REPORTED EPIDEMIC IN THE FIJI ISLANDS.—QUESTION. (Hansard, 10 June 1875)

THE EARL OF CARNARVON

My Lords, I am sorry to say that there is only too much truth in the statement which my noble Friend has quoted from the telegraphic despatch in the newspapers. I am not prepared to say that the figures therein mentioned are correct, because, as your Lordships are perfectly well aware, accuracy in dealing with Native races in circumstances such as those of the Fijians is almost impossible; but I fear that substantially the statement is true, and that a very large proportion indeed of the population have perished. I expect from day to day fuller details, but I have yet heard enough to know that a very large proportion of the Native population have been extinguished by this horrible pestilence. My Lords, the disease itself was, unhappily, imported into the Islands by Europeans, and the present state of affairs is as bad and as sad—so far as we have the means of judging—as can possibly be. The Chiefs, some of whom were men upon whose intelligence and superior ability we had calculated in the conduct of the Government during the next few years, have been swept off. The people themselves are panic-stricken. They refuse the medicine that is offered to them—the medical aid that is proffered to them—and in some instances, driven to madness by the fierceness of the attack, they lie down in pools of water or by the sea-beach, which brings on attacks of dysentery to which they succumb. The truth is that this outbreak of measles has become a most serious pestilence, raging with extraordinary fierceness, as pestilences generally do among Native races that have never before been ex- 1619 posed to them. It is perfectly well known to my noble Friend and your Lordships that diseases which have, comparatively speaking, little effect upon civilized populations produce most disastrous results in the case of Native races, and just in proportion as the race is remote and isolated so are the ravages of the disease violent. I might mention a case so peculiar in this respect that it is worthy of your Lordships' attention. In the Faro Islands about 1845 or 1846 an outbreak of measles occurred. The disease had been unknown in the Islands for 65 years previously. It is believed that at this second outbreak it was imported by a ship from Copenhagen. The whole of the population in the Faro Islands was attacked with it except two classes; and those two classes were, first of all, a number of people who were living in an insular position, cut off from the rest of the community, and secondly—which is extremely curious—people who had had the disease previously—65 years before. This shows how fatal are diseases of this kind when they fall upon what may be termed virgin soil. But, my Lords, besides the physical effects of this calamity—there is no use in concealing it—the moral results are very serious. There exists in the Islands, I am afraid, a very widely-shared notion that the disease has been introduced into them by Europeans, and communicated with a deliberate purpose—a circumstance which makes the future task of their government the more difficult. My noble Friend asks me what the Government have done? I am afraid my answer must be that Her Majesty's Government are almost powerless in the case. Spreading as this disease has spread with extraordinary rapidity, it is obvious that by the time supplies could be sent from this country—if such a course were practicable or expedient—it would probably have burnt itself out. In fact, for purposes of assistance, Sydney is a far better basis for medical operations than England can be. I have telegraphed to the local authorities to spare neither expense nor exertion in this matter. I have further informed them, that in the present state of excitement which prevails in the Islands, to take the precautions that suggest themselves against possible disturbances. Beyond this I am afraid it is impossible 1620 to go. I have, however, great confidence in the zeal and energy of the local authorities. I am satisfied that everything that can be done by Sir Hercules Robinson, who is at Sydney, and by Sir Arthur Gordon, who is on the spot, will be done: and I have every reason to be satisfied with the reports that have reached me from Mr. Layard, who is provisionally in charge of the Government of Fiji. He reports that so far as possible he has made offers of assistance to the unfortunate people; but in this respect difficulty arises when you have to deal with the distant and inaccessible parts of the Islands, to which, in present circumstances, no messenger can go. I should say that all the English functionaries and officials in the Colony have shown a praiseworthy zeal, and that they have all exerted themselves to the utmost of their power. I may mention, as a proof of the beneficial effect of medical aid when it is availed of, the rather singular fact that out of the whole of the constabulary which were attacked by the disease very few deaths indeed have resulted, and for the simple reason that it was possible to place them under medical discipline and care. Mr. Layard says that in almost every case where full medical aid was possible no death has ensued. I am afraid, however, as I said before, that the mortality is large, and my only hope is that, as the virulence of the pestilence was in proportion to its magnitude, the worst is now past, and there only remains to restore the Islands to the best condition possible under the circumstances.