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.

    423/442
    SETTLEMENT OF NATIVE LANDS. Legislative Council, Fiji, July 6th and 7th, 1915. MR. SCOTT.—I move : That, in the opinion of this Council, with the object of attaining some finality regarding the land question, it is ;idvisable that the Government should immediately appoint a Commission to advise and report u])on the best policy to be adopted for opening up for settlement the native lands of the Colony. I considered, Sir, somewhat care- fully the matter before 1 determined on that motion, because 1 realise that I am again Ojx-nmg up for considera- tion a very large question, but one I think that is deserving of the earnest consideration of every one. That- there should be some attempt at finality being attained no one can deny. I do not propose this morning to go back and argue as to the true construction and meaning of the fourth clause of the Deed of Cession, it has already at various times been argued at length, almost ad nauseam. But I propose to trace somewhat briefly the history of the native land of this Colony, and to point out to the Council the present conditions in connection with it. We all are aware that in 1874 when the Colony was ceded to Her late Majesty the idea was that all lands which were not at the time in the occupation or needed for the use of the natives should be given over to Her Majest}'. But I shall show shortly, and I desire to show it very clearly, that Her Ma- jesty's Government then, through the Government of this Colony in 1880, I think, altered the whole policy and gave the natives to understand that the natives owned the whole of the land. Successive Secretaries of State have maintained that policy. I wish at the outset to say that I do not advocate in this House or elsewhere that the true ownership of native lands is vested in other than the natives, although my own opinion from a legal view may be different. I realise that, as the Secretary of State has laid it down that, as the natives for many years have been accepted as the true owners of the land, no useful purpose can be attained by arguing otherwise, but the object of my motion is to bring more strongly to the Secretary of State's knowledge the appalling conditions governing native lands to- day. The Government is realising the position 1 think, and is doing all in its power to divest the native of the control of his land in his own interest. My proposal is that the whole of the surplus native lands of this Colony—that is land that is not required for actual use by the natives, should be absolutely controlled by the Government—the Government acting as trustees. This is not the first time that the question has been raised, but at the same time I think that the tim ' is ripe to indicate to the Secre- tary of State—and I hope that this Council unanimously agrees with me— that some step should be taken now to finally deal with the question not only in the interest of the whole com- munity but in the interest of the natives themselves. It has been said to me by the Native Commissioner : But why should the Government step in and take control of the native lands ? How would you like your estate to be managed for you by the Government ? I answer that ques- tion by saying : that if I managed my small estate in the same way as the Fijians manage theirs, then the Government would be welcome to manage it for me. If I may be permitted, I desire first of all, without intending to weary the Council unduly, to refer the Council to a debate in this House. On the .3rd November, 1909, the then Governor of the Colony, Sir Everard im Thurn, said :— Since I last spoke to you—a year ago—you have had the opportunity, during my absence in Eng- land, of reading in printed form the most recent despatches which had passed between the Secretary of State and myself on that subject ; and you have realised that Lord Crewe had been unable fully to approve the view which, on your behalf, I had put before him on the subject of unused native lands. On pressing my point home, I found that practi- cally all that seems essential can be granted to us— that is power to this Government to assume control in the interests of the natives of all the unalienated lands which these natives do not themselves use and are unable to use. I had hoped even at this session to have put before you a Bill to give effect to this arrangement ; but the difficulties are still too great, and you must wait, as patiently as you may, until next session. Meanwhile I propose, as soon as the pressure of work caused by the present session is over, to invite certain gentlemen, Euro- pean and native, official and unofficial, to meet me in informal committee, and there to devise the best means we can to transfer the control of the land to the Government, with due observance of the con- ditions required by the Secretary of State in the interests of the natives. Having now, as you are aware, acquainted myself as fully as possible with the conditions of the problem to be solved, I shall retain in my own hands the chairmanship and con- trol of the committee. I may add that the two chief difficulties remaining to be solved are—• (I) how best to use the net price of these lands in the interests of the natives ; and (2) the question as to the form of tenure—leasehold or freehold—• under which the lands treated by the committee should be held. I have now great hope that as the result of our labours we shall be able in May next to put before you a scheme, which you may be able to approve, for the final settlement of this long- vexed question. That was a part of His Excellency's message addressed to the Council on the 3rd November, 1909. The sub- ject I am putting before you is the same question to which Sir Everard