§ MR. J. F. HOGANI beg to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies whether he has observed that on page 9 of the Annual Report on Fiji, published on Tuesday, it is stated that a native newspaper is issued monthly by the Colonial Government; whether this is the publication entitled Na Mata, which formed the subject of complaint in this House as containing matter that was exceedingly offensive to the Catholics of the colony; and whether it is to be understood that the Government of Fiji accept the entire responsibility for the historical views and religious opinions that are expressed in this native newspaper?
§ THE UNDER SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES (Mr. SYDNEY BUXTON,) Tower Hamlets, PoplarThe native newspaper referred to is presumably the Na Mata, in reference to which the hon. Gentleman asked a question some little time back. Inquiry was made in regard to this complaint, and it seems that the paragraphs which gave offence appeared during Sir J. Thurston's absence. A Fiji translation and adaptation of "Little Arthur's History of England,'' a history on which many of us were brought up, was published in serial form in the newspaper in question, and certain parts of that so-called history, in dealing with the thorny period of the Reformation, appeared offensively to reflect on the Roman Catholic priesthood, and Roman Catholic teaching. Though it is to be regretted that the paragraphs should have appeared in the form they did; they were inserted through inadvertence, and with no intention of giving offence. Na Mata was established during the administration of Sir Arthur Gordon, and has been published monthly ever since, and no other complaint in regard to it has been made in the Colonial Office.