Report of the Commission appointed to Inquire into the Decrease of the Native Population, with appendices.

  • Fiji. Commission appointed to Inquire into the Decrease of the Native Population.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the Commission appointed to Inquire into the Decrease of the Native Population, with appendices. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

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    to retain their power to tabu. They should also have power, as heretofore, to lavaki cultivated lands, i.e., command the people of any town in their district to perform such work upon them as they may direct. {See Note A.) Of the necessity and results of continuous labour the Eijians have no idea whatever; at first they can only be regarded as instruments by which a system is to be established for their benefit; and hence, as in a ])ublie school, for instance, strict rules must be enacted, making a fair and proper amount of labour a matter of la-w, and not a matter of choice. Hereafter, when training has had its effect, and a better knowledge has been acquired of the value and right of property, the acquisitive character of the Pijian will, I think, be a sufficient spur to his industry ; but for some years to come he must be made to work, and must be punished for laziness or neglect. The salvation of the race is simply a question of real kindness and forced industry, or of mistaken kindness, indolence, and consequent misery and degradation. I have dwelt somewhat digressively upon the laws, habits, and weaknesses of the people, because I am convinced that it is, in the first instance, impossible to impose upon them British law exclusively ; because it would cause an early failure to the system now under consideration, and because it would render abortive any other scheme to raise revenue from the natives, who—relieved from their old law, and ignorant of the new—would fall out of joroper and necessary control. The chief element upon the native side to the success of this scheme is—the creation of a necessity to work. Upon the governing side every effort should be made to improve the existing tribal organisation of the natives. Very great good may be speedily effected by adding to, and gradually improving upon, such native laws and customs as are not rejDUgnant to natural law; by interdicting oppressive ones, and by placing the natives under the direction of active and intelligent ofl&cers selected from both races. This necessity may in a great measure be created by the imposition of a tax upon every male between the ages of sixteen and sixty ; or, ^\ hich would be better, upon every village or district, in pro- portion to the number of its inhabitants and the fertility and natural advantages of their lands. In considering the nature of the articles to be produced under the culture system, it will be necessary to have regard to those that are in constant commercial demand, and the value of which is not, like cotton for instance, subject to frequent and great fluctuations. The imperfect system of agricul- ture 7)ractised by the people, and their irregular and semi-civilised habits, must also be kept in view. The Eijians are agriculturists by birth and inclination ; but their manner of cultivation is rude, and their disinclination to cultivate ])roducts to which they are strangers, is a very strongly marked trait in their character. Time and tuition are therefore both to be taken into consideration ; but not more so, perhaps, than would be necessary in the initiation of an entirely new policy or scheme among a more advanced people. It has occurred to me, whilst considering the question of revenues to be derived from natural productions, that in the first instance it will be expedient to direct attention to those that are indigenous to the country. In the preparation of one article alone of our exjjorts it is apparent that another material of greater value is thrown away and lost to the Colony'for want of the necessary machinery to prepare it for market. . The evidences of this fact I shall adduce further on; meantime I submit for His Excellency's consideration, in connection with his general policy, that it would be well to make advances to certain' districts in order that its inhabitants may be supplied with machinery. No great outlay would be necessary; and precedent is not wanting for the Crown supplying natives, desirous of advancing themselves in commerce, with the implements or machinery for doing so. Until the plan, sketched further on, or a better one—having the same object in view—is perfected, it will be necessary to depend entirely upon existing resources for our native revenue. Eiji is compara- tively rich in cocoauut groves : and hundreds of tons of copra, or the dried Icernel of the nut, are exported annually to the United Kingdom and the Continent—but the whole of the valuable cocoanut fibre is lost, because the makers of the copra have no means of preparing the husk or fibre of the nut for sale. The country abounds with plantains, of which the natives distinguish about twenty-five sorts. According to Seemann the Soaqa, a wild variety which grows in all the valleys, a few hundred feet above the level of the sea, is the Ilusa troylodytarum— the plant frqm which, says Sir John Bowring in his work upon the Phillipine Islands, Manilla hemp is obtained! There is also a cultivated variety named Vundi Vula or white pla.ntain, which, I think, is the 3I'usa textilis of botanists. This variety yields a fine, bright, and strong Manilla hemp. Samples sent by me to Sydney were valued at from £35 to £45 per ton delivered there. The hemp is obtained from the stem or trunk of the plant. The fibre, obtained from the ])etioles of the leaves, is so fine that it is said the finest muslins may be made from it. The preparation of these fibres by hand is^ both a long and difficult process ; and in order to export them in any quantities machinery must be imported. It is very probable that with a little alteration the machinery used in New Zealand for cleaning Plwrmium tenax might be adopted here for Manilla hemp. If the thick laminaa, of which the plantain stem is composed, were crushed between smooth or fluted rollers the hard outer epiderm would be broken up, and the cellulose—of which there is a large quantity—might be got rid of by washing and beating. In the preparation of an article like this the services of women and childreai might be very largely engaged. {See Note B.)