their unconstitutional course of conduct was likely 
 to meet the deserved reprobation of the House, they sur- 
 mounted the difficulty by a dissolution ; and have since 
 governed as an irresponsible body. The final result of this 
 proceeding, lies in the future ; but either those who have 
 deliberately adopted it must be much more powerful than is 
 imagined ; or the Attorney-General more supine than is gene- 
 rally believed, if impeachment do not follow this outrage upon 
 legality. Ministers feel thoroughly indignant when the 
 people grumble at having to pay that which is, really, through 
 the culpable laches of the government itself, unauthorised 
 taxation,; can they feel surprised at it, in the face of the 
 equally unauthorised expenditure ? 
 
 llie delay in meeting the House is thus explained in the 
 King's Speech when Parhament met: — 
 
 ** Large claims have been made on my government by 
 the United States Consul on behalf of American citizens 
 resident at Cakaudrovi, and rendered it necessary that two 
 members of my executive, in conjunction with the Consul 
 arid Commander of the United States corvette St. Mary's, 
 should proceed to Wairiki and seek an interview with the 
 chief of Cakaudrovi; the result of that interview I feel 
 confident will tend to diminish native interference with white 
 residents. I regret that the importance of this matter 
 necessitated a short delay in calling you together."
 
 7-9 
 
 Whair a complete anomoly this presents. His Majesty, 
 addressing the representatives as King of Fiji, deliberately 
 tells them tha;t on account of certain claims made upon his 
 government, it had become necessary for a foreign power to 
 **seek an interview with the Chief of Caukadrovi ! " Is this 
 •to be construed into a confession that the Kingdom was but a 
 myth ; or that Cakaudrovi was a power, distinct and inde- 
 pendent? We evidently have here a dual confession. The first, 
 that the happy family which boasted the united chiefdoms 
 of the various districts in Fiji, had really no place save in 
 the vivid imagination of ministers ; the second that the King 
 had no power to control a powerful chief, save through the 
 instrumentality of armed corvettes, flying the flag of another 
 government. If Fiji were really the kingdom it aff"ected to 
 "be ; if the chiefs had so cheerfully and unanimously rendered 
 allegiance and sworn fealty ; whence did this necessity arise ? 
 If the king did not possess power sufficient, from his former 
 position, to deal with one influential chief ; and the entire 
 ■body of the native princes had so readily recognised his domi- 
 nant claims to the monarchy ; why were they not summoned 
 'to assist him, in at once reducing their rebellious brother 
 to obedience. It is obvious that the experiment was of a 
 nature too dangerous to be tried. The slightest failure would 
 have, doubtless, eventuated hi each head of the various 
 •districts asserting his own independence ; and it was therefore 
 we imagine, deemed more politic not to show the inherent 
 weakness of the kingdom, by a display of its strength.* This 
 may he deemed an extraordinary proposition ; but its truth 
 will commend itself ; the more so when we find that it is 
 confidently believed that the action taken by the corvette 
 ■aforesaid " will tend to diminish native interference with white 
 residents ;" so that the residents in Fiji have been 
 peremptorily called upon to give their submission to a power 
 which thus practically announces its inability to protect them 
 from the wrong-doings of its supposed subjects A state of 
 matters rather unprecedented ; but one which did not appear 
 to affect the equanimity of our rulers in the slightest degree. 
 
 But, at this time, ministers only seemed to base their 
 calculations upon the strength of the white population ; and 
 might therefore have felt that it was only over that section 
 of the community that the regal sway was to be exercised. 
 But little was then heard of the deference which should be 
 paid to the native chiefs; nothing, concerning the dearly 
 cherished elective rights of their subjects. So completely 
 were these last ignored, that even their great champion, the 
 redoubtable Premier, completely lost sight of their privileges, 
 and of the grievous wrong which would be inflicted by with- 
 holding the franchige from them, ais the following extract will 
 show.
 
 *' Election of Me7)iiers. 
 
 **The House then resdved itself into a committee of the 
 *wliole on the elections of members. 
 
 ** Mr. Woods explained that the government had arrived 
 ^ a very good approximation of population for the presents 
 
 " After some little conversation Mr. F. Hennings gave 
 the following numbers of electors in the various districts^ — 
 Levuka, 246; Ovalau, 10; Tai Levu, 68; Korotubu and 
 Nananu, 46 -, Nadi, 27 ; Navua and Suva, 64 ; Nadroga, 42 -, 
 Lower Rewa, 29; Upper Rewa, 50; Central Districts, 21; 
 Bua, 25 ; Macuata and Breketi, 48 ; Yasawas, 20 ; Eastern 
 <Jaromp, 68; Kadavu, 10; Ba and Tavua, 25.^' 
 
 So that we find the total elective power in the kingdom 
 calculated, at that day, at only 799. How Mr. Woods and 
 his colleagues oan ever forgive themselves for having thus 
 ignored the sacred rights of the Fijian is a complete mystery ; 
 the more so when it he considered how very much more 
 agreeably matters might have gone, under the influence of a 
 majority returned by the " children of the soil." However, 
 they, no doubt, hope to make expiation for this frightful 
 direliction by their conduct since that time, and in the future ; 
 — should they ever have the opportunity, — which, at present, 
 seems highly problematical , 
 
 Not only were the native considered as naught in the 
 question of representation, but the much abused half-caste is 
 also placed beyond the pale ; for it is found that, in a debate 
 upon the suoject, it was resolved they *^had better stay where 
 they were," Where that may be, is probably known to 
 to ex-senators ; popular knowledge is, certainly rather vague 
 «n this subject. The short discussion on the matter is here 
 appended : — 
 
 '*0a clause 6, Mr. Scott (Tai Levu) wanted a fair 
 definition of the word subject. There was no law for 
 naturalising a subject. 
 
 ** Mr. Haslett moved the substitution of the word 
 * denizen ' for subject. 
 
 "Dr. Ryley seconded the motion. The law as it stood 
 implied Fijians as well as whites. The word proposed would 
 obviate this. 
 
 " Mr. Eastgate moved the insertion of the words * such 
 male subject to mean all residents other than born subjects and 
 natives of the Polynesian Islands.' 
 
 " Mr. Scott supported the last speaker. 
 
 " Mr. Burt thought no man should vote who did not 
 take an oath to support the laws and constitution. 
 
 ** Mr. Eastgate intended to move an insertion to that 
 effect. 
 
 y Mr, Wood§ said they had not provided for half-castes.
 
 SI 
 
 He thoMglit tlie opinion of the House should be taken. The 
 half-castes in the Kingdom numbered from 450 to 600. 
 
 " Mr. Eastgate thought separate provision should be 
 made for them. 
 
 '* Mr. Burt said it would be undesirable to admit them 
 into the class of whites. Again there were great objections 
 to making a distinct body of them. He thought they had 
 better stay where they were. 
 
 " Mr. Eastgate's amendmont was carried." — Fiji Times, 
 ISth November, K^71. 
 
 It is pretty apparent at least here, that no notion 
 of admitting the ]iative to vote was, in any way entertained. 
 Tiie idea was, and is preposterous; and would have then been, 
 as it most assuredly ever will be if again mooted, scouted with 
 derision. A measure so extreme could only be proposed by 
 desperate men, who finding the reins of power slipping from 
 their gi'asp, would resort to any means, no matter how des- 
 picable, hov/ iVaught with de!:;rada(ion to their race generally, 
 to retain their tottering seats ; but the deliberate and recorded 
 opinions of their brother legislators, do not seem to have 
 influenced ministers much in their later actions ; however 
 difficult they may find it to explain their proceediugs, now 
 ttiat these recollections of parliamentary resolutions are forced 
 upon their unwilling minds. 
 
 The course of legislation fbr the natives does not seem 
 to have commended itself to universal approbation ; %s the 
 accompanying remarks will perhaps show :-'-- 
 
 " We can forsee much opposition on the part of the 
 natives. It may not take the form of open rebellion but of 
 discontent and disaffection dangerous to planters within their 
 districts and annoying to the government. Many of the 
 chiefs, as we said, will return to their districts, aud will give 
 their fellow chiefs and people in council assembled an account 
 of what has been done. In some cases the decision will very 
 likely be 'Let the white men govern themselves and the 
 Fijians themselves.'" — Fiji Times, 16th December, 18/1. 
 
 The truth of the foregoing remarks, has been but too 
 amply proved. The affected acquiescence of the chiefs in the 
 proeeedings of the legislature, very soon became apparent ; 
 and the unfortunate settlers, in but too many instances, became 
 the victims of the rude violation of the traditions of ages. 
 Unprepared for the ready cession of the obedience required of 
 . them ; ignoring the supremacy of the lately proclaimed King; 
 undesirons or unable to comprehend the new state of that 
 political being into which they had been* so recently called ; 
 above all harrassed by the imposition of a tax which, 
 although insignificant in itself, was nevertheless obnoxious 
 from the mere fact of its novelty and the utter ignorance on 
 the part of its! compulsory contributors as to its eventual
 
 S2: 
 
 destination, those tribes which were not immediately under 
 the jurisdiction and influence of Bau, presented, at the first, 
 a stoh4 but obstinate resistance to the edicts of the govern- 
 ment. Unfortunately, passive, soon became active, opposition ; 
 and its result was to be fountl in the massacres committed on 
 the settlers in the sparsely populated districts. It was not long 
 before the outrages committed by the imported laborers ; who 
 were, however, as it was almost universally believed, but the 
 of others hy whom they were instigated ; compelled the tools, 
 authorities to solicit the assistance of volunteers ; and as this 
 was while the House was sitting, ministers were afforded an 
 ample opportunity of inveighing against those strong oppo- 
 nents to legality, who, as it has been so frequently asserted, 
 revel in the idea of anachy and defiance of all constituted 
 authority. Yet, strange to say, not only was no voice of 
 reproach heard upon this occasion, but commendation was 
 actually bestowed. We find, from the printed reports of the 
 parliamentary proceedings, that, in a very few hours, upwards 
 of one hundred and sixty people were enrolled, as volunteers, 
 and that in the assembly : — 
 
 " Mr, Thomas moved that the House place on record 
 the names of those gentlemen who had offered their assist- 
 ance to the expedition. 
 
 *^ Mr. Burt, on behalf of the government, seconded the 
 resolution and said that at all times when the government 
 had required assistance in the preservation of law and order, 
 they met with it from every respectable citizen in Levuka." — 
 Fiji Timesy 4th November, 1871. 
 
 We thus have it on record that, up to this time, at least, 
 no cause for complaint had arisen as to the conduct of the 
 residents in the capital, with respect to the aid afforded by 
 them in the maintenance of the edicts promulgated by the 
 government ; and it was not until its proceedings presented 
 the aspect of becoming harsh and arbitrary that resistance 
 was provoked, or that any was threatened or took a practical 
 form. But eventually, a decided opposition was exhibited 
 against the ruling powers, and an organization styled the 
 " British Subjects Mutual Protection Society " the aims and 
 objects of which were manifestly contrary to those of the 
 government, came into existence. However worthy the views 
 entertained by the promoters of this body, they adopted an 
 evidently wrong course in the mode taken for their promul- 
 gation. The society was a secret one ; and the means 
 advocated to enforce its purposes, met with but little favor. 
 But, much as such .associations are, as a rule, to be reprobated, 
 it must not be forgotten that a threat has been held out that 
 any outspoken sentiment of disapprobation on the part of the 
 public upon the acts of its guardians, would be met by the 
 rasBemhling of armed Fijians to overcogne and control them;
 
 83 
 
 and it is to this, that the origin of this conclave, is, doubtless^r 
 to be traced. BmU notwithstanding this, no encouragement 
 was given to the promotion of these bodies, and they could' 
 boast of but few names from the ranks of the representatives 
 of the educated classes. The subjoined comment on their 
 proceedings will manifest th« opinion entertained thereof, and: 
 tend to show how thorough was the inclination to support 
 any recognized authority, no matter how distasteful its acts 
 might be to the body politic. 
 
 " We cannot help thinking that these people whoever 
 they are forming the secret association have acted in an 
 indiscreet manner and in a way tending to the perversion of 
 law and order. They have succeeded in fonming a party 
 amongst themselves, and have by the manner of their actions, 
 alienated a great body of people from them, who feeL the 
 burdens as they do, and \\ho would join in any constitutional 
 method for their abatement. Most of the persons forming 
 the secret societies, have recognised the government (it 
 matters little perhaps since they are here, whether they 
 have or noty but most of them have done so); by voting for 
 representatives to the House oC Assembly. By the action, 
 and laws passed by those representatives, the people must be 
 bound ju&t the same as if each individual had voted' the laws 
 which were to govern himself. M those laws were found to 
 press too heavily or t®' be injurious to^ the well-being of the 
 state, then subjects have the constitudonal course open to 
 them of petitioning the House if in session, or the King who 
 would! lay it before his Cabinet Council and so the oljjection- 
 able law or clause might be repealed^ alterred, or suspended. 
 If the secret societies had adopted this- course they would 
 have had the support of all classes,, but the cause they have 
 adopted is one tending to make the government firm in their 
 determination to collect the taxes.^ It has too much the 
 appearance of an endeavor to cow them, which no govern- 
 ment could albw. It may perhaps be said that we are 
 upholding the government at the cost of consistency. This 
 we deny. * Consistency is the hugbeaF of Mttte minds,' 
 Emmerson says^ and we do not feel we aue committing any 
 inconsistency. At the time of the commencement of the 
 government movement we wrote, not against the movement, 
 a measure that we have always advocated', but against some 
 of the men who lead that movement and who we considieredl 
 from their antecedents to be far from the " right men in the 
 right place." But the country sent in its representatives who- 
 were satisfied with the men at the head of aif airs, and we had to 
 accept of the situation. What else could we do / Our represen- 
 tatives expressed every confidence in them and so for the time 
 being the country had to be satisfied on that score. The Acts 
 jjassed by them are in honor binding oa us, always with, the
 
 84' 
 
 provision as before stated of petitioning against tliem. This* 
 course the wisest and best for the .secret societies is open ta 
 them ; and there is another open hkewise to them and tiiat is, 
 during the present recess, to request their representatives to« 
 retire (as most of them promised to do, if asked) and to send 
 in different blood to legislate for them. At any rate the 
 people can make themselves heard, they must have attention,, 
 no government can refuse to listen to them on any matter of 
 importance, and if they join their voice to the resolution of 
 the Municipal Council, good will come of it." — Fiji Times, 
 27th January, 18/2. 
 
 We imagine that the most earnest supporter of the 
 government could scarcely have wished that advice more 
 pertinent to the subject, more favorable to the authorities, 
 should have been given. The dignity and position of those 
 in power are fairly considered, and their claims to considera- 
 tion put before the public generallv, and particularly, before 
 those who were taking so prominent a stand in opposing 
 them. As had been showa over and over again, it is against 
 the men and mode, and not against government, that the 
 earnest protest of the people is made. It would be a matter 
 of great difficulty for those who have made political 
 capital from their mendacious assertions that the white 
 inhabitants of Fiji were systematically opposed to all rule, to 
 prove their declaration in any degree. There can be no 
 doubt that a few hasty spirits would have liked to have taken 
 summary measures and have met ministers with their own 
 weapons ; but even tliese were provoked by the unreasonable 
 attitude assiamed by the would be contJollers of events, while 
 the, by far, large majority of the people, notwithstanding 
 their well founded cause for discontent, refused most distinctly 
 to aid in any way, those who were thus banded together, in 
 the hope of reducing ministers to their proper level. It is a 
 remarkable fact that in all the various political struggles and 
 declarations which have been forced upon this country, a 
 large section of the community has satisfied itself with a 
 merely passive opposition. Content to bide its time, this, by 
 no means unimportant element in the Kingdom, has, wisely, 
 so restrained itself, that no charge of obstructing the action 
 of ministers can lie against it; but still, it has fought a battle ; 
 a waiting one, it may have been ; but one which has resulted 
 successfully," and amply jr.stified the tactics of its generals. 
 It has simply been content to let the result of political action 
 and evident design develope themselves ; resting assured that 
 silent watchfulness would be mistaken for indifference ; and 
 that, consequently, cur rulers, gathering boldness from that 
 apparent acquiescence in their doings, which the absence of a 
 declared opposition would naturally induce ; would be the 
 more likely to lay bare their real plans, jind give the cue to
 
 tlie motive power by wliich they were animated. And tliisi 
 has undoubtedly proved to have cuhninated as was expected. 
 Ministers having had the proverbial mch given to them, have, 
 of course, taken the no less proverbial ell ; they have had 
 plenty of rope, and— our readc;rs know the remainder of tlie 
 old adage. 
 
 But, at the time of which we are more particularly 
 treating, opportunity had not been afforded to apply the test 
 of experience to the acts of either the rulers or the ruled ; 
 and it was more that wliich was on the surface, than aught below 
 it,, which attracted and occupied attention. Ministers began 
 to get very uneasy ; and, not considering that it were their 
 better policy to assume an appearance of confidence, even if 
 they had it not ; to issue proclamations which might have 
 been graceful enough had they have emanated from a recog- 
 nised power, and one high in the family of nations ; but 
 which, under all circumstances, seemed rather a travestie 
 upon real statesmanship ; a species of Etliiopian serenaders 
 budget and manifesto ; at whicii people were expected to, and 
 did, laugh. The following pertinent remarks, will give our 
 readers, an idea of the matter : — 
 
 *' In our minds there has been an unusual and uncalled 
 for exhibition of fear and alarm during the past few days oa 
 the part of our government , which is indicative of a certain 
 amount of weakness. The proclamation published by them 
 on the evening of last Tuesday was very premature, and 
 issued, we think, without sufficient warrant. We have seen 
 such proclamations elsewhere, but not until occasion^or so 
 doing had been urgent and needed. We cannot perceive that 
 the circumstances of Levuka are so critical at the present 
 time as to demand a proclamation calling upon 'all our loving 
 subjects and all well disposed and order loving residents 
 within our Kingdom, to aid in repressing the illegal acts ' of 
 * certain evil disposed persons stirring up strife and opposi- 
 tion to us and to our government, and who purpose to resort 
 to acts of violence and riot in regard to the laws and 
 constitution of Fiji.' There have been secret meetings held 
 and the upshot of those gatherings has been, contrary to what 
 a few expected, the resort to legitimate and constitutional 
 
 modes- for getting rid of obnoxious men 
 
 Then why this display of arras and armed men ? Simply an 
 attempt to intimidate the disaffected, who muster somewhat 
 numerously — more numerously we fancy than the government 
 is aware. But intimidation is an unwise poHcy, more par- 
 ticularly in the case of the Fijian government, which has no 
 power to support it against the disaffection which exists 
 without calling out the natives. Such a policy would be 
 ruinous to us all. But there is not any necessity for violence 
 if the government will only act paciiically and shew in all
 
 »6 
 
 things that they are anxious to act, and do act constitutionally ;. 
 and not * stiaiu at a gnat andC swallow a camel ' as they, are 
 doing.'' ^-Fiji Times, 3rd February, 18/2. 
 
 But,, notwithstanding the objectionable manner in' which 
 the proceeding was carried; out*, the object of the Association 
 was apparently accomplished. The Chief Secretary, the 
 Treasurer and the Minister for Native Affairs retired* from 
 the Cabinet, and' their places were filled by other gentlfemeni 
 eojoying a larger &hare of popularity. Not that the change 
 proved of any eventual benefit, but it at least served to- 
 demonstrate that the people were awakened to a sense of the 
 intentions of the government, and' that that body could not 
 retain poweFin the face of general objectionv But at this 
 juncture, the resolution was evidently taken to- coerce popular 
 opimsn, if necessary, by the aid! of armed: natives; and the 
 taxes, har(ily wrung from* the white population, were dcv'oted^ 
 to equiping and' training a Fijjan soldiery, who were to be 
 utilised for the purposes of intimidation andJ coercion. Hap- 
 pily, up to this time, the two races have not been brought 
 into absolute armed collision, although, but very recently, 
 that danger was imminent. It is a matter upon which ministers 
 may congratulate themselves,, that the threatened, encounter 
 was averted ; had' it have taken ^lace, the consequences wouldi 
 have been far more semous than anticipated. And, even here, 
 a page is opened in contemporary history which the authori- 
 ties may study with advantage. They can but feel assured, 
 that, had it Bot have been fois the interference of a British. 
 Man of War, blood wottld have been shed. Hav« they ever 
 calculated the results,, had one drop flowed from^ the veins of 
 a white man Z 
 
 Upon the assembling of the first Parliament sonvenedi 
 unde? the a/uthority of the Constitution* Act, the Premier, 
 Mr. Woods, laid on the table certain papers connected with 
 his recent mission to the colonies ;. and stated, amongst other 
 matters, that a National Bank with a capital of 56'250,000, 
 would be shortly established ! He regretted that his absence 
 had prevented him from participating in the labons of his 
 colleagues y and while deploring the evident necessity ^for their 
 resignations, pointed out that the King had^ im accepting them 
 acted in accordance with constitutional usage. He further 
 announced that the Cabinet had been reconstructed and' 
 expressed the intention of the new ministry to retire, in favor 
 of a constitutional opposition^ should they not possess or 
 retain the confidence of the majority of the House. Mr. 
 Thurston also explained that he had taken office under very 
 pressing circumstances, and that it was his intention to do the 
 best he possibly could for the interests of the country. He 
 further made the somewhat extraordinary declaration that he
 
 87 
 
 '* diS not identify IHimseM' with the action of his colleagues ; 
 fbut would stand or fall l)y his own measures.' 
 
 We need scarcely point out how far the promises in this 
 ministerial programme have been fulfilled ; or rather, how 
 ^utterly they have been disregarded. The National Bank with 
 its ^6250,000 capital, has been narrowed down to a Fiji 
 Banking and Trading Company, to which we wish all success, 
 ^but whose charter, owing to tlie illegality of its inception, is 
 worth nothing ! In the place of retiring in the face of an 
 adverse majority, ministers first prorogued, then dissolved, the 
 Assembly ; and have, since that act, governed withciut any 
 •check whatever ; and by their proceedings, daily laid them- 
 selves open to impeachment. And it is because indignation 
 ds naturally aroused at this autocratic mode of proceeding, 
 ithat those who object to and decry it, are branded as pro- 
 moters of dissension and so-called rebellion. Let this justice 
 Ibe done. Let the effect be traced to the cause, and properly 
 charged thereto; and we shall then find that, if rebellion 
 exist or have existed, ministers are its instigators and inciters ! 
 The population of Fiji is exhorted to obedience. To what ? 
 To constitutional rule ; to parliamentary edicts ; or to the 
 'manifesto issued by two or three men detcTmined to exercise 
 •power at all risks ; their solemn oaths and obligations to the 
 'Contrary notwithstanding. Let our readers peruse the 
 tibllowing extract from the Fiji Times, published in August, 
 1872, and judge for themselves, as to the notions of iiberty 
 ■entertained by these gentlemen ; and of the deep regard 
 ^which they have for the native race, when by aid of their too 
 ypliable majority in the Mouse, they succeeded in carrying a 
 measure thus described : — 
 
 *' Or Thursday night the House passed a Bill through 
 ^cvery stage, the standing orders being suspended to allow of 
 'its being done. The act in its provisions appears to be very 
 arbitrary and severe; more so, we imagine, than there is any 
 necessity for. 
 
 "The Bill was to compel the payment of taxes, and in 
 cases where such payment was refused, to punish the 
 defaulters by six months' hard labor on plantations. One of 
 the principal reasons for such a hasty measure was one fact 
 lately brought to light of about nine hundred Fijians having 
 'only paid one shilling per head taxes instead of ten shillings - 
 It was said that if this became known all other natives would 
 likewise refuse to pay, at any rate more than that amount. 
 Well, supposing that nine hundred natives fail to pay, then 
 the neasrest two Justices may sentence them to six months 
 hard labor. But how is the labor to be disposed of? We are 
 well aware that it is in request, but the kind sought is not 
 prison labor, and we scarcely think that planters will care to 
 become gaolers. They will readily employ free Fijian labor,
 
 88 
 
 sucli as ^lien the natives, knowinj; they have to meet a 
 certain rate, will freely give in exchange for the white man's 
 money ; but to place prison labor on plantations throughont 
 the group would be to invest ourselves with great danger, 
 which might at any time not only end in the disorganization 
 of the government, but also in loss of life and property to 
 white settlers. Because native sympathy would be all on the 
 Fijian's side, and every help from their own people would be 
 given. VVe know that the government is in all conscience 
 poor enough, and in need of money, but this was not sufficient 
 reason why such a measure should have been hurried through 
 in this way. A few days would likely have brought forth 
 some scheme much more practical and easy of accomplish- 
 ment, and having the concurrence of the people. It seems to 
 us to have been a Bill introduced on the impulse of the 
 moment by a rash and impulsive man, and carried through 
 its various stages, not upon its own merits but by a surprise." 
 —Fiji Times^i5t\\ August, 1872. 
 
 " Where is the paternal care for the Fijian, of which 
 ministers so loudly boast, here displayed ? Do they not pay 
 their taxes — make them slaves for six months ! Can they, or 
 do they, pay only one shilling per head instead of the amount 
 at virhich this fatherly government assessed their capability of 
 contribution! — take it out of their bodies ;— but, — here let 
 the tribute of admiration fairly challenged and won, be paid, 
 — let the result of their labor go to swell the revenues of the 
 exchequer, and this mode of financing, this course of 
 recruiting the exhausted, treasury, stand forth in bold and 
 brilliant contrast to the miserable ideas promulgated by 
 minds so inferior as those boasted by a Gladstone, a Lowe, a 
 Disraeli ! Equality ! Jiherty ! Fraternity ! are the cries of 
 these philo-Fijians ! Equality — by reducing the native to the 
 status of the galley-slave. Liberty — for any two Justices — 
 of course appointed by Ministers — to sentence the defaulter 
 to enforced hard labor. Fraternity — that being as poor as, 
 they may fraternise with, the beast of burden, to the level of 
 which their paternal rulers hath thus reduced them. 
 
 Not content with this, a more ingenious mode of 
 replenishing the coffers of the state has been arrived at ; and 
 although it can scarcely claim the merit" of originality, it 
 certainly deserves that of ingenuity. When the natives of 
 any particular district are dissatisfied with the acts of a 
 government, to which their adherence has never been yielded, 
 and unmistakeably exhibit their disapprobation by sc-called 
 rebellion, what easier method of reducing them to obedience 
 than by sending drilled troops, officered by white men, 
 against them ; and after hidicting them for rebellion, and 
 taking the judgement "of tne court as to their sentences, 
 literally sell them into slavery ; and deY<»te the proceeds of
 
 89 
 
 ihe transaction to the benefit of the Treasury ! It is only the 
 old scheme of selling men, women and children to the owners 
 of plantations, as practiced in olden times, revived ! But may 
 not this happy Kingdom be congratulated, indeed, in possess- 
 ing for its rulers, those who can thus study and profit by the 
 lessons of the past. We hear that it is in contemplation to 
 erect a statue to ministers, with medallions of Wilberforce 
 and Lincoln, on two sides of the pedestal, and those of 
 Jeifery Davis and Stonewall Jackson on the other ; the 
 inscription, under the two latter to be * These be your Gods, 
 Oh Israel ! " 
 
 It is a pity that the entire Cabinet had not been animated 
 by the same feeling as Mr. Burt, the present Attorney- 
 General, who, — although perhaps, the best abused man in the 
 country, — shines as a bright and particular light in the 
 firmament of political honesty when compared with his 
 brother ministers. That gentleman, when announcing his 
 resignation, said : — 
 
 "The ministry, as originally constituted, had been 
 formed without his aproval, and he had then consented to 
 retain office only through pressure from the King and his own 
 colleagues, as also from his sense of duty that each should 
 
 exert himself for the benefit of the country 
 
 He had resigned because, finding the laws could not be carried 
 out, he would have considered it a degradation to retain office 
 when its dignity could no longer be maintained. He .warned 
 the House that they had not yet entered upon the real field 
 
 of politics No real question had yet been 
 
 mooted, that was still to come. Laws had first to be made, 
 and then the experiment tried as to whether they would be 
 obeyed." — 
 
 Are ministers consulting either their own dignity or that 
 which should pertain to their offices by their pertinacious 
 adherence to place and pay ; or are they not daily adding to 
 the degradation which attaches to their obstinate determina- 
 tion to ruin and mar the fair prospects of the Kingdom, bv 
 their endeavors to exercise a crooked and coercive policy 
 which commends itself only to them, because it promises a 
 continuance of power and its emoluments ! Facts speak more 
 strongly than mere assertion ; and it is only by the efforts 
 which they continue to make to induce the King and his 
 people to believe that it is against government as a principle, 
 that the white residents are opposed, which keeps them in 
 their positions ; were they to state the truth, — that it is only 
 against false counsellors and their pernicious actions that the 
 outcry is directed, — they would be merely making a merit of 
 that necessity which is speedily inevitable. It ran only be a 
 question of but few months to bring this fact home to the 
 minds of both the monarch and his subjects ; and it will then
 
 be seen how those who have -blinded and enthi*alled thcit 
 unconscious dupes, will stand in their estimation. Ministers 
 may carry away the palm for their superior attainments in 
 the arts of tergiversation and unblushing eifrontry ; but, 
 many months will not have elapsed before it will be prac- 
 tically proved that Fiji can produce able men, conscientious 
 and experienced, who can and. will govern in accordance 
 with constitutional usage and tradition ; and. who possess the 
 far preferable attributes of honesty and high principle ! 
 
 During the parliamentary session of 1 8/2, many mea- 
 sures of more or less importance to the country were carried, 
 and ministers found a pliable majority in the House. But, in 
 justice to those who voted with them, let it be remembered 
 that it was more to the anxious desire that those at the helm 
 of the state ship should have a fair opportunity afforded to 
 them to test their fitness and capabilities, than to any decided 
 approval of the measures submitted by them, that they met 
 with such few opponents. It is not our intention to subject 
 the measures then passed, to the test of any close criticism ; 
 although the arbitrary nature of many of them has been 
 already pointed out, and but too severely felt by this unfortu- 
 nate Kingdom. Their fiscal policy has proved a lamentable 
 failure, as might have been expected when we find that one of 
 the items in their proposed ways and means, was a tax upon 
 the exports of the country ; that the contributions to the 
 state, to be levied from the native and foreign laborers, were 
 to come out of the pockets of their employers, by the simple 
 process of a statutory enactment fixing an arbitrary rate of 
 wages ; and that, by all possible modes, the producing power 
 of the country, the very source of its prosperity and con- 
 sequence, was taxed and hampered. But, what was to be the 
 result of all these imposts and burdens ? In the scheme for 
 expenditure, was regard paid to any one measure having for 
 its purpose the advancement of the country in a materia) 
 sense, by bringing it into closer contact with others, recog- 
 nized as possessing powers of civilization, and capable by mere 
 force of intercourse, of imparting some portion of their higher 
 tone of thought and feeling, to this infant state. Was any 
 scheme proposed to aid the progress of Fiji, by the develope- 
 ment of its undoubted resources, or by holding out inducements 
 for its settlement by the introduction of capital, enterprise and 
 labor ; by the outlay of capital upon works which, while they 
 might be made reproductive, would act as an inducement for 
 permanent location ? Not one ! The sole aim of the ministry 
 was to obtain funds sufficient to pay their salaries and those 
 of their subordinates ; so that, while on one hand they 
 retarded the progress of the bona fide producer, by causing 
 the great weight of taxation to fall upon him ; they, on the 
 other, took steps to ensure the perjaianence of the oppressive
 
 yoke, by disti ibuting the funds thus obtained in such a way 
 as to strengthen their own hands, to the utter disregard of all 
 other considerations- The Treasury, supplied by the people, 
 was to find the raeana to coeuce them. They were to furnish 
 the material by which the government could rivet, still more 
 closely, the galling fetters of tyranny and' oppression ; and, by 
 no doing, run a still better chance of forcing upon the public 
 mind their famous nostrum for the cure of dissatisfaction 
 with their proceedings ; that panacea which, patented by the 
 lieaven-born legislators, Messrs. Woods, Thurston and Co,, 
 was to relieve those, who had been made to suffer by their 
 former quackeries, from all turtber uneasiness so fait as Fiji 
 were concerned ; and the ministy, from all apprehension of 
 disagreeable interference witii their proceedings ; and which 
 was so simple and easy of attainment. It was only, as 
 recommendied in the House by Mr. Woods, to " pack, their 
 carpetbags" and leave the country! That was all! Inge- 
 nious in its conception, simple in the very easiness of its 
 execution, it is only a matter of wonder that many did not 
 avail themselves of the suggestion, while they still had the 
 wherewithal to purchase the article commended ; at present^ 
 we believe the advice would be superogatory ; the effect of 
 the ministerial policy having been to render the " carpet bag " 
 quite needless ; it having left the foreign residents in the 
 enviable position of having nothing to put in it ! 
 
 On the 17th July, 1872, duting the progress of the 
 " Loan Bill/* through the House, Mx, Woods, as Premier, 
 stated that the King had given up the whole of his private 
 property in the shape of land, ton the purposes of the 
 Government ; and that, consequently, there was available as 
 security for any loans, the area of 2,440,000 acres of land*. 
 So far, S9 good. The honorable Mr. Woods has pledged his 
 veracity that this is the fact. The only question, therefore is,. 
 — -who will become pledged for the veracity of the honorable 
 Mr. Woods ! Hitherto, no publication of the districts in which 
 the lands are situated, or particulars as to their respective 
 extent, &c., has been made ; and, for aE the public know, 
 they may exist in dreamland; and their yaluable improve- 
 ments in the shape of buildings, &o., be s© many chateauai en.' 
 Espagne! Or, is it possible that the Pcemieif was alluding,, 
 in part, to the lands in Levuka) situate at Nasova, of which 
 possession has been coolly taken by the government ; and. 
 upon which they Irnve erected the Government buildings ? 
 It is probable that this is the fact ; although the title to at 
 least a portion of the land thus appropriated is, we under- 
 stand, to be settled by the aid of a French Mao of War, Biit 
 the government evidently believe in the potency of that 
 description of conveyance which is propelled by a rifle ; andi 
 have fallen back upon the title shown by the back-woodsman.
 
 92 
 
 in olden days. Well, the commander of the corvette which \s 
 expected, may, upon the same grounds, argue that a chassepot 
 conveys a better grant than a rifle,, and a mitrailleuse than 
 either ; and, should opinions differ upon the point, be prepared 
 to practically illustrate his belief. 
 
 But it does seem somewhat hard that, possessing these 
 millions of acres, the bead of the political firm now trading 
 upon the exigencies of Fiji, should assimilate his transactions 
 so much to t^ose of the autocrat Ahab with the independent 
 but unfortunate Nabotb. Might he not condescend to take a 
 lesson therefrom, and pause while yet he may ! 
 
 The fact of this cool appropriation of private lands for 
 the purposes of the Government, speaks volumes as to the 
 ■whole of the tendency of the *' ruling" minds of the 
 Executive. Like the redoubtable Mr. Weller, they first ask 
 very respectfully for what they want, and if it be not given to 
 them, take it ; " lest they might do something wrong through 
 not getting it." Land marks are almost as little to them, as 
 land titles, or the deeds conferring them ; and the latter seem 
 to be thoroughly valueless in their eyes, if we may judge 
 from the number " lost " in the course of the manipulation to 
 which they are subjected by this so paternal government. 
 Can any surprise exist at the universal outcry raised against 
 these thoroughly unscrupulous people, justified as it is by the 
 wanton display of their determination to do simply as they 
 like, no matter at what cost to individuals, or what risk to the 
 permanent prosperity of the state. Should it not rather be a 
 cause for wonder that those aggrieved should exercise such 
 patient self-control, and quietly await that, to which they so 
 yearningly look, to have their grievances redressed. Talk of 
 impatience of necessary control, and legislative interference ! 
 We venture to state that in no country in the world, do 
 people show themselves more orderly, or more patient under 
 their grievances ; in no country have they been more 
 provoked ; in none certainly, have they exposed themselves 
 to such risk of the despotic coercion of a few unscrupulous 
 adventurers ; in none have they shown- their good sense to a 
 higher degree, and refrained from acting as it was doubtless 
 expected they would, under the repeated insults and injuries 
 to which they have been subjeeted ; and thus have given their 
 benificent rulers a chance of bringing their thousands of 
 armed troops into action, under the specious pretence of that 
 step being necessary, in order that *' insurrection " might be 
 quelled. 
 
 We do not speak without good reason, nor has a word 
 been transcribed which is not supported by testimony which 
 can be forthcoming at any moment. Will ministers care to 
 have published their written orders that six hundred drilled 
 and armed Fijians should be placed in ambush aronnd
 
 93 
 
 Levuka. Would they like their specific instructions with 
 respect t-9 them to appear. If! so, a^ word will have the 
 desired effect ; and the world at large an opportunity of 
 learning what kind of men they be who seek to control the 
 interests and destinies of this Kingdom^. 
 
 The first parliament was prorogued at the end of July, 
 1872, and did not re-assemble until the 31st May in the 
 present year; leaving ten months for the developement of the 
 policy pursued; by ministers,, and for its results to be 
 experienced by the country. During this time, those im 
 power had so succeeded in opening the eyes of their erstwhile 
 supporters to the true intent of tlieir proceedings, that they 
 found a determined and numerically formidable opposition to 
 encounter, in the place ©f the political finends oi the last session. 
 In. the mean time considerable disturbances, brought on by 
 the acts of the government itself, had taken place in the 
 island of Viti Levu; and: it wais^ only by the merest chance 
 that bloodshed! was avertedi, and that, the orders given byt 
 one of the ministers of the Croimito Jire wpon the whites^ 
 tvere imt obeyed. Luckily for all concerned, this step w^as 
 not taken ; but that it ivas not, was certainly not the fault of 
 his Majesty's responsible advisers.- Determined disaffection 
 and opposition to the proceedings of the government were 
 rife throughout the group ^ and there was not one di£5trict 
 therein,, but was loud in its expressions of discontent at the 
 tyrannical manner in which the Executive had acted. Foiled 
 however in theix attempts to exercise an undisputed sway, 
 ministers again called parliament together ; but not until the 
 very last day, which the law all owed; for the necess, had 
 expired. The House was opened by Commission ; and the 
 King's Speech itead as usual. This declared that the main 
 business of the session was to Be the amendment of the 
 Constitution Act in several important particulars ; the con- 
 sideration of a new Customs Bill ; a Bill authorising s«immary 
 jurisdiction in districts proclaimed under martial law, and 
 further enabling the government to profitably employ those 
 convicted under such Bill on reproductive works of the 
 Government, or to assign them to planters and others for 
 service, instead of committing them to gaol for a term of 
 years ; a Bill to authorise the erection of two or more sugar 
 mills out of the public loans ; a BiU to amend the Adminis- 
 tration of Justice Act, 1871, &c., &c. The parliainent was 
 dissolved by proclamation on the llth June, but, not before 
 ministers had failed to carry any of the measures set out in 
 their programme. In the first place they were unable to find 
 any two members to propose and second the reply to the 
 King's Speech, as suggested by them ; and the reply which was 
 adopted by the House was directly opposed to their wishes^ 
 in the next, a determined refusal was given to H>e proposal to
 
 94 
 
 entertain any business until the financial position were 
 thoroughly und^erstood and the report of the Auditor- General 
 laid on the table ; and, generally, the government was 
 outvoted by about two to one. At this crisis> minister*! 
 announced that they had forwarded their resignations to the 
 King, who was at this time at a considerable distance from 
 Levuka ; and- had recommended his Majesty to send- for some 
 member from the opposition^ to foum^ a Cabinet which might 
 replace that in office. The King's reply had^ been< received, 
 but was not opened for some tim« ; when it was found that 
 his Majesty declined to accept the resignation of his ministers 
 and would' dissolve the House ; and while his government 
 were pleading hard' for supply, it was announced' that the 
 dissolution had been gazetted; Supply for twa months was, 
 however, gi\anted, upon' the express stipulation that the new 
 House should meet at the expiration of that period ; and- that 
 the King should give his- assent to the new Act ; under which 
 it was arranged" the fresh electaens should take place. There 
 can be no doubt that this was a mere ruse on^ part of the 
 ministers ; and that they had taken advantage of the King's 
 want of knowledge of constitutional usage^ to effect their own- 
 aims. The dissolution was in itself void, as by parliamentary 
 precedent, a dissolution) while the House is in session> can only 
 be effectedi by the King in person or by commission; and a 
 dissolution by proclamation can only be carried* out during a- 
 prorogation. And that this was merely intendedas a means 
 to an end, is more than probable, when we find* that, in^ 
 answer to an accusation made by members that ministers* 
 wanted a despotic government, Mp. Woods replied^ " k wouldr 
 be better for us if we had' a despotic government. Consti- 
 tutional government in Fiji is a mistake." But, in the King's 
 Speech, it was stated that he believed "a grave and serious- 
 error to have been m-ade in giving the electoral right for the 
 representation of the foreign born subjects in the Legislative^ 
 Assembly, to the native subjects," and the 48th section of the 
 proposed Bill to amend the Constitution Act, provided that 
 *' The representation of the foreign born subjects- of the' 
 Kingdom shall be based upon the principle of equality. The 
 representatives &hall not be less in number than twenty nor^ 
 more than thirty^ ivho shall be elHted triennially and shall 
 he styled the Legislative Assembly of the Kingdom of Fijiy 
 and they shall regulate and apportion the representation of 
 the foreign born subjects in the Kingdom; " while the bOth^ 
 section enacted that " Every foreign bom subject of thc' 
 Kingdom who shall have paid his taxes, who shall have 
 attained the age of twenty-one years and shall have been 
 donn.iciled in the Kingdom for twelve months immediately 
 preceding the election and shall have caused his name to be 
 entered on thp list of voters of his district aa may he provided.
 
 95 
 
 < bylaw shall be ?ntiiled to one vote for the repreaeiitaiive or 
 representatives of that district, &c., &c. ; " and the third 
 paragraph in the 6rst section of the speech stated that on the 
 Assembly approving such amendments, it was purposed, " in 
 accordance viith. the Constitution Act, to forthwith dissolve 
 the present 'Legislative Assembly, in order that the opinion, 
 of the foreign born electors on such amendments may be 
 obtained in the usual manner befdre being finally submitted 
 for further consideration and the Royal assent." 
 
 So far we find that ministers had acted constitutionally ; 
 the fault in the mode of the dissolution of parliament having 
 occurred through ignomnce or an oversight ; and in order 
 that the error in the conduct of elections pointed out by the 
 King might be remedied, a short Bill to be cited as *' The 
 Electors' Qualification Act, 1873," was passed; and, as has 
 been before pointed out, was to have received the Royal assent, 
 and to form the basis upon which the elections for the new 
 parliament were to be founded ; and it was upon this under- 
 standing that the temporary supply was granted. But what 
 was the result ? The instant ministers had rid themselves of 
 that incubus, a representative opposition, they took the reins 
 in their own hands, and most dishonorably and traitorously 
 attempted to introduce the native vote ; and thus sway the 
 whole direction of the country to their own purposes. There 
 is no exaggeration, no word painting in this. It stands out in 
 its naked truth, a lasting monument of perfidy and treachery, 
 and puts those who conceived and attempted to carry it out,, 
 upon their defence, if they can find any. When they found 
 the execration with which their actions in this matter were 
 met, then they boldly and defiantly threw off the mask ;• and 
 recalling the writs which had been issued, declared that thej 
 would rule as a despotic body. Shameless turpitude alter- 
 nating with blustering defiance has marked the further 
 progress of the ministerial proceedings ; but, it is a matter 
 patent to all who have given the subject the slightest 
 consideration that they have by the course of action they 
 have adopted, caused more ill-will, awakened more angry- 
 passions, among the two races, than perhaps twenty years will 
 serve to thoroughly allay ; and by this course of action, and to 
 this extent, would have retarded the progress of Fiji, but that 
 the very sense of the security with which they imagined they 
 could perform any and every matter which seemed good to 
 them, has caused them to over-reach themselves, and to have 
 cut the very ground from under their feet. The recent 
 publication of a new Constitution Act, assented to by the 
 King, and which he, with all formality and solemnity has 
 sworn to obey, has, of course, abrogated the old Act, the onl^ 
 one under which Fiji is recognised as a de facto government ; 
 SO that, no longer in the ^cale of recognised statep, the
 
 96 
 
 Kingdom has, 'by the acts of the Kinj^'s ministers, of the 
 King's advisers, fallen into its old position as set out in the 
 commencement of this work ; and which is embodied in the 
 •opinion of the present Chief Justice (who was then Attorney- 
 General,) of New South Wales ; and may, in short, be stated 
 as setting out that a power not recognised among the family 
 •of nations, cannot, make laws to bind other than its own 
 •native inhabitants. So that the efforts of these astute 
 gentlemen have at last culminated, in the destruction of that 
 •edifioe which they had taken such pains to erect ; and in their 
 very yearning greed for rule ; in their very insolence of power ; 
 they have wrecked themselves, and stranded the barque 
 of state. 
 
 Were there any excuse for this, any ground which might 
 he urged in extenuation for error, it would bo a widely different 
 imatter. But none such exists.. DeUberately, and with eyes open, 
 — not to the real consequences, for these they never imagined, 
 — ministers have sought to disregard their solemn compacts ; 
 and the inevitable reward which awaits treachery and double- 
 dealing, has been theirs. It might, and doubtless would have 
 been a matter for surprise had they have acted differently ; 
 the experience of the past might have acted as a beacon, and 
 shed no faint, no dim light upon the probabilities of the future. 
 Why should those who had acted so dishonorably with respect 
 to the Polynesian Company, be expected to be animated with 
 any feeling of rectitude in other matters ; why should fair 
 and upright action be looked for from those whose whole 
 political career has been marked by utter disregard to the 
 obligations which bind the honor of ordinary transactions. 
 As well expect to be ravished by the beauty of Medusa, by 
 the gorgon head and the snaky locks, as to pluck the apples 
 of Hesperides from the gardens of ministerial probity ! 
 
 The disapprobation with which the action of the govern- 
 ment was greeted, was not confined merely to the leeward 
 islands, nor to their white inhabitants ; but found as equally 
 a decided expression at the windward portion of the group, 
 from both races. From a report now before us, we find that 
 at a meeting held at Loma Loma, on the 1 7th May, to 
 discuss the position of public affairs, the following resolutions 
 were unanimously passed : — 
 
 "1. That no person present at this meeting being a 
 non-resident of Lau take part in the proceedings. 
 
 "2. That this meeting, composed of nearly every 
 planter, and the majority of the residents of Lau, is desirous 
 of expressing its entire dissatisfaction with the acts of the 
 present government. 
 
 " 3. That this meeting do now adjourn for half an hour 
 to admit of the foregoing resolution being interpreted to His
 
 97- 
 
 EAcellencv the Viceroy, by his secretary Mr. Bayley, antl ftiar 
 it shall then resume bushiess to liear him express his opinion 
 thereon. 
 
 "The Chairman now left the chair for half an hour, at 
 the expiration of which time, on the meeting re-assembling,. 
 His Excellency the Viceroy was present, and: said: — 'Mr. 
 Bayley has made me understand your opinions,, and I entirely 
 coincide with them.: I only hope that what you have said 
 h«re to-day you will all rememijer and adhere tO' hereafter. 
 Parliament will shortly meet at Levuka, I shall be present, 
 and as we are all of one raindl about the present aspect of 
 affairs, I will do what lies iiv my power ta effect an 
 alteration.' " 
 
 This was the opinion of Maafu', the great chief of the 
 windward isles, and whose adherence to tlie new state of 
 things, brought about by the introduction of responsible 
 government, had only been obtained with considerable 
 difficulty. Ifc would have been thought that, in view of this, 
 ministers might hav€ imagined- that he would watch their 
 every political movement witba cautious and jealous scrutiny ; 
 and knowing his political astuteness, have deemed it necessary 
 to mould their measures so as to ensure his cordial co-opera- 
 tion ; and the same remark may apply, although perhaps not 
 in a sense equally strong, to Tiii Cakau, and other powerful 
 chiefs. But this was, apparently, below the consideration of 
 our rulers, and they imagined that they could throw dust in 
 the eyes of these acute men, with* as much ease as in th«se of 
 a more pliable or more confiding nature. Their mistake, 
 however, soon found themout- and, as will have been seen, 
 before the re-assembling of parliament. These gentlemen 
 imagine, or so afi^ect, that.fchey have completely secured the 
 confidence of these leading personages, and that the recent 
 proceedings at Nasova, have met with their entire concurrence. 
 If all were told, we think tiiat their belief scarcely rests upon 
 the most certain foundation ; and t>hat if the chiefs were seen^ 
 singly, in their own. territories, removed from* the coercive 
 influence of the government, and their confidence invited' 
 upon the assurance that it would be maintained inviolate ; an 
 almost universal feeling ia. faiVOE of annexationi or at least of 
 some great power assuming a protectorate, would be- found; tO' 
 exist, from the King ck)wnwards. And>this, we imagine, is, 
 however cautiously they may guard it, the secret belief of 
 ministers themselves. Were they so assured of the preference of 
 the great chiefs for an undivided" allegiance to one native head, 
 they would scarcely be so solicitous, as they evidently have 
 been of late, to get these gentlemen together, and to instil in 
 their minds the necessity of their stating unanimously, should 
 they be questioned on the point, that they are content to let 
 matters remain in statu quo ; nor would, they be so anxious
 
 98 
 
 to impress them witli the belief that the protectorate of Great 
 Britain means the annihilation of the interests of the Fijians, 
 generally, hut of the chiefs in particular. Let a fair oppor- 
 tunity be afforded of consulting with these personages, 
 individually ; and in th^.t way, which is really the only one 
 by which their unbiassed . opinions can be arrived at, may 
 their gpuuine sentiments be ascertained. As before stated, 
 the position of the native is infinitely worse to, day, than it 
 was before the establishment of this government; and it has 
 only been by unscrupulous assertions and false ideas, insidi- 
 ously instilled into their minds, as to the real effect which 
 the change here alluded to would have upon the interests of 
 the Kingdom, that ministers are able to secure the co-opera-- 
 tion of the chiefs. They have certainly appealed to their 
 outward sense of that which gratifies the minds of all 
 semi-civilized people ; and by dressing them in extravagant 
 uniforms, have effected a travestie upon that cloth which 
 carries to the mind of civilized man that sense which it should 
 convey ; that it is worn as a mark at once distinctive and 
 distinguished;- ahke to point out and to honor those who 
 belong to a glorious profession, and hold their lives in their 
 hands at the call of Queen and Country. But what are senti- 
 ments like these to our rulers. There may indeed be reasons 
 why, being forbidden now to wear the uniform of a British 
 naval officer, it may serve some, to practically ridicule it ; it 
 cannot be degraded, but when those who wear or have worn 
 it, are forbidden, from the best of reasons, from donning it. 
 
 We have contented ourselves hitheirto with extracting 
 from the Fiji Times certain articles tending to show the real 
 feeling entertained upon the question of government before, 
 and immediately upon, the advent of that important step. 
 We deem it but right and fair that we should see what the 
 Government organ— the Fiji Gazette, — edited by ministers 
 themselves, certainly the property of the people, bought and 
 maintained at their cost, says concerning matters as they 
 presented themselves during the parliamentary recess ; merely 
 premising, as we have already done in the case of the paper 
 first mentioned, that the editors and conductors of the Gazette 
 have not in any way requested us to refer to them or their 
 lucub rations. 
 
 In its leader in the issue of the 8th February, 1873, we 
 find this journal thus descanting upon the duties of the 
 government, and those it governs. Treating of '* The most . 
 absurd misrepresentations a&tothe position, and powers of the 
 Fijian Government, and the obligations and liabilities of those 
 who live. within its^ jurisdiction,'* this journal, for the "sake 
 of those who" fail to understand the "situation" — "and of 
 such as may be duped or misled by designing or hot-headed 
 and reckless men ; and in order* that there may be no longer
 
 '99 
 
 the slightest possible excuse for anyone — if such there should 
 be — who may mistake forbearance for want of determination, 
 and be induced to pass from mete talk to criminal action ; " 
 purposes to "give in as few words as possible, a true 
 exposition of such * situation ' and its legal consequences — 
 nut from a Fijiau, but from an international point of view ; 
 and as the same mast be received by British jurists in par- 
 ticular." It further proceeds as follows :— " No abstract 
 question need be entered upon. It will be sufficient to state 
 certain undeniable facts ; and certain consequential (and 
 equally incontrovertible) legal rights, obligations and lia- 
 bilities. 
 
 *' Fot present purposes, therefore, we will assume that 
 the Fijian, Government has no other rights but sucli as belong 
 according to international law — as interpreted and applied by 
 British lawyers and statesmen — to a * Government de facto* 
 
 " What, then, is the Fijian Government de facto which 
 which has been duly recognised by Great Britain/ It is not 
 the Executive Government as departmentally administered by 
 his Majesty's Ministers, or even by his Majesty and his 
 Ministers conjointly ; but the Constitutional Government of 
 the Kingdom upon the basis of a fundamental law, adopted 
 at and passed by a national convention. This constitution 
 was prepared by representatives of the white settlers assem- 
 bled on the summons of the King. It was concurred in by 
 the Fijians through their principal chiefs— assembled on hke 
 summons. Having been so prepared and concurred in,^t was 
 accepted and ratified by the King. Under this Constitution 
 thus prepared, concurred in, accepted, and ratified, a Parlia- 
 ment was held; the members of which were severally sworn — 
 as the King has also been sworn— to * faithfully support ' such 
 Constitution. By this Parliament it was, among other things, 
 enacted that justice should be administered in Fiji according 
 to the principles and practice of British law, as followed in 
 Victoria; so far as the same were applicable and could be 
 applied in this Kingdom, and were not modified by Fijian 
 legislation. This written Constitution with its guarantees of 
 equal rights, and of the distinctness (as under British rule) 
 of the Executive, Legislative and Judicial powers ; and with 
 such other characteristics as are, by Anglo-Saxons, considered 
 indispensable to good government was in force — and the 
 'principles and practice of British law' as adopted, under 
 that Constitution by the Fijian legislature, were also in force 
 —when the recognition was accorded." 
 
 Here follow some lengthy paragraphs with respect to 
 Constitutional Government ; the rights incident to a State ; 
 treason, rebellion, &c. ; with which we need scarcely trouble 
 our readers ; we therefore continue the extracts where the 
 Constitution is again treated upon.
 
 wo 
 
 " The Constitution of Fiji may be amended, in any m>% 
 in the manner provided for by such Constitution itself, but 
 not otherwise. The propriety ©f such changes and the extent 
 to which they ought to be carried may be fairly, fully and 
 legitimately (if peaceably) discussed, and the widest latitude 
 will doubtless be, as it has hitherto been, allowed for the 
 purposes of such discussion^ But no 'demonstration' of 
 which actual violence, of any kind, forms or is intended to 
 form, a part, can be permitted by the Executive Administra- 
 tion without something like treason — and under some actual 
 and punishable treason — on the part of such Administration 
 against the Sovereign and the nation." 
 
 *' If the King were — ex mero m&tu, and by means of 
 force or intimidation — to abrogate, or seek to abrogate, the 
 Constitution which, after its presentation to him as adopted 
 by the representatives of the national will, he ratified and 
 swore to uphold, he would not only be guilty of perjury, but 
 would — to say the least of it — seriously imperil his own title. 
 If a member of the Legislative Assembly were to do the like, 
 he would be guilty of both perjury and treason. If such 
 member were also a Cabinet Minister, he would in addition to 
 these offences, be also guilty of official malfeasance.'* 
 
 Here follow two paragraphs upon revolution and the 
 repudiation of Royal and governmental authority, and the 
 punishment consequent thereon; and the * leader* thus 
 concludes : — 
 
 " Those who were guilty of any felonious violence here, 
 but escaped punishment, might be indicted in any British 
 Court, or in the Courts of either New South Wales or Tasmania. 
 
 " We have deemed it our duty to put the matter upon 
 which we have already touched thus plainly, for the reasons 
 already stated ; but our readers who reside at a distance must 
 not suppose that we have done so from any apprehension of 
 serious disturbance. There may, and doubtless will be — as 
 there has already been — very free discussions upon various 
 questions of Fijian politics. Such discussions can do no harm, 
 and may do a great deal of good. That some who are 
 impatient under the restraints of law and order, and wish to 
 revert to the old state of things, or who think they ought to 
 be provided with 'billets;" or who have some other personal 
 interests to serve, or personal feelings to gratify — would like 
 a ' row,' is very possible. But the great body of the white 
 settlers are peace-loving and law-abiding men, who have 
 too much at stake to lend the slightest aid to or countenance 
 anything so suicidal." 
 
 Ministers thus favor us with their views of the position 
 in which Fiji was placed, under and by the constitution, from 
 an international point of view j and, with all humility, we 
 accept the game.
 
 They ^tate, with more truth and candor than generally 
 richaracterises their pseudo-poUtical proclamations, that the 
 Government de facto was duly recognised by Great Britain as 
 being founded upon a Constitution, based *'upon a funda- 
 mental law, adopted at and passed by a national convention!" 
 
 Will they now kindly enlighten the few insignificant 
 individuals who, outside of the Government and its subor- 
 dinates, form that unimportant section of the human family, 
 commonly called — the world, — upon what pretence they 
 allege that they now possess the recognition of Great Britain 
 or any other Sovereign State? Such reco;2;nition, as put forth 
 by them, was conceded to a *' Constitutional Government'* 
 formed under the auspices mentioned in the preceeding 
 paragraph ; and these having ceased to exist by the acts of 
 ministers themselves, recognition has, practically ceased with 
 them, and Fiji reverted, pohtically, to its pristine state. The 
 -recognition of the Kingly authority by the Fijians, is a matter 
 for that race cnly ; and the Cabinet may still maintain their 
 proud pre-eminence among the aborigines of the group ; they 
 have, most undoubtedly, and as acknowled by themselves, 
 precluded his Majesty from claiming the exercise of Sovereign 
 Tights over aliens.; as they have caused him to divest his 
 Kingdom of that position which, but for their proceedings, 
 it would have still held, as one recognised among the family 
 of nations ! 
 
 Will they net fiiwi it a task of some difficulty to reconcile 
 their course of procedure with their declaration tliat the 
 •* Constitution of Fiji may be amended, in any way, in the 
 manner proixded for by such Constitution itself but not 
 otherwise," Their own words speak so strongly, that com- 
 ment thereon were superfluous ; and the position they have 
 assumed since the publication of that which now rises in 
 judgment against them, serves to illustrate more forcibly 
 than can anything which words can convey, to what lengths 
 they would proceed in the attempt to preserve their ill-won 
 supremacy. But, having acted as they have, the ground for 
 objection against the interference of Foreign Powers is cut 
 from under them ; and, the country now possessing no 
 Constitution whatever, its foreign residents are bound to look 
 to the flags of their respective nationalities, precisely as they 
 did before the celebrated meeting at which they were so 
 graciously, and so unexpectedly, informed — that the regal 
 diadem had been assumed, and a responsible ministry nomi- 
 nated. We wonder if these gentlemen, in face of the 
 impeachment which would assuredly await them, will still 
 continue to assert that there is Constitutional Government, 
 to which they can be made amenable for their treason ? We 
 may well " pause for a reply." Brutus-like, they have slain 
 theu: Csegar ) but not for justice fjake !
 
 102 
 
 How has his Majesty fallen, when we find his own 
 ministers accusing him of "perjury" and "to say the least 
 of it," imperilling his own title ! Yet, that is what they 
 have 'done ; as they simply made certain precedent conditions, 
 which have been performed, the test of his so far committing 
 himself. The King has abrogated the *' Constitution which 
 after his presentation to him as adopted by the representa- 
 tives of the national will, he ratified and swore to uphold ; " 
 and, therefore, according to his ministers, has been guilty of 
 the above crimes. These are the words of his own advisers, 
 — ^not ours ; — how they will answer to King and people for 
 their most pernicious counsels, remains to be seen, 
 
 But, what is the position of these gentlemen in their 
 capacities of Cabinet Ministers? Out of their own mouths 
 shall they speak. "If such member (of the Legislative 
 Assembly) were also a Cabinet MinisteVy he would in addi- 
 tion to these offences, (*both perjury and treason') be also 
 guilty of official malfeasance ! " Truly, the writers of the 
 lines from which we quote were "second Daniels come 
 to judgement." Perjury ! Treason ! Official malfeasance ! 
 Never, in the political history of the world have political 
 deeds been more correctly, more simply, described ; never 
 has the punishment accorded to them in all civilized commu- 
 nities, been more richly merited. An infant nation overthrown ; 
 a Kingly nature warped ; a Kingly mind deceived, prejudiced 
 and misled; a Kingly position betrayed; a people's rights 
 outraged and trampled upon ! These ; these, be ^the 
 acts of the men who have justly accused themselves of 
 perjury and treason ; meriting the execration and contempt 
 which all reflecting minds award them ! 
 
 And have ministers been guiltless of the "feloniou3 
 violence" which as they truly state, may be punished in any 
 *' British Court, or in the Courts of either New South Wales 
 or Tasmania?" Is the arming of natives, the inciting them 
 to charge and, if necessary, fire upon, an European popula- 
 tion, — in order that those who so directed them might still 
 continue to govern in violation of all recognized constitutional 
 authority, — "felonious violence" or not? It is such a vio- 
 lence, which in other countries, is generally met with a short 
 shrift and a long cord ; and the criminals may well congratulate 
 themselves, that they live among "peace-loving and law- 
 abiding men," who, with these instincts strong upon them, 
 quietly await the issue pending 'twixt them, and those who 
 have so deeply injured them ! 
 
 The King has abrogated the old Constitution, by having 
 assented to, and sworn to 'sustain' the new one, "and govern in 
 conformity therewith!" This took place at Nasova on the 27th 
 Septepiber last, the oath to the King having been administered 
 by the Chancellor, Of course there wag the usual speech-
 
 making which, as we are told, "consisted chiefly of comments 
 upon past events, upon the failure of the old Constitution,, 
 the aggressive spirit of the whites, the threats, and attempts to. 
 deprive the native race of their civil rights, &c., &c." The 
 parties concerned had been well tutored for the occasion, and 
 could not see that they were but so many puppets in the hands 
 of the Preaiier and Chief Secretary. The speeches were really 
 those of the ministers, nO: matter who uttered them ; the 
 sentiments such as might be naturally looked for from men 
 who, seeing place, pay and power sliding from their erstwhile 
 tenacious grasp, clutched in their very despair at any means, 
 no matter how desperate, how traitorous or despicable, so 
 they would serve to lengthen even for a few brief days, their 
 hold upon authority ! But, however unwittingly, ministers- 
 upon that day consumated an act which their own proceedings; 
 had, long back, originated. Upon that day they struck the- 
 death blow to their political existence ; and, by their treacher- 
 ous counsels, to the Kingdom. They reduced Fiji to the 
 status ante quo; and left a Fijian King to rule Fijian 
 subjects. They did more ! They showed unmistakeably to 
 the world their professions of honor and honesty at their 
 true worth ; and that the lightest thistle-down before the 
 wind, could outweigh and was more stable tlian their truth 
 or sincerity. They have shown, by the acts they have 
 already committed, to what lengths they would go, if no 
 controlling power were exercised. They have strengthened! 
 the hands of those who look for annexation as the" only 
 radical cure for the evils, under which the country labors, 
 through unscrupulous mal-administrati on and treachery ; and! 
 have shown, unmistakeably, how well-founded is the appeal 
 made, that a powerful Kingdom should step in for the pro- 
 tection of the interests of all, as well of natives as foreigners! 
 They have shown that they havC) by their criminal persistance 
 in placing a false and insidiously mendacious issue before the 
 King and his Chiefs, dehberately deceived and misled them. 
 They have instilled into the minds of these personages, the 
 belief that it was against a Government, in any form, that 
 tha white residents were protesting; well knowing that it was 
 for a Government, as provided for by the Constitution, that 
 they were anxiously struggling ; and that, had the King's 
 false advisers retired, they would have been replaced by those 
 in whom the country had confidence ; and under whose 
 auspices its material prosperity would have increased and; 
 made rapid strides ; and its social and, political position 
 become vastly enlarged! They have alienated and utterly 
 driven from them the confidence of all who possess any stake 
 in the country or any interest therein. Church and laity 
 have alike been injured and despoiled ; professional and 
 business men had their prospects marred, and in many cases
 
 104' 
 
 utterly wrecked; the merchant and" the working man alike.' 
 deeply, often irrevocably, injured ! They have retarded the 
 settlement of the Kingdom, and the growth of its consequence,, 
 by diverting capital and. enterprise from its shores ;. those 
 possessing these desiderata and. not having already endangered 
 them, declining, very prudently, to jeopardise the one and 
 exercise the other undfer the bayonet-rule regime of G. A. 
 Woods, J. B. Thurston and Co. They have, by these means,, 
 and by instilling, upon all possible occasion, a feeling of 
 mistrust and animosity in the breast of- the native against the 
 whiteSj.awakened a prejudice and'antagonism between the races ; . 
 and that, simply for the attainment of their own despicably 
 selfish aims, and to the serious detriment of the prospects of 
 the state. Their mal-administr^tion has resulted in bloodshed' 
 and massacres, in universal discontent, in depression at the 
 present, in uncertainty and alarm for the future. They have 
 ruthlessly and :9agrantly violated the public faith, and 
 shamelessly defied the public creditors. Bankrupt in purse 
 as in reputation, their treasury as exhausted as their name is 
 despised; they drag out what remains to them of political 
 life, the objects of the indignant scorn of those whom they 
 have ruthlessly deluded and betrayed. Known to the white 
 residents as they really are, the day is not far distant when- 
 the native, — as well King as subject — shall recognise them in^ 
 their true colors-; and their administrative existence ended, 
 they will be merely remembered as men who, having had it 
 in their power to have raised this group to eminence, and to 
 have elevated its inhabitants in the scale of nations,, by the 
 mere exercise of prudence, straight forwardness and truth,— 
 chose rather by assumption, chicanery and falsehood to mar 
 its prospects and lowey its status, that they might revel in 
 the charms of a meretrigious power, and attain a position for 
 which neither their antecedents nor attainments fitted them ; 
 and which they have shown themselves so eminently unquali- 
 fied to fill. 
 
 When the Government have stated so repeatedly in the 
 House, as also through the colunms of their organ, that the 
 ■white residents are '^ peace-loving and law-abiding," — and 
 when it is a matter of notoriety that such a confession could 
 only be extorted by its truth being indisputable and. self- 
 apparent, the extent of their misrule and the illegality of 
 their acts may be well imagined, when it is only by the- 
 influence of a man of vyar that order can be maintained ; so 
 deep and well-found'ed is the indignation against ministers. 
 The universal belief is, that once deprived of this safe guard, 
 and of the protection it confers, tlie country will be in a 
 position worse than ever ! Ministers have shown what they 
 would do, if they could ; and, once relieved from the fear of 
 immediate consequences, there can be no earthly doubt o£
 
 105 
 
 their pursuing their tortuous policy ; of their inciting man 
 against man, race against race ; until they have achieved 
 their fondly cherished aim, and rule dominant, over Kino- and 
 people, native and alien ! 
 
 Will Great Britain stand calmly by and look on, while 
 two or three of her own subjects, thus deal, at their own will 
 and pleasure with the property, the happiness, the lives of 
 other of her children ! We tf ow not ! The opportunity 
 which once was lost, has again presented itself. Without a 
 Constitution, with no real power either physical, social or 
 moral ; Fiji looks to Great Britain for aid and protection ; 
 and King, Chiefs and people will willingly assist in the steps 
 necessary to attain them. 
 
 Let the effort be made, properhj made, to test this, and 
 the result will prove the truth of our assertion ; and enable 
 Britain, now as ever, fo assert her might, and prove her will 
 to assist the weak, to right the oppressed, and to upraise with 
 steady hand that beacon of civilization which, appearing in 
 the van of all the world, serves to beckon by its gloriously 
 bright and undying light, those who have been hitherto 
 compelled to walk in the cimmerian shadow of the outward 
 gloom and darkness ! . 
 
 «. L, GRIPFITHS, PRINTER, BEACH-STREET, LEVUKA.
 
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